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Gina sat in the living room of her father's house... a slight frown on her face... Her father had called her to have dinner at her place, and she immediately became unsettled... she was afraid he would try and talk about taking the boutique from her again... She could feel that headache coming up once more... The private room at Charles bar pooped up in her mind, and she sighed deeply... She was strangely at peace there, like she had left her facade off and could show her emotions freely without worrying about what people thought about her... She didn't even feel that way in her own apartment or office... Anna walked into the living room with a smile on her face and her phone near her ear, but her smile immediately dissipated as soon as she saw Gina seated on the couch and staring at her suspiciously. "I will call you back," Anna said and ended the call with whoever she was speaking to. "You seem to be in a pleasant mood today, Anna... were you talking to your little boyfriend... does dad know about him? " Gina teased her stepmother, but Anna didn't take it well... A frown settled on her face, and she scoffed... "Why are you here... don't you have anywhere else to be... I really hate seeing your stupid face, " Anna snapped back... "At least I'm not stuffing my face with alcohol all the time," Gina retorted, and Anna's face immediately became red with anger... "Look here, you f*cking!" Anna couldn't complete her words because Charles walked in... "Enough, Anna... you are either stuffing alcohol down your throats or spewing out nonsense. Leave here and go and get yourself some of what you can't leave without" Charles said in a mocking tone and Gina watched as Anna's eyes filled up with tears as she walked out of the living room... Why wouldn't she just leave this man! what was she enduring so much? was the money that was good... "How are things going with Alex? I was thinking about inviting them over for dinner. Of course, i have to make sure Anna doesn't drink that day so she doesn't embarrass up in front of them... I should try and get rid of her soon, " He muttered the last part... Gina swallowed. How was she going to tell her father that Alex was acting up... he would definitely try to set up that blind date he had talked about before... thinking of going on a blind date with Dalton made Gina feel sick... "Oh, I don't think now is the right time... from what I've heard, Alex is on a business trip right now and really busy with work... I will have a talk with him when he gets back, " Gina said, hoping her father would buy it... "When is he getting back... Richard has been asking a lot about you... I haven't told him yet about you and Alex..." Graham said and started to walk out of the living room, Gina quickly followed after her father.... "In a few weeks, I think." Charles stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his daughter... "You think?" He asked, and Gina smiled nervously at him... "I speak with him all the time dad, you don't have to worry about a thing. intact I have a brunch date with his mother tomorrow, " Gina continued with her lie.... she was never going to be set up with Dalton never! Was Alex really her last hope? She felt like tugging her hair and screaming out her frustration... but she had to keep up with her lie... Charles nodded in approval... "For once, I think I'm proud of you... Alex seems like a better catch than Dalton... We can even work together in the future if things go as planned... I'm thinking of merging our hotels together, then I can have you work there, " Charles said... Gina didn't want to work at the hotel... she wanted to expand her boutique the more and needed more than enough funds for it... "Dad, I was thinking about showing you my boutique... would you like to pay a visit there one of these days? " She gathered up her courage and asked Charles... Gina wished she would have shut her mouth immediately she saw the look of displeasure form on Charles face... "Are you still going on about this boutique... I thought I told you to wrap things up... we can't have a dawson who is marrying into the Graham family running a damn boutique. use your freaking brain... don't mention it to me again, " Charles said and walked off, leaving Gina heart broken... Anna, who was passing by, had heard the whole conversation, and Gina was expecting her stepmother to mock her, but Anna simply patted her shoulder when she walked past her... Gina swallowed and ran her hand through her hair as she stood in the downstairs hallways of her family house... "Why wouldn't he just give me a chance?" She muttered under Her breath and immediately headed for the front door when her eyes started to water up... she couldn't let them see her weakness... She walked out of the house and blinked back her tears... as Gina drove her car out of the estate, there was only one place on her mind... The place where she could cry in peace... tears escaped her eyes, and she wiped it away with her free hand... "You can't cry, Gina, no one will console you... you can't be weak... your father would hate you the more, " She muttered to herself. but it didn't help, and more tears simply escaped her eyes... she had no idea what to do... All her life, she had only ever seeked her father's approval and did not try to go against him or his word... she always did as he said... How was she going to make Alex marry her when he couldn't even stand her... What was she going to do!