In Love With Mr. Billionaire - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

****James' POV****
"You will not be talking to your father in that tone!" My voice thundered around the massive office.
Caroline's eyes were glaring at me with anger and hurt. The instant I spoke again, she flinched in her seat and looked away.
Usually, this voice was followed by a punishment that would stay on her face for hours in the form of a red mark, but today I refrained myself from doing that. There would be plenty of time later to make her understand how to be respectful to her elders. As of now, just words would have to suffice.
"How do you know about Lahaina marrying Mr Woodwords?" I demanded.
She looked at me for a split second then down at her lap. It was a smart move because she knew the consequences of daring to look me in the eyes very well.
"I heard you talking to him in the living room. You know I was there. You saw me."
Hell, I did. If only I knew she was planning to go under hiding to that loudmouth Hayden girl's apartment, I would have never let her take a step out of my house. She had taken advantage of me being busy in conversation and if I did anything after that, it would have cost me a lot.
"He was there to talk about his marriage, but..." I shook my head thinking about that horrendous day.
Where had I gone wrong? It was a perfect plan. When Aaron had announced he was going to marry Lahaina, I had felt that I had finally succeeded. After all these years of being friends with Ethan, it was all going to pay off. Lahaina was going to marry Aaron and I would get to spend my life in much more luxury than I could ever imagine to afford. He was going to be my very own money-making machine.
But I should have known better. Ethan was an easy fish. He was old, still grieving about his dead wife, and didn't have a good relationship with his son. He was a good catch. The instant I met him at his wife's funeral, I knew he would be easy to manipulate. His son? Not so much.
That was where I went wrong. His son was nowhere close to him. A sneaky bastard who thinks he could make the world bow down to him. He was much more clever than his stupid father and I had underestimated him.
********Two days earlier********
"Aaron is here!" Lahaina said, rushing inside the living room and sitting on the couch. She had saved a spot for Aaron and I gave her a nod of approval. She knew how to play games.
"Get a grip. We can celebrate after I sign the contract," I told her. She was acting way too excited when I had repeatedly told her to be subtle.
I heard the housekeeper answer the door and straightened my back. It was me who was in charge today. I was not going to back away today. Me not going to receive him at the door was the first act to show him my dominance, and there was a lot more to come.
Aaron Woodwords and his company were in the palm of my hands. He was going to beg me to sign the contract to prevent the shares of his company from being transferred to me. As I had a deal with Ethan and could not refuse to sign the contract, I would eventually have to put my signatures on the paper. But I was going to take my own time. I was going to show the great Aaron Woodwords who the real deal was.
"Stop telling me what to do," Lahaina retorted but changed her demeanor as I had asked her to do.
I could have given her a befitting reply, but I held my tongue. It was a relief that she would be gone from my house. Though good with her tricks of dealing with people, there was no doubt that she was a clingy brat. All these years I had to deal with her childlike behavior only because her mother still called the shots for my company. Upsetting her would upset Juliea, which would lead to a lot of problems in my business.
Somewhere I pitied Aaron. He would have to deal with her for the rest of his life. Would serve him right for being a dick always.
Just then, Aaron walked into the living room. A man, his assistant, followed behind.
I didn't leave my seat to welcome him. That was the second act. It did not seem to make a difference, though. He walked in, didn't even look at either me or Lahaina and sat on the empty single chair with such arrogance that it seemed like he owned the place. His assistant went to the couch. Lahaina had to move to come and take a seat to my side.
I cleared my throat, finally gaining his attention. In a diplomatic voice, I said, "what made us so lucky to be blessed by your presence, Mr Woodwords?"
"You know what it is," he said as a matter of fact.
I did. I knew exactly what it was. But I wanted him to say it. That was the third act of dominance.
Aaron looked at me with a placid look. Why was he so calm? I wanted him to freak out, be angry, beg me for his shares. I needed to feel I had won. But, he did nothing. Nothing except stare at me.
I knew he hated me. Unlike his father, he could look through me. Yet, there was nothing he could do now. All I needed was to push the trigger.
I frowned, "I don't think I do."
"Then hear it out," he said, a slight irritation sprouting over that cool demeanor. "I'm here because I want to marry your daughter."
I acted surprised and gave Lahaina a side hug, only because I wanted to increase the misery of the man sitting in front of me. "Oh my God! I'm so happy for you Lahaina!"
I saw a figure standing at the stairs near the door. Immediately, I knew it was Caroline. For some reason, Aaron had always showered her with his attention, so I was glad when he did not turn his head to look at her even when he knew I was. For whatever reason he thought that disgrace deserved his attention, it was gone with the emergence of the contract.
"You were saying?" Lahaina said in a flirty tone to Aaron when Caroline had walked away.
Aaron leaned back in his chair and did something I had never expected him to do. He repeated his words.
"I said, I'm here because I want to marry your daughter-"
"You already told us-" he snubbed me.
"But not this one," Aaron declared, looking at Lahaina with extreme distaste. She stared back at him too stunned to say anything and I was just numb.
"The other one," he turned his head to look me in the eye to say that.
What the hell? It was hard to believe he could manipulate the contract. I had specifically created a clause for a situation like this. It was just the way that Aaron spoke with absolute confidence and sat with equal arrogance, I could not help but think that something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.
"You don't get to choose between my daughters. The contract has Lahaina's name on it."
"You're right, I don't get to choose because this one," he said, throwing a glance at Lahaina, "was never an option. As far as the contract and the name thing is concerned, Carter, give him the papers."
The assistant pulled out a file. It was familiar as I was the one who had convinced Ethan to create it. He placed the file on the table in front of me, gesturing for me to have a look.
I was worried about picking it up and reading it. What if Aaron had actually done something with it? It would not matter. Even if he actually did something, no change would be valid until I approve it. The clause was in the original contract. He can't overrule it.
While I was still debating about reading the file or not, Carter had decided to pick up the file and do the deed himself.
"The contract specifically mentions that Mr Aaron Woodwords is and will be the rightful heir of his father's shares that Mr Ethan Wodwords still holds of the company if and only if he will be willing to get into a marriage with Ms Caroline Marshall. The document has been signed by Mr Woodwords and his father. You're the only one left," Carter said, sliding the opened file for me to look.
I finally picked up the file and gave it the read. He changed the name. He replaced Lahaina's name!
"You made changes to the contract without my approval. That is a violation of clause 4.5. Don't act smart, boy. You'll lose your company," I threatened him.
"It won't be a violation if you sign, James," Aaron reasoned.
"I checked it was Lahaina. Ethan knew it was about Lahaina. How did you even manage to get this signed by him?" I flipped through the contract, still not able to believe he would dare to do that.
"I deal with people like you on a daily basis. You're not as bright as you think you are. My father trusts you a lot. I only used that trust and made him sign without going through it again. It wasn't even that hard," Aaron smiled.
"You tricked your own father? What kind of a son are you?" I raised my voice, trying to make him feel the guilt.
"And you're the one to talk?" Aaron replied, tilting his head to a little left. He was acting way too calm for my peace of mind.
"How could you do this to me!" It was Lahaina's turn to shout. Her shrill voice pierced through my eardrums. She had been sitting at her spot in shock and only now realized the situation had taken a 180-degree turn.
"Sweetheart, why don't you leave and try to find another billionaire for you? One who is stupid enough to fall for your cheap tricks?" Aaron said sweetly.
"You do-" she started to speak but was cut off.
"Leave and let the adults do the talking," Aaron said, the fake sweetness now replaced by pure arrogance.
"I will-" I stopped her this time.
"Go away, Lahaina," I yelled at her. She gave me a hard glare for a few seconds then stomped her foot and left.
I looked back at the contract and shook my head. "It doesn't matter if Ethan signed it. It's not valid until I do. You'll lose your shares for violating the terms since you'll never be able to get me to sign it," I told him with a smirk.
"Let's forget about my shares for a while and talk about your company. How is everything going there?" Aaron said with an evil glint in his eyes.
"My company?"
"Didn't my father make a lot of investments there? I believe I might have bought some shares as well. How will you feel if I pull out those investments?" Aaron asked, a smirk forming on his lips.
I could feel drops of sweat on my forehead. This was not supposed to be this stressful. I was supposed to be enjoying seeing Aaron's discomfort. What was happening?
"You will not do that," I said, knowing well he would.
"Not only that, James. I'll make sure that you're ruined enough to claim bankruptcy. I'll also make sure that the shares of my company that you get for not signing the deal, will have to be sold to get out of your debt. And you know I'll be right there to buy them back," his voice had gotten cold, a little menacing. But his words were worse. He had a perfect plan to ruin me.
"You'll lose a lot of money if you do that," my voice had lost all its confidence by now.
"You don't worry about my money, James. You already know I have a lot," His smile that accompanied that statement was insulting to me and victorious to him.
"Still don't want to sign?" He pushed the papers to me, taunting me.
I gave it a little thought. If I sign these papers, Caroline marries him instead of Lahaina. Since she is incredibly naive and too kind-hearted, it would not be difficult to get Aaron's money from her.
It was still beneficial to me to sign the deal. If Aaron wanted to marry that disgrace then it was his choice. If I can't get his money through Lahaina, I was going to get it through Caroline.
Picking up the pen, I signed the contract before he changed his mind. It was finalized.
"There you go," I passed the papers to his assistant, who examined the signature for a few seconds before closing the document.
"I'll take care of the rest of the things," I offered. Since Lahaina was out of the question, I'd have to manage everything. Nothing more could go wrong. The contract was signed and finalized, but I could not trust this man. "I'll talk to your dad about the changes made and I'll also convince Caroline-"
"I," he put extra stress on the letter, "will talk to Caroline," he said in a warning tone.
"As you wish. Congratulations," I smiled and put my hand forward for a shake.
Aaron looked at me as if I had lost my mind to ever think he would return the gesture. I turned to his assistant, Carter, who looked amused by the show. I turned back to look at Aaron. He was still comfortably leaning back in his chair, not caring about anything. Is this what he wanted?
I cleared my throat and pulled back my hand, humiliated by the act.
He got up from his chair and this time, I had to too.
"It was wonderful to have you here, Aaron," I said.
"It's still Mr Woodwords for you," Aaron roared, pointing his index finger at me. Then, he turned around on his heels and walked away.
************Present Day*************
I had planned so much for that day and when it had finally arrived, Aaron Woodwords had ruined it. I had also thought it was going to be easy to manipulate Caroline into giving me money, but now thinking about Mr Woodwords, I wondered. Would it be?
"But what?" Caroline asked. She was anxious to know more.
"He rejected Lahaina," I stated, shaking my head in disbelief.
"What? Why?"
"Because he wants to marry you, not her," I said and heard her gasp.