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"God, this is painful," Emma muttered once the older women had left the room, rubbing her temples dramatically.
As the beautiful, accomplished daughter of the Worthington , Emma had been positioned as "ideal daughter-in-law material" by every prominent family on the East Coast since she was like twelve. Now that she was actually an adult, the pursuit had intensified—rich guys constantly shooting their shot, asking her out, showing up at events she attended.
But she knew the truth. None of them actually cared about her. She was a transaction. A strategic marriage alliance. A way to merge family fortunes and social capital.
It made her sick.
That's why she'd stayed abroad for years, even during holidays. But even at her international school, she couldn't fully escape—there were plenty of wealthy American kids overseas, and some of them were just as calculating and opportunistic as the ones back home.
Dale Sterling had been the worst. That creep had stalked her for months, showing up everywhere, making inappropriate comments, refusing to take no for an answer. Thankfully he'd gotten expelled and deported back to the States for drug possession and illegal weapons charges. Good riddance.
This winter break, Mother had begged her to come home, said she missed her terribly. Emma had caved. And what happens? Two days after landing, she gets ambushed with this awkward setup.
She was developing legitimate trust issues at this point. Every guy who approached her probably had ulterior motives, right? The thought made her instinctively defensive, automatically suspicious of anyone's intentions.
She'd never actually had a real boyfriend because of it.
"Look, I heard Mother hyping you up the day I got back," Emma said honestly. "Telling me I should 'reconnect' with you. Then today she insisted I come over for lunch. This is... I'm not insulting you or anything, but this feels exactly like a blind date setup and it's incredibly awkward."
"No, you're absolutely right," Alex said, equally uncomfortable. "I had no idea you were even back in the country until my mom dragged me here this morning. This is weird as hell."
Emma relaxed slightly. At least he wasn't playing along with the charade.
"Hey, I just had an idea," Alex said, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "What if you tell your mother that I'm taking you out to dinner and a movie?"
Emma's eyes narrowed. She'd just thought Alex was different from those other trust fund douchebags, and now he was already trying to—
"Wait, hear me out," Alex interrupted, reading her expression. "I'm not actually asking you on a date. If Grandma approves, we'll have a legitimate excuse to leave. Then we can go our separate ways the second we're out of sight. Problem solved."
Oh.
Oh.
Emma's suspicion evaporated, replaced by grudging respect. That was actually pretty clever.
She didn't want to waste her afternoon making painful small talk either. She'd rather go back to her hotel and game, or maybe hit up some old friends from high school.
"That's... actually a good idea," Emma admitted.
"Okay, so you tell your mother that I was telling you about this amazing restaurant near my office, and you want to try it. Then we'll swing by Stormwind Studios so I can show you around, then catch a movie. After that I'll drive you home. That should satisfy them."
"Got it." Emma nodded, then immediately headed for the kitchen.
She found her mother taste-testing pastries with Alex's mom and threw her arms around the older woman. "Mom! Alex was just telling me about this incredible restaurant near his company—he made it sound so good I'm dying to try it! Can we go? And then he's going to show me his studio, and then we're going to catch a movie this afternoon. He'll drive me home after!"
Emma had perfectly grasped the strategy: make it sound like exactly what her Mom hoped was happening, and she'd approve instantly. Even if Mom actually believed there was romantic potential here, it didn't matter—Emma would be back at school in a few weeks, thousands of miles away. Easy to avoid.
Right now, escaping this awkward situation was priority one.
"Still so impatient!" Her Mother said, but her smile was radiant with approval. "Go on, have fun!"
"I'll come visit tomorrow, promise!" Emma said cheerfully, then rushed back to grab her bag from the living room. She flashed Alex a quick victory sign before announcing, "Let's go!"
"Emma, wait!" Margaret emerged from the kitchen holding a container. "Take these pastries for the movie!"
"Oh, thanks Mom!" Emma grabbed the pre-packaged treats from the housekeeper and stuffed them in her bag.
Then, committing fully to the performance, she grabbed Alex's arm and walked out with obvious excitement.
Their natural chemistry and comfortable body language made both mothers beam with satisfaction.
"Those two really do get along well, don't they?"
Alex pulled out of the Worthington estate's long driveway, both of them maintaining the act until they were well out of sight of the house.
"Your acting was pretty solid back there," Alex commented as he merged onto the main road.
"Thanks. Years of practice," Emma laughed. "But actually, I really wanted to study acting originally. My dream school was the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU—their drama program is supposed to be incredible. But my family..." She sighed. "To them, actors and performers are basically low-class. Not serious professions. So I got strongarmed into Harvard Business School instead. Which I absolutely hate."
"That sucks," Alex said. "But you could still pursue it as a minor or something, right? Universities have theater programs, student productions, all that stuff. You could at least try it out, see if you're actually any good."
Emma went quiet for a moment.
She'd had her whole life planned out for her since birth. In some ways, that made her less driven than regular people—she'd never really had to fight for anything, never had to take initiative to pursue her own dreams. The path was just... laid out.
It hadn't even occurred to her to actually do something about her acting aspirations beyond complaining about not being allowed to pursue them.
"You know what? You're right," Emma said, sitting up straighter. "My family just wants the Harvard prestige. I'm already enrolled, already a Harvard student. They probably wouldn't care if I picked up a second major or joined theater groups in my spare time. I should at least try, right? So I don't spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if.'"
"Exactly," Alex agreed. "You're twenty years old. If you don't take risks now, when will you?"
"Thanks. That's... actually really helpful advice." Emma smiled genuinely for the first time all afternoon. "So, Mom mentioned you started a gaming company?"
"Yeah, Stormwind Studios. We develop content for Infinite Realms. Been running for less than a year."
"Oh, that game! So many of my friends are obsessed with it. Even my dad plays now, which is weird. I'm just not really into games myself."
Alex nodded, not pressing the topic. No point discussing his company with someone who had zero interest in gaming—that'd just create more awkward conversation.
"Hey, could you drop me at that shopping center up ahead?" Emma asked, pointing. "I need to grab a few things."
"Sure, no problem." Alex pulled into the parking lot.
Emma gathered her stuff, then paused before getting out. "Oh wait—" She dug through her bag and pulled out the container of pastries. "You should take these. Mom desserts are actually really good."
"Thanks." Alex accepted them without argument.
"This was... surprisingly not terrible," Emma said with a slight grin. "For a forced social encounter orchestrated by meddling grandmothers."
"High praise."
"Maybe we'll actually hang out for real sometime. Like, voluntarily." She climbed out of the car. "Good luck with the gaming thing!"
"Good luck with secretly pursuing acting at Harvard."
Emma laughed and headed into the shopping center.
Alex pulled back onto the road, feeling like he'd handled that situation pretty well, all things considered. His phone rang almost immediately—Danny's name on the display.
"What's up?"
"Yo! Jake's back from visiting family for the holidays. We're doing dinner and drinks the day after tomorrow. You in?"
"Absolutely. Same place as usual?"
"You know it. I'll text you the time."
"Perfect. See you then."