Shortly after Randy left, the phone on Mr. White's desk rang, and he felt a headache, knowing what was coming.
Still, he could only pick it up with a tired sigh. "Hello, dear."
The voice on the other end was clearly annoyed. "You really went through with that husband grooming plan of yours?"
Mr. White grunted. "Don't call it that, dear, I'm doing this for our daughter's safety and future—"
His wife interrupted him with an exasperated sigh. "Haah… this is so stupid, though. Didn't you promise to listen to me more from now on?"
The man couldn't help but frown. He knew that he wasn't the best at making the most viable business decisions, but his wife wasn't much better, either.
The 'success' of their 'White Deer Corporation' stemmed not from their business talent, but from inheritance.
Around a hundred years ago, three friends with great minds for business established the three different companies that skyrocketed to fortune… 'Black Tiger', 'White Rhino', and 'Red Deer'.
Generation by generation, these companies only grew larger and larger. But one of them grew more than the other two, and that was precisely 'Black Tiger'.
Black Tiger Corporation was bound to secure the 'top' spot in their country for a long time in the future, if not for the only heirs to both the 'White Rhino' and 'Red Deer' falling in love.
As they decided to merge their companies into one, the mega giant called 'White Deer Corporation' was born, dwarfing even the Black Tiger's dominance by a significant margin.
However, the ambition and capability of the Black Tiger was always something that Mr. White dreaded in his heart. Perhaps it was this fear that made him want to pull them to his side, even wanting to marry off his youngest daughter to their son.
Unfortunately, that almost backfired, and he might have lost everything in the end if not for that boy's own foolishness in exposing his true nature, which also revealed Black Tiger's true intentions.
Black Tiger was simply too formidable and sinister. Mr. Black had trusted his incompetent son to hook Emilia, and even that boy who made blunders wherever he went almost succeeded.
He'll admit that Emilia was smart, but definitely not when it came to matters of love. She had already 'proven' that. Was he supposed to wait for when that man used an actually competent tool man to hook his naïve little daughter?
Mr. White's voice was grim. "Do you want me to wait until she falls for another unworthy boy? Isn't it better for us to arrange one?"
His wife couldn't help but sigh. "I don't get why we have to force her to marry anyone she doesn't like. Just let her stay single. She doesn't seem to be having any romantic thoughts right now, does she? She seems perfectly happy with her girlfriends."
How many people 'swore off of marriage' in their youth, and how many actually ended up staying single? Moreover, it would be another thing if it was Samantha, but Emilia was just a teenager. He would be a fool to take her 'promise' seriously.
But thinking of how to explain it to his wife, Mr. White groaned. "Women are prone to fall in love, dear, even if she feels jaded right now, she'll eventually get hooked by some persistent bastard—"
And as expected, his wife interrupted him mid-sentence. "I'll admit that I'm not very close with her either, unfortunately, but I'm still more familiar with her than you. If not for our meddling, she would never have got involved with that bastard Amos! I think we should keep this lesson in our heart and not interfere with her anymore, since she seems to be doing quite well—"
He had of course considered this, and it was exactly why he was worried. "She's doing much better than I expected, yes, but that only worries me more. The more capable she is, the more she'll end up attracting that kind of attention. Instead of waiting for those wolves to conquer her, isn't it better to have that boy as your stay-at-home son-in-law?"
If she had just sought another 'target', he could still check if that boy was worthy or not before coming to a decision on the matter, but the uncertainty of the future scared him. He would much rather 'arrange' someone decent for her himself if he could.
Mrs. White couldn't help but groan. "I get that he tried to save a girl when he was younger and it led to that incident which caused his brother's death, but how does that make him qualified as our daughter's husband?"
Even though he himself thought so, once he made the choice, Mr. White of course had to do his best to justify it to his wife. "Listen, dear, you don't understand… to have that kind of trauma yet still be able to act to save his fellow classmate, at the cost of his own family's future—"
"Just proves that he has no ability to consider the consequences of his actions, right?"
"Oh come on!"
==========
Mr. White obviously never intended for Emilia to know of this 'small matter', but unfortunately, he underestimated Emilia's control over his eldest daughter.
As Samantha was part of his plan to groom Randy into a proper son-in-law, she of course had to know his 'plan'. Mr. White thought that she would surely support him, given how much she loved her little sister. It was for her future, right?
Unfortunately for him, Samantha immediately rushed into Emilia's room and ratted him out as soon as her father's call dropped.
Emilia's face was completely red, not from embarrassment, but fury. "WHAT?! He arranged a fiancé for me?! Without asking me?!"
Samantha felt relieved when she saw her little sister's reaction. After hearing about her father's plans, the thing she had worried about the most was Emilia being shy and curious about the new 'boy toy' and once more becoming that lovestruck girl who always ignored her.
Although she felt a little guilty of her 'selfish' thoughts, the older girl still cleared her throat to further 'clarify' the matter. "Not only is he going to push an annoying guy to be your husband, he doesn't even want to let you know. It's like… what do they call it… boiling a frog under slow heat?"
Emilia couldn't help but grit her teeth. "Does he think I'm a fool? Why can't he just focus on his own matters? Is he too idle these days?"
Samantha could only shrug. Supposedly, her parents' workload was much worse than her own, but who knew?
Cynthia couldn't help but chuckle in her mind. "He's Danielle's father, after all. Now I see where she inherited that stupidity from."
She didn't think this matter was 'too much to handle' for her partner. After all, he wouldn't really be able to 'force' her if she truly resisted. However, she knew that her villainess must hate just the thought of it, and was sure to 'avenge' such an 'insult'.
Emilia's eyes were dark as a sinister smile lit up her face. "Alright then… fine.. Since he wants to be a drama director so much… I'll show him a good drama."