"Are you sure it would go smoothly like how you planned in mind?" Kathleen asked him in return with a hint of hope in her eyes."Of course, honey. So... are you in with my plan?" He stroked her cheek lovingly while looking deep into her eyes.Kathleen nodded slowly with a faint smile on her face. She really wished what Aaron said could be a reality, but she was scared to hold her hope high for it. It was not even certain and she haven't told him about her true identity yet. She was not even sure if he would still want her after knowing the truth. That would be the deciding factor for her."Great! Then we need to plan this properly. I'm going to buy your engagement ring. We'll get engaged two weeks before the launching day. Then a week after, I'm going to tell my mom to file for a divorce from my dad. After that, we could proceed with the wedding arrangement. We'll have it privately in a church, with only you, me, my mother and my private lawyer. You need to wear a wedding dress too an
The next day, Kathleen went to work as usual. On the journey to the company, she stopped by a coffee shop to buy Tiara's favourite coffee and some pastries for her breakfast. Thirty minutes later, she arrived and headed to the top floor immediately. Kathleen tiptoed out of the VIP elevator and peeked at Tiara's desk. The woman noticed her arrival and instantly shot her an icy glare while pouting her lips sullenly. "One Caramel Macchiato for the most beuatiful princess Tiara..." Kathleen said flatteringly while putting the coffee cup on the desk. "That's not enough," Tiara replied coldly, having her eyes only on her laptop, avoiding looking at Kathleen who was now standing beside her desk. Kathleen smiled and squatted down slowly. She was holding a brown paper bag in her hands that was filled with different kinds of pastries. Tiara inhaled naturally and the delicious smell of the pastries instantly hit her nose, making her gulp some saliva. "Princess Tiara doesn't want to forgive m
"Now?" Kathleen responded while meeting his gaze. He just nodded and so she followed him into his office room. Tiara gave her the look as if asking what was going on, but Kathleen just shrugged her shoulders."Aaron told me about his plan to move abroad after launching the microchip project. Are you aware of that?" Ryan asked directly right after the door was closed.Kathleen stared at him with uncertainty, wondering if she should answer his question. Her brows knitted slightly, clearly showing that she was not comfortable with the topic of the conversation."He had told you, hasn't he?" Ryan spoke more. He too just observed Kathleen's expression to try reading what was on her mind. Still no response from her."You knew that he's going to bring you along with him, right?"She looked down instantly avoiding his gaze, and it was a clear sign that what he guessed was true."Are you sure about that, Kathy? Did you really agree to leave with him? He said the other day that the two of you a
"Honey, what's wrong? Why are you looking so tense?" Aaron circled his left arm around her waist while his right hand went to rub her back. He stared at her anxious face, feeling confused by her worried expression."Fine... If it's going to make you feel better, I won't tell Ryan anything anymore about our plan. Just the moving part and that I'll give the CEO position to him. That's all that I'm going to share with him. I won't tell the rest, okay?" He tried to soothe her. Kathleen just nodded slightly, feeling a bit better but the unsettling feeling was still conquering her heart."You know what... I think I know how to make you feel even better," Aaron suddenly said seductively."How?" Kathleen replied senselessly, hadn't thought anything about what he might try to do with her. He grabbed her body and led her to the bedroom behind his office and she instantly knew what he meant. 'Of course. Sex was always his main antidote for stress,' she mumbled internally, just going with his flo
"Nothing. I should get back to work," she said while showing a faint smile."No... stay here for a while. You haven't chosen your engagement ring yet," he was reluctant to let her leave."Ryan was right. We're at work right now. I shouldn't spend too much time in your office. I'm distracting you. You said you need to prepare a lot of contracts before. Do it then."The man looked sullen instantly, yet he concurred with her. He pointed his hand on the computer screen again, asking her for the last time to choose her engagement ring, yet Kathleen just shook her head, still firmed with her opinion of not having one. She could hear him sigh slowly before she left the office room.Kathleen went to sit on her desk again. She took out her phone having the intention to call Liam. The things Ryan said to her before bothered her mind. That thing about why Rodney Shaw was still after her even though she had been outcasted by the Campbell family. She also wondered what Ryan meant when he said that
After ending the call with Liam, Kathleen returned to her desk with more trouble filling her head. She did not know what she should do. There was nothing she could do to protect Aaron without exposing her secret identity. The only thing she could do was to let it be and just hoped everything turned out exactly as planned.Since that day, Kathleen paid extra attention to the progress of the microchip launching event in fear that there would be some people who might ruin it. She kept in contact with Liam to ask about Nora, just in case that woman tried to plan a scheme against Aeroxx, but nothing. Liam knew nothing about Nora's plan. It seemed as if Nora didn't even have her eyes on the microchip project. That caused Kathleen to slowly had her guard down. She believed that Campbell was the most significant rival of Aeroxx so when Nora seemed uninterested in the microchip project, Kathleen thought the launching event would go smoothly as planned.On Thursday of the same week, as usual, K
Ryan laughed scornfully at him. He shook his head in dismay, looking at Aaron like that man was some kind of idiot."You know what... I don't care anymore. I was concerned too much about you but ever since you're with Kathy, you disregarded a lot of things, a lot of red flags. You ignored your friends and I don't even think you wanted to focus on Aeroxx anymore. Your main vision changed, you're chasing over something uncertain. You don't even know this woman for real. You ignored my advice when I told you to make a background check on her. You trusted her too much that I'm starting to think that you're blind." "No... You just said that because you still liked Kathy. You're just jealous of me," Aaron denied his bitter accusation."Jealous?" Ryan sneered.It was hard for him to swallow but it was the truth. Deep inside, he knew he was jealous of Aaron in so many ways. He never realized it before but after Kathleen chose Aaron over him, suddenly his eyes got opened. He began to desire o
"Great... then there's no problem to do it tomorrow," Ryan said and took a sip of his drink again."Are you sure the microchip project was done?" Nora went closer to him and whispered in his ear flirtatiously as if sending a double meaning to that question. He turned his face slowly to her and stared at her coldly that the woman instantly gulped in nervousness."That kind of trick won't work on me," he said and drank his whiskey in one go."And yes, it's done. I saw the final prototype myself. It's in Aeroxx secure lab," Ryan added later, pouring another whiskey into his glass.Nora slowly scooted away from him. She smirked at the man in irritation, wondering why he acted disgusted with her. Ryan took out a cigar from his pants pocket and searched for the lighter in his suit but he couldn't find it. Out of a sudden, a hand holding a lighted lighter came close to his face, trying to help him burn the tip of his cigar."I don't know why you hated me so much. As far as I remembered, I ne
"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