Chapter 25 Give It Your Best Shot
Derek didn’t call his grandfather right away.
At first, he sat in Ryan’s office long after their conversation had ended, staring blankly at the darkened screen of his phone like it could give him answers if he looked hard enough.
He thought about Rebecca. About her calm eyes when she laid out her conditions and how easily she could get angry at him which actually seemed to amuse him.
He thought about how honest she had sounded when she said she didn’t want love, only the security he offered for a year.
That kind of honesty had felt… safe with no emotions, no attachments or traps. Just an agreement. Between them.
Now he was looking at a completely different cage. One where the door would lock behind him and the key would be thrown somewhere he couldn’t reach.
'Just talk to the girl first,' Ryan had said.
And the more Derek thought about it, the more it seemed like a lifeline and a way to breathe in the chaos.
If he could speak to the woman his grandfather chose, maybe he could make her understand. Maybe she wasn’t any more eager to be controlled than he was. Maybe they could make their own quiet arrangement behind the old man’s back.
A marriage on paper or a truce. That could work.
By evening, his office lights were still on long after most of the staff had gone home. The city outside his window was alive with blinking lights and moving cars, but inside him, everything felt frozen. Tight. Coiled.
Finally, he picked up his phone and tapped the familiar number.
It rang only once before the call got answered.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to call,” his grandfather’s voice came through, calm and unsurprised.
Derek exhaled slowly. “Good evening, Grandfather.”
“Have you come around?” the old man asked gently.
Derek sniffled. “I… I’ve been thinking.”
“And?” his grandfather pressed.
“And I want to understand what I’m agreeing to,” Derek said carefully. “If you want me to marry this girl, don’t you think I deserve to at least know who she is? You didn't even mention her name or which family she came from.”
Silence stretched on the line and when his grandfather spoke again, his voice was firm. “You don’t need to concern yourself with that.”
Derek frowned in confusion. “What do you mean I don’t need to concern myself with that?”
“You will meet her on your wedding day,” the old man replied evenly. “Until then, you don’t need to see her, speak to her, or know anything about her.”
Derek felt his stomach drop. “What? That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s necessary,” his grandfather said.
“So you want me to agree to marry someone I can’t see, can’t talk to, and can't even know her name?” Derek’s voice rose despite himself. “Does that sound normal to you?”
“You knowing her beforehand only gives you room to try something stupid,” his grandfather answered bluntly.
Derek let out a bitter laugh. “So this is what I’ve become to you? A criminal you have to guard people from?”
“You are my grandson,” the old man said, and there was a sharpness there now. “And I know how clever you can be when you want to get your way.”
Derek ran a hand over his face, frustration burning behind his eyes. “This isn’t marriage. It sounds like a trap.”
“It is a protection,” his grandfather corrected. “For you. For her. For this family.”
Derek walked across the room, pacing like a caged animal. “Why are you so hell-bent on this? Why is it so urgent that I must be married now? Why can’t you just let me run the company and marry in my own time?”
The words came out rougher than he intended, carrying years of swallowed resentment.
On the other end of the line, his grandfather went quiet. Not the strategic silence he often used… but a tired one.
When he finally spoke, his voice was softer.
“Because I am running out of time, Derek.”
Derek froze. “What?”
“The doctors won’t mention it in front of you,” the old man continued, “but I hear everything when they talk to each other.”
Derek’s chest tightened. He hated that his grandfather was always two steps ahead.
“The episodes are getting worse,” the old man said. “My heart is weaker than I let on. And when I am gone, the board will not make things easy for you.”
Derek swallowed.
“They don’t trust a man who lives recklessly,” his grandfather went on. “They don’t trust a leader who has no stability, no family, no visible roots. I know you know I don't have much time but it's actually shorter than you know.”
There it was. The truth behind it all.
“This marriage…” Derek said slowly.
“…is protection,” his grandfather finished. “It is armour. A shield. If you are married, they cannot question your image so easily. They cannot move against you without cause. They will hesitate and your rivals, they won't have much to fight you with.”
Derek leaned against the desk, suddenly tired in a way that had nothing to do with work.
Silence hung thickly between them. Then, unexpectedly, his grandfather’s voice shifted.
Softer. Older. Less like a ruler and more like a man who had buried too many people he loved.
“I know I have meddled too much in your life,” he said. “I know I have pushed you too hard. And for that… I am sorry.”
The word sorry sounded strange coming from him. Like a foreign language he had never practiced.
“I just… want what is best for you,” he added. “Even when you don’t understand it.”
Derek closed his eyes for a brief moment. He thought of the years of control, of manipulation and of how small he had felt so many times.
And yet… in that moment, he also heard fear in his grandfather’s voice.
“Let your mind be free,” the old man said gently. “Marry the girl. If after one year it does not work… I will personally ensure you get a divorce. Even if I'm dead by then, at least, you would've had a better footing in the company. But just promise me you'll give it your best shot.”
Derek’s eyes snapped open. “You mean that? I can get a divorce if it doesn't work out?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t stop me?”
“I will not,” his grandfather promised.
Derek’s heart pounded.
A year. Just one year. If it went badly, he could walk away. Clean and free.
Unlike the future he had been imagining of a lifetime trap, this… had an end.
A breathing point. He had to agree that this approach sounded survivable.
Finally, he straightened, jaw tightening with a decision he never thought he would make.
“Then,” he said quietly, “go ahead and plan the wedding.”
There was a pause on the line. Then a low, almost relieved exhale.
“You have made the right choice,” his grandfather said.
Derek wasn’t sure about that.
But as he hung up the call and stared at the dark city outside his window, one thing was certain:
He had just stepped into something that would change his life, whether he liked it or not.