1 A Distasteful Encounter

Richard Carrington stared angrily at the woman who had succeeded in getting a meeting with him yet again.

He watched in disgust as she eyed him up and down as if he were a piece of meat that she wanted to carve up.

"Richard, I don't know why you keep resisting me. Everyone in both our families has more or less agreed to our engagement it's only that's you holding on."

Titania Girardi, the only daughter and heir to the Girardi family, one of the biggest conglomerates in the country. The family had their fingers in every industry from food, to manufacturing, to medicine and more. They were the family with the most financial and influential growth within the last hundred years. The Girardi family now wanted to expand their influence into politics and the best way to do that was to create a bond with the Carrington family. His family.

As one of the families who had helped create the country centuries ago, the Carrington's had been the country's military, political, and financial pillar. No decision was made without informing them and they held the country in the palm of their hands.

Since ancient times, the best way to join two families was through marriage. Since Richard was the only heir to his family, he had been dealing with women throwing themselves at him since he was a child. He had always felt disgusted when he looked at adult women and even children approaching him with horrible intentions covered up as love for him. Just being in their presence made him sick to his stomach.

The woman in front of him was the worst of the worst, the most duplicitous person he knew. Titania Girardi. She was beautiful to look at, putting even the fairy queen that was her namesake to shame. Long golden hair that outshone every jewel and golden-tanned skin to match. Startling blue eyes that looked like crushed sapphires placed under thick curly lashes. Lips that looked as pink and as soft as a rose petal. She was a petite woman, almost like a fairy but her personality was a force of nature.

She had single-mindedly chased him from the moment they were both eight years old. She had taken the classes he took, majored in what he majored in, and when he joined the military she forcibly followed him around to each city he was deployed in. Other people saw her actions and thought she truly loved him. Only he knew that behind her fairly like façade was a calculating mind that wanted to use him, and his family's influence to boost her own family.

What made the matter worse was that his own elders supported this madness! Even though they knew the Girardi family was plotting something by making their daughter approach the Carrington's, they didn't care. The Carrington's had enough confidence in their family and their roots to not care! Plot against us? We'll send the military to your home and destroy you. The only thing the elders cared about was him getting married and starting to produce grandchildren for them to hold and spoil.

Richard had tried everything to get away from Titania. He had gotten girlfriends both rich and poor who he thought sincerely liked him, but they eventually ran away, or suspicious things happened to their families. He tried dating in foreign countries, but similar situations happened there. Titania and the Girardi family pressured the families around them through money or connections. Since he refused to be with people who only wanted his family name, he had limited options with women and eventually, he just stopped being with women altogether. Even though his family had power and he could order whoever he wanted to be his wife, who wanted to be unwillingly tied to somebody all their life?

His only safe haven was in the military, surrounded by his people. At 30, he was single and alone. This caused his family elders to begin pressuring him and this eventually led to the situation where he was having dinner. Alone. With Titania. Again.

He stared in disgust as Titania smiled at him innocently as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Listen, Richard, you and I are a perfect pair. A hard military man like you, a beautiful capable woman like me. We go together like a princess and her knight in a fairytale. So, you should just quietly give in. It's a win-win situation for both of our families. There are no losses and I assure you I am capable and willing to do everything a wife does for a man like you." Saying this, Titania licked her lips and looked at him as if she wanted to devour him. She reached her hand out and gently placed it on his corded forearms, using her nails to seductively run it up and down his uniform sleeve.

Richard stared at her coldly before roughly grabbing her hand and squeezing it. He kept on squeezing until her hand turned red then white and her face paled.

"Richard it hurts! Let me go!" Titania cried while squirming to free her hand.

Ignoring her attempts to pull her hand away, Richard glared at her with all the murderous air of a man who had killed many people which caused her to flinch.

"I've told you before to stop playing tricks Titania. The only reason I haven't touched you and let you mess around until now is because of the family behind you and even then, I will destroy them if they continue to cross my bottom line. All the little spies you put in the military have been cleaned out and if you try something like that again, it is an absolute declaration of war between the two of us and our families. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I will never marry you even if you're the last woman on earth." Seeing her stubborn eyes, Richard squeezed her hand again causing her to flinch before he tossed it away from him and wiped his hands with a napkin.

"You will. I will have you if it's the last thing I do." Titania looked at him stubbornly.

Seeing her resolved look, Richard couldn't help but add. "You don't like me. You certainly don't love me. Instead of harassing me constantly why don't you go and find somebody who you actually like."

"It's not a manner of like or love. You are the best and I have to have the best. The best looks, the best position. The best man. The best family. It has to be the best. Everything is secondary to that. I will make sure to continue to block every woman who approaches you until your only option is me!"

Hearing the idiocy coming out of her, Richard simply stood up. "I've warned you. A smart person would listen, and I know you're very smart."

Done saying his peace, Richard stood up and left without looking back. If he had, he would have seen an expression of genuine hurt on Titania's face that quickly morphed into a ruthless smile.

Titania watched Richard Carrington walk away and she couldn't help but lick her lips. The man was simply the pinnacle of what she wanted. He was tall, well over 6 foot, and had the lean muscular build of someone who trained for efficiency instead of appearance. With his short haircut, his chiseled jaw and strong features were exposed. Compared to his handsome physical appearance, his family background was even better. The only heir to the Carrington's, he excelled mentally and physically. After graduating high school at 15, he went to Harvard and did both his undergrad and MBA in less than 5 years. He then joined the military, exceeded all his missions, became the commander-in-chief at 30, and was now back in the capital city.

She had to have him.

No one else would do.

Whether he wanted her or not was irrelevant. She would seize him, have his heir, and propel her family into a new future. People believed having a daughter was like pouring away water, but it was the only daughter of her family that had given them this opportunity to join with the Carrington family. That is why her family had chosen her as heir instead of her elder brother.

As she watched Richard Carrington's back disappear, she held her sprained hand while smiling. She had dedicated 22 of her 30 years to chasing this man. It was impossible for him to get away.