32.

AMBER'S POV. "Amber." A voice from behind distracted me who was looking at a painting in a large frame. I saw the figure of Kathrine who brought two cups in her hands. Then one of the green tea cups was given to me. Suddenly a little surprised, I accepted the cup of green tea. I bowed briefly as a gesture of thanks. I immediately said, "Thank you, Mrs. Kathrine. What is it?" Kathrine did not answer. She sipped the green tea in her cup for a moment, looked at the framed painting in front of them, then froze for a moment. From the expression on her face at that moment, Kathrine looked as if she was thinking about something. "This is our first time meeting. I've wanted to meet you since I first found out Benny was going to marry you," Kathrine began, not looking at me. "You know, Benny is my only son. He's also the successor to the company. I was worried that the person who became his partner was someone who only wanted his wealth," Kathrine continued in a serious tone. AslIeena did not answer anything. Because after all, this conversation with Kathrine was not something she understood. Also, I was worried that she would misspeak a sentence that would lead to a misunderstanding between them. At that moment, I actually already had an uncomfortable feeling about the direction of Kathrine's conversation. But Asleena still tried to remain calm, watching Kathrine with a curious gaze. "But you don't seem to be someone who is only after Benny for her wealth," Kathrine said, then turned her gaze to me. "Why... did you suddenly think that?" I could be heard laughing awkwardly. She didn't really want to answer yet. Kathrine was watching me so intensely, that it felt like her gaze was intimidating me. Kathrine's powerful aura as the 'Mistress' of the Handerson Group family was really strong. I instantly felt her whole body become reluctant towards Kathrine. 'Is there something wrong with me?' I thought to herself as she awkwardly looked at Kathrine so closely. "You have to make yourself worthy of being Benny's partner, Asleena," Kathrine said between intimidating glances. I was taken aback. "What do you mean?" "Well, you know there are a lot of other big corporate families who would also like to marry their daughters off to Vincent," Kathrine paused, "and they all have high values as women." Then Kathrine shifted her gaze to the frame of the large painting before her. Although her gaze was fixed on the painting, I guessed that Kathrine's mind was on something else. "I haven't gotten to know you well at all because it's our first time meeting. If you feel that you don't belong with Vincent, you shouldn't go ahead with your marriage plans." It was from those words that I understood where Kathrine was going. The confusion on my face faded slowly as she took a deep breath, then exhaled. Her shoulders slumped limply. 'So, she wants my marriage to Vincent annulled? Is it because of the other woman Benny has been seeing?' I wondered in her heart. I was silent for a few seconds. She felt that Kathrine's words had stabbed her in the heart. It was so obvious the insinuation Kathrine was giving her that she didn't know what to answer. "Don't say this to Vincent. I know he'll be annoyed with me. Too bad..." Kathrine took another sip of her drink, then let out a long breath. There was disappointment on her face. "Vincent should be with the woman he loves. You too, you must have someone you love, right?" Hearing that made me remember the woman Rogger had told her about yesterday. Even though I had tried not to think too much about it. But after Kathrine mentioned it again, Asleena felt upset. "I don't have one right now," I replied. "And, I'm sorry, Mrs. Kathrine. This may sound rude, but you shouldn't mention another woman in front of your son's future wife. I know I've just inherited the company and may not be able to manage it, so what?" Kathrine was somewhat surprised to hear my reply. Both her eyebrows spontaneously rose, looking at me through her gaze as if she was interested. Kathrine did not answer anything, as she seemed very curious to know what I meant. "If there are so many high value women who want to marry Benny, who will marry him in the end?" I asked, deliberately sharpening the last sentence to insinuate implicitly. "Greetings, Mrs. Kathrine. You obviously know this is the first time we've met, but you look at me like we've been close for years..." I gave a brief pause to her sentence. There was no anger in her expression, it was relaxed and intense. After giving a wider smile, I continued, "So, why not withhold your judgment of me until we've been close for years? That is... if you want to get to know me better. But if you maintain your judgment of me even when we've been close for years, that's your right." Kathrine could not answer. Her cynical laughter came out because she did not expect to hear that answer from me. "Just don't come to me with regrets because your judgment of me was wrong." That was my last sentence which was spoken very calmly, not using explosive emotions, and letting Kathrine digest the sarcasm in her sentence. While I was very casually sipping the green tea in her hand, Kathrine was still watching me. It took Kathrine a moment to make sure her ears hadn't misheard. Kathrine didn't know that I would give such an answer-because all this time, no woman from another company owner's spouse, who wanted to be with Vincent, dared to go against him. I looked at the frame of the painting in her hope. This time she could feel that Kathrine had nothing more to say. "I didn't expect you to have an answer like that," said Kathrine who chuckled, not removing her intense gaze from me. I turned her glance to Kathrine, giving her a smile. "From my answer earlier, you already know me one step, Mrs. Kathrine. If you want to get to know me better, I will make a way for you," I replied. After giving that answer, I faced my body towards Kathrine. I bowed briefly as a gesture of respect. Then I also gave Kathrine a warmer smile. "Excuse me, Mrs. Kathrine. I'm going to Vincent." I said a quick goodbye. Before Kathrine could say anything, I was already gone from her presence. Kathrine did not move her gaze from Asleena and kept looking at her back until she was completely away. Kathrine immediately laughed sarcastically while shaking her head. "Why is that woman so bold? Joseph will approve her as Benny's partner even more." *** "What did my mom tell you?" Vincent's question broke the silence between him and me. Since earlier, in this car, I had not spoken at all. They were almost halfway to my house. But there had been no conversation at all between the two of them. "Huh?" I looked out the window at Vincent. Benny raised both eyebrows. Vincent looked at me as if he wanted to know the answer to his question. I remembered her conversation with Kathrine a few hours ago. She really didn't want to remember it. I seemed to want her and Benny to cancel the wedding plan. While I had tried hard to get rid of the thought of talking about canceling the wedding plan. The talk of canceling the wedding plan made me sick. She did not want to marry Vincent, but her father's will could not be avoided. I didn't understand why she was stuck in this situation. "It's nothing," I said. If the conversation was prolonged, then I would not be able to forget her intention to cancel the wedding plan. "It's just a chat to get to know each other. You don't have to worry." "Who's worried about you?" Vincent asked in a sarcastic tone. Hearing that made me frown in annoyance as she clucked. I just rolled her eyes in disgust and let Benny think anything. I looked out the window again. The night atmosphere actually didn't show any scenery. But for some reason I didn't want to see Benny's face. "If it's just a conversation about getting to know each other, why do you look so upset?" "You said you weren't worried about me. Then why are you asking now?" now I had a sarcastic tone towards Benny. In front of Asleena, Benny frowned and gasped in surprise. Getting Asleena's sharp sentence made him unexpected. "What's wrong with you?" Benny didn't understand. "Why do you look upset and don't want to say anything?" "Because you ask too many questions, Benny. You know it's a night trip. You should have let me rest," Asleena complained. "From what?" Asleena's head, which had been resting on a pedestal, straightened again. This time Asleena looked at Benny with annoyance. "What do you mean?" "Yeah, what do you want to take a break from? You just sit and chat with my family." Asleena suddenly fell silent. Asleena certainly couldn't say that she was tired from being questioned by Kathrine. But because she was forced to answer through Benny's eyes, Asleena finally let out a rough breath. "Ah, you're really annoying. Not from anything, I just want to sleep." Before Benny could say anything, Asleena immediately ignored her. Asleena looked away and immediately got ready to position herself to sleep. Leaving Benny who looked at Asleena in astonishment. At that moment, for some reason, he felt uncomfortable. Did something happen to Asleena?