The youngest heiress of the Fujiwara Group had blearily woke up at the shrill sound of her alarm. Accompanied with the quiet servants politely bowed outside her door that morning, their faces tighter and eyes lackluster, she put two and two together and concluded her parents had arrived at her place again without notice. It wasn’t rare of them to do that, but when they did, the maids and cooks bustled around the place frantically to prepare a gourmet course for the chairman and director.

It might have been a nuisance to the servants since her parents always liked to take things by surprise, but Mari was ecstatic upon seeing the familiar sleek, black vehicles parked in her lawn that morning. She threw on the nicest sweatshirt she could find, a lilac hand-knitted sweater that was thrown over the back of her chair while her lady servant brushed her tangled locks the same time she bobbed down the stairs two steps at a time. As expected, the maids were moving at a pace that caused quite a ruckus to her house that Mari loved. Even though she lived with at least fifteen other people in the house, the mansion always seemed so desolate. It didn’t help that her people refused to talk to her either unless spoken to, and she just had to accept they would never treat her as anything more than a boss out of fear.

It was the loneliness of her own home that made Mari grow to love her parents’ spontaneous visits. Not only did they always bring some sort of grand news, but hearing the hurried footsteps and hushed murmurs of the servants were something the cat-eyed heiress basked in.

The dining area that housed ten chairs in case she had guests over (she never did, save for the exception of her family) and the long, freshly varnished oak wood table was filled with more food than she’d ever seen. Mari couldn’t help but frown at the sight of lobsters, shrimps, oysters, and even a strawberry parfait along with a small bowl of caviar. She didn’t understand why there was so much food for three people, which only meant one thing… they were going to celebrate something. To celebrate exactly what however, she had no idea.

Her parents were already seated upon the table, her father; the chairman, reading through a newspaper in the head chair while her mother sat diagonal from him, flicking her fingers in front of her face to inspect her nails. Upon the sight of her parents, Mari completely ignored the brush currently threading through her hair and headed straight to her parents’ direction, arms completely outstretched with a grin plastered to her face.

“Mother! Father!”

Her parents snapped their heads up in the direction of her voice, her father’s eyes crinkling as he smiled and stood up, arms also wide open to embrace his daughter. Her mother, the director, gazed at them fondly from her seat. She leaned over the table once Mari had detangled herself from her father’s embrace, pressing a soft kiss to her daughter’s hair before they all settled down.

“I didn’t know you guys were coming,” Mari beamed, her other hand under her elbow as she poured her parents a drink and placed equal amounts of servings into their plate. Her mother chuckled into her seat, the three of them well aware her parents never let her know when they were coming.

Mari’s smile fell when she scanned her surroundings and found no trace of her older brother, Kyo. She figured he was probably still studying in the States, or at least that was the last thing she heard about him.

She shrugged, digging into her food after her parents started eating as well. The lobster was still fresh and lusciously cooked, the meat practically melting into . She made a mental note to repay the chef generously once they were done, because she hadn't had food that tasted this good in a while. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t aware of any special events to commemorate that would require her servants to prepare such lavish food in such short notice.

Her parents must have something to tell her.

“Mari,” Her father began, stealing a glance from her mother who was trying to hide a smile behind a spoonful of seafood stew. “We have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Before he could say something, her mother had already clutched his hand in excitement and grinned at her. “You’re gonna get married!”

Mari blinked, her chopstick frozen midway. “Pardon?”

“Don’t be so surprised, Mari, you’d always known this was going to happen.”

Her father was right. Ever since Mari was just a little girl, her parents had always told her she would be betrothed to the son of another company to merge stocks and increase sales. For years, she’d dreamed of meeting the perfect prince her parents had promised her, but she never expected that she would get married now. She was only twenty four and taking her degree in business. She hadn’t even graduated yet!

Sure, she was ecstatic to meet him and always fantasized over a faceless, elegant and refined man who came from a nice family, but now that the situation was confronting her head on, she just felt anxious. She wasn’t ready for this at all.

“I-I do, but… who is he?”

“Do you remember the Yeonghwa Group of Companies in Seoul?” Her father asked, a ghost of a smile playing on his face while her mother tried to contain her excitement by giggling to herself in her seat.

“Hard to miss them,” She her lips. “They currently have the highest net income in Seoul as we speak. Ever since the launching of the charities three years ago, not only did they gain worldwide attention and sponsors coming at them in every direction, their latest products are innovative as well as economical.”

Something like pride shined in her mother’s eyes. “Our daughter is as smart as ever, which is why we made sure your fiance would be deserving of you.”

“His name is Park Chanyeol, the only heir to the Yeonghwa Group.”

“I’m engaged to him?” Mari paled. She hadn’t heard his name before, but his company and family were well-known in the industry. If there was one word to describe them, it was probably untouchable. That family was close to royalty in South Korea!

“The one and only,” her father nodded. “Your flight is in two days. He’s already been informed of your arrival so you better hurry up and pack.”

“Two days?!”

“Why do you seem so surprised? You’ve known about this since you were young.”

“I know, but everything is happening too fast and I’m not ready—”

Her father squeezed her shoulder, smiling reassuringly at Mari’s evident fear. “Calm down, my child. You are ready. You’ll be an amazing wife and with that brain of yours, you’ll do amazing in leading both companies to the future.”

Mari ducked her head down. “I’m not ready to leave yet, I’m not ready to leave you.”

“Mari,” her mother started, her soft, motherly voice calming her down. “We’re not going anywhere. You can always come visit us when you want to. We’re merely two hours away from you.”

“Hey, you’ll be alright. You’ve wanted to meet your fiance since you were young, right? I’m sure he can’t wait to meet you too. We’ve already done our background check on him and I can assure you, he’s a lovely man.”

From behind her fist, her mother giggled like a schoolgirl. “He’s handsome too,”

“Mother!”

“Yoriko.” Her father growled threateningly, eliciting another chuckle from his wife.

“I’m sorry, darling, I just can’t believe our Mari’s getting married already.”

“We’ve prepared her to take over us her whole life. She’ll do a great job at it and we can now enjoy our senior days.”

“I don’t think you should be relying on me that much. Besides, Onii-san will handle half the company’s assets and management with me. It’s better not to give me all the credit.”

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