Chapter Five

By the time we returned home, evening had settled over the mansion. We had barely stepped inside when the Vance family arrived for dinner. After exchanging greetings, my father welcomed them into the dining room and showed them to their seats at the table.

I quickly changed my clothes and joined them. Julian sat across from me with his parents beside him. I took my seat next to my father, but I barely touched my food.

“You've been quiet tonight, Lucy,” Julian said.

I looked up. “I'm just tired.”

Julian studied her for a moment before smiling. “You've changed.”

“People change.”

“I suppose they do.” He adjusted his cuff and continued talking about a new sports car he had ordered. His father joined the conversation, mentioning a yacht he planned to buy before the end of the year.

I listened for a few seconds before my attention drifted. I remembered what my father had told me earlier. A boy from the streets. Someone who had needed a job badly enough to accept a place in the company apartment.

I looked around the table. Everyone here had money. They talked about business deals, expensive cars, private trips, and investments as though those things were ordinary. Julian belonged here. That was exactly why my father liked him.

Or maybe there's something Father has never told me about this whole arrangement with the Vance family. Why is he so determined to have me marry Julian?

I looked at Julian again. I had no feelings for him. In fact, his presence irritated me more than I cared to admit. It wasn't that Julian wasn't handsome—he was. I simply couldn't see a future with him.

My father raised his glass. “Julian was telling me about his plans for the weekend.”

Julian turned toward me. “I thought we could take the helicopter to the island. Just the two of us. You could use a break after everything you've been dealing with.”

I forced a polite smile. “That sounds nice.”

“I've already spoken to my father about it.”

My father smiled. “That would be good for you, Lucy. You need to spend more time with people your own age.”

I nodded. I didn't want to argue at the dinner table. Julian continued talking about the island, but my attention had already wandered. I didn't know what Brian was doing at that moment. Maybe he was still working. Maybe he had already returned to the apartment my father had provided for him.

The thought bothered me. Why was I thinking about him while sitting across from a man my father considered perfect for me?

“Lucy?”

I looked up. Julian was watching me. “Sorry?”

“I asked if you liked the idea.”

“The island?”

“Yes.”

I gave him another polite smile. “It sounds fine.”

Julian seemed satisfied and continued eating. My father returned to his conversation with Julian's father. I lowered my fork. I couldn't keep sitting there pretending everything was fine.

“Father?”

He looked at me. “Yes?”

“I've been thinking about spending more time at the company.”

Julian stopped talking. My father raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I want to learn more about the business.”

“You already know enough.”

“I know what I've been taught,” I replied. “But I want to see how everything actually works.”

My father leaned back slightly. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“I want to spend some time on the company floor. I want to understand how the employees work and how the different departments operate.”

Silence fell around the table. Julian looked surprised. His father lowered his glass. My father stared at me.

“The company floor?”

“Yes.”

“You don't need to do that.”

“I think I do.”

My father's expression hardened slightly. “You are the heir to Davidson Industries. Your responsibility is to learn how to run the company, not spend your time following employees around.”

“I wouldn't be following anyone.”

“Then what would you be doing?”

“Learning.”

My father studied me. “Why?”

The question caught me off guard. I couldn't tell him the real reason. I couldn't say that there was someone downstairs I wanted to see. Someone I couldn't stop thinking about. Someone my father would never consider suitable.

“I just want to understand the company better,” I said.

My father remained silent for a moment. Then he picked up his glass. “We'll discuss it another time.”

“Father—”

“Not tonight.”

His tone ended the conversation. I fell silent.

Julian gave me a small smile. “You heard him. You have plenty of time for all that.”

I looked at him. He wasn't being cruel. That almost made it worse. He genuinely couldn't understand why working among ordinary employees could matter to me.

My father turned back to the Vances and resumed their conversation. I barely heard them. My fingers tightened around my fork. He had said no. Not because I wasn't capable. He simply didn't see any reason for the Davidson heiress to spend time among ordinary employees.

And I knew what that meant. My father's world had rules. There were people he considered suitable for me and people he didn't. Julian was suitable. Brian wasn't.

I looked toward the windows. The city lights were beginning to shine outside. I thought about the company. About Brian working somewhere inside it. About how easily she could lose the chance to know him if I left for Paris.

I didn't want to give up. But I couldn't openly challenge my father either. Not yet.

I returned my attention to the table. The conversation continued around me. Julian was talking about the island again. My father was listening. The Vances were smiling. Everyone seemed satisfied with the evening.

Everyone except me.

I lowered my gaze. If I couldn't get closer to Brian openly, I would have to find another way. I didn't know what that way would be yet. But I would find one.

Brian still didn't know what I felt. My father didn't know either. For now, the secret belonged to me alone. I would definitely find a way to get closer to Brian and, somehow, confess what I had been keeping inside. And my father wouldn't have to know. After all, I had always been a master planner.