"Niklas!" Marja's voice came again, louder this time but no less heartbroken. "Tell me that what Kaija just said isn't true. Tell me you didn't think highly of me just because I'm my parents' daughter!"
While Niklas's face had already tightened with hopelessness at the situation, Kaija's eyes merely rolled upward.
"Of course he did," Kaija grumbled inwardly. "You were just too blind to realize it, and I was just too nice to break your heart with the truth back then."
Though Niklas had never voiced it out loud in front of Marja, in private, Kaija had heard more than enough of his rambling about how Marja Ralpha could have been a great successor to the Chairman seat of Ralpha, instead of ending up merely as the face of the brand.
He had even gone as far as commenting that should a man ever take Marja's hand in marriage, it would mainly be because of her surname.
