The convenient marriage - Chapter 29: Chapter 29

'Aria?' Zane called the small woman's name, seeing that though she had stopped crying was not reacting in any way.
Some seconds had passed, but Aria appeared frozen stiff. Even her red tinged lips had remained slightly opened, just as they were when he had kissed them. Although this sight of them was causing him the urge to steal another kiss from her, as her defenseless state was perfect for a second attack, Zane was not one to take advantage of the situation.
Alright, maybe he was... but still he wouldn't exaggerate in his actions, lest she put up her guard regarding him. He had barely managed to convince her to sleep on the same bed, what if she strongly opposed it afterwards fearing him. She could already be wary of him, because of that woman, he did not want her to distance herself even more.
'Aria?' Zane called again, trying to not stare any longer to the rather plump lips that felt too inviting for his comfort.
'Hiccup!' Aria hiccupped uncontrollably. Dazedly she could not process just what had happened, as she was also staring at Zane's lips.
'Hiccup!' The small woman hiccupped again. Those lips had just been on her own just some seconds ago, she thought. With the realization hitting her mind coupled with the still lingering memory of his touch on her lips, her face flushed even more. This was her first kiss ever, and to lose it unexpectedly... she did not know what to make of the matter.
Zane was her husband, it was true she could not rebuke him in anyway because of his actions, but still was she supposed to say something because of it? And more importantly, was it normal that she was not bothered by his action?
She never had a boyfriend before, but reading many romance novels, she had still formed an ideal of a perfect man, and Zane although absolutely handsome was miles apart from that ideal. A warm playful personality, an older brother next door type of guy... were not the kind of characteristics she could attribute to Zane's personality.
Stern, expressionless, somber, mature were more fitting for him, though she would have to admit that he was quite attentive to her, and unexpectedly underneath his aloof expression there hid a caring man. She could not deny that to find the warmness beneath his usual cold expression it made her feel special, a fact that would not happen with a warm hearted person, as that kind of a person would act warm to anyone. A cold person would most likely behave warm and kind for only a few selected people, so she found this part of his quite attractive.
Wait, why was she comparing her ideal man with Zane? Aria questioned herself, this was not the right time for that. No, no, there was never a right time to compare the two, because she wasn't supposed to compare them.
'Hiccup!'
Zane could see Aria's interesting changes in expression, as she went from pale to a red face, and a confused one also. He had waited for some seconds, but as she did not show any inclination to answer him, he spoke again.
'You know the best way to stop a hiccup is to surprise you? Should I kiss you again?' He teasingly asked, as the small woman finally looked him in the eyes.
'I-I can drink some water! Hiccup!' She finally replied, her attention undoubtedly caught by the word kiss.
'Are you sure? It's not a problem for me. I will be glad to help.' Zane continued with his tease, happy that her face had gotten some healthy color on it. He truly did not like her pale face at all, as it was a sign she was not well. He especially did not like such a face on her caused by him.
'I-I am sure!' She immediately confirmed, nodding her head repeatedly to strengthen her words.
With a small helpless smile on his face, a bit downcast because of her quick denial, but also a bit amused by it, he finally complied and proceeded to help Aria drink some water.
'You can give me the glass! I can drink it myself! Hiccup!'
Aria hurriedly tried to reach for the glass of water that stood on the small cabinet near her bedside, when she saw that Zane did not have the intention of handing it to her.
Filling the glass with water, the man had placed it down then sat himself near Aria and gently helped her lean on him. It was clear that he wanted to be the one to hold the glass while she drank the water, but this would only make her more uncomfortable.
'It's either I help you drink the water, or I will use the other method to stop your hiccup.' He said with a deep hoarse voice, tilting his head to the side, for the woman who was leaned on his chest to see his serious face better. To show her he was not joking.
Widening her eyes, seeing he was also leaning a bit towards her face like he was actually going to kiss her, Aria really stopped hiccupping. His warm chest near her face and hearing his elevated heart race also helping in terminating the involuntary spasm.
'Y-you can help me drink!' She still said, afraid he wasn't going to notice she was no longer hiccupping and continue with his kiss. She really did not understand what was with him and kisses today, he had never acted like this in the past.
Slowly she drank some mouths full of water, before signaling to him that it was enough.
Noticing her gesture, he took the glass away and placed it down, then arranged Aria's pillow allowing her to sit with the upper part of her body a bit more elevated.
'How are you feeling? Is anything uncomfortable?' He asked, as he was retrieving a couple of tissues from the nightstand.
'I am alright.' She replied avoiding his eyes. Considering the scald still ached and a constant headache slightly bothered her, it was clear it was only a polite answer, an answer one would give to a stranger.
He did not like her alienation, but did not expose her lie. Sighing a bit, he sat himself near her bedside again and slowly wiped her cheeks. The doctors had said there were limited calming medicine they could use to alleviate her pain because it could interfere with her pregnancy, and they had already given her all the medicine they could in her current state, so there was no choice for Aria but to bear with the pain. Finding this out, he was feeling even more angered, but his touch was still as gentle as a feather's touch.
'I can do it myself.' She tried to steal the tissue away, but Zane held her wrist in place with his free hand, not allowing her to take it away.
'When I was in the hospital, you helped me as well. I did not say anything about it then, now you can't also.' He reasoned convincingly.
It was a truth that Aria could not refute, as the image of her feeding him like a child popped inside her mind. If she knew this fact would come back to bite her, she wouldn't have done it.
'Have you calmed down?' He asked her gently, and removed the tissue once he saw the now dry cheeks.
'Yes.' Aria replied, afraid he will once again mention...
'If not, I can always kiss you again.' He chuckled and retrieved his hands, but still did not move away from her bedside.
'I am calm, really.' She replied quickly, feeling her heart would jump out of her chest.
'That's a pity.' He mumbled a bit. He had offered several times to kiss her, but she refused him so quickly each time. Was he so unattractive, that she wasn't even a little tempted?
'Did you say something?' She asked looking towards him, not understanding his whisper.
At the repeated mention of kisses, strangely in a way it made Aria slowly relax her mind, so the awkwardness caused by Zane's gesture lessened a bit. Though a question was still repeating inside her mind regardless of her wish. Why did she respond to his kiss? She must have been crazy.
'No, nothing.' Zane answered and seeing her mood better, and the atmosphere a lot more relaxed, started to speak about what happened earlier in the office.
Were he to stall the discussion, he was afraid Aria would once again become anxious and start to overthink her way of acting around him. Sometimes he really could not fathom just what kind of worries were swirling around in her pretty head, but he feared the worst.
'Now that you are a bit more relaxed, I want to ask you to listen to me without overthinking anything, without offering apologies... I just want you to only listen. Will you?' He asked serious, but with a gentle tone.
Zane's face which made Aria feel like he was really pleading for her to listen to him, caused the small woman to reflexively nod her head and concentrate her attention on what he wanted to say.
'You might have heard about my work from the butler, right? Then you should know we own several companies that make up quite a large consortium.' He began, then waited for Aria's confirmation.
Aria realizing this, again nodded her head. As he had told her to only listen, she earnestly would not open her mouth until he would finish with what he wanted to say. Though she did not understand why he brought up the companies.
'I will not go into details about them, I will only tell you that because the companies are quite large, they are managed by many people, hundreds actually. And although not all, some of those people are ones who have some relationship with our family. They could be close relatives, distant relatives, friends of my grandfather and so on.
Because of this, a protocol was issued to ensure what everyone was allowed to do or not do at the main company that controls the other smaller firms. This in itself was made up so other people don't take advantage of their relationships with the ones managing the companies, as in going in and out of the main company how they deemed fit.'
Zane's explanations at first seemed actually only at most slightly related to what happened at the office today, as it did not even touch the main point yet, although he had spoken some phrases already. But as Zane wanted to be absolutely certain that Aria did not feel she was only coaxed and consoled, but it was the actual truth of the matter, he thought he could only do it like this. He could only explain to her step by step, afraid she would again react like she did earlier. It was also a lesson for her in the future, as others may also take advantage of her as they tried to profit from him in the past.
'The fault of this protocol is that there would be people who could also use it to their advantage. One particular example was the woman who had not let you inside the company, using that said protocol. Even though she was supposed to not let anyone she did not know of just enter at their leisure, she should have let you identify yourself and then act in accordance to your identity.
Anyway I have already dealt with her. Don't worry, you won't see her again.' He said, then raised his hand to his lips signaling for her to keep quiet, as he could see Aria wanted to open her mouth. He wasn't sure if she wanted to apologize again saying it was her fault, or plead for that woman, but either way he did not want to hear it.
'Now, for the second matter. Another troublesome problem in having other people manage the companies is that, at one point in time there will also be ones who would assume their connection to the Black family is a lot more special than it really is.
One such example is the woman who you found in my office. The actress...' Zane stayed silent for a second as he wondered about the name of that woman, but as he did not remember it, did not ponder further and continued.
'... whatever her name might be, is a daughter of one of the shareholders of one of our companies, and is in fact a type of example of a person for whom the protocol was actually created for. She was only hired to film a commercial for the company, as a favor to her father, but she stepped out of line.
Hearing her words that she might have said in the office, I am sure you would think that she is close to me, but in fact she is not. It's just that to claim she is familiar with me could bring her a lot of work benefits so she would try to speak about it each time she can.'
Although what he said to Aria was the truth, it could also be said that the woman was trying to claim a connection to also get closer to Zane romantically, but of course he wouldn't tell his wife this. There was no point in saying it.
'To convince you of this, I can use last week's news as an example. Last Thursday, I had a business dinner with the shareholders of the companies, and that woman was also at the hotel where the dinner was held at that time. Even though, the dinner had more than a dozen participants, and that woman had only come to speak with her father, the news reported I was in fact only with her alone.
Naturally, the representatives of the company denied the news, but as she remained neutral about it, the news was reported distorted, and it helped boost her popularity. I had planned to deal with the news in the next couple of days, and to also prohibit her entry in the main building, but as I had other pending matters, it got delayed and unfortunately it got to this point. It was my oversight.
My point is that... unluckily, for you and for me, as we bare the Black last name, this type of situation might be something we will encounter in the future again. I cannot guarantee that this will be the last time someone will claim a connection for some sort of benefit. Perhaps there will be more women in the future who will tell the press or you that they have a connection with me, perhaps there will also be people who will say they have a connection with you.
What I want is for you to trust me when I tell you that no matter now or in the future, I only have you as my wife. And only you, the children and my mother as my closest people. So no matter who tells you otherwise, you can come and talk to me, and I will tell you each time the same.
Aria, you are my wife and the only exception to the rules. Alright?' Zane finished speaking and gently patted her head, as Aria slowly nodded in confirmation that she understood.
'S-so she is not someone who is close to you?' Aria dared asked, feeling a bit warm caused by the patience he had shown her, as he slowly explained the situation.
'No, she is not. The secretary was not my usual one and was unsure if she could kick her out of the office.' Zane replied with a sincere face.
'Then I am happy.' The words slipped from Aria's lips as she had finally shown a small smile. She was looking completely oblivious of the meaning of what she had just spoken.
Zane was a bit taken aback by her words, becoming pensive because of her affirmation and seemingly relieved face.
She was happy that he was not close to the actress, then did it mean she had been jealous because she thought that woman was his lover?
Hopeful, he wanted to ask more... to confirm his thoughts, but couldn't speak of this as the door briskly opened.
'Madame Aria, how are you feeling?' Anne immediately asked, as soon as she entered. Her face was littered with tears, but she couldn't bother taking care of her appearance at this moment. She had felt so guilty since the assistant of the president had informed her of what happened.
It was her fault that she had left Aria alone, or at least not checking the office before leaving to find the pantry.
Because her guilt pressed down on her heavily, it took quite a bit of time for Aria to assure the maid of her health, so unfortunately Zane couldn't ask her more. He wanted to interrupt the two's conversation, but did not have the heart to do it, seeing that Aria was becoming more and more relaxed as she talked with Anne.
At Davis's family mansion
'Assistant Ryan, I have been a friend of the Black family for many years. I've watched with my own two eyes how Zane grew up from a smart child to a capable individual. Because of our close connection, I was assured there would never be a day when I would ruthlessly be cut off. But now what is the meaning of the contract you sent over?' The man asked upset, clenching one hand on the phone, as the other one was holding the contract in front of him.
He had only arrived home for not even half an hour, when an assistant from the main company came looking for him with a sealed envelope from the president.
This had never happened in the past, as all of the paperwork was sent to his office. What was so important that it couldn't wait for him at the office?
Taking the envelope away, he remained stiff in place, as the bold sharp words written on the white sheets of paper inside of the envelope felt like they were poking his eyes.
A handover contract for the shares he owned at the Mars company... was this a joke? He had received those shares from his father, and they were one of the main sources of income for his family. How could he just hand them away? Why should he? And most importantly, why would Zane do such a thing unprovoked?
Zane was a harsh and cold president, but he was not a tyrant and did not do these sort of things without talking with the person he wanted the shares from first. Not to mention, even if he did want someone's shares, they would usually be exchanged with shares from another company within the group. But this contract specified only the acquisition of the shares, it did not mention any sort of exchange with others.
And also the name of the buyer, Aria Black, he hadn't heard that name before. Was it a distant relative of the Blacks? Well, anyway the name was not important what was important right now was the loss of the connection caused by the shares' transfer from his name. Angered and anxious, he had swiftly dialed Zane's number, but the latter although did not seem to have his phone closed, also did not answer.
Realizing he wouldn't get any answers from that man, he turned to the second best person to ask explanations from, his assistant, who had fortunately answered the call almost immediately.
Hearing the greeting from the other end of the phone call, Davis did not reciprocate the words, and immediately started his admonishing questions.
'The meaning of the contract is clear, what is mister Davis confused about? The president wants the shares you own at the Mars company, nothing more nothing less. As for the details that led to this decision from our president, your daughter is more knowledgeable about it than myself.' Ryan spoke with a clear voice, holding the phone against his ear, but also keeping a part of his attention on the person who was currently seating in his office, on the opposite side of his desk.
'My daughter? What do you mean? What would Faye have to do with this?' Inside Davis's mind, he had at least a bit of an inkling that Faye could have really offended the president, even though he told her hundreds of times to be careful in his presence. But would the pursuing of a beautiful woman such as his daughter really anger that man so much that he would want his shares back?
Faye was a little bit more arrogant than the normal beautiful woman, but it was only natural because of her celebrity status. As such, knowing she wanted to get involved with the president, he allowed her to get closer to the man, and at the same time advised her what she could do inside the main office. His daughter wouldn't have overstepped herself so much that it could cause Zane's displeasure to such an unreasonable extent.
'As I have said, it's better to ask your daughter.' Ryan stated again calmly. Zane had only told him to make sure he got Davis's signature on the documents, he wasn't in any way obligated to share other details with Davis. If the man wanted to find out about them, he had the perpetrator in his backyard.
'Ryan, tell me clearly the president's reasons for this abrupt action, you can't brush me off by saying you don't know about them. How can I offer a solution to the problem, if I do not know from your own president's mouth?' Davis asked trying to keep his anger in check.
He could have asked his daughter, but if the latter was not aware of exactly which action had irked the president, and if Ryan would not answer his phone call again, then it would become increasingly difficult to resolve the matter. It was better to know from Ryan now, seeing as he was already speaking with the man on the phone.
'Mister Davis, there is no point in explaining the president's reasons for wanting the shares back, as you will have to comply either by accepting the president's offer or by not gaining absolutely anything at all for them. You don't have other options other than those I have just stated, and you also won't be able to rectify the matter and change his decision, even if you know what upset the president.
But if you must absolutely know, I can only tell you that your daughter offended Madame Aria today to the point she fainted and had to be admitted to the hospital. To know exactly what happened, it is best to ask your daughter. As for the contract please sign it today.
If you will not sign, the president ordered me to let you know you will receive another contract tomorrow, with a new price for the shares, five million dollars lower than the one you received today. The following day after tomorrow, the contract will again be lowered with five million dollars. By next Monday the offer will become zero, and in conclusion you will receive nothing for the shares, should you continue refusing signing the documents. I think you are well aware that Mar's profit depends on the other companies of the consortium. You should already know what that implies.' Ryan finally offered some insight, seeing as the man was too persistent in finding out.
'Wait, who is Madame Aria? And what has her fainting got to do with my shares?' Davis frowned confused and outraged, as he was getting increasingly more irritated. He was also forgetting what he had reminded his daughter many times, and that was to be careful with her conduct and speech no matter who she encountered with at the main building, as one might actually be a very important person even if they did not appear so.
'Madame Aria is the president's wife.'
Hearing the assistant, Davis's legs grew weak as he slumped on the couch, with the contract falling from his hand.