Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 11: Engagement Banquet

Sean easily read Miles’ thoughts from his expression.

He placed the shrimp he’d just peeled onto Rory’s plate. Picking up a wet wipe, he began methodically cleaning his fingers as he asked, "I hear you two are already living together. In that case, some things should be decided sooner rather than later. You can’t delay it, right?"

Lucy rested her chin in her hands, her face flushing with shyness.

Rory kept her head down, quietly eating the shrimp from her plate and refusing to take part in the conversation.

In her mind, this dinner was all about Miles bringing Lucy to meet his family elder.

Judging by what Evelyn had said before, she probably knew Miles had a new girlfriend and disapproved.

That was why Miles had brought Lucy to see Sean.

The man who truly called the shots in the Harrington Family.

As long as Sean gave his approval, it was only a matter of time before Miles’s parents changed their tune.

Favoritism could be a cruel thing.

She and Miles had dated for four years and lived together for four years. Even with his parents’ approval of their relationship, he had never been in such a hurry to marry her.

But...

After living with Lucy for barely a week, he was already rushing to bring her before Sean, desperate to make their relationship official.

Matching social status was just an excuse.

At the end of the day, it was all about which one he preferred.

Rory had just swallowed a piece of shrimp when the man beside her grabbed the armrest of her chair and yanked it toward him.

The chair’s sudden movement caught Rory completely off guard. Inertia sent her tilting toward the man, and she bumped against his firm arm.

They were so close that the faint, woody scent of his cologne filled her senses.

As if he hadn’t noticed, Sean raised a hand and instructed a waiter, "Add another seat here, and bring a place setting."

Now Rory understood.

He was making room for Lucy’s father.

Placing the chair between her and Lucy was the perfect spot.

Rory adjusted her place setting, which had been knocked askew, and was just lifting her glass for a sip of water when Sean’s voice sounded from beside her.

Which day of the week is your favorite?

Since their chairs were so close, he didn’t even have to lean in for his voice to reach her ears alone.

His voice was low and soft, meant only for her.

Rory had no idea what he meant by that question.

She turned her head to look at him.

The proximity was startling.

She had only to turn her head slightly to meet his gaze.

His handsome, cool face was expressionless, yet there was a distinct warmth in his dark eyes.

When she didn’t answer, he asked again, "Which day of the week is your favorite?"

This time, Rory was sure she hadn’t misheard.

He really was asking her such a baffling question.

As a doctor, her hospital shifts were scheduled monthly, not by the day of the week.

Rory didn’t have any particular feelings about the days of the week.

She thought of her friend Sherry’s preference and answered, "Saturday, I guess?"

The man beside her gave a slight nod. "Alright. Saturday it is."

At that moment, Rory still had no idea what he had meant by that question. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Not until Lucy’s father, Charles Shaw, arrived in the private room.

After a few pleasantries, Sean said, "Since Miles and Miss Shaw are planning to marry, why not start with an engagement?"

With his company in crisis, Charles was already hoping to make Miles and Lucy’s relationship public.

The moment he heard the word "engagement," his face lit up. "Yes, yes, of course!"

The color drained from Miles’ face.

But at this moment, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse the engagement. He could only hope the date would be set far in the future, giving him time to maneuver.

Sean’s lips curved into a slight smile. "Next Saturday seems fine. Let’s make it next Saturday."

"Uncle!" Miles finally couldn’t take it anymore. "Shouldn’t I discuss this with my parents first?"

"Of course. I’ll have a friend take full responsibility for the engagement party on Saturday. You go back and discuss the guest list with your parents. If you run into any trouble, feel free to contact me at any time."

Sean’s tone was even and mild.

But it left no room to doubt that the engagement party was happening.

Lucy, not expecting everything to go so smoothly, beamed. "Miles, your uncle is so nice to you."

Charles chimed in, "There’s a huge gap between the Shaw Group and the Harrison Group, and Lucy is so fond of Young President Harrison. I was worried the Harrington family would look down on us. I never expected... President Harrison, you’re so open-minded."

"It’s the modern age. What’s most important is that Miles is happy." Sean looked at Miles, a smile in his eyes. "Unless... Miles is unwilling to marry Miss Shaw?"

Miles was now in an impossible position.

He’d had plenty of flings before.

They were never serious.

In truth, his feelings for Lucy weren’t much deeper than what he’d felt for the others.

The only reason Lucy had been able to move into his villa was because he’d been acting out of spite toward Rory.

He had assumed Rory would be like she’d been so many times before—that she would quickly admit she was wrong and come asking to make up.

He never imagined that instead of getting an apology from Rory, he’d get railroaded by his own uncle into an engagement with Lucy!

Lucy pulled her chair next to Miles and looped her arm through his, her face a picture of coyness. "Miles, you said you wanted to marry me. Since your uncle has mentioned that, wouldn’t it be wonderful to get engaged next Saturday?"

Miles dropped the pretense. "Marriage is a lifetime commitment. We haven’t even been together for a full month. I’m busy with work... We still need to get to know each other better."

If Charles weren’t here, he could have just put his foot down and refused the engagement.

But Charles was here.

The Shaw family’s business was a well-established and respected enterprise in Veridia. He didn’t want to offend Charles.

Lucy’s face immediately fell. "But you said we were a perfect match in every way, that you wanted to be with me forever..."

Miles knit his brows. "My parents..."

"I’ll go speak with my brother and his wife. You don’t need to worry about it."

Sean cut him off.

Throughout the entire discussion about the engagement, Rory didn’t participate. She just kept her head down and ate.

Except...

As an observer, the more she watched, the more she realized things weren’t as she had imagined.

It wasn’t Miles who wanted this engagement.

It was Lucy, Charles Shaw, and...

Sean Harrison.

Just a moment ago, Sean had casually asked her favorite day of the week, and then he’d used it to so hastily set the date for Miles’s engagement.

He hadn’t even asked for a month or a specific date.

He just asked for the day of the week.

That meant Sean planned to have Miles’s engagement party taken care of in the next week or so...

Rory’s eyes were downcast as another realization suddenly struck her.

Perhaps in Sean’s eyes, it was better for Miles to marry anyone than to marry her, the daughter of a housekeeper.

He was afraid Miles would change his mind, and afraid they would get back together.

That was why he had rushed to set the engagement party for next week.

If looked at that way, all of Sean’s recent, strange behavior suddenly made sense.

At the end of the day, it was all just to placate her, to keep her from pestering Miles.

Rory put down her chopsticks.

She looked at the group discussing the engagement party, and rose to her feet. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner. I’m finished, so I’ll be heading home now."

Lucy quickly stood up. "Rory, will you come to our engagement party next Saturday?"