I could sense that more trouble was coming our way and that I wasn’t going to quite like what he had to say.

“Why do you think your father wants to see us?” I asked in a shaky voice.

“You don’t need to be so scared of him,” Ace replied teasingly.

“I don’t know…it just feels like there’s something that he wants from us…” I murmured before letting out a soft sigh.

“Don’t overly worry yourself over nothing, Rina. We’re married now so I hope that you’ll get used to my dad even if I have to say that he’s not the easiest person to deal with,” Ace said before showing me a smile that I felt was comforting.

“He suddenly requested to see us, and we just got back,” I said while still sounding very worried.

“Maybe he has good news for us,” Ace said brightly.

I highly doubted it, but I didn’t want to voice my thoughts out loud. There was a possibility that Ace might be right but that probably was probably very slim. The main estate for Ace’s family felt as intimidating as ever when we arrived. The chairman was waiting for us in the living room, and I quickly realized that it was still very hard for me to see him as my father-in-law.

“Welcome back,” he greeted us without sounding welcoming.

“I would like to say that we’re glad to be back, but the truth is that I would have preferred for our honeymoon to last even longer,” Ace replied smoothly.

I just smiled and nodded as I took a seat on the sofa next to Ace. I could feel the Chairman’s eyes on us and that made me feel a little nervous and unsettled.

“When are you two going to move back to the city?” the Chairman asked as he stared pointed at us.

Even after we got married, Ace and I didn’t have any intention of moving back to live in the city. We were extremely content with living out of the city and the work that we had laid out for us. However, I could see why the Chairman wouldn’t agree with our decision. Although Ace was no longer running his family business after the merger, his father probably wanted him near and at his disposal.

“Not any time soon. We don’t have any plans to move back yet,” Ace replied smoothly.

I was glad that Ace was clearly on the same page that I was, but at the same time, I could tell that his father was far from pleased. The air suddenly felt filled with tension as the two men stared at each other. It felt like a message that I couldn’t understand passed between them in the silence that surrounded us. I could hear my heart beating loudly in my chest as I tried my best to stop myself from shifting uncomfortably on the sofa.

“What about children?” his father asked after a pause of silence.

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. It took a moment for me to realize that I was displaying my blatant shock and for me to press my lips together again. Somehow, I knew that sooner or later this question would come up, but I didn’t think that it would pop up so soon after our honeymoon had just ended. If I had to choose, then I would definitely say that I wanted children with Ace. I never had any doubts that Ace would make an amazing father and that we could build a warm and loving family together.

We would have so much fun as a family and we would teach our children to grow up as good and helpful citizens. There would definitely be challenges but I was certain that we could overcome them and become great parents and build the family that we wanted together. Thinking of our future together filled me with endless hope; however, I could tell that those reasons weren’t the reasons why his father was asking us about children.

“What’s the rush?” Ace asked playfully.

“You can’t wriggle your way out of this one and I won’t have you playing around and dodging the issue,” his father replied sternly.

“I’m not dodging the issue because it isn’t even an issue. We’ll have children soon or later,” Ace replied casually.

Ace did make some comments before about us having children together, so I already knew that he wanted children. It felt great that we wanted the same things, but the issue of timing had me feeling concern for a moment. I wanted to be a mother, but I truly thought that it was too soon. For the time being, I wanted to focus on my career, and I also wanted time alone with Ace. Enjoying life together as a newly married couple without the responsibility of taking care of children was something that I wanted.

“And when would that be?” the Chairman asked coldly.

“Whenever Rina is ready. We just got married, so what’s the rush?” Ace replied before turning to offer me a warm smile.

I felt thankful that he was putting me into consideration. After all, like it or not, I would be the one carrying the baby inside my tummy for a whole 9 months not to mention labor and all the work that I had to put in to raise the baby. Although his considerate words and understanding warmed my heart, it also meant that he had just passed on the burden of deciding on the timing to me. In response to that, his father’s attention immediately zoomed in on me and I was put right on the spot.

“Umm…perhaps in a few years’ time…” I murmured softly.

“A few years? Are you joking with me right now? Our family needs an heir, and it is your job to provide us with at least one,” the Chairman stated matter-of-factly.

The way he looked at me made me feel like I was a fool for not understanding the obvious. The fact was that I understood where he was coming from and the whole need of having an heir to inherit the family business and fortune wasn’t a hard concept to comprehend. However, that didn’t mean that I was willing to simply give in and pop out babies right away for the sake of providing him with an heir.

–To be continued…