The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Camille Buckley replied, [What? Didn't your dad just have a dinner party? Why another one so soon? I'm guessing you're not allowed to skip it this time? I'll go if you're going!]

[Yeah, my dad knows I was just making up excuses not to go last time, so he resorted to threatening me to go this time. Come with me. Otherwise, it'll be so awkward for me to go alone.] [The dinner party sounds more like a grand matchmaking event... I wish you all the best. Haha.]

Rita's frown deepened at her best friend's joke.

[I'm being serious. I'd rather cover a few more stories than to attend the dinner party tomorrow night. I'm going to be bored out of my mind by the guys there. They're so fake, too! I don't get why our parents are forcing us to get married so fast.]

Camille sent a hug emoji. [I don't get it either. Why is your dad in such a hurry to marry you off? You're only twenty years old, barely an adult yet!]

[It's all because of Karen and Sadie! They're the ones who've been secretly persuading my dad to marry me off, and you know how soft-hearted my dad is. Karen kept on telling him who's and who's daughters are getting engaged or married, and then she'd point out I've never been in a relationship before. So of course my dad would be worried. He's probably afraid that there might be something with me for having no interest in dating.]

Rita could only vent about Karen and Sadie to her best friend.

[I don't understand why your stepmom is so concerned about your love life. She'd better worry more about her daughter. She came last in her grade again. Even I feel embarrassed for her.]

Both Rita and Camille knew that Karen's eagerness to marry off Rita quickly was driven by the fear that the lion's share of the Russell family fortune might end up with her. Then again, what was wrong with that? Why should Sadie, who was not a Russell by blood, get any of the share?

[Not only are they greedy but delusional as well.] Camille's comment on Karen and Sadie could not be more on point.

[Anyway, I didn't care much about these things before, but what's mine is mine. I'll never give them up without a fight. Remember, you're going with me to the dinner party tomorrow!]

Rita reiterated, and only after getting Camille's affirmative answer did she log off to rest. She would deal with whatever that might come her way. In any case, Rita was no longer the easily bullied child she used to be. en.s.net

"Sir, here's your schedule for today. You need to attend the Russell family's dinner party at 6 o'clock, and I've already prepared your attire for you." The secretary placed the invitation next to Sherman's hand. en.s.net

Sherman picked it up and glanced at it. "Another dinner party at the Russell's? Vince seems to be quite active lately."Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

"I've looked into it, and it seems like he's doing all this to marry his daughter off."

"Oh, his daughter? Is she at the age for marriage?" Sherman did not even lift his head, continuing to peruse the contract in his hand.

The secretary chuckled lightly and

shook his head. "His daughter is only

twenty years old, far from the age to

Qu

be rushed into marriage. I suspect Vince's urgency stems from

listening to his second wife, who's been constantly plotting to marry off the young lady, so she can entirely control Vince in the future. Her motives are so clear that everyone knows about it."

Sherman found it somewhat amusing too. Vince was a force to be reckoned with in the business world, but when it came to his family matters, he was known for being a clueless old man in his social circles.