In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

***Aaron's POV***
******A Week Earlier******
As I drove to my father's house my mind was shrouded by the thoughts of the girl I had met only moments ago. Caroline Marshall. I had spent the whole morning and a major part of the evening with her and hoped that she would finally free me from her thoughts but it seemed it was not going to happen.
The more time I spent with her, the more I got to know her, the more interested I was in her. This was not right. No one should have that much power. Especially not someone who was the daughter of the man whom I hated with everything in me.
A part of me knew that she was different from them, but another part of me—a more logical one—warned me of my growing feelings for her. The women in my life have come and gone. Even with their constant attempts of trying to hook me, no one has ever even come close to capturing my attention for longer than I intended to. Then, came Caroline.
I wanted her like no other. I craved her and yet, after that first date, I had been the one to pull back. I wanted to take things slow with her—another first for me. I wished to get to know her better before I made a move. Because I doubted once I did, there would be any turning back.
I parked my car outside dad's mansion and walked inside. It was a remote area, almost at the outskirts of the city. My father being the social creature he was, hated to be at a place like this. It was for my mother's love of a quiet living that had forced him to buy this mansion and settle here. And it was only for my mother's memory after her death that he had decided to never leave their home.
The housekeeper greeted me with a pleasant smile and informed me of my father waiting in his home office. I made my way to him with steady steps. I never had a normal father-son relationship with him. My mother had always been the glue binding us together. After she was gone, so was the connection with my father.
"Why is it always so hard to get you to visit me?" My father said, as soon as I walked into his office. His tone was almost mechanical.
"Maybe you don't try hard enough."
He was sitting behind his desk, going through some papers which he kept aside and got up. Gesturing towards the set of couches on the right for me to sit, he moved to the little bar at the other corner. He picked up a bottle of scotch and two glasses, then came to sit with me.
"How have you been, son?" He asked with a smile. I almost scoffed at that question.
My father gave zero fucks about me. The fact that he was interested in my well-being, instead of confronting me for whatever it was this time around, made me suspicious of his behavior. There was definitely something up with him. It was only a matter of time till he shed off his being nice persona and became the man I always knew him to be.
"I'm driving," I said, watching him pour the scotch in the glasses. He filled both the glasses anyway and slid one of them to me.
"You don't have to," said my father. Obviously, he didn't know that driving was one of my relaxations.
"Get to the point. Why am I here?" The last time he asked me to visit him was almost half a year ago. It was for a business deal that he was facing trouble with.
"Never was one to have heartfelt conversations," he commented, taking a sip of his scotch.
"I'd say it's because of your teaching or rather the lack of." I reached for my glass of scotch. The way this conversation was going, I doubted if I could go through it without being totally hammered.
My father chuckled to himself. "Did you find a bride for yourself yet?" He asked, observing me to assess my mood.
I rolled my eyes at the question. This had been one of his questions the last time I visited him, which had led to a serious argument. Never being the father figure for me, he had no right to involve himself in my life now. Especially, not when it included forcing me to do something I was not ready for yet.
"We talked about it last time. I asked you to get me a daughter in law."
"And I told you to keep your head out of my life," I said, anger rising with every word I spoke.
"I'm planning to transfer the entire company to you, Aaron. I want you to be settled before giving you the responsibility."
"I'm already managing every affair of the company. Including the things you mess up because of your ignorance. The turnover has doubled since I joined and you think getting a wife will make me responsible?" I clenched my fists, struggling to stay calm.
"I think getting a wife will give you the stability I want for you before I transfer my shares to you," my father placed his glass on the table and got up to walk to his desk.
"I don't care what you think, father. You don't get to make decisions for me."
He picked up a file from the desk. Flipping it open, he came back to sit.
"Your mother left us too soon, son. Heaven knows how long I'm going to be here. It's only natural that a father would want to see his only son be happy. Just get married and make some grandkids for me before I join your mother up there."
"You gotta be kidding me," I shook my head, unbelievably. Using death as an excuse for behaving like a shitty father was pathetic and low.
"I found a girl for you," he said, placing the open file on the table. I didn't bother to even acknowledge the document.
"I told you I'm not getting married yet. There is nothing you could do to change that, father." I downed the glass of wine and refilled it.
"I think I might have done something." He smiled to himself. I raised a quizzical brow at that.
"Marry the girl I chose for you or let go of the shares I was going to transfer to you of the company."
I stared at him in disbelief. Did he really say that shit? Was he poking fun at me? But knowing he never had a sense of humor, it was tough to imagine he could come up with this prank.
He pointed at the file lying on the table and leaned back on the sofa. He was serious.
"Who is she?" I asked.
"My friend, James' daughter, Lahaina Marshall."
I laughed. I threw my head back and laughed at his face. There was no doubt he was serious, but the proposal was too absurd to be taken seriously.
"I didn't crack a joke, son."
Obviously father, you are incapable of any form of humor.
"Marry her or else you lose half of the company that still belongs to me."
"And who are you going to donate your shares to? A charity?" I asked. He missed the sarcasm in my tone.
"James gets it."
That definitely took my smile away. I picked up the file and scanned it.
If James was supposed to get my father's share then this proposal was not just my father's way of forcing me to find myself a wife. James was involved in the fiasco. And if he was involved, this was much more serious than just about me finding a partner. It was about James trying to take control of my company.
The document was a marriage contract. I was supposed to marry Lahaina Marshall, James' very own gold digger, in a span of two months. If I refuse or decide to make any changes in the contract without either of their approval, my father's share of the company will be transferred to James Marshall overnight.
My fury rose with every sentence I read. Just by reading the document, I could figure out that James had designed it. He had made a wonderful plan, pulled my father into it, using his helping a friend card and now wanted access to what was mine. Either way, with this contract he was going to be much closer to my company and me.
Whether I marry Lahaina, which would indirectly associate his company's name with mine or he gets my father's share, he was going to benefit from this deal. My father had nothing to gain except a wife for his son. He had everything to lose.
I don't understand why my father believes in him so much. James was a shitty excuse for a man, a leech who lived off of others. He had been doing that ever since he befriended my father after my mom passed away.
Her death had sent him to a dark place. A man who once had loved to socialize had given up everything to stay at home. A place that held all their memories together.
James had helped him through it. If he was a better person, I would have appreciated him for getting my father out of that hole, but his intentions were never pure.
What he saw was a man who was rich and weak. He had taken that opportunity to grow close to my father, gain his trust and once he had claimed his spot as his confidant, he had started planning to suck out the wealth slowly and gradually. The business that he had now, was only because my father was a fool to not notice how he was using him.
"What do you think?" My father asked, still sipping his scotch.
"I think you are too stupid to notice what that asshole is doing to you." I snapped the file shut on the table.
"Mind your language, young man. James has nothing to gain if you just sign the papers."
"You think his daughter is any better? Are you not aware of her pinning after money and rich people or are you too blind to see it for yourself?"
"I've known her for almost 8 years now. She will be good for you. She is a wonderful child." Was my father's counter-argument.
"Like hell, she is," I said. The sarcasm again went unnoticed.
A sudden thought crossed my mind and I frowned, staring at the file lying on the table.
"Who else knows about this contract?" I asked, hoping Caroline was unaware. This could not be happening. She was not one of them. I could not have fallen into a trap created by her.
"Just James' family and us. We can make the news public after the engagement," my father said. He looked pleased that I was asking questions and not calling out his stupidity anymore.
"His whole family?" I inquired.
"Yes, of course."
So that's what it was? Luring me with one of his daughters to marry the other? I still failed to believe Caroline was one of them, but if she was aware of this arrangement, there was no doubt she had been in it.
"I'm not going to sign this," I told him. I couldn't believe I allowed her to get so deep in my head. I couldn't believe she had done the same to me what her father had been doing to my father all these years.
"Then are you willing to give half of the company to James? Because I trust him enough to do that. I wonder if you feel the same. Take your time and think about it, Aaron," he finished the scotch in his glass and went out of his office.
With pure rage, I threw my glass at the wall, shattering it to pieces.
I knew James was a sick bastard. He was always looking for opportunities to put others down so that he could come to the top. But I had never imagined he would go to this extent. Manipulating my father and using his daughters was low even for him. Not that Lahaina Marshall was any better. She was her father's daughter to the very core. A perfect replica of him.
She was always around every rich person who would give her attention. Her love for gaining wealth without working for it was just as much as her father's. Even if she was not going around telling everyone about her father and even if her father was not going around pimping his daughter to every rich man, there would still be no doubt that they were family. That's how similar they were.
My thoughts did wander to the other daughter, but I pushed it away. The thought of her being fake was more troubling than the contract my father had just presented to me.
In all honesty, if it was anyone else my father had threatened to transfer the remaining shares of the company, I would have easily given it up. I had run the company for so long and it would not take long for me to build it up again. Heck, I could simply walk off and build another one. But no way was James Marshall ever going to get a penny that belonged to me.
No one gets away with threatening me and James Marshall was very soon going to have an experience of that. But before that, if it meant I'll have to marry his daughter to keep my company, I was going to do it.
I picked up the file and walked out of the office. My father was talking over the phone and I passed by him without giving him a look. He had never been an ideal father and things had drastically changed after mom was gone, but I still had respect for him as a man. Not anymore.
"I hope you'll sign it after you get back from the Walter case," he commented.
I did not turn to face him. My anger had surpassed. It was just a pity for him now. "I'll take what's mine," I declared.
"Very well, then. I'll sign after you do, then take the file to James for him to review and sign at last."
I started to walk away but he spoke again, "don't forget about the charity event next week. I've asked Lahaina to be there."
I've asked Caroline to be there. Will she be there? I hope not. I was not ready to face her yet. She knew about all this and—was it why she always refused whenever I asked to pick her up at her house? I didn't know if I was angrier at her or myself for letting her get to me.
Whatever it was, I'd find out at the charity event. If she was as simple as she looked from the outside, I'd know it. My feelings for her will not cloud my judgment anymore. But whatever happens, the outcome would still stay the same.
I clenched the file tightly and turned to look at my father. He was smirking. A smirk of triumph.
"I'm glad mom is not here to see this. She'd be really disappointed in you." I knew bringing my mother into this was a dick move, but the satisfaction of seeing the smirk disappear off my father's face was rewarding.
And there was no lie in the statement. If anything, disappointment was an understatement to what she'd feel if she was still here.