Chapter 12: Unexpected Turn of Events

Scott was tired of having the same conversation with his grandfather over and over again for what felt like years now. Every time the man had a chance to bring up the topic again, Scott knew a long lecture was coming his way.

This time was no different. He had just arrived from a trip to London where he had met potential future business partners. As soon as he landed, he went straight to NYU for a meeting with the President, the Provost, and other members of the academic board to decide what would be the direction of his donations, which was finally concluded now.

After that, he had an interview with an academic magazine and meetings scheduled for the entire afternoon. He was just having some time off to have lunch before diving back into his tasks.

He barely had time to think of his brief encounter with Florence. He didn’t tell her about his visit since it was very short notice and he wouldn’t have time to see her anyway.

Also, with his business trip happening so soon after their date, Scott found it hard to have some free time to call her or stay in touch, not to mention their time difference.

They texted a few times, but nothing too deep or meaningful. Just simple exchanges like ‘how was your day?’ or ‘what did you eat?’.

Surprisingly, he had to admit to himself that he was missing her. He had never felt this way about any woman he dated before.

“Grandpa, we already talked about this,” he said over the phone while taking a bite of his meatball sandwich. His assistant bought it for him knowing that he had to be given something for him to eat a meal. Otherwise, he’d probably just skip lunch. “Why do you insist on wanting to see me married?” He rolled his eyes and could imagine his grandfather doing the same thing on the other side.

“Because I don’t have much time to wait and I won’t let my company fall in the wrong hands. You already know that, so why do you always ask?” Noah complained.

“Well, I’m already the CEO. So, can’t I just continue to be it? Without having an heir?” Scott insisted, even though he already knew the answer to that.

“Our legacy is too big to have someone without kids to take over. It would probably fall in the hands of the shareholders eventually, and we know they don’t care about our name. They only care about money.”

“It'd be better than having Eric and Pearl take over. If you give my cousin the company, you know his wife will stain our name even more. Her family has ties everywhere in the underworld. Is that what you want for Lee Pharmaceuticals?” he tried to appeal to Noah’s good sense. But the man was stubborn like a mule.

“No, that’s why I want you to marry soon. So I can give the company to you. My lawyer is pissing me off by asking me to authenticate my will, and I want to retire soon. So do me this one favor and just find someone to marry. Or should I do it myself? I know a lot of trusting men that have beautiful daughters. I could introduce you.”

Scott rolled his eyes again, finishing his sandwich, and throwing the wrapping paper in the trash bin. To be honest, it’d actually be better to just have his grandfather arrange him with someone. He never believed in marriages anyway. So, finding someone to agree to marry him for business purposes didn’t sound so bad.

But why couldn’t he just agree to it? Now, more than ever, he was constantly seeing Florence’s sweet face in front of him every time his grandfather mentioned the word ‘marriage’. And it made no sense. Why would he think about her? He didn’t want to marry anyone, but he also never thought about liking someone the way he was starting to like her.

Could she really make him change his mind? He could see himself being happy around her, even if they were still in the ‘getting to know each other’ phase.

“I will give you a couple of weeks, Scott. That’s all I can offer you,” Noah continued since he didn’t get a reply after a couple of minutes. “If you don’t find someone to marry, I’ll set you up on some dates and will have my will authenticated. Or I’ll just pass it along to Eric. You know that’s not what I want either, but I see no other options. I won’t pass my company to someone that doesn’t carry the Lee name.”

Scott wanted to scream out of frustration. Why did his grandfather have to be so stubborn? He knew that Scott was more than capable of taking over the company. He was the CEO after all. For years now.

If Eric put his hands on the company, Pearl would ruin it for good. Her family was no joke. They were involved with money laundering and Scott suspected that they even had ties to the mafia.

Was that really what Noah would let happen to their family legacy? It would die anyway if Eric were to inherit it.

So, it’d be better if someone that knew the business inherited it, even without an heir. But it wouldn’t work. He had tried every single time to convince Noah of what was the best choice, but the man never listened to him.

And Scott was not willing to let anything bad happen to his family legacy. Or his grandfather’s company. Lee Pharmaceuticals was his life too. He couldn’t stand seeing it fall to the ground. They worked really hard to make it what it was.

“Fine,” he huffed.

“Fine?” Noah repeated, and Scott couldn’t ignore the hint of excitement in his tone. “What exactly did you agree with?”

“If you want me to marry someone, then I will. You can wait for news from me pretty soon. Eric won’t have our company. Not if I can do anything about it,” he concluded, surprising even himself.

As the words came out of his mouth, the plan was already being elaborated in his mind. He usually wasn’t a man that made decisions under pressure or out of impulse. And he was also surprised to realize that was not the case.

Scott wasn’t just saying it to get his grandfather out of his hair. He truly said that thinking about a plan. A plan he didn’t know if it was going to work, but he would do everything in his power to make sure it would.

He couldn’t think about anyone else to marry, so he needed to find something to offer Florence, something she’d never refuse.

It’d have to be her. He couldn’t think of anyone else. He didn’t want anyone else.