Everyone was silent for a moment before Ximena burst out into laughter.

"Fiancé? Dad, what's he talking about?" she asked, pointing at the elder of the two unidentified men.

Emilio seemed uneasy, with his eyes looking anywhere else but at his daughter. He hadn't anticipated that it'd be that hard to tell his family about the agreement he had made with Humberto Dos Santos. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea but it was too late now. Nothing could be done. Nothing would ever be the same after this meeting.

Humberto found what was happening very entertaining, to say the last. He watched with sheer glee how the Dos Ramos family and his son wore a look of utter confusion, maybe with a mix of curiosity and all their eyes were directed at Emilio.

"Well?" Humberto pressed, reclining in his seat. "Your daughter asked you a very good question, Emilio. Won't you elaborate?" he finished off in his thick Spanish accent.

Emilio shot Humberto a scowl, before composing himself and he finally spoke. "About three weeks ago Humberto," he said pointing at him, "and I made an agreement. You and his son are to wed in order to merge our companies into one shipping empire."

Nobody said anything. Silence permeated the air around them but it was abruptly disturbed by one single word uttered by two very mystified individuals.

"What?" the two voices demanded rather than inquired.

Adriano loosened his neck tie, which all of a sudden became too constricting. "Did you just say that your daughter and I are getting married to merge our companies? Is this a joke?"

Andrea, having recovered from her temporary paralysis, clapped loudly. "OMG, that's so amazing! Ximena, you're getting married to Adriano Dos Santos!" she ejaculated merrily, but nobody else shared her sentiment. Her twin even shot her a glare.

The younger man who hadn't spoken brought out a briefcase from underneath the table, opened it and handed a couple of sheets of paper to Adriano, who snacthed them eagerly and wasted no time in browsing through them. With each word he read, his face changed into different shades of shock then finally anger.

Dolores, Emilio's wife, took a sip of her water trying desperately to digest the new information she had just learned along with everyone else. "So," she began cooly, "This is why you've been a bundle of nerves the past couple of weeks. You sold our daughter because of your insatiable thirst for power!" she screamed so loudly that everyone cringed.

"Dad, how could you do this to me?" Ximena also screamed, but less loudly. "All my life you've been deciding stuff for me and I kept quiet. But this? This is unbelievable! Now you also chose who I get to spend the rest of my life with?" Her eyes welled up with unshed tears of anger.

Adriano stood up slowly from his seat. "Father, could I have a word with you?" he said, motioning towards his father.

Humberto grinned. "Of course." he replied happily, and left the secluded eating area with his son. They both went down the downstairs and made a turn to a corner that seemed far away from any noise and eavvesdroppers, or so they thought.

"You are-" Adriano began but was cut of immediately.

"I am a genius, son. I am brilliant but you don't have to tell me. Finally we will be in charge of the shipping scene all across the country and around the wor-"

"No, I was going to say you are a controlling and manipulative bastard. Who do you think you are? I've tolerated your tyranny for way too long but this is where I draw the line. Now, we're gonna go back upstairs and you're tell them that the deal is off!" he fired furiously in rapid Spanish.

Humberto smiled wickedly, like only he knew how to. "I knew you were stupid but I hadn't imagined how much! You read the contract. If we back out now, they will get 40% shares in our company."

Words could not describe how livid Adriano was. "I don't care about that! Do you think you can just decide who I'll marry, like it's your decision? I will not allow you do control me like that Humberto, no."

"You will do as I say, and you know why?" Adriano remained silent but Humberto continued nonetheless. "Because you are who you are because of me. I own everything you know, even the damn suit you're wearing as we speak. Without me, you'll be nothing. The world you exist in, I created it for you. It's about time you got that, son."

Adriano couldn't even utter a single word in protest because he knew his father was right. Never in his life had he felt so belittled, so worthless. Humberto looked at his son's fury ebb down slowly, and be replaced by indifference. He knew he'd won the battle, if not the entire war.

"Besides," he added arrogantly, "She's quite beautiful and I know you're definitely attracted to her."

Heat rushed up the younger man's face. "If she's so beautiful as you say, why don't you marry her yourself! You don't know what kind of women I like. If you did, you'd know she's not my type. I don't normally go for spoiled girls." he retorted flippantly, earning an eye roll from the older man.

"Keep lying to yourself, hijo. You've been secretly seeing that little realtor for a couple of months and all of a sudden you think you're in love. Stop being foolish, Adriano. You'll gain nothing from her. She's only after your money."

Suddenly, Adriano grabbed his father by the collar of his Armani blazer. "Don't speak about her that way. You know nothing about her!" he spat venomously, eyes blazing with unquenchable fury.

Humberto pushed him away effortlessly, as they had roughly the same build. He fixed his jacket and shot his offspring an evil glare. "So quick to defend that woman," he clicked his tongue in disgust and turned to walk away. "Just like you to not be able to see past your own nose, Adri." he said and then disappeared off.

Adriano practically flew out of the restaurant like a bat out of hell. He was so blinded with fury that he didn't notice that he was at the receiving end of quite of lot of stares, all he could see was red. At the front, he all but demanded his car be brought immediately and the valet ran to get it. Once in his car, he just sat there looking at the steering wheel with the Bugatti logo staring right back at him.

Then he punched it.

He punched it about ten times before he yelled out, "I hate that hombre!"

And he really did. Adriano had hated his father since he could comprehend his feelings. No day in his life had he not made extracurricular effort to remind him that he was nothing but his puppet. That was the reason he'd moved out of Humberto's house before he turned 18 and it was the best decision he'd ever made. He'd gone to live with Santiago's family, who had gladly taken him in. In fact, he felt more at home with them than he had ever with his father.

Deep down he knew there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop the manifestation of the contract. From the few words he's caught whilst perusing it, he distinctly remembered having read something about how if either one of the two parties opted out of the deal, the remaining one would get 40% shares of the other party. There was no was his father would let something like that happen. Never.

He started the car and slowly made his way into the flow of traffic. Something then suddenly occured to him. "That means Amanda and I cannot be together anymore," he thought sadly. He muttered a few curses under his breath and ran a hand through his hair, making it dishevelled.

The clock on his dashboard read 3 PM. He could still go back to work but he didn't feel like it. What he did feel like having was a drink.

A very strong one.

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Anothet chapter for you. Vote, share & comment please. Let's boost up the votes especially! So I just started a very difficult programme in Uni...I will be very busy so updates will come whenever I am free. Love you still♡

~Deetronite