Angela stepped towards the door, but Gael stopped her and tugged on her hand.

"Just wait a minute. Think about this for a second." He pulled her to the side, away from the door in case anyone would hear them.

She drew her brows up, confused at his hesitation. "What? You're the one who offered you'll pretend with me. Why are you backing out now?"

"I'm not backing out." He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. There was no way he was backing out—heck, he wanted to go through this without pretending, but of course, that's not gonna happen. Squeezing her hand, he added, "But we're going to waltz in there, and your dad is going to start asking some questions. Are you ready to answer him without stuttering?"

Realization dawned on her face, and her shoulders slumped. She leaned her back on the wall, her eyes darting here and there as if she was trying to think fast. "Oh, my god. Yes. I've been overthinking about what this could do to stop the dates my father is setting up. I haven't thought of that detail. How stupid am I?"

"Hey…" Gael inched closer, brushing his thumb on her cheek. "You're not stupid. You're just stressing over this when you're not supposed to." When she nodded, he probed, "So what are you gonna tell him?"

"We can stick to the truth...at least close to it."

He took a deep breath, and out of nowhere, he began to feel antsy. He lowered his hand from her face and tapped his thigh as he nodded. "Okay. That'll be easier. There'll be facts…"

"I'll just do most of the answering if he asks about us. You can handle your truths, right?" she questioned. She must have sensed him being tensed as she gave him a once over. "Are you—are you nervous?"

"I'm meeting your family. Of course, I'm nervous." Gael didn't bother to hide. When he came here earlier, he hoped to have a chance to talk to her because this was the only place he could catch her. She didn't tell him where she moved, and it would probably take days for him if he had to investigate. He'd joke about pretending to be her man, but he knew himself too well—a big part of him wanted this to be real. 'What if they don't like me?' a younger self in him asked in his head.

A small smile ghosted Angela's lips. "Just be normal. Your cocky self will work. Trust me. My father even thinks Vincent's obnoxiousness is charming…" Her voice trailed off when she noticed the ticking of Gael's jaw for mentioning Stone's name. "Sorry, just making a point. Anyway, just...be cool. Act like you normally would when your exes introduced you to their parents or something."

He just stared at her without saying anything. A few moments passed before she asked, "What?"

"I've never... Just once. A long time ago. It's—"

The door to the private dining room opened. Oliver came out with an annoyed expression as he looked at them. "What the hell are you two doing? Dad's been waiting."

Angela and Gael straightened up. With their hands still interlaced together, she firmly held his and nodded. "We're coming."

They entered the room, and everyone stood—Chairman Su, Vincent, and also Oliver who just came back to his seat.

The pair removed their coats, and Gael paused to take in her appearance. She wore a beige floral lace short-sleeved dress that cut above her knee, the skirt was flowy and there's an inch thick ribbon on the left side. It wasn't a sexy number, more like...sophisticated, and she looked stunning in it. Prim and proper, Angela looked great in any dress she wore. With very light makeup on, she was perfect—the racing heartbeat in his chest proved it.

Sensing his stare, her eyes widened as she whispered, "What? Is there something wrong with my face? Do I have dirt—"

"No." He smiled. "Just the opposite. You're breathtaking."

...

Once they reached the table, Angela immediately introduced, "Dad, this is Gael."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Chairman Su," said Gael as he reached to shake her father's hand. Chairman Su responded the same and kept his smile intact.

She continued, "You know my brother already, Oliver. And Mr. Stone."

"Of course." Gael shook both of the two men's hands, keeping his face neutral.

Oliver sat to his father's right, followed by Vincent Stone while Angela sat to her father's left, and Gael was seated next to her—so he and Vincent were opposites.

As they got settled, Vincent kept an amused expression and made casual talk, "I'm seeing you a lot these days, Mr. De Luca."

"You two know each other?" Chairman Su's interest got piqued as he eyed both men.

"Just...acquaintances, Charlie. We met through Angela while I was visiting her old apartment." Then as if a thought just came to Vincent's mind, he faced Angela. "Ah, that new building you're staying in has quite the view. Stunning. Oliver has such a good eye."

Chairman Su responded to Rock's comment about Angela's apartment, but Gael didn't hear any of it. He got lost when he learned that Rock knew where she lived now, and it seemed as though he had also been inside her new apartment. His gaze swept between the two. 'This Rock knew, but she refused to tell me?' He scoffed inwardly. It wasn't lost on Gael, too, that Rock was on a first-name basis with her father. He didn't like this at all. His knees bounced up and down.

It had only been a few minutes since tonight started, and they hadn't even eaten dinner yet. The way her father and Vincent interacted clearly showed the kind of close relationship they had. And this made him uncomfortable. Gael was confident in most things, but he surprised even himself how he could be unsure of his movements lately whenever it came to Angela.

This was all pretend—he knew that. But there was this strong urge of wanting to make himself look better than Vincent in front of Chairman Su. He wasn't supposed to drink tonight, but his fingers had been playing with the stem of the red wine, and he just couldn't help himself. So he took a swig and let the red liquid give him courage. Tonight was harder than he thought.