TWO

LOCATION: BEAUMONT MANSION 

TIME: SUNDAY 8 PM

"You are asking me Levi Beaumont to get married to Lila Carrington?" Levi asked for the tenth time in just a few minutes. He was standing in his dad's home office. Daniel was sitting behind a huge wooden table, and Levi was standing across from it. He had been called in by his father to give him some news. 

When his father asked him to come into the office after dinner, he expected anything else, but this was not on his bingo cards, and he was sure that he must have heard it all wrong. There was no way his father, Daniel Beaumont, who was the chairman of the Beaumont group, was asking him to marry a Carrington. 

"Dad, Beaumont's and Carrington's do not mix; they have nerve mixed for one day," Levi said before his father could say anything. Daniel took off his glasses and let them hang from his neck with the glasses rope, dangling it gently in the air. 

"They have never mixed for six generations." 

"Exactly, so I am confused as to what you are implying," Levi said, pulling out one of the chairs in front of him and sitting down. When he got into the office, he was convinced that there was no way he would spend so much time in there because his father was a man of few words, so he chose not to sit even when his father asked him to, but now that he heard the reason he was summoned, he could help it; he had to sit. 

"Skyline wants to do business with us," Daniel announced. 

"That is wonderful news, but I do not see what this has to do with Carrington," he said, making an expression of disgust even by the sound of the name. 

"They would only do business with us if we collaborate." 

"I still do not see the reason why we have to get into this marriage. We do business with them all the time, even though we do not like it." Levi said. That was one of the major reasons he always had to see Lila; they were always crossing paths in this line of business; it was almost inevitable, but they had never ever thought of finishing a way to see more of each other. If he gets married to Lila, he will have to see her every day; how is he going to ever survive that?

"This project is the biggest thing that any of us have ever seen; it is the biggest thing that the country has seen, and we would be fools to let it go without finding a way to stamp our name on it," Daniel said. 

"Dad, I get it; it is Skyline; we can't let this slip away, but what I still do not understand is the reason why we need to do a wedding; the project is not going to last forever, so why do I need to be joined with someone like her?" he asked. 

"Williams suggested the marriage."

"And you agreed to it?" Levi asked, leaning into the table. He could swear that there was no way that was his father; he had been switched out by some alien because how could he just easily agree to a term by William just because of a deal with Skyline? They had not even been interested in Skyline before, but as soon as the Carrington family showed interest, they began to pursue it as well. 

"I had to; how can I miss out on this? Don't worry, it is a contract marriage and will only last a year," Daniel said with a nod. Levi looked at his father; he could tell that a plan was forming in his head, knowing the kind of person that he was. He was sure that he would not say anything about his plan until it was fully formed. 

"I understood that you had to, but must it have been marriage? Why would William Williams suggest marriage when he loves family so much he carefully curates who can get it? Don't you think that this is a bit suspicious? Don't you think he might have an ulterior plan?" Levi wondered if he was the only one worried about this. His father should not be that relaxed, though. 

"He might have his own plans, but that does not mean that we do not have ours," Daniel replied with a head nod. 

"I know you have your plan, but I still think that this cannot work," Levi said simply. The families were at war, but especially for him, Lila was his archnemesis; they could never be tied in marriage no matter what plots their parents were trying to do. He was sure that she would be saying the same thing as well. 

"Levi, if you still have interest in being the chairman of the group, I will advise that you do as I say and can put you in charge of the Skyline project. That way, you will have a better edge at becoming the chairman." Levi heard the threat behind his father's words loud and clear. His father was saying to him, 'If you let this fall through, then I would take the company, which is your right since you are next in the succession line and I would give it to your cousins.' It was not the first time he had been such a threat, but he knew that his father was capable of doing anything that he said he would do. 

"This is for you to tell me if you like it or not. This is for the family and the group, so you would do it." 

"Dad, you are making this so hard for me," he said, running his hand through his hair and teasing down his face. He bent his head to the floor, thinking it through and weighing all of his emotions with the silent room. He raised his head and took a deep breath.

"I guess I really do not have a choice."