Steven drank half his coffee and nced at his watch. He had another video conference that evening and was too busy to waste his time with the Spencers, so he got straight to the point.


    "Mrs. James, I have a meeting with my branch managers tonight, so I can''t stay long. I was wondering if I could have a private word with Ms. Jones?"


    "Of course!" Teresa nodded eagerly, pulling Jeffrey out of the room with her. Before leaving, she made sure to add, "Yvonne, be a good hostess to Mr. Hughes. He''s a close friend of your grandfather''s, despite the age difference. Don''t be rude."


    As Yvonne watched Teresa drag Jeffrey away, it finally dawned on her. They had tricked her intoing home for a blind date.


    Yvonne''s lips curved into a cold smile.


    Her own mother, Teresa, never failed to disappoint her.


    "Ms. Jones." Steven sat across from her, openly sizing her up as if inspecting merchandise on a shelf and assessing its price.


    Yvonne was dressed simply and wore no makeup, looking clean and pretty. She was more refreshingly beautiful this way than when she was heavily made-up on


    camera.


    Moreover, she was not yet twenty-young, fresh, and without a messy dating history. This was what satisfied Steven the most.


    Over the years, the Hughes and James families had be frequent business partners, their interests deeply intertwined.


    The two families had long considered a marital alliance, but Steven hadn''t taken a liking to any of the younger James generation.


    Mr. James Sr. had tried to push Marcia''s daughter, on him, but she was unattractive and a wild party girl with a dating history that could fill a textbook.


    Only this recently acknowledged Yvonne was even remotely eptable.


    He''d heard that Thomas had also taken an interest in her. But the Taylors were a top-tier family, far out of Yvonne''s league.


    If he, Steven, married the woman Thomas couldn''t have, it might even open a door to dealing with the Taylor family in the future.


    "I have another meeting tonight, so my time is limited. Let''s be direct." Steven spoke with no emotion, only a cold, transactional tone, as if he were at a negotiation table.


    "An alliance between the Hughes and James families is mutually beneficial the best option for both of us. As it happens, I need a wife to manage the household so I can focus of my work without


    distractions.


    I''ve had you looked into. Although youcked a proper education for your first dozen years due to the mix-up at birth, you''re reasonably intelligent, your academic


    wneve


    credentials pass must


    passably attractive. Most importantly, you don''t have aplicated romantic history."


    Seeing that Yvonne remained silent, Steven was reasonably pleased by her not interrupting and continued.


    "You may not be fully aware of my situation. I''m 32. I have no energy for frivolous romance. I just want to get married and have children as soon as possible."


    "After we''re married, you will no


    longer need to work in the public eye. Your only responsibilities will to care for our children and my parents. I''ll give you a


    be


    two-hundred-thousand-dor


    monthly allowance, which, of course, must also cover household expenses. The Hughes family is not short on money, but as Mrs. Hughes, you''ll still be expected to be frugal."


    Yvonne listened patiently until he was finished.


    In truth, Steven was quite handsome, and she''d heard he was a highly educated man who''d studied abroad. But he sounded like an absolute idiot, his mind filled with archaic, feudal nonsense.


    "Are you done? Because now it''s my turn." Yvonne mmed her teacup down on the table with a loud thud.