Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

[During Lunch]

"You are engaged," Daniel widened his eyes in shock.

"Yes—" Elsa chuckled and waved her ring finger at him. "He proposed in London."

"And who is this 'HE' we are talking of?"

"Igor Petrov," Owen answered.

"What?" Daniel yelled. "Are you are fucking crazy? Take that ring off right now young lady."

Elsa: " "

"You are in very serious trouble," he snapped.

The sudden yelling startled Rachael. She could see the rage in Daniel's eyes as he glared at Elsa.

She had heard about the rivalry between the Volkov and Petrovs but she had no idea how deep the hatred the two families harboured for each other was.

The way Daniel reacted to the fake news of Elsa being engaged to Petrov made her realise that it wasn't as simple as she thought.

When no one said anything, Daniel looked at Andrew. "Owen and Elsa are stupid but how could you let something like this happen? Are you out of your mind too?"

When a deep silence greeted him again, he snapped harder. "Are you guys dumb? Say something."

Just then Owen burst into laughter. "Seeing you freaking out like this is still the best thing." He wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes. "And you always fall for it."

Daniel frowned and was about to say something when Elsa interrupted him. "Relax uncle, it's nothing like that."

"So you are not engaged to Igor Petrov?"

"Of course not," she exclaimed. "I won't marry him even if he is the last man on earth."

"Okay, that's good." Daniel finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in his seat. "If that was true, I was ready to chop your finger off to take that damn ring out."

Elsa: " "

When Daniel continued eating, Andrew questioned him. "You don't wanna know who it really is?"

"As long as it's not that guy, I don't mind." Daniel looked at Elsa. "As long as you are happy, I will not mind even if you marry a dog."

"She is engaged to Justin," Andrew conveyed him the correct information.

"Oh—" Daniel was surprised. "You both got back together?"

Elsa smiled and nodded.

"That's great," he exclaimed. "I like Justin, he is my gold buddy."

Keeping quiet for a while, Owen grinned, "Hey Dan, since you are Elsa's uncle, her kids will call you grandpa, right?" When Daniel nodded, he said, "I just realised something."

When he looked at him, Owen asked, "You remember Justin's son Edward, right?"

"Of course I do," Daniel exclaimed. "That little munchkin is my favourite."

"So basically Edward is Justin's son, so when Elsa marries him, she will become his mother."

Understanding what Owen was trying to say, Andrew started laughing.

"You will be Edward's grandfather," he exclaimed before bursting into laughter.

"That is true," Elsa chuckled.

Daniel: " "

"Well, if Rach and I have kids in the future, you will be there grandpa too," Andrew added.

Daniel frowned and pursed his lips as he tried to make his peace with the new title. How did he end up being a grandpa in his early thirties? He certainly blamed his parents for bringing him into the world at the same time his nieces and nephews were born.

"I think Daniel will be a great Pop Pop," Rachael stated.

"You think so?" he curiously looked at her.

"Of course," she exclaimed. "Not only great, you will also be a very fun pop pop whom all the kids will love."

"That's right," he smiled. "Kids are gonna love me. At least more than they will love their uncle."

Owen: " "

...

[Andrew and Rachael's Room]

After lunch, Daniel took Elsa to the mall as he had promised and Owen left as he had something important to do.

Resting her back on the headboard, Rachael was engrossed reading a book while Andrew was massaging her foot with one hand while his other hand scrolled his phone.

"We are going to the office tomorrow, right?" she inquired.

"It's okay if you don't want to go." He kept his phone down. "There isn't much to do, I can manage."

She raised her brows and looked at him. "Why do I feel like you are purposely trying to force me to stay at home and not work?"

"Force you?" Andrew chuckled. "That's an ugly alligation Mrs. Collins, you are hurting your husband's feelings."

"No, seriously—" She tossed the book aside. "What are you trying to do?"

"You hired me in your company to work but apart from the month you were in Russia, you rarely let me go to office," she frowned. "And you even told Ben not to tell me anything concerning work."

When he did not say anything, she added, "If you want to continue this way then I'll hand over my resignation and work somewhere I can actually work."

Without waiting for his reply, Rachael picked up her book and resumed reading. She had nothing else to tell him.

"Rach—" When she did not answer, he sighed. "Don't be mad, I will not do it again."

"And what have you been doing?" She looked at him, waiting for him to confess his wrong doings.

Keeping quiet for a while, he confessed, "I have been purposely keeping you away from work because I don't want you to take any kind of stress."

"Andrew—"

"My heart feels at ease whenever I see you eating properly, taking ample rest and relaxing with your friends and family without any kind of stress," he added. "I am not forbidding you to work or anything, I would never do that. I just don't want you to get too engrossed in work, take all the work stress and feel mentally exhausted."

Rachael kept the book aside and sighed, "Come here—" When she extended her arms towards him, Andrew crawled beside her and placed his head on her chest.

She gently caressed his hair and said, "I know you have the best interest for me in your heart but that is not how life works, right? One cannot always relax and enjoy without doing anything."

…..