03 The shock

Chloe is at a loss of words. She wants to speak but the words don’t come to her mind. She feels she must stop him before he goes any further, but almost instinctively realize that it’s too late. Leo’s right-hand leaves her breast and reaches into his pocket. The next moment he shows her a beautiful Golden Cushion engagement ring. Her knees become weak of shock as she realizes that he has already made the step and that he will not easily be convinced that she is not ready for this. Leo looks deep into her eyes and displays the ring in front of her eyes like a trump card; a cherry on a cake. "Chloe, your father made it abundantly clear before all at the dinner table that he wishes for his youngest daughter to marry someone that can look well after her and the farm. I took over the farm as manager three years ago when he had a heart attack and became ill and was forced to appoint a manager. You know he was talking about me because I made a success of everything. The farm is now highly p