The Kiss that Sparked it All (Ellinor and Theo) novel Chapter 2683

Daphne Olsen replied, [What? Didn't your folks just wrap up a dinner party? And now another one? Can't escape again like the last time, huh? If you go, I’ll go.]

Regina texted, [Yeah. This time, my dad made it clear: no escapes. Seriously, if I have to sit through another one of these shindigs tomorrow night alone, I’ll be squirming in my seat the whole time.]

[Brace yourself for the matchmaking mayhem!] Daphne joked.

Regina’s frown deepened as she texted back, [I'm not kidding. I'd rather run laps around the track than sit through that dinner. It's so dull, facing a bunch of guys I don't know, all wearing their phony smiles like masks. We’re all trapped in this charade—why put us through it?]

Daphne sent a hugging emoji, her digital embrace a small comfort. [I don't get it either. Why is your father in such a rush? You're only twenty, for heaven's sake—the prime of your life!]

[It's all because of that mother-daughter duo whispering poison in my dad's ear. You know how he is—soft as dough. Imogen’s been filling his head with tales of who’s getting engaged and how I haven’t even dated yet. That gets him all worked up, thinking there’s something wrong with me.]

Regina could only vent so freely about them to her closest friend.

Daphne responded, [It’s beyond me why she’s so obsessed with marrying you off. She should worry more about her own daughter, who’s flunking at the international school—embarrassing if you ask me!]

They both knew Imogen’s hurry to see Regina wed was driven by fear that the lion's share of the Tanner fortune might slip through her fingers. But Madeline wasn’t even a Tanner by birth, so why did she act as if any of it was hers?

[Pipe dreams.] Daphne declared, summing up the antics of the mother and daughter.

"It seems to be about Regina's marital prospects."

"Regina? Is she of marriageable age already?"

Nolan didn’t look up from the contract he was scrutinizing.

The secretary chuckled and shook her head. "Regina just turned twenty. Far from the age to rush into marriage. But Francis is probably listening to pillow talk. Imogen’s been busy plotting to marry Regina off quickly to get her hands on the Tanner empire."

"Transparent as glass," Nolan remarked with a chuckle, finding the whole situation amusing. Francis was a shark in the business world but clearly out of his depth when it came to family matters—a well-known fact in their circles.