"What? Are you serious right now?" Ryan pulled his arm from behind making Aaron turn around to face him. He pretended to be mad with Aaron's decision."They're going to torture her. She had been with them for three days, I can't just let her be with them any longer. I can't just do nothing anymore," Aaron replied like a person losing his mind."But the microchip was your major investment. Our company's major investment. Do you realize how much money we spent to fund that project and you simply wanted to give it away for Kathy? Aeroxx could go bankrupt after this. For those clients who wanted to use the microchip, you need to return their deposit money. And not just that, you need to pay twice the amount because you're breaking the contract agreements with them. You knew Aeroxx don't have that much money. This could be the end for us," Ryan intentionally pressurized his mind. But Aaron refused to listen to him."When do you want it? Where should I send it?" Aaron asked Rodney, turning
A few minutes after Aaron left the company building, Ryan went back to the microchip lab. Snyder and the microchip team were no longer there. He locked the door and checked the computers in the lab, deleting all the files related to the microchip project. Then he installed a drive to the main CPU and downloaded a virus to all the computers. Every operating system in the computers instantly crashed down and could not be recovered anymore.Ryan unplugged the drive from the CPU and got out of the lab immediately. He headed to the security room to delete the CCTV footage of him entering the lab. He bribed the security in charge that day and all the footage of the microchip lab from an hour before was deleted successfully."Aeroxx is going into bankruptcy. You better apply for a job in another company," Ryan advised the security guard that helped him. The man just nodded in understanding with his face showing gladness that he knew the news beforehand.An hour later, Aaron returned to the c
At this point, Aaron's no longer showing his irritation. He just looked closely at the two in silence, wondering who they were. He was determined to investigate them later and destroyed them the way they did him. He vowed to himself to do that in order to recover his pride and dignity as a man. He knew at some point the microchip would show up again and the company that launched it would reveal the real bastards who schemed him right now."You better get here fast before some random stranger took her first. I mean... she looks very tempting right now," Rodney said provokingly. Kathleen's upper chest was exposed because she was wearing a low-cut dress, so Rodney purposely caressed her skin there just at the top of her bosom to annoy Aaron. Yet, Aaron gave no response to it and just showed a cold expression on his face."Why is she not waking up? What did you two do to her?" Aaron asked instead."Don't worry. It's just a sedative. She'll be unconscious for a few hours. You know... to ma
"Backup. There must be a backup at the lab," Kathleen said in hope but Aaron shook."They're gone. A virus attacked the main CPU and everything was gone," he told her dejectedly."Why did you give it to them? I told you in the video call not to give it. Why did you do that? They won't kill me. I know they won't kill me," Kathleen broke down."They might not kill you, but they will torture you, Kathy. I can't just let you go through that without me doing anything. Tell me... who were they?"Kathleen shook her head, refusing to tell. She couldn't. She felt so guilty for it yet she couldn't help Aaron at all."Did they threaten you? They threatened you, didn't they?" Aaron made a guess and she was silent, only sniffing her nose a few times and wiping her tears with the back of her hands. She couldn't even meet Aaron's gaze because the guilt was really killing her from the inside."I'm sorry..." that was the only thing she was able to do right now, saying her apology to him.Seeing her br
Kathleen told him the two conditions carefully. The first one was the original condition they had agreed on before, that no one should know about the wedding. But this time, Kathleen told him that even his mother shouldn't know about it. It should be a secret to everyone that they knew including their own family members and friends, no exception.The second one, Kathleen requested that he made no investigation regarding her kidnapping incident. She wanted to make sure of her mother's safety because Nora threatened her before that if she dare to expose them, Nora would poison her mother and make the old lady die slowly due to unknown sickness.Aaron agreed with the first condition, although he was a bit disappointed that his mother won't know about him being married. But as for the second one, he was a bit confused about it. He didn't understand why Kathleen wanted to let her kidnappers off the hook after what they did to her. He did ask her why but she couldn't give him any explanatio
That night, Aaron got a phone call from his mother, Lily Castell. He had been expecting that since his company's condition and the rumours about him going into bankruptcy were all over the news now. Aaron picked up the call inside the bedroom with Kathleen sitting on the bed resting while reading some magazine. He sat on the bed beside her and put the call on loudspeaker mode so his wife could hear it too."Aaron, for fuck sake! Why the hell didn't you tell me anything?" Lily lashed out annoyingly first thing at her son."Mom... why are you yelling at me out of a sudden?" Aaron replied calmly."You got into major trouble and your mother only knew about it from the news. Really, Aaron? Am I that insignificant to you?""I don't want you to worry about it. Everything was under control...""Under control, you said? Aeroxx stock price had dropped to negative values. How can you call that under control? Tell me how much debt you have to pay? Mommy will pay it for you," Lily was determined t
Kathleen gazed up and just smiled at her. She nodded a while later to tell Tiara that she was fine."Did everyone know?" Kathleen asked and Tiara slowly squatted down beside her."Yeah... The rumours had spread, but looking at the company condition right now, everyone was convinced that it was not just a rumour. Everyone believed that you got kidnapped and Aaron gave up the microchip project to the kidnappers to save you," Tiara explained with a sombre tone."A lot of people must hate me then. I made almost a thousand people lose their jobs..." Kathleen replied dejectedly."Uh uh... nope. Don't you dare blame yourself, honey. That incident must be traumatizing for you. Don't you dare feel bad about what happened. You didn't ask for this to happen. This is something out of your control. It's not your fault," Tiara soothed her. She could see that Kathleen started to have reddened eyes."Aren't you mad that you lost your job because of me?""It was unfortunate... But Mr Thompson had trie
She didn't know how to feel about his words. It sounded like he was trying to tell her that he would be a safe place for her. But at the same time, it sent some kind of malaise thought to her mind. It was confusing.Half an hour after Ryan left, Sandra Wilson suddenly showed up at the company. She came out of the VIP elevator unexpectedly and rushed directly into Aaron's office room. She just ignored Kathleen and passed her by rudely.Kathleen stood up and followed her, trying to stop her from entering the office. She knew that right now, Aaron surely wouldn't want to deal with this kind of situation. But the woman had already gone inside and so, Kathleen just stood by the office door, looking at Sandra who approached her husband shamelessly."I read the news..." Sandra said while grabbing Aaron's arm casually. He looked visibly uncomfortable by it, especially when Kathleen was there looking at him. So, he brushed off Sandra's hand that gripped his arm and he took two steps away from
"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