Chapter 2 A Call From The Mansion

After a tiring photo shoot at the sunset, Mariellee and her manager; Nina Adams, went home. She had two houses in LA. One was a two-bedroom flat in the city and the other one was a two-story house in the country. She usually stayed in her place in the countryside if she wanted to relax and feel the fresh air from the mountainside. It may be a house in the rural area but the design was modern. Her garden had different kinds of plants both flowering plants and vegetables. While her manager was driving, Marielle’s phone rang. She knew the number. It was her grandpa in China. She picked up her phone in her bag and answered, “Hello grandpa! How are you?” Old Master Chu Lee, Marielle’s grandfather was a 70-year-old retired businessman. He was the chairman of Lee Group for almost three decades until he passed it to his eldest grandson, Thomas Lee. "My child, how are you?” A soft and sweet voice called from the other line. Chu Lee might have been a ruthless and powerful businessman but he was sweet and soft-hearted to his family especially to his wife and to his grandchildren. “I’m doing well. I just had a movie coming and we went to the beach to shoot. Grandpa, the sunset was stunning”, she giggled. She acted like a spoiled child when it came to her elders. That’s why nobody would ever believe that she was a very independent daughter with a strong but cheerful personality. Grandpa Chu just listened and nodded to his granddaughter while she was telling all of her experiences in the shooting. “Marielle, I have something to tell you”, in the middle of a cheerful voice, he suddenly said in a serious tone. Marielle was familiar with that tone. If there’s a problem in the company before, his tone was like this. It made all the directors, managers, and stock holders either bowing their heads or running away from him. That includes his eldest son, Richard Lee,Thomas’ father. “Is there something wrong in the household, grandpa? Is grandma alright?” Marielle was worried. “No, there’s nothing wrong here. We’re all in good health. I called you for a reason. Marielle, my child, you must come home”, her grandfather said. He explained the reason and it took her a long time to ponder everything. She had been in the entertainment industry for six years now. She was at the top of her fame. After the movie, Young and Beautiful, which was almost finished, she was going to have her next album. She just wrote fifteen songs and she would start recording next week. “I have no choice but to keep this agreement”, her grandfather, Chu continued. "Although the Greys don’t really care about this, the Hus who are always stern to their rules are different. I made a bet with the Old Hu when we were still young. Whoever wins will be granted a request. My request was to control his business while his was for his eldest grandson to get married to my eldest granddaughter. And for the result, you can already guess who won the bet. I’m sorry my dear Marielle. You have to sacrifice your lifetime happiness for that stupid bet”, he added. While clinging on the phone, Marielle respectfully answered her grandfather, “Don’t worry grandpa. I’m okay with the marriage. I will be fine. Who would dare to bully your pretty granddaughter? Huh! They wish!” But Chu was still anxious. He knew his granddaughter well. She was an independent, optimistic, and loving child. After hanging up, Marielle sighed. The word marriage shocked her manager who had been quietly driving. “What? You’re getting married?” Nina exclaimed. “No way! Lynette, if you’re going to get married now, your life is over. Do you hear me? It’s over!” “Calm down Nina! No one’s dying okay. Kindly focused on the road”, Marielle advised. But deep inside of her heart, Nina was right. She knew her life was over. “Marielle, please talk to the old master again. Don’t let him force you to get married. How about tell this to your grandpa in Sweden? For sure, he will not agree…. “Even my grandpa in Sweden can’t do anything about it. This was an agreement made decades ago. Destroying it is as the same as breaking the ties between families. Not unless, the Old Hu will destroy it himself, then everything will be fine”, Marielle cut Nina’s suggestion. “Come again? Who? The Hu family? As far as I know the Hus have only one grandson and that is the director of Grey Empire, Vincent Grey. An icy man!” Nina continued while opening the drawer of the car beside her, grabbed a financial magazine and gave it to Marielle. Marielleopened the magazine and there she saw a one-spread photo of her future husband. “Hulala! What a chest!” Mariellesighed. Vincent was wearing suit on the photo but his two upper buttons were open. “Shut it! This isn’t funny! Are you really going to do it? Coz if you do, I’ll start hunting a new job. When you’re getting married, you’re going to leave me, you know”, Nina became emotional while fixing her eyes on the road. She had been with Mariellefor six years and she was just like an older sister to her. “Nina, what if you come home with me? You are also Chinese. Don’t you miss your home?”Marielle replied. “You know I’ve also been thinking about it. I miss my hometown so much. I have never visited my family for a long time”, Nina toldMarielle. They kept on talking to each other, explaining everything that might happen when they get home, looking at Vincent’s photos and reading about his life and achievements when suddenly Mariellesaw a beautiful woman beside his photo. The caption said, Lilia Shin, Vincent’s longtime girlfriend. He dotes on her a lot. Such a perfect match! Mariellethought it was just nothing but she felt a little different in her heart especially the word ‘DOTES ON HER A LOT! She already knew that she was going to be in big trouble but she had no idea that the trouble was bigger than she expected. Marielledecided to stay in LA for two weeks before going home. She cancelled all of her coming photo shoots, albums, and advertising campaign. Good thing, the scene on the sunset was the last scene on her movie. If not, they were going to look for another actress and Steven might not like it. Mariellenever announced the media about her quitting. She just said something happened and she had to leave. The industry respected her decision but as a rule she had to pay the penalty for breaching the contracts. Indeed, she paid a hefty price. Her brother, Joshua was staying with her in the flat. She had three cars. A red sports car, a BMW, and a van that she used for shooting and filming. “Sister, these are my gifts for everyone. Take care of them”, Joshua said while helping his sister packed their gifts. “I can’t believe you’re getting married” Joshua added. “I can’t believe it either”, she said while folding some of her clothes. “Grandpa must have regretted it. He was such a crazy old man”, he said while shaking his head. "Indeed, he was. On the contrary, I admire him coz he kept his promise”, Mariellecontinued packing. “I will be leaving early to the airport the next day. Nina will go with me. You take care here, okay?” "Sure! Ahm sis! Car keys?!” while winking at his sister. Marielletossed the keys to her brother and reminded him to be careful in driving. Joshua loved racing so she knew her three cars were going to be doomed. “Bye babies!” she whispered talking about her cars. “Find some tenants to stay in the big house for a while so that at least you have an allowance while studying here. Don't just depend on the Roberts and the Lees billions!”,Marielle told her brother. “Know what sis? You are such a nagger. I wonder what my future brother-in-law life would be when you two are together. Perhaps he will get old faster”, Joshua teased his sister. “Give me back my keys, you brat!” Marielleexclaimed. “Okay! Just kidding. My sister is the best of all. I love you to the moon and back sis”, Joshua said laughingly while hugging his sister from the back. “Get off me now or you’re not going to get the house keys at the countryside”, she complained. Joshua let go of his sister and they continued talking while packing.