Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 125

"If Stefan and his wife hadn't divorced because of her drama, she would never stop meddling. You're still so in love with her, just waiting to be used over and over again. You're like a pawn in her game; useful

when she needs you to take the fall, and dumped when she can't handle her own mess."

"Would you bet? If I stripped you of your CEO title, publicly cut ties with you, and didn't give you a dime of the Martinez family fortune, Ruby would drop you like a hot potato."

Owen shouted, "Grandpa!"

"Do you want to test her true colors? I'd be more than happy to help."

"I trust Ruby, I don't need to test her. It would only hurt her."

Owen declared firmly.

Deep down, he knew his grandpa was telling the truth.

Ruby had been using him all along...

His heart ached so bad!

Trenton chuckled sarcastically.

"Owen, do you still want to be the head of the Ikella Group? Do you still acknowledge me as your grandpa?"

Trenton's tone suddenly hardened.

Owen quickly replied, "Grandpa, what are you talking about? You are my grandpa, how could I deny that? You raised me, you're more important to me than my parents."

His utmost respect was for his grandpa, not only because he was the chairman of the Ikella Group and could strip him of his position, but also because he grew up under his care.

In their youth, his grandpa and Patrick were fierce rivals. When they both became grandpas, they seemed to have an unspoken agreement to personally raise their grandsons, hoping they would take over the family business and continue the competition.

As they wished, Owen and Stefan grew up to be enemies.

"If you don't want to be dethroned and still acknowledge me as your grandpa, then you have to follow my instructions. Go cut some roses and head to our family hotel alone. Wait in the coffee shop on the ground floor. I'll send the girl over to meet you."

"After you two meet, I need a photo as proof that you actually met. Don't try to fool me."

Owen was speechless.

Patrick never forced Stefan to go on blind dates, nor had his grandpa. But now, perhaps because Stefan was married and Owen nearly jeopardized the Ikella Group due to Ruby, his grandpa started arranging dates for him.

Owen could ignore anyone else's words, but not his grandpa's.

"Grandpa, who is the girl? Is she stunningly beautiful that I'll love her at first sight?"

If she had grandpa's approval, Owen believed she must be an exceptional girl.

"If you want to know, you'll see when you meet her. Anyway, she's definitely better than Ruby. That's settled, go to our hotel now."

Trenton hung up without giving Owen a chance to refuse.

Owen stared at the call that was ended, his face growing darker, but he had no one to complain to.

Well, if he had to meet her, then so be it.

He was actually curious about who this woman was, who made his grandpa insist on him going on a date in such a forceful manner.

An hour later.

Owen, in fashionable clothes and dark sunglasses, with a cigarette in his mouth, strode into the Pinehurst Hotel.

It was his family hotel, and he found his way to the coffee shop with ease.

He chose a secluded seat by the window.

Then he pulled out a rose he had cut from the garden. It had been squashed in his pocket, and now looked completely wilted.

Trenton had told him to come alone, without bodyguards, to avoid attracting too much attention.

He agreed with this.

For a blind date, he didn't want to draw too much attention either, hoping to keep it low-key.

He was to prevent attracting media attention and getting reported. If Ruby saw it, she would be heartbroken.

Owen deliberately dressed in an offbeat way and even applied a layer of makeup on his face, making himself look rather odd. People would glance at him and then lose interest immediately. When the woman he was supposed to meet saw him, she would definitely not like him.

Then if the date failed, it wouldn't be his fault.

After waiting for over ten minutes without seeing the woman arrive, Owen called Trenton. When Trenton answered, he asked, "Grandpa, when is the girl you set me up with coming? I've been waiting for over ten minutes."

Owen had no patience for waiting for anyone but Ruby.

Given his status, no one dared to keep him waiting for so long.

In the past, when he had business meetings, the other party would always arrive early.

Trenton reproached, "It's only been over ten minutes, what's the rush? Girls need to do their makeup and change clothes before they go out, it takes longer. Be patient, she's on her way."

Owen was scolded by his grandpa, touched his nose, and wanted to hang up.

"Hold on, turn on the video so I can see how you're dressed."

Owen said, "Grandpa, I see the girl with a rose. I don't have time for a video call now."

After saying that, he quickly hung up.

Are you kidding? If Trenton saw him now, he would rush over and give him a good talking-to.

Then he would dress him up like a colorful peacock.

He couldn't afford to lose face like that.

At this moment, Owen was the epitome of feeling wronged.

His heart was full of resentment towards the date he hadn't even met yet.

He decided that when he met her, he would give her a piece of his mind.

After waiting for another ten minutes, Owen finally saw his blind date. Trenton had told him they would both be holding a red rose.

Cecilia's hair was disheveled, she wore what she thought was her sexiest outfit, had heavy makeup on, and wore all her jewelry, although cheap, looking desperate to show off, which was off-putting.

She was casually holding the rose her grandpa had given her, shoving garlic cloves in her mouth. The pungent taste of garlic was something she usually couldn't stand, but now she was forcing herself to eat a lot of it.

So when she spoke, her breath was heavy with the smell of garlic.

To others, it was a nasty stench that was hard to tolerate.

This stench was enough to make Trenton's grandson repulsed, which would make her feel safe.

If he didn't like her, well, that was his problem, not hers.

Walking into the coffee shop, Cecilia saw someone in the corner waving at her, holding a rose, too. But this rose looked a bit wilted, like a dying flower.

She briskly walked over.

"Hey."

Cecilia started, her voice laced with the smell of garlic.

Owen instantly frowned..

He thought the woman in front of him looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, he blurted, "You're Cecilia? Why is it you?"