Chapter 111 A Break
Romeo took Cara home later in the evening, she had been silent all through the ride and it was to his notice.
As they arrived in the living room, he was supposed to turn back and leave, after all, Giovanni was still waiting for him. They had some catching up to do.
But instead, he sat her down and sat next to her. "Is everything alright? You did not say a single thing all through the ride back home."
Cara had been lost in her own thoughts but she was thankful that he had noticed it. She sat up properly and asked him, "did you hear what your mom proposed to me today?" Her voice was soft.
"The merger?" Romeo's brow arched as he asked her and she nodded her head in response. He continued. "Yes I did, what about it? I wasn't really paying attention to her."
Cara let out a soft sigh. "Well you know enough to know what her proposal was. Why do I have to merge my company with yours?"
"It's not that you have to, it's just something that seems like the right and normal thing to do." Romeo responded.
"Right and normal?" Her arched brow questioned his response.
"Yeah, I mean come on. We're getting married and we are finally going to share a last name."
"Which is a good thing of course, but the merger is just so not needed." Her voice was no longer as soft as it was before.
"So not needed?" It was Romeo's turn to question her words with an arch of his brow. "Why is it not needed? It will help your company grow and be widely recognized."
"Not my company anymore, another branch of the Armani company. I will just be a doll placed in an office. Unimportant and unseen." Her voice was even more louder than before, letting it known that she was holding back on her anger.
"Wait," Romeo rose to his feet. "Are you implying that the Armani family-- my family-- is trying to steal your company from you?" He questioned.
She rose to her feet to feel leveled with him even though she was still shorter than him and had to look up to meet his gaze. "It might not be your main agenda but it is what is going to happen anyway!"
"Might not?" He questioned with squinting eyes.
"I'm not saying steal but you are taking it away from me. It's my company and I don't want to merge, I don't want to be under your name. What will happen to my name?"
"Okay firstly," Romeo stated firmly, anger hinting at his tone, "this mindset of yours is something else, truly. You think that your own husband family is trying to steal your company from you, secondly, why would you even think that?
"What could we possibly want from your company? Fame? Money? Tell me! What could we want from a company that we invest in other than to make it known!"
Cara stared at her fiancée, taken aback by his words. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't get me wrong--"
"Are you trying to tell me that my company is useless and can never be compared to yours?" She demanded angrily.
"Hey, I never said that--" he reached out to touch her but she shrugged him off aggressively.
"Yeah but you hinted at it!" She yelled out angrily. Her voice ran cold, like ice, "is that what you think of me? That I am nothing and your Armani name is what will help me become someone? Do you think I need your fcking name to survive?!"
"I never said that!" He yelled back at her. "I am in love with you, I am crazy for you, I can't think straight when you are not by my side and that is the only reason I am getting married to you because I am very sure that I will go mad without you by my side." His voice was soft as he confessed.
Sadly, it was not enough for Cara. She shook her head softly. "Maybe we need a break."
"Cara--"
"You don't think this merger is a big deal, in fact you want it to happen." She cut him off.
"Because I want to help you in every single way that I can!"
"Is this you helping me or taking everything away from me?" She demanded. "For you, I will discard my own last name and take up yours, who I was born as, I am going to give everything up, forget my father's name, whose daughter I am, everything will be gone and I will be your wife. Is that not enough for you?" Tears brimmed in her eyes as she spoke.
She continued. "I will no longer be Joshua Smith's daughter but instead, I will be Romeo Armani's wife. But you are not satisfied with that, no, the one thing that will remain to remind me of who I once was before marrying you, you want to terminate that as well.
"How selfish can you be? I will not give up everything. No, I refuse to lose everything."
"So this is what this is about..." Romeo said softly.
"What do you mean?" She asked him confusedly.
"You're just afraid. Stop trying to hide it, you are afraid to be my wife, you don't want to give your name, that's just an excuse for not wanting to get married to me, are you afraid that you can not live up to the Armani name? I don't understand, was there ever any issue like this when you got married to Chris? You had no issue becoming Cara Knowles so why is it such an issue for you to take up the Armani name?
"If you knew how much I love you then you would not accuse me of trying to steal your company and you would not talk about taking up my last name like it is a responsibility, no, a burden. I'm not asking it to be an honor, at least appreciate me."
"No," she shook her head. "Don't try to make this matter what it is not--"
"You will always be your father's daughter and you know that too. Maybe we do need a break." His voice was as cold as ice.
It ran down Cara's back like a chill in winter.