Rejected By The Billionaire

Marriage and Business, No Escape

“It’s rude…what you’re doing.” The lady of the Throws mansion pointed at her youngest son as he fondled with his phone about the dinner table.

The beige walls of the Throws mansion appeared yellow under the candle-lit dinner.

A large wooden table, carved from the purest oak stood in the middle, and proudly carried the myriad of dishes prepared by the chefs.

Family dinner was once in a week, a tradition that their grandparents had invented and passed down to them. It was a tradition intended to keep the family bond.

“Always the rebel,” Joshua Throws murmured. The 40 years old had always wondered why his youngest brother had chosen to rebel against the family business.

Jayden had broken away in his twenties and had created an empire of his own, to their amazement and wonder.

Wesley Throws regarded all of his children with pride, but his pale brown eyes regarded Jayden with worry.

Everyone knew just how stubborn he was. At first when Jayden had made talks about breaking away from the family business, he had withdrawn his monthly allowances, ploughing every route available to clip his wings, but Jayden succeeded against all odds.

Jayden smiled at his mother, Catherine Throws, from whom the majority of his siblings had gotten their deep blue eyes.

“I’m sorry, it’s a business discussion and I must meet up by 8:00pm.” He leaned closer and caressed her chubby hand.

“Do you always have to work during family dinner?” His older sister, Elena, chipped into the discussion.

Jayden shrugged, “You know I’m a one man business. I work harder than all of you put together.”

Everyone chuckled. But when the laughter died down, Jayden spotted the seriousness on his mother’s face.

“You keep delaying the wedding plans between you and Annabel. Sometimes it makes me wonder if you’re really interested. Anna is half Italian and a good girl. You know what this means to me.” Catherine dipped a fork into the bowl of finely diced carrots and cabbage.

Jayden bit his lip, almost regretting why he’d even showed up at dinner in the first place.

His mother never failed to remind him of her Italian ancestry, and how important it was for him to bond with Anna.

“Well maybe he doesn’t like her as much.” Elena grinned.

“Or he’s tired of family traditions. You all introduced her to him.” Emily Throws looked up from the drawing of her family having dinner.

At 25, she was well established and was now looking for a way to sell her numerous paintings.

Everyone turned and faced the youngest child. But she shrugged and only kept drawing.

“His love for Anna is inconsequential to the plan. You may toy with other family traditions, but when it comes to marriage, you have to align with families that share similar pride in values. The Belizios aren’t just our friends; they are business partners too, so marrying Anna is key.” Their father explained in the gentlest way.

Jayden hated it.

He hated that tone that had loved to force him to do the things he hated most. That cold and harsh tone that made him take piano lessons and Italian lessons.

Perhaps his subtle dislike for his parents' domineering attitude had made him reject the family business.

“You hear that Jayden? You must marry her. You can’t escape this one.” His younger sister, Emily whispered, kicking his leg from under the table. He ignored the petulant gesture.

“I will marry her when we’re both ready. It’s common knowledge that Anna has a thriving modeling career, and she’s quite hard working too. Marriage is unpredictable, often producing negative outcomes. We'll just see.” He decided it was time to escape from his crazy family when he checked his watch.

After gulping a bitter coffee mixture with condensed milk, he dropped the teacup aside and stood up. Sometimes Jayden thought of avoiding family gatherings because it seemed that most conversations were centered on him.

Yet he couldn’t stay back either. Catherine Throws loved family gatherings, and she painstakingly prepared everything they would enjoy without the help of the numerous chefs they had.

Family was extremely important to her, so she took weekly family dinners quite personally.

“I’ll be seeing you soon.” He walked towards his mother, planted a sweet kiss on her cheek before strolling out without any more word for his dad or siblings.

He could hear their murmuring against him but he didn’t care. All he could think of was the exciting adventure he was about to have with his latest ‘distraction.’

But deep down, he loved Anna. He knew this. But the thought of sticking only to her by marriage was overwhelming. They had to take things slow.

“I bet he’s seeing someone else.” Emily spoke up. Out of all her siblings, she was the most direct.

“That’s none of your business,” Joshua gave her a stern look.

Emily shrugged, “Well, that explains his hesitancy to marry Ms. Belizio.” Emily scoffed. Deep down, she thought Anna was a mistake.

Though everyone else adored her, she felt there was something very superficial about the model.

“He must marry her. She fits into the Throws family name.” Catherine leaned against the chair, holding her fork as if it had wings to fly from her.

Now that she’d retired from running her own side of the family business, Catherine knew that she had a new duty. It had always been her dream to throw one of the classiest dream weddings for her children.

Her husband sighed, “Even if he doesn’t like her, he still must marry a woman of class, pedigree. All of you are aware of how important this is.”

“Enough about Jayden and marriage talks! What’s new in the business world?” Wesley turned to his eldest son.

“Someone is on Jayden’s tail. For years, Hotel Harmony dominated the market when it came to the hospitality business…” Joshua Throws dropped his fork as he explained.

“Name?” Wesley drummed his fingers against the table.

“Darren Salvatore.” Elena chipped in.