Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 76: Family Ties

Chapter 76: Family Ties

That night, the steak and eggs (my wonderful contribution) were great. But if I didn’t know any better, he just wanted to fatten me before eating me, in turn.

The kitchen counter and door to our room proved to be durable that night. As expected of the nation’s top construction firm.

We had been tired this week so it wasn’t a surprise that we both just passed out after. Though, normally, Lucian’s capable of holding on, but tonight, he was out before I was.

Waking up in the middle of the night to pee was an experience. Since I’ve changed my body clock to be out of here early in the morning, I was reduced to "naps" with how short they were.

But when I tried to walk to the bathroom, I was grabbed by a suddenly awake Lucian.

"What? Why are you awake?" I asked, voice still very unsteady after a night of roughhousing

"Where are you going?" His voice was hoarse but stern.

"I need to pee." That was the truth, but it earned me a watchful guard as I went to do my business.

"I’m not going to the hall early." Or I’m not planning to run away again, is what I meant. So there’s really no need to watch me like this.

Lucian just stared at me, still unsatisfied, so I just decided to tuck myself back in for good measure.

"Stop looking at me like that. You’re starting to look like a man in love." Maybe it’s a look of obsession, but I couldn’t really tell because the guy has only been obsessed with work and didn’t sport any expression for that.

This brings me to the question of how he even noticed when he’s got horse blinders most of the time. So I figured I’d ask.

"What gave you the impression that I was running away?" Maybe this would help for future reference.

"You want me to tell you so that you can fix it for next time?" He finally said.

Was he a mind reader or something?

"No. I already swore up and down." He did make me swear up and down until the wee hours of the night. Pretty sure I sounded like a broken record, but the guy just kept on asking me to repeat it.

Sadly, pleasure was an effective torture for me. Tsk.

He eventually relented after double-checking. "You flinched at the sound of the door opening."

"?"

What? What does flinching have to do with anything?

"Being early to work and late to return isn’t unusual. Your guards also reported on your hard work. And even I had barely been home to finish the year-end documentation."

He paused and grimaced as if remembering something unpleasant. "Then you didn’t inform me directly about the Grahams. Instead, you informed Oliver. But he told me it was an accident, and your guards corroborated that."

Oh? How observant.

"Then you went back to see your parents. I expected you to cram, so that wasn’t unusual. But one day, I woke up while you were still rushing to leave." Lucian’s expression was getting worse. He was getting poutier. Huh?

"I wanted to go to the kitchen since I figured you’d be there, only to see you flinching in panic as you tried to rush out of the door. I checked the footage. You flinched when you heard our door swing open. Then, for an entire week, that orange juice box went untouched. Nothing in the fridge was touched. Not even water and certainly not your snacks."

Wait. Does he know where I keep my snacks?

"How blind would I have to be not to notice? I only let you be because the guards said you were being pummeled at work. But I was sure to catch you at the Summit. You’d have no choice but to be there."

The guy looked unreconciled. And I was afraid he was going to look like that the whole day, and I’d be stuck with such a sour-faced companion.

So, I did what was best for me and for the public. Let’s just have a go at it before leaving. Maybe the bastard will be in a better mood.

The world should thank me for my sacrifice, really.

__

The Construction Summit created waves online not because of the new amazing advancements and technologies but because of its attendees.

People have long wondered why such big shots would choose to grace the public with their presence in such a situation.

Dad once said to look at the actual attendees. All the big companies were present, but their representatives were the next generation of leaders.

So why would my Dad attend something like this as the Chairman of the Anderson Group?

Well, that’s because, for the longest time, he was just the successor of the Thornhill clan, even as he held the position of Chairman for another Group. Essentially, Dad did all that work while I went to school.

That explained why Lucian, Idris, and even Jessica were there instead of their parents or some other elder.

Then you’ve got Mrs. Grant, who would rather die than hand anything to anyone else in fear of a possible coup.

It’s not that there weren’t elders attending, but those with heirs mostly had them represent them for everything.

Now, why would this matter? That’s because we discovered something interesting when we ran across Ben Miller on the second day of the summit.

This time, we came prepared, with snacks and guards. However, the crowd just increased instead of dying down, making it even harder to move.

We hoped to look for more contractors today but quickly gave up when we couldn’t even get close to our exhibition area.

"Let’s just look around elsewhere."

We were moving towards the less crowded areas when Mitchel bumped into another person.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed as he fixed his glasses.

"It’s fi-. Oh. It’s you, Mr. Miller! Sorry about that." Mitchel apologized to the flustered designer.

"Wow! Hello! It’s you again!"

What luck! It’s the designer we had such high hopes for!

"It’s good to see you again!" I was just about to introduce him to Lucian when I saw him focusing on the man behind Ben.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Miller. I did not expect to see you here." Lucian greeted the elderly man who was with Ben again today.

The old man nodded at Lucian before speaking, "Lucian. I see you’re acquainted with them."

"Sir, this is my wife, Eliana. My cousin, Rina, and our assistants, Oliver and Mitchel, are also with us." I was surprised at how many respectful words Lucian said. Most were names, but he had zero edge when he introduced us.

"I see. And this is my grandson, Ben." At this point, Ben and Lucian shared a cordial greeting while we greeted the senior Miller politely.

"You can follow if you’d like." Sir Miller just walked, presumably towards their booth, and I looked over at Lucian to ask for confirmation.

He nodded, and that’s how we found ourselves in such a coincidence.

We were back at their booth, which still looked every bit relaxing amidst the bustling exhibit hall.

"Ma’am, about yesterday’s offer. We’ve decided to pass a formal proposal if you could wait for us?" Ben was twiddling his thumb in nervousness.

If only he knew how much more nervous I was over their decision.

"That’s great!" Rina and I looked at each other as we exclaimed in joy.

Ideally, we shouldn’t look all too happy about this because they might realize how desperate we were, but Ben’s personality doesn’t seem to swing that way.

Mr. Miller then asked Lucian, "I presume you are the general contractor?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Interesting. Then we hope to work with all of you on this one." Ben’s grandfather had a softer look as he glanced at all of us.

"I appreciate your genuine interest in Ben’s work, as well as your efforts to protect his interests. So, I have decided to work on this under the Minotti banner."

Well, shit.

Was he from Minotti?

God, can we afford that?!