At that question, Aaron halted in movement and his eyes slowly rolled up to see Ryan.
"Of course, I had that thought too," he said.
"Then, aren't you going to investigate?" Ryan tried to trigger his curiosity over that matter. He wanted to lead Aaron into checking Kathleen's family background.
"You know... these things never happened to us before. It only happened recently, so I reckoned one of the new employees that we hired might be the spy for Campbell. Maybe those who worked with us less than six months," Ryan added.
"And who were they? You're the one responsible to hire the employees inside this company, who were those people?" Aaron got intrigued.
"There's only a few. I can give you the profile of those employees later. You do know that Kathleen is one of them, right?" Ryan deliberately mentioned it.
"So?" Aaron was unbothered.
"Don't you want to find out why she suddenly managed to seduce you into having a special relationship
"Who is it?" Kathleen asked softly."It's my mom," he replied instantaneously. His eyes still stared at the phone screen, feeling hesitant to take the call."Aren't you going to pick that up?" She felt confused that he was being unresponsive over the phone call."Hmm... no probably..." and the ringing stopped again. Aaron put the phone on a small coffee table beside the bed and faced Kathleen again. He was about to hug her but his phone rang for the third time. He sighed heavily and finally took the call. It was still his mother who was calling him."Goodness, Aaron! If I'm in a car accident and calling you for help, I must surely have died waiting for you to pick up my call," Lily Campbell was annoyed right after her son finally picked up her call."You sounded fine, mom..." Aaron replied half-heartedly."This kid! I didn't raise you wholeheartedly for you to treat me like an option. Have dinner with me tonight. I'll make the reservation la
"But I'm on the list too..." Kathleen replied nervously but Aaron quickly shook his head and smiled at her. He held both her hands and cupped them in his hands. He looked her deeply in the eyes as if trying to pierce into her soul. He could feel her innocence through her mellow eyes."I trusted you, honey. That's why I chose you to do this for me," he said gently."Why can't you just ask Ryan to do this for you?" She wondered. Ryan had been there by his side since he first established the company. Considering that fact, Ryan should be the person Aaron trusted the most inside the company."I had been having a lot of arguments with Ryan lately. And most of them were rather personal than business matters.""You're saying that you don't trust Ryan anymore?" She was bewildered."No... That's not it. I just thought that the one who did this to me was someone close to me. I just wanted to be careful with everyone. Except for you of course. You'd been on m
"Well... yes... Aaron told me to give you these. He said you knew what to do with them," Ryan replied normally while handing her the employees' profiles in his hand. Kathleen took all the papers immediately and nodded a bit. Then, Ryan left to enter his office room again.Since the company lost a lot of potential projects, Aaron stayed inside the office during lunch hour, having himself busy dealing with other potential clients. This time instead of asking Ryan or the Managing Director to do it, he did it himself. He was not sure who was the one inside the company that tried to sabotage him but at least one of the higher-ups should be involved because all the project collaborations that he lost before were all potentially high-profit projects.Kathleen went out by herself, informing Aaron that she would buy him lunch and would return to the company later so they could eat together. Usually, she wouldn't even bother herself to do such a thing for him. But today, she rea
"Yes. Of course, it's good for the company. But did you do it rightly? Or did you use some dirty tricks to steal someone else clients?" Liam satirized her."Steal someone else clients? Hah!" She scoffed in disbelief. Her eyes slowly shot him an icy glare."Did someone from Aeroxx complain to you? Let me guess... It was Kathleen, wasn't it?" She said scornfully."It didn't matter who tell me that. You can't simply do things like this. This is disgusting. There is a thing called integrity inside the business world. No matter how much you hated other companies, you don't steal their clients using dirty tricks like these," Liam rebuked her strongly, trying to make her see that she was only going to gain more enemies if she continued to behave in such a way."I am doing it with integrity here. I didn't steal those clients. I simply offered them better business proposals and they agreed to collaborate with us. Technically speaking, they were independent bodies
'But I'm a Campbell,' that truth suffocated her. She stopped talking instantly and focused herself on the food in front of her, eating slowly with her mind wandering around to somewhere else. 'If only there are possibilities for our relationship to work, I would have been your wife right now, proudly announcing to everyone that we're together. But that's not going to happen because you won't marry a Campbell, and I can't be selfish enough to still lead you on inside this relationship. I shouldn't give you any hope of having a lasting relationship with me,' Kathleen slowly persuading her mind to accept the bitter reality of their situation. She kept trying to convince herself that there was no future between her and Aaron. Her eyeballs rolled to the right, taking a peek at Aaron's delighted gaze. He looked so content eating the food with her by his side. His left hand intentionally went to her back and wrapped her waist. "What kind of wedding do you want?" His
Ariella stopped eating immediately and slowly dropped the cutleries in her hands onto her the plate. She tried hard to control her bitter expression, forcing a fake smile on her face. She knew who his girlfriend was because Ryan had told her. It was not even a surprise to her because Aaron had shown multiple signs that he liked his secretary.Yet, she didn't dare to mention Kathleen in front of Lily Castell before because she was worried that Lily wouldn't agree to set up a blind date for her with Aaron. Lily had been trying hard to find a partner for Aaron lately, forcing him to have blind dates with a lot of women. If she suddenly know that her son already had a girlfriend, she would surely stop doing that and Ariella would lose her chance to get close to Aaron."It's okay. I don't mind. You had a girlfriend, so what? It's not like you're married. By definition, you're still a single man. Besides, isn't every wealthy man would eventually have a mistress anyway? Take
"Why not? How about you try dating her a few times first? And let's see where that would lead both of you. Who knows you both might have some chemistry together," Lily still insisted for him to try it out with Ariella."No! I'm not going to do that," Aaron rejected the idea strongly."Why? Give me one good reason why you don't want to do it? You can't keep behaving like this, Aaron, avoiding meeting with women all the time. Are you gay or something? I'm really fed up trying to find you a good match. Date Ariella or else you better give me a damn good reason why you don't want her," Lily was frustrated.She really thought that Ariella was such a catch for Aaron. She had all the nice qualities of a woman and she loved Aaron too. So, Lily couldn't understand why her son was still rejecting that woman."I... had a girlfriend already," he said hesitantly."What?! Say that once again," his mother was in disbelief."I had a girlfriend. I don't need
"Really? Should I? Did you send someone here? Is it food delivery? Why did the guy outside didn't say anything?" She felt doubtful about his order. The knocking went harder and Kathleen turned even more nervous."Honey, open the f*cking door," he said calmly."But that person was knocking so harsh. It's scary," she complained timidly. Right after she said that the sound of the knocking turned normal again. She slowly walked to the door and asked the person outside."Who is it?!" Yet, no answer was given.She took a deep breath and gathered her courage to open the door slowly and peeked outside. Before she did that, she grabbed an umbrella hung by the tall shoe rack near the door as a protective weapon in case the person outside was a bad guy. Her phone was still on her ear with Aaron on the line."What took you so long?" Aaron made a displeased face, holding his phone to his ear as well while standing right in front of Kathleen's apartment door. Her furrowed instantly, feeling annoyed
"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