He stared at her as if he were planning to kill her. She sat opposite him. He didn't wait for her to settle down.
"Do you look at the time? And why aren't you picking up your call?"
Rita acted as if she genuinely didn't know what he was talking about and pretended to check her phone. "Oh! Sorry, my phone was in my bag, and because of the traffic, I couldn't hear it ring."
Gilbert did not have the patience to waste his energy on this. He was more worried about the proposal, so he ignored her excuse.
"Didn't I tell you to reject me? Then why did you say yes? Do you really want to marry me? And what about everything you said that day? Was it all a lie?"
Rita could not even get a chance to react; he said whatever he wanted. She replied furiously, "Just shut up. I didn't say anything. And talk to me nicely, or else I'm leaving."
Gilbert realized he was in a public place, so he immediately calmed himself.
"Then how do you expect me to behave? I told you I don't want to get married yet, so why did you do this?"
He continued, "And I'm telling you, if you're dreaming of marrying me, I'm never going to marry you. Not in this lifetime."
Rita adjusted her composure. She reminded herself that she had come here to see his stressed face, not to get irritated by him. She replied calmly, "I have no wish to marry you. I would rather drink poison than marry someone like you."
At that moment, the waiter arrived with a cup of Americano and placed it on the table. Gilbert chuckled lightly and pushed the coffee toward her.
"Then tell me why they're preparing for our marriage. Don't tell me they didn't even ask you."
Rita smiled. "You know we live in a patriarchal world where women's opinions do not matter."
He looked at her in disbelief while Rita continued, "So, what I mean is, of course they asked me, but that doesn't mean anything. Even if I say no, they'll still agree with your father."
Rita looked at the three teenage girls sitting behind Gilbert. They constantly found ways to look at him, which made her sigh. What did they even find in him?
Gilbert was at a loss for words.
"Is this a joke? You have to do something before they fix our wedding date."
Rita was enjoying his discomfort. She said, "I just explained that I can't do anything. Only you can save us from this forced marriage now."
Rita clearly remembered the disgust in his eyes every time he saw her, whether at school or during meetings at the hotel. And now, when he said, "I will never marry you in this lifetime," she wanted him to feel the same humiliation she had felt.
Gilbert sat there silently, tense. He had not expected the situation to turn out this way.
Rita broke the silence. "Why don't you say all this to your parents?" Although she already knew the answer, she still acted innocent.
Gilbert folded his arms. "Don't you know about the Marchantia situation, or are you just pretending to be naïve—which I don't believe? Don't you think I tried? But they aren't listening. Otherwise, why would I waste my time with you?"
He looked straight into her eyes. Rita avoided his eye contact.
In Gilbert's mind, he thought, Why is she acting like this? Should I push her more?
Rita could not wait any longer. She finished her coffee, grabbed her phone, and checked the time. Then she stood up to leave.
Gilbert grabbed her wrist to stop her. "Hey—"
She turned toward him, and before he could say anything more, she said, "Don't disturb me in the future unless you actually find a solution. And now, you can waste your time here alone."
She walked out of the café. He stood there, stunned. To everyone else in the café, however, it looked like nothing more than a couple arguing over something trivial.