Chapter 42

Aiden’s POV

“Are you done?” I asked, my voice tinged with frost. My jaw flexed as I fought to tamp down my annoyance.

“Do you really think I’ve not considered every point you just made? You really assume I’ve started thinking with my dick just because I decided to show a little bit of consideration for a woman who’s been wronged by my family? Is that what you think?”

A guilty look crossed her face as she realized she’d gone too far. “I’m sorry.” She said remorsefully, then reached out tentatively and touched my arm.

“I’m just worried about you, seeing the way you’ve been beating yourself up, trying to fix your father’s mistakes. I just don’t want you to end up making mistakes of your own because of that.”

I felt the fight go out of me and I carded a hand through my hair and nodded. “I’m sorry I snapped at you and I understand you’re just looking out for me.” I turned to give her a charming smile and squeezed her hand lightly, “That’s what makes you an awesome friend.”

A weird expression flitted across her face and I caught her wince. Then she laughed lightly and the tense mood in the car lifted.

“At least you know I’m awesome.” She grumbled good naturedly and rolled her eyes at me in exasperation.

Her phone began ringing at that moment and she rifled through her bag in search of it, muttering under breath. I was relieved that the conversation was over, because fuck knew I didn’t want to talk about it again.

The rest of the ride passed by with her engrossed in conversation on the phone, while I drove and tried not to think about her question anymore.

I had just pulled into the reserved parking space at the hospital and turned off the engine, getting ready to alight when I heard Elisa’s sharp intake of breath and muttered “Oh no!”

Curious, I glanced at her. She was looking at something on her phone, a look of sheer dismay on her face.

“What is it?” I asked, leaning over so I could peek at her screen. She held the phone out of reach and gave me an inscrutable look.

“Wait…” She held up her other hand and eyed me thoughtfully. “I’ll show you, but first, you need to promise me you won’t lose your cool.”

I arched an eyebrow, surprised and even more curious. “Why?”

She waved away my question impatiently. “Just say you’ll remain calm and rational first.”

“Elle, I don’t have time for this,” I said with a meaningful glance outside, at where Mr. Jolly and the rest of his staff were already assembled, waiting for me. “Just show me.”

She sighed and nodded. “Okay, fine.” With an air of wariness, she handed me her phone. I glanced down at the screen, which was open to an article, the bold headlines caught my attention at once. Then I cursed. Loudly and fluently.

Skylark President Aiden Brown has Split with Wife Jessica Over Alleged Infidelity.

I swore under my breath, anger and irritation slamming back in full force. “Fuck!” I was too furious to continue reading the article underneath, the damning headlines were enough to throw me into the deep end right away. How the fuck had the media got hold of the news of so quickly?

Jess and I had hardly been separated for a full day and the news was already splashed on the internet for the world to see, a fodder ripe for gossip and hateful comments, criticisms, and delight carefully masked under fake sympathy. And I wasn’t naïve enough to think all that would be directed at me, the cheating husband.

No. If the was only one thing I knew about people in general, it was that Jessica would also have some of the mud slung her way as well. She would be mocked, and made fun of and that was something I couldn’t let happen.

I cursed again as I thought about Jess and her reaction. Did she already know? Fuck I hoped not, she didn’t need the added stress to weigh her down. It was bad enough that she had to deal with my infidelity, having the public eye fixated on her was unacceptable.

With hands that shook, I set down Elisa’s phone, picked up mine and hit the speed dial for Jessica’s number.

It rang and rang, but the was no answer. I cursed and tried once more. And again. Yet she didn’t pick up. Either she was ignoring my calls or she wasn’t close to her phone. I hoped it was the latter.

After one more try, I gave up and dialed Martin instead. He answered on the first ring.

“Mr. Brown, sir.”

“Martin, have you seen my wife? Is she in the apartment?”

“Yes sir. We just finished arranging some of the new furniture that was delivered today. She said she was exhausted and went to take a nap.” Martin replied.

I let out a breath of relief. At least she wasn’t ignoring my calls, and she probably had no inkling of the shit storm that was about to explode over our heads. Yet.

I thanked Martin and hung up. I turned to Elisa. “I need a favor.”

She gave me an inscrutable look. “You want me to handle the inspection, right?”

I gave her a distracted nod, too busy firing off a list of instructions to Fletcher about upping security around Jessica even more than he already had. “Yeah, thanks Elle.”

“Yeah.” she sighed, opened her door and climbed out. Then she leaned down and motioned for me to put down the glass. “Remember, no rash decisions, okay?

I knew that was an indirect way of telling me to keep my mouth shut about the truth to Jess. I shot her an implacable look and nodded. This was not the time to tell her, not when it would sound like I was trying to defend myself because of the news article.

I fired up the car once more and drove away, not sparing a glance at Jolly, who stood staring at my car as I zoomed past, his mouth slightly agape. I set a course for Jessica’s place, going over the speed limit.