Chapter 5: Bumpkin

Rodney glared at him for interrupting. Then, he disregarded Aaron like he didn't exist. He looked at Kathleen again and tried to kiss her forcefully. Yet, seeing the danger of his action, Aaron quickly grabbed Kathleen away from him.

"Oh, no no no. That's not a way to treat a lady, Mister," Aaron mocked him. The people around them began to give disgusted looks at Rodney.

"Who are you? This is my private matter with her. Stay out of our business!" Rodney got annoyed that he was stopped by that strange guy.

The man was wearing a grey suit and looking noble with domineering temperance. Rodney just assumed that he was one of the people who worked inside the company. Maybe just one of the directors. So, what? He was also a director himself inside Shaw Corporation.

"Her matter is my matter as well. Whether it's private or not," Aaron said coldly.

Rodney stared at Kathleen who was hiding behind Aaron. Just then, his mind got the hunch.

"Was he the one that take you away that night at the party? Did you go home with this bumpkin?" Rodney asked Kathleen with bitterness filling his eyes.

"Bumpkin?" Aaron scornfully smirked at him.

"Yeah! Bumpkin! You think you're better than me? Kathleen, come here. Stop wasting your time with a good-for-nothing kind of man like this. Someone like him is not going to be able to provide you with enough. I'm going to inherit the Shaw Corporation and become the chairman in a few years. Are you going to miss your chance getting me for a bumpkin like this?"

"Hey, Mister. Do you know who I am?" Aaron got annoyed.

"A nobody, maybe?" Rodney responded rudely.

Aaron chuckled hard at his words. His inside was getting inflamed with the fire of rage. But he didn't want to lose his cool so he remained calm instead. A few men dressed in black suits from inside the company building came rushing to Aaron.

"Good morning, boss. We're sorry for not noticing your arrival," one of the men said and all of them bowed down to Aaron immediately, showing their respect to him.

Rodney was flustered by the incident. 'Boss?' He wondered what kind of man he had insulted just now.

"I'm giving you a chance to mend your mistake. Do you know who I am, Mr Rodney Shaw?" Aaron repeated his question before with a domineering tone.

"Who are you?" Rodney was a bit intimidated.

"You came to the tenth anniversary party of my company two days ago, but you didn't even recognize me?"

Rodney's mind went blank. He went to the Aeroxx Corporation tenth anniversary party two days ago but he didn't remember seeing this man. Probably because he was too occupied with his plan to put a scheme on Kathleen. 'He can't be the Chairman of Aeroxx Corporation, right? How can he be? He was still young. Probably in his thirties,' His heart suddenly filled with malaise.

Aeroxx Corporation was the largest corporate company in Country H. It was established ten years ago but in just five years, the company jumped up its ranking as among one of the 100 most successful corporate companies in Country H. Two days ago while celebrating its tenth anniversary, the company had become the third most successful corporate company in the country. The first one was Castell Corporation and followed by Campbell Corporation. Rumours said that the owner of Aeroxx Corporation was actually the son of Chairman Castell.

"Are you... the Chairman of Aeroxx Corporation?" Rodney stammered a little.

"That's right. It's me," Aaron replied arrogantly.

"But I thought the face of the company was Ryan Thompson? He was the one who gave the anniversary speech two days ago," Rodney was in disbelief.

"He's just the Chief Operating Officer. Not the CEO nor the Chairman," Aaron explained.

He didn't like his face to be shown in public. Thus, any event where he needed to deliver some speeches or had to deal with the press, he would ask Ryan to do it for him. Ryan Thompson was the public speaker of Aeroxx Corporation.

"Then, you are..."

"I'm Aaron Castell, the CEO and also the Chairman of Aeroxx Corporation," Aaron smirked at the pitiful guy that was standing in front of him with a shocked expression on his pale face.

"But, how can Kathleen... and you..." Rodney looked at Kathleen with widened eyes. He couldn't believe it. The rumours were true. Aeroxx Corporation was really owned by Chairman Castell's son.

'If Aaron was the one that took Kathleen that night, then did they actually do it together in bed? Kathleen was under the influence of aphrodisiac, she wouldn't be able to resist the effect of that stuff,' Rodney was devastated, knowing that his woman was touched by Aaron.

"Did you sleep with him to get back on me?!" Rodney yelled at her in frustration.

Now, everyone was looking at Kathleen with strange looks.

"You broke up with me to pursue a bigger target, huh? Wow, Kathleen... You're such a leech. You can't marry me, so you moved your target to a richer guy?! How can you be so cheap!" Rodney insulted her harshly.

"Excuse me?" Kathleen was baffled by his sudden accusation.

"When did I sleep with her?" Aaron pretended to deny it to save Kathleen's face.

"You took her two days ago. She and you must have done it!" Rodney was frustrated. He couldn't say it clearly because it would only prove that he had spiked Kathleen's drink that night.

"Did what?" Aaron was playing clueless.

Rodney lost his words. He glared at Kathleen in dissatisfaction. The woman smirked at him with disgust.

"Mr Shaw, Miss Kathleen here is my secretary. When I said that her matter is my matter as well, what I mean was I'm taking care of my employee."

"Secretary?" Rodney chuckled hard at the word as if he was hearing a joke.

"Why would someone like Kathleen be your secretary? Do you even know which family she was from?" Rodney mocked him.

'Someone like Kathleen?' Aaron was confused by Rodney's words. He turned around and looked at her who was still hiding behind him. 'Did she have another identity apart from being my secretary?' He wondered.

"Who are you?" He whispered to her, harbouring some suspicion.

"I'm your secretary, Mr Castell," Kathleen replied softly like an innocent little kitty.

"Really?" He knitted his eyebrows while observing her expression.

Kathleen just nodded lightly, trying to convince him. Although her family background was actually quite huge, she was just being treated as an outsider inside her family. Thus, she didn't think it was important for Aaron to know who she truly was.

"You don't even know who she was, don't you?" Rodney laughed when he saw the suspicion in Aaron's eyes.