Our Lies

Chapter 16

"What are you thinking, Serogia?" Agnes placed her slender hand on top of his. Gia slowly slid his hand out of hers and let out a polite cough.

"You are not possibly thinking about me, aren't you?" Agnes giggled. "I'm joking. You should eat more. You haven't touched your food at all. Are you tired?"

"You will make a good wife, Miss Lassham." Leo laughed while sipping his wine. The three of them were having dinner together for the first time ever since the engagement talk began. The older man invited the couple to his house a few days ago, to which Agnes was elated to accept while Gia, on the other hand, had dreaded to come.

"Oh, you think too highly of me, Grandpa... oh... I'm so sorry for shamelessly calling you so. You reminded me so much of my late grandfather, Mr. Leo." Agnes smiled sheepishly. Her cheeks were soft pink. Gia had been chewing the same piece of meat for a few minutes and the conversation they were having now was not helping to make the food go down his throat.

Leo laughed again. "It's fine. You can call me grandpa if you wish to do so. It's like having a granddaughter of my own."

Gia coughed so hard he almost choked on the meat in his throat. Agnes quickly passed him a glass of water and attentively patted his back. "Are you okay, Serogia? Here, drink this."

"I'm alright... uhhuk!" He coughed again. He accepted the glass and gulped down the water.

Leo watched them in silence, tapping his fingers on his temple occasionally. She is one silly little fox but she is Lassham's daughter. They will make a good pair, he smiled at his own thought.

"How do you find our Gia, Miss Lassham?"

Agnes looked downhearted. "Oh, Grandpa. You should just call me Agnes too. It's just fair. We will be family soon." She looked at Gia lovingly and turned back to the older Dignita in front of her. "Serogia is just what I am looking for in a life partner. Kind, respectful, dependable. As expected of someone coming from Dignita family. You have raised him well, Grandpa." She added.

Gia had no idea how his companion formulated that kind of opinion about him from just three short meetings but he was not going to refute it.

"I just wish he isn't so busy. He barely has time for me. But that's expected, isn't it? As the heir to Dignita family, he has a lot of responsibilities." Agnes threw a lonely look at Gia. "In the future, I promise I will help him in any way I can, Grandpa. Please rest assured." She added firmly.

"I'm sure you will." Leo then paused for a moment. "You are a celebrated actress yourself, aren't you? A fairly famous one."

Agnes' expression lit up. Her father might be regarded as the next Prime Minister and she was not doing so bad herself, making her name in the entertainment world but she knew her family was nothing compared to Dignita. Leo Dignita's influence knew no boundary. Everyone believed he controlled the media and he had the power to shake the economy and alter the political direction of the country with his single command. That was how powerful their family was.

"I am still as inexperience as a newcomer, Grandpa." Agnes tried to sound modest but of course, nobody in the room believed that. "I can also be Lumina Capital's face when the time comes."

Both Leo and Gia looked up and threw a glance at each other.

Agnes noticed the change in the mood and quickly added something else. "Of course, I will not neglect my responsibility to raise our children as the next heir to the family. Ah, a political career like my father is something..."

"Miss Lassham." Leo cut her sentence abruptly.

Agnes smiled brightly at him. "Yes, Grandpa?"

"It seems you have misunderstood something." Leo picked up his wine glass and sipped it.

"Eh?"

"It is true that I have made Serogia my heir. I guess many people assume I chose him because he is my grandson and as many know, my only family. But that doesn't mean blood ties are all he needed to be my successor. Only people I believe have the capacity, have the right to run the business and family." He smiled meaningfully. "And I believe Serogia shares the same view as I am. Isn't that so, Serogia?"

Gia did not answer. Disbelief and confusion were written all over his face. Did that mean his grandfather genuinely think he was qualified to be his heir? He, Leo Dignita, acknowledged his ability to take over his family. Even when he did not have the right to? His hand balled up into a fist.

He lifted his head and looked at his grandfather in the eyes. The cold eyes he was terrified of since they first met. "I... I believe this position should only be given to the right person." He did not elaborate his sentence.

Leo smiled. "Of course."

Agnes felt left out of the conversation. "Ah... I see... of course. What am I saying? Running Dignita family isn't something everyone can do."

The room's atmosphere turned awkward. As the three of them were more or less done with their meal (or unable to find the appetite to finish the food), they exchanged a few more pleasantries and soon Agnes bid farewell to them. Gia had offered to drive her home but Agnes had gracefully declined his offer, stating her chauffeur, whom she had secretly called during the awkward dinner, had come to pick her up.

When her black sedan was out of view, Gia went back inside the house to take his belongings. It was late and he needed to go home too.

"So you are quite busy lately that you have no time to date at all?" Leo asked as he appeared from the living room.

Gia looked up but did not say anything.

"You don't like her?"

"I will do better." He picked up his vest and suit jacket from one of the attendants. Truth was, Gia had been ignoring Agnes Lassham's texts. She had asked him multiple times when their next meeting would be, invited him to attend events together but all had been shot down by Gia's one short sentence reply. I'm busy. He just needed the woman to get tired of him and hoped she would soon discover that he had no intention of marrying her. A coward move, he knew. But that was the only way he could avoid this marriage without challenging his grandfather.

"I thought someone like her is just what you need."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Leo waved his hand. "You can go."

Gia hesitated for a while. It had been sometime since Leo showed interest in his life other than work and his other authoritative orders. And... his grandfather seemed different in his eyes today. Was that because of what he said during dinner? Gia felt something warm in his heart.

"If you aren't tired, I want to show you something from work." He knew he had nothing to talk about with his grandfather except work and he preferred it to be so too. Fewer lies. Less trouble.

Leo nodded. "To my office, then."

Sitting in his office, his grandson gave a brief weekly report regarding projects the company was handling at the moment and their budget allocations while he gave him a few pointers to consider.

Leo studied the young man sitting across him as he listened to the report. Smart, well-mannered, good looking and a Dignita. He smiled, looking amused. No wonder minister Lassham's daughter was so infatuated with him. If only... He glanced at him again before looking away with an expression of sadness on his face. If only...