Kathleen leaned her body against the wall, feeling weak out of a sudden. Her mind went blank. Liam held both her shoulders, facing her, saying something she couldn't care to hear. Everything around her slowly became inaudible and her body melted down like jelly. She fell from her footing and lay like she was about to crawl on the floor. "Kathy... Kathy..." She knew Liam was calling her but she felt like she was inside another dimension right now, couldn't engage with anything or anyone. It felt like in that dimension, it was only her there, lonely. "Get back to your sense! Stop crying! Aaron isn't worth it!" Liam yelled at her. It was fortunate enough that the music inside the banquet hall was loud and no one came out to the hallway at all. Yet, it didn't make Liam feel at ease. He still feared someone might see Kathleen breaking down like a person losing her mind. After a few seconds, she snapped back to reality and she glared at Liam instantly. She stood up and slapped his face ha
"Give me a chance to explain," Kathleen begged again."I don't want to hear your explanation! You're a fucking liar! You ruined my life! You knew how important that microchip project was to me... You knew it was my way out from the Castell, my mother's way out from my despicable father! But you ruined our chances to have a new life! You ruined everything that I'd worked hard for! You're a fucking liar! A fucking snake! You heinous Campbell! I fucking hated you so much!""I... wanted... a way... out too..." she tried hard to speak with his hand on her neck. He began strangling her again. She almost went out of breath and she stopped struggling as she could feel oxygen wasn't able to enter her lungs anymore. She was about to faint but Aaron didn't want to give her a chance to rest. So when she was almost out, he pushed her body hard to the side until she fell roughly to the floor.Kathleen didn't have any energy to even stand on her feet. She managed to grab hold of her body using her e
After leaving his house, Aaron drove straight to Majestic Palace Hotel and stayed at the royal suite for the night. He sat on the sofa in the living area in the middle of the room and stared at his surrounding. This was the place where it all started between him and Kathleen. This was the room where they had their first time making love after Kathleen got drugged by Rodney at Aeroxx's tenth anniversary party. This was also the place where he told her about his plan for the microchip project and how he wished to bring her to move abroad with his mother after the project is successfully launched. He also celebrated his early engagement plan with her in this room. Now that he reminisced back all those happy memories, he realized that Kathleen acted so well that he didn't even have the slightest suspicion about her. "It felt so real..." he mumbled alone. When he remembered what he did to Kathleen inside the house before, he slowly felt like he had become a monster. "That's not me... I'm
When the maids came to Aaron's villa that morning, they were shocked to see Kathleen's appearance. She had a dark blemish on her right cheek, a bruise she got when she fell along with the chair she was tied to last night. Her lips were also cracked and red, with clear bite marks from Aaron. Her right arm had some bruises because the chair hit it when she fell. There were also dark marks around her neck due to the stranglings and another around her wrists because they were tied using a belt. Kathleen looked visibly pale. Anyone who saw her would know instantly that she was beaten. She pretended to be okay despite the maids asking her if she was in pain or needed to go to the hospital. She refused to do any. Instead, she helped the maids make breakfast that morning for Aaron. She didn't even know if he would come home, but she wished he would.By nine o'clock, a car was heard arriving inside the house. Kathleen looked visibly happy to see that it was Aaron. She stood near the dining tab
He left and as Kathleen heard his car drive away from the house again, her limbs got weak and she slowly squatted down. She picked up the dishes that got shattered on the floor piece by piece while her tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. No whimpering sound was heard, only a silent cry. She felt really embarrassed to look up at the maids that approached her carefully. They didn't know what happened last night and they didn't know why the couple fought either. The only obvious thing was that Aaron hated Kathleen so much to the point of harming her."It's okay, madam. Why don't you take a rest? We'll clean this up," Nina, the younger maid said to Kathleen. She saw her hands were full with cuts from the glass pieces of the dishes. It was very strange that Kathleen didn't show any sign of being in pain with such many cuts. Kathleen wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand and some of her blood smeared on her cheek."Madam, that's enough. we'll do it. We'll clean it up. Just leave i
Kathleen drove back to the city aimlessly, having no particular destination in mind. She was thinking about staying at a hotel for a few days before she figured things out again. But then, she realized her money won't be enough to sustain her life even for a month. She parked her car by the roadside, in front of a convenience store. She went to the store and buy some cheap snacks and fast food, something that could fill her stomach for a few days.Exiting the store with two plastic bags filled with the stuff she bought, Kathleen went back into her car and put them in the backseat. She sat silently while eating some chips and still had her mind thinking about what she should do next. It was strange. When she left Campbell Corporation and the Campbell's manor, she had enough savings to sustain her life for a few months until she got a new job. Getting hired at Aeroxx Corporation saved her life back then. But now after Aeroxx fell and Aaron found out about her, she was chased out with on
Liam couldn't hold his emotions anymore. Hearing her say that, his manly tears finally rolled down his cheeks. Before she could see them, he wiped them clean with his palms and took a deep breath to control the stirring emotions inside his brain. It was a mixture of sadness, anger and disappointment. He was sad that Kathleen's life turned out this way. He was angry because Aaron was stupid enough to not be able to see through Kathleen and realized the fact that she was innocent. Lastly, Liam was disappointed because he had such a complicated and vile family member like Nora who ruined not just Aaron's life but Kathleen's as well."Do you want to come home now?" He asked her slowly but it took Kathleen a few minutes to answer."I knew you meant well for me, Liam. But I don't think I could ever live in the same house with Nora again. What she and Rodney did to me when they kidnapped me... those were not something I could forgive and forget so easily. I thought Aaron was my safe place bu
"I made her sign it," Aaron replied depressingly and took a sip of his whiskey."I had the result of the investigation that you wanted this morning," David said slowly, having a bit of desire to stop Aaron from divorcing his wife."So soon? I thought it would take you longer to find her background information.""I thought so too. But you tell me where to look. You see... the other Campbell family members didn't approve of Kenneth's marriage to Victoria Jones. So, she was totally out of the picture when it came to anything related to the family in public. She did appear with him a few times but people assumed that she was just his secretary, since she was his former one before. After the marriage, she seemed to stay low profile with the public. In fact, people don't even know she had a daughter with Kenneth except those who worked inside Campbell Corporation."David stopped talking for a while. He wanted to see Aaron's reaction to the matter. The man was just silent and didn't say anyt
"You must be the less popular Castell, you didn't seem to be able to find anyone to mingle with at this party," Liam approached Adrian Castell from behind. The man turned around instantly at his words and scoffed when he realized it was Liam."So did you. The only Campbell who got invited," Adrian jested back."I talked with Aaron a bit just now," Liam went to stand beside him and offered to clink their drink glasses together, as a sign of affinity. Adrian just went along with it and then they sipped on their drinks while staring at the exact same spot, Sandra and her friends."She probably going to be my sister-in-law in the future. So I ought to come to her birthday party and make peace with her," Adrian remarked."Are you sure? Has Aaron introduced her to your family?""Not yet. Actually, he didn't really seem to give much thought to dating this woman... I mean, he had his entire focus on the company development, I don't think he had the time to date around.""So, why do you think
When Aaron left Sandra alone heartlessly, Seth Martin approached her. He took out a small velvet box from his suit and gave it to her. It looked like a ring box because it was small. Sandra thought it was a ring so she didn't dare to accept it."Just open it first," Seth said solemnly. He didn't put her birthday present on the gift table along with the other presents she got from her friends before. That was because he wanted to give it to her by himself.She took it carefully and glanced at Aaron that now stood so far away. The guy didn't seem to care about what she was doing. Sandra sighed heavily and opened the small box from Seth. There was a pair of pink crystal earrings inside."I thought it might match your personality. You always wore pink ballerina dress when you're teaching your students at the academy," Seth remarked."Thank you..." She replied slowly, showing almost no reaction after seeing the earrings. Her heart was still a bit disappointed that Aaron hadn't thought abou
Instantly, the word 'marriage' came up in Liam's mind. 'Did he mean having a truce through marriage?' He wondered. Aaron turned around and was about to leave him alone."Regardless, you won't be able to get back with Kathy. She didn't use our family name. So, she would be out of the picture for the truce arrangement," Liam said to die our Aaron's expectation of having a chance to be with Kathleen again."Really? Then, there's still Nora. Let's see what Kathy would think seeing her ex-husband marrying her half-sister. Let's just be one big happy family," Aaron emphasized his last sentence purposely, to piss off Liam."So, you're going to just agree to marry someone who steal from you before and ruined your company despite having a girlfriend right now? Look at Sandra right there. She's all happy thinking you love her wholeheartedly. But here you are plotting revenge on my family through a marriage arrangement. You're really a heartless guy, Aaron. Kathy would be so disappointed with yo
In the same week, Liam suddenly got an invitation to go to a birthday party at a local clubhouse owned by Castell Corporation, The Heritage. He felt odd about it because he didn't know who the person celebrating the birthday was. It was actually Sandra Wilson.A few months after Kathleen left, Aaron got back together with Sandra. He did it out of frustration, trying to find a way out of his feelings for Kathleen. The relationship went well but he never go intimate with Sandra. He still kept his boundary with her despite people starting to notice their relationship. In fact, he never made any special announcement or declaration saying that Sandra was his new partner. They were just together casually.On a Tuesday night, he held a surprise birthday party for Sandra. It was her thirtieth birthday party and Aaron invited all her friends and his friends too. Even Liam was included in the invitation. Certainly, Aaron deliberately did that to show Liam how well he moved on from his past marr
Rodney just shook his head as a response and all the policemen left his private room, giving him some privacy to rest. He was about to lie down on the bed again but his phone rang. He took it out from his suit that was placed on the bedside table, thinking that it might be a call from his family. But when he checked the caller ID, it was Nora Campbell."Fuck you! I'm not going to fucking answer that," he cursed alone while just throwing the phone back on his suit. He didn't dare to answer the call because it might be a test from Liam. Who knows what kind of trouble he might get into again if he answers the call from Nora? He had promised Liam last night that he won't bother Nora nor Kathleen again so from this moment forward, he had obstinately decided to never be in contact with any of the women at least for a few months.***"Are you sure about this?" Liam was on the phone with Kathleen. It had been two months since she left the country."Yeah... I think it would be better this way.
He saw Liam staring at him with some kind of menacing expression. Rodney got an instant reaction of trying to escape the room. He stood up and went after the door, but Liam was faster to block the exit."Not so fast..." Liam said with a sinister laugh."You just arrived..." he added and pushed Rodney's chest, making the man sit down again."I... I... I think I can't be too long here. I'm sure my parents won't let me stay out too late," Rodney stuttered in his words, trying to find some excuse to escape."Oh... come on Rodney. We're of the same age. I'm sure you could find some better excuse than that," Liam replied snickeringly."Why do you want to meet up with me anyway? We aren't that close. If this is about Kathy, I swear I never bother her anymore after she broke the engagement. I really never bother or pester her anymore. I swear," Rodney begged to be spare as Liam leaned his body closer to him and his collar was grabbed."You should have walked away silently after Kathy found y
"What did you say? What's his name again?" The man seemed in a state of disbelief. He wished that he just heard it wrongly."Aaron Castell," but Luffy repeated the same name.Liam was speechless. He glanced at his stepmother and the woman could see from his expression that something was wrong."Why?" She asked in anxiousness."Aaron came," Liam murmured to her in an almost inaudible voice."Sir?" Luffy was still in the line, waiting for the next order from Liam."Don't let him in. I'm coming there," Liam said and put down the phone.Victoria wanted to follow him out of the house but he told her to just stay inside. She was not in a stable condition right now and he feared she might lash out at Aaron for hurting Kathleen before. He didn't want the situation to get worse as their family were already enemies with the Castell.Aaron stood beside his car that stopped right in front of the main gate of Campbell's manor. He was waiting for the gate to be opened but the guard said he was not
"It's Aaron."The answer Liam gave made her sigh heavily. She felt like she wanted to berate Kathleen for making such a major decision without discussing it with her. Aaron Castell was the only legitimate heir of Castell Corporation. Even though that young man was not yet in charge of the company right now, everyone knew he would be the one who would replace Edward Castell to take control of Castell Corporation later. In short, Aaron was not someone that anyone would want to mess with. Now her daughter had been associated closely with that man, even to the extent of having married together. If Kenneth knew about this, Victoria was sure her husband would surely accuse Kathleen of trying to betray Campbell Corporation."This is bad. Don't tell your dad about this. I don't want the other Campbell to pick on Kathleen again. Are you sure they had really divorced? Why did they divorce? Wait... during the microchip launching event... we did introduce Kathy to Aaron. Did he not know that she
Later that evening when it was time to clock out from work, Aaron received a call from Detective Leon. He didn't hope to get much news about Kathleen that soon because he just hired the investigator this morning."Mr Castell, I'd check and saw your wife's car driving around the city about three days ago in the morning. And then later that day she parked in front of a hotel, I'm guessing she stayed there for a day. The next day, her car was seen driving into the Campbell's manor. And it never gets out from there until today. I think she's probably there inside that residential," Detective Leon explained through the phone.Aaron was silent to hear that information. But a smirk slowly appeared on his face. 'So, you're not that innocent after all. In the end, you returned to your vile family again,' he muttered internally, slightly having his mind assuming the bad about Kathleen again. He felt a bit disappointed that she left him before, thinking that maybe he was wrong. But after the det