Bound by Agreement

Chapter Four

Connor stepped out of his car and looked towards the mansion, where his grandfather stayed. He let out a sigh of frustration as he walked towards the entrance.

"Welcome Young Master Connor, Master has been waiting for you" The butler greeted as he led him into the dining room where the grandfather was already waiting.

"You are late" the old Dartine stated as his grandson stepped in, his face squeezed into a deep frown at the indifferent attitude from Connor.

"I got here as early as I could, you invited me to dinner without asking me for my plans," Connor stated as the butler began serving the meals

"What could be more important than your dying old grandfather?"

"M&S, it has always been more important than anything, hasn't it? You taught me that and I'm leaving by that principle" he replied indifferently giving the butler a nod to dismiss him before digging into the meal.

"Why have you called me here? It's not just to see my face and have dinner I presume?" he asked in a cold and indifferent voice.

Grandpa Dartine's frown deepened and his fist balled in anger at the way he was being talked to by his grandson, but he swallowed his criticism knowing fully well how stubborn the younger male gets when he is angry.

"You are right, I didn't call you here to have dinner with you. But since you ordered your men to investigate the Hale group I'm sure you are already aware of the reason I sent for you" Grandpa Martinez remarked

"As usual," Connor chuckled darkly, "you don't trust me enough to handle the company and you have your men watching my move. Why bother making me the president if you were going to get all worked up about it?" he questioned with an arched brow.

"And yes, I'm aware and my response to it is no. I'm not going to marry Emily Hale, not for M&S, not for you. Besides, don't I already have an engagement with that girl from the Wilson family? What was her name again?" he looked thoughtful for a minute after which he shrugged and gave up thinking about the lady.

"Presumptuous!" Grandpa Dartine yelled in anger,

slamming his hands on the dinner table, Connor remained unmoved at the outburst as he continued to eat his meals calmly

"You will marry one of them whether you like it or not! I don't care what you think or feel about it!" the older man added angrily.

"I won't, plus the project they want us to work on together hasn't been secured by them. I'm sure you are aware of that, you just need something to tie me down and control me with, don't you? And since the engagement with Wilson wasn't agreed to back then I'm not obligated to any emotional damage, isn't that why you are trying to set me up with another?" Connor asked knowingly

"I have always done things on your terms," he said, placing down his cutlery "I became the president and started working towards being the CEO as you wished, I made sure to push the side family out of the game as you wanted, I have always done everything you wanted for the sake of M&S but this time, I won't let you dictate my marriage to me" he added and stood up to leave.

"You ingrate! I've done everything for you!" Grandpa Dartine threw his wine cup at Connor, barely missing his face as it crashed against the wall behind him.

"Make sure you use your medicine in time and don't land yourself in the hospital like last time, I don't think the side family will sit still if you get yourself admitted again and I'm not in the mood to deal with their problems," he said and exited the door

"Come back here you ungrateful bastard! The only way you can stop me from announcing your engagement to the public is if you bring me a wife in a week, if not be ready to get married to the daughter from Hale's group!" he yelled angrily

Connor gritted his teeth in annoyance, he knew the threat would come to reality, the old geezer would go to any length to get what he wanted.

A trait he unfortunately got.

"You are leaving already?" Mila, the housekeeper and Connor's Nanny after he lost his parents asked with a smile as she held up a brown bag filled with sweets, she knew he liked to take sweets whenever he was stressed and his major stress was his grandfather.

"You knew I wouldn't stay longer than a few bites" he replied calmly taking the bag of sweets from her, he had always loved and respected Mila since he was a boy and even more after she took it upon herself to take care of him when his parents died. She was among the few people he genuinely cared for.

"He only wants the best for you"

"You mean for his precious company?" Mila sighed and shook her head in amusement. The grandfather and grandson pair has always been a source of amusement for her, not because they couldn't get along but because they both have so much in common that they clash every time.

"He isn't wrong, you need to get married soon"

"So he can have another heir to dictate and control their life? Over his dead body"

Nathaniel was already waiting by the car when Mila saw him out, "You look even more stressed than your boss Nate," she commented as she got closer to him

'That's how it always is' Nathaniel wanted to reply but only gave a nod

"You two should be careful by the way I saw Andre come visit the Chairman sometime ago and he must have gotten what he came for as he had a bright smile on his face" she whispered and turned back inside.

"Do you need me to look into why Andre's visited?" Nathaniel asked her as he started the car

"No, I don't. The reason he visited is obvious if the old man threatened me to make him MD. Are there any new updates from the new project? You were supposed to meet with the team manager during lunch," he asked getting back to work as he brought out his laptop

"As of now, the device is going to the testing phase, it was sent back to the software development department for some software malfunctioning repairs"

"Good, hasten them up, I need it completed by the end of the month"

"Yes sir"

"Boss, you got an email from that email?" Nathaniel reported that the email had been dormant since he got together with a celebrity ex-girlfriend.

"What is it about?" Connor asked curiously

"She needs help to pay her debt and mother's hospital bills"

As Nathaniel reported the content of the mail, Grandpa Martinez's threat resurfaced in his mind.

"Get me all the details about her, I will decide whether to meet her or not"