KAHLAN

CHAPTER 1

KAHLAN

Spring has always been my favorite season. It is when everything becomes colourful and beautiful once again, after the harsh winter cold. To me, it was more than just a season, I reflected it to how life works. I've always believed that after storms and hindrances, and every odds that comes with trying to achieve goals, there'll always be a beautiful side of the story.

A smile crept to my face as the car drove past the once familiar buildings into the beautiful mansion which I call home. I stepped out of the car after it came to a halt, a wide grin plastered on my face as I came face to face with my parents.

"I'll never get used to having you both wait for me like this." I squealed as I approached them.

"There's my princess, all grown up." My dad said spreading his arms for a hug which I immediately indulged. I missed my family.

"She looks just like her mother." My mom emphasized. It was one of those things she and my dad never agreed on.

I laughed at the face my dad made before going in for a hug with my mom, home never felt so good. Staying away from them for half a decade made me feel I could live without them, but being with them again, cancels such thought. I could never.

"Please don't start, I just arrived and the last thing I want to hear is you two bickering about whose looks I took after, even when it's so obvious." I said giving them a slight pout.

My parents were everything I imagined myself and future partner to be like, it was beautiful to watch them argue about the least important things and laugh about things that were not even funny. As annoying as that was to me most times, I secretly found it cute. Incase you're wondering, I'm everything like my dad, from my looks to the way I act. Mom would always say I was just as stubborn as him too, that part of me, she would wholeheartedly deny.

"I don't know how you two survive in such a big and almost empty house." I said taking in the living room arrangements, "not that you have the time to stay in it." I added and they both smiled.

"Where's Amelia?" My mom asked one of the workers who was taking in my luggage.

"She went out with her friends, ma'am." She replied with her head down. I found it weird that people would speak without looking at the face of whom they are speaking with but I waved it off.

"I'm so tired, mom. I need a warm bathe and good sleep then I'd come down for dinner. I'm sorry Amelia will be back by then." I said still clinging to my dad's arm.

Amelia is my maternal cousin, her mother is my favorite aunty, making Amelia the favorite cousin too. She has been living with my parents since three years ago after she moved from Nevada for college here in Florida.

"Okay, baby. Have a nice rest." My mom said placing a kiss on my forehead, my dad did same.

I walked into my room being as colourful as ever, just the way I left it. If I had not known better, I'd have thought no one had stepped a foot in it since I left. My body immediately felt more tired, I took off my clothes quickly before crashing on the bed.

MR RENOLD

I felt so proud of my baby girl as I watched her walk up the stairs to her room. Being away for five years did not take any negative toil on her, rather, it built her to be the independent young heiress I've always wanted her to be. In a few months she'll be off to college.

Thinking of the company brought a sudden pang of hurt as it made me realize how it was slowly going into bankruptcy. I knew I needed to find a way to stop that from happening.

RALPH

"I told you I don't want to be entangled with someone for the rest of my life, mom. Can you just let me make this one decision for myself?" I said obviously upset with my mother's continuous nagging about getting a wife and giving her a grandchild.

It's hard enough to be running a multimillion dollar company with over thousands of people looking up to me for their daily bread. Tolerating another human who would want to be of the same level as me is something I can never imagine, women are unbelievable.

"It's not being entangled, Ralph. I don't want to see you lonely. Every man deserves a woman in their lives who makes everything easy." She explained but I was not having it.

"Women don't make things easy, mom. And I'm not lonely, I'm far from it. I'm so busy, I don't even realize I have a house sometimes. What exactly makes you think I feel lonely?" I said dropping the files on my desk hard enough to cause a loud thud.

"This reaction from you confirms everything. You need someone in your life, and that person will be your wife! It's not a request, Ralph. I'll send your assistant a list of eligible young ladies with the best background, you choose and get this chapter done." She said sternly before walking off, leaving me totally speechless.

Everyone said I got my cold personality from my mom but everytime I get to realize I'm far from being cold compared to her. I knew I pushed her to the brim and there was no way she would change her mind. Something in me never stopped wondering why she was so interested in my personal life.

"A wife?!" I scoffed. The last thing I wanted was to be committed to someone. Women are good pleasers, and that was all I every saw them to be. No one I had ever met changed that perspective, they had all been the same. Warming beds and seeking luxury they didn't deserve, but I gave them anyway. What better way to keep them in their place than buy their dignity?

I sighed deeply before phoning Mike, my assistant. "Whatever mother sends to you, send it down without going through it." I said sternly then hanged up.