The convenient marriage - Chapter 50: Chapter 50

From the first time she had met Zane, she had known his apathetic side and his coldness both most likely due to the harshness of his position. But she had never expected for Zane to be this ruthless and unbending. Why was he acting like this? There was nothing that could implicate her into Jillian's misfortune.
"Zane, hey stop it. You are hurting her!" Malcom quickly approached Zane and tried to reason with him, after a split second of delay. Shocked by the actions of his normally calm and collected friend, he hadn't managed to stop Zane before the latter assaulted the woman.
As for him trying to obstruct Zane from hurting Aileen, well it wasn't just for the woman's sake as much as it was for his own friend's sake.
He was afraid that Aileen could really suffer some irremediable consequences due to Zane's anger. This in return could turn out to hurt the latter. The drop in value of the shares in the company, legal actions and even prison time... everything could be ruined because of one thoughtless move from Zane. And more importantly, Aria needed Zane right now by her side. How would he do that from behind the jail's bars?
His friend was a sharp and decisive person, but he had never done something this abrupt before. He was the type to analyze and perfectly plan ten moves in advance, before doing anything. Could this woman really have something to do with Aria's state? Otherwise it was too strange for Zane to lose his temper like this.
"Zane?" An older woman's voice called shaken by the sight in front of her. Just like her son, the woman rarely if ever reflected her true emotions on her face and through her voice. But seeing her calm and rational son strangling a woman without the slightest of discomfort, how could she still keep her somber appearance.
She was just on her way to the party when Ryan had called her to inform her that Aria was in the hospital, having been brought by Zane after she had lost consciousness. Without a second's delay she had changed her destination and rushed to their location.
Although she had never been a warm person, although she had never shown much concern towards other people including her own son, one could not call her an uncaring or unsympathetic person. She had always done her best even towards Aria, who she hadn't shared the closest of connections, when the latter had fallen in a coma.
Along with her son, she had assured for her daughter in law the best medical care one could receive, but that was about it. That was the extent of how much her feelings and empathy would extend to another person normally. But somehow the Aria from the present was different. Her concern and worry for her were different than they had been in the past.
Perhaps it was because of the eerie image of the lonely forgotten plaque of that small girl who she hadn't managed to find in time, and the fact that Aria was a mirror image of that girl. It could also be because Aria was a much warmer person that she had been in the past.
This whole week during which she had interacted with Aria, and also seeing her son experiencing a normal family life with her, her impression of Aria had gone up so much that she could even feel she had gotten another child, rather than gaining a proper daughter in law.
This fact coupled with the knowledge that her son had always been a healthy person, who had never made her worried for his health, and also because Aria was almost due to give birth, had made her maternal instincts soar up.
As such her emotions were already quite in disarray since Ryan's phone call. So she hadn't paid much thought to the reason for which Zane had also informed the Langdon branch family of Aria's state, which was really unlike his usual self to say the least. But now to also witness him using such barbaric means to deal with a person of the fairer sex...
"Aileen! Zane, what are you doing?" An older man also chimed in almost at the same time as Victoria, with Aileen's mother gasping in shock.
Out of the blue, Zane's bodyguards visited them at home and informed them that Zane had requested for their presence at his private hospital. Their only connection to the Blacks at this moment was their niece, so naturally they had assumed that Jillian had some unexpected complications due to her pregnancy. Perhaps the situation was so urgent that it could even result in Jillian giving birth prematurely.
If it was so, Darren had thought that he could finally move up his plan to separate the two. It would really be the most ideal time to do so, and a sign that God was aiding their plans. Just as he had succeeded in reclaiming his birthright, his daughter's future would also be reset on its right path once more.
It was evident that Zane and Aria were getting too close to one another since Aria had woken up from the coma, so it was imperative for them to make them get a divorce as soon as possible. But they could not intervene until Jillian would give birth without alerting Zane of the true purpose of their meddling in the two's marriage.
With Aria admitted to the hospital sooner than intended, they could finally visit her with a proper reason and use this opportunity to convince her of Zane's "real plans". If this was not divine intervention, than they really did not know what to call it... The chance to end the marriage before Zane's and Jillian's feeling for one another deepening to the point of no return... was God sent.
At least these were the feelings of both Darren and his wife. Intentions they had both understood as they exchanged glances with one another up until they had stumbled upon the current image.
"You are out of line, release my daughter!" Darren shouted angry, forgetting in an instant the plans he had started to mull over on his way here.
"Make a choice, Langdon. You or your daughter?" Zane stated calmly, having finally removed his hand from Aileen's neck.
"What? What is the meaning of this?" Darren stuttered out a question in reply, though he hadn't really understood Zane's words in the slightest. And how could he when Zane had pushed his daughter towards him and he was doing everything he could to prevent the shocked Aileen from falling to the hard cold tile floor.
"Your daughter stole the contract I and Aria signed on our wedding day. And earlier showed it to my wife. So Langdon... make a choice." Zane repeated himself again with an almost casual tone.
Perhaps it was because he wanted to maintain his calm to assure he assessed the situation properly and dealt the hardest blow possible, but his face had resumed his expressionless visage from before. Not that it made him less frightening.
At least this was Aileen's impression, as she barely contained her cough due to the previous lack of air. Her trembling that would not cease the least bit, even though her father had his arm around her in a protective stance, was also a clear evidence of her trauma. Zane was nothing short of a devil in front of her eyes right now.
His murdering expression from before which seemed to enjoy her imminent death was too vivid in her mind for her to feel otherwise. It had been only several seconds that his cold hands tightened around her neck, but it felt like a lifetime had passed before she could feel safe again. No, even now she didn't think she was protected with her father's appearance. If Zane had found out that she had stolen the documents... he would never let her off. But how... there was nothing in the phone.
How did he make this deduction in such a short time? Did he know something more? Had she missed something earlier? And why didn't he suspect her father had given them to her? Why would he think she had taken them unlawfully?
At this point none of them were aware that most of Zane's claims were only based on his high deduction ability and the few facts that he could piece together as he thought about Aileen's actions, not because of things he had witnessed himself and thus knew with certainty.
For one, when he was about to enter the waiting room at that time, he briefly caught sight of the hem of a crimson dress of a person who was at that second turning around the corner. More concerned to meet Aria he hadn't paid attention to that person. But now, as he replayed the situation in his mind and retraced his steps, coupled with Aria's words... Aileen was the one who had informed her of the contract, and she had done this alone.
How he knew this? Well, it was the second reason... Darren cared too much about his lawyer license which was also connected to the presidency post he held in his company, to inform Aria rashly of the contract.
Unlike in the past, when Darren's father held the reins in the company, Darren's poor management skills had minimized a lot the number of shares he owned as the president. And the new shareholders, who he had brought on board to stabilize the company, were now just waiting for the right time to take over the company completely.
Losing his lawyer license in a company which had the main purpose of offering legal services, of course his position would become... well let's say there would be no position left for him in the company anymore. And if Zane tried a bit harder, jail time was also not a farfetched result.
"My daughter would never steal. She has not stolen your..." Patricia reacted first, and quite loudly so. As a parent, of course she would defend her child first, even if she hadn't understood the whole situation yet.
"Shut up!" Darren harshly yelled, not letting his foolish wife continue. As a lawyer he knew best that each word could incriminate them at this point. If Patricia denied that Aileen had stolen the documents, far from aiding her daughter... it would only sink her deeper, or better said sink him deeper.
Patricia and Aileen were not supposed to know the existence of those documents, but the stupid woman was about to confirm to Zane right now that she also knew of them. He was a lawyer who had to abide by the confidentiality clause, yet his family knew of the existence of something only Jillian, Zane, Zane's lawyer and himself should have known about.
How did Aileen find out about those documents? And she showed them to Jillian... then it meant that his niece was in the hospital because his daughter had showed her the documents. Stupid... truly stupid indeed.
"As far as I know there still exists a lawyer client confidentiality clause Langdon. So make a choice. Has your daughter stolen the document and made a picture of it, or did you give the documents to her?" Zane asked again the question Darren feared he would ask.
"Zane, I don't understand what has happened, but the documents you signed... Aria had talked about them openly before her accident... She was the one who informed Patricia and Aileen, so to say I broke the confidentiality clause..." Darren started explaining, trying to shift the momentum Zane had begun directing towards them. He was so desperate to cover up this fact, that he could not even care to point out Zane's own clear violation of the law, hurting another person was not a small matter after all.
Well you could not blame him, his company was their lifeline. Without the presidency post and the freedom to direct funds at his will, the income from the shares really were petty money.
"Our agreement was only between us two. Even the Aria from before the accident would never speak of it lightly. It was one of the clauses in the contract that mentioned she would lose another additional payment from me as part of the divorce settlement. And even if she did speak of it, can you prove it?"
Zane's cold calculating gaze unsettled Darren, making him unable to momentarily rebuke his words. But as a lawyer, he quickly regained his composure.
"That is the same for you. How can you prove my daughter did not know beforehand? There is no proof..." for your claims, Darren wanted to add, but his mouth that was about to finish those words remained opened without a sound when Zane raised a pink smartphone with the screen directed towards Darren, Patricia, who was now the one who was keeping Aileen close, and Victoria who had remained by the side.
As an experienced business woman, the elegant woman hadn't intervened in this whole time not because she hadn't been baffled about what she was hearing. But as a wise and calculated person much like her son, of course she wouldn't question Zane when he was clearly trying to accomplish something. There was plenty of time to do so after the others had left, and Aria's state was also the most important right now.
A similar line of thought Malcom also shared. Apart from briefly trying to stop Zane from hurting Aileen, he hadn't intervened in the discussion at all. Especially since his friend was not hurting anyone anymore. Though unlike Victoria, he could not maintain hidden the bafflement on his face due to the exchange of words between Zane and Darren.
"I'm sure you recognize your daughter's phone. If one checks the image's properties we can find clearly the date the photo was taken. This date doesn't seem to me like it was that long ago, right?" Zane explained calmly and also checked the date of the photo. Aria had her accident months ago, but the photo was only a few weeks old.
"How... I deleted it!" Aileen finally managed to find her voice, though its hoarseness could clearly be heard. Her unexpected bewilderment, making her voice her real inner thoughts.
"Each file you delete remains in the phone's recycle bin for 30 days, before disappearing completely. Not many people know this. Your stupidity helped." The somber man stated and closed the phone, before putting it in his pocket.
"Either choice for me it's alright, Darren. But I still need to know to act according to your choice. Which one of you is responsible for the leak of information?"
How could Darren not understand clearly Zane's words? Either his daughter had stolen the information from his office and was thus guilty of theft, or he had provided the information himself and he would become guilty of breaking the confidentiality clause...
Zane was asking him to choose the lesser of two evils, there was really no good way out no matter what he chose.
A brand as a thief and some months jail time, these were not much usually for a normal person. Perhaps the sentence could even only be lightened with community work and a fine, reducing Aileen's jail time until it was almost nonexistent. But for a daughter of the high society to have criminal record, it meant that no good family would ever accept such a daughter in law in their midst. Only a son with problems similar to hers could perhaps be chosen.
But still, this option was better than Darren losing his license. A daughter would marry away from the family, and who was to say the future son in law would help them financially, were he to lose his company. The shareholders could easily rob his shares, if he was not the one running it. He would know, after all he had also changed the shareholder position of Jillian before.
The only viable option for him now was to claim that Aileen had indeed stolen the files.
"Honey, Aileen did not..." Patricia's heart thumbed loudly inside her chest, as she started to speak. She was not aware of the implication and consequences Darren was thinking of. But seeing his face confused with an expression which was clearly weighing the pro and con of each option, she could tell that something was wrong. Darren, her husband, was about to make her daughter take the fault for the copied documents.
It was Aileen's fault, but she was still her daughter. Which mother wished for her own flesh and blood to suffer?
"I already said to shut up. Your good daughter stole my documents and you have the nerve to open your mouth? You did not even teach her well enough to have common sense." Darren's anger and sense of guilt towards Aileen seemed mingled up together. It was clear from his words that he had already decided on his option, but he could not accept he was at fault as well.
Aileen had two parents, she was taught by both father and mother. To affirm now that only Patricia was to blame for the way she was raised, it was only because he wanted to deny his own fault in the matter.
Hadn't they also planned to tell Aria about the documents? Aileen bewildered thought, feeling wronged because of the father who was using her as a shield at this moment.
"Dad!" She called out, her voice three parts shocked, and one part angered. Sure... she did act on her own accord, but how could her father not try to help her?
"She indeed stole my documents, but can we not settle this peacefully? She is still Aria's cousin. She was only showing her the documents, because she had no idea why Aria had signed such documents. She did not wish for her cousin to divorce, and was only trying to make her change her mind." Darren paid no mind to either Patricia or Aileen, as he tried one last shot to amend the situation. It seemed that the fact that Aria was currently admitted to the hospital because of the shock was conveniently slipping from his mind.
"My wife's state is currently unknown. Do you really think I would care about your motives, and even less I would show leniency? Tomorrow morning, be prepared for the lawyers visit. Take your family and leave." Zane did not know why that woman had done such a thing to Aria, but frankly the motive did not interest him at all. The only thing that he had to do was to just make them feel sorry they were even living.
Whether Darren really felt that he could no longer convince Zane, or whether he was pondering of waiting until the morning for Aria to wake up and thus for Zane's anger to decrease... either way they had to leave the hospital. The bodyguards did not give them any choice or time to continue speaking after all.
Quite forcefully they were escorted out, despite the trio's protest of the way they were handled. As soon as Zane had given the word, the professional people had already started to strongly guide the Langdon branch family towards the elevator.
"Ryan, I want to know everything about the Langdon law firm and other business ventures that man has. I want that entire family to lose everything they have. Don't leave out the smallest of details." Zane ordered and once again took the stance he had before Aileen had arrived at the hospital. His eyes were glued to the glass doors waiting for the news that seemed to shave years of his life.
"Yes." The assistant immediately complied and quickly retreated to a corner to make the necessary phone calls. He had already anticipated that Zane would never leave them off the hook, even if it was only Aileen the one who was the cause of Aria's current state.
Making Darren Langdon chose between himself or his daughter was probably only a tactic made by the president to divide them up. Making them focus on only what was ahead of them, and cause them to relax thinking Zane's anger would settle down with only this much. But in fact Zane would take down the entire family down not just Aileen.
Aileen knew of the documents, it was clear that her father informed her of them. How would she know of them otherwise? It could only be that the daughter was stupid and acted on her own accord ahead of time of some plan they all shared, not that the parents were entirely innocent. The possibilities were endless. And if he as an assistant could deduce this much... the president's thoughts were even more clearer on the matter.
So he already had his team working on finding out about Darren Langdon. As such, right now rather than informing his team of the new orders, Ryan was only checking on the data they had collected so far.
"Zane, how is Aria?" Victoria finally found the opportunity to ask as the dust had settled down. She had already known from Ryan's call that the doctor hadn't still exited from the investigation room, when he informed her they were at the hospital. He would have also called her again when she was on the way, if he knew something new. But her hope that there were good news was still there. Perhaps they had learnt something new, but hadn't yet managed to call her.
"I do not know anything. Since they took her from me... no one has yet informed me anything." He replied, his voice resembling more of a whisper as he spoke. The unknown was a frightful thing, it scared him to assume and reply with certainty even the slightest of details regarding her state.
"I see. We can only wait." Victoria released an unnoticeable sigh. Then after a few moments of silence, when it was apparent that Zane did not try to explain the earlier situation, she opened her mouth again.
Zane." Victoria only simply said her son's name, even her tone was not an inquisitive one. But Zane knew she had a multitude of question in that one word she had spoken.
"It was a contract I made with Aria on our wedding day. She did not want children or being married to me, so we decided to get divorced as soon as she would give birth to a child. She would even wave her parental rights in my favor." He recounted sincerely.
"Zane, you..." From the earlier conversation she had already figured out what the documents were about, but to hear it clearly from her son's mouth, it still seemed unbelievable.
"The current Aria forgot about it, she did not know the children she was carrying were only supposed to be raised by me. She felt so happy with the pregnancy, she nursed them with all her heart... And the doctor told me to avoid any fluctuations in her emotions, so I could not tell her.
No, even then... I could not tell her of the contract. I fell in love with her, I felt captured by the Aria she has become, and I was afraid she would still wanted to divorce me, if she knew of the documents. The first few weeks after she had woken up from the coma I paid her no attention. I did not care for her enough, so why would she want to be with a cold man like me?
We had lived together for three years and she did not start to like me for all this time, even less felt comfortable near me. Although her personality changed, although I loved the new her, who was to say the new her would love me too?
So I hid the truth... I pretended we had led a normal couple life even before her accident, I wanted to make her fall in love with me, before I told her the truth. I wanted to make sure she would never leave." He slowly said, his voice slowly started cracking and showing his real inner feelings. He had been a coward, and he was now paying for it...
The whole truth heard by Victoria and even Malcom, who had only kept silent to the side, could not be pondered over by them. They could not say even one word in reply, as the glass door was opened from the other side and three doctors finally made their appearance.
The three specialist had a dark expression, and even without opening their mouths you could tell the words they were about to say were not good news.
"Mister Black. We are sorry to inform you... your wife has resumed her coma state from a few months ago. We cannot distinguish any brain waves no matter how many tests or equipment we use. Inexplicably her brain reverted to the exact previous state, even the cat scans are identical to that time. There is nothing we can do for her, it is already too late."
With these words "too late" Zane's hearing became jumbled up, he could still hear the doctors" words... but their meaning slipped from his mind. He had felt it when he was holding her in the car, he had felt it when he had brought her here, no matter how much he shouted, she never once responded, her shallow breathing... an empty shell...
For some reason, he felt as though it was the last time... That these months were only a temporary miracle... he had only refused to believe it. Only preoccupied himself with matters that he still had control over.
"At this point we have no choice, we need to take the children out before it will be too late for them as well."
The first time he visited her in the hospital after her accident, the doctor had told him then that she was pregnant. So he had chosen to not take her off of life support. He made the decision to keep the pregnancy in her stead with all the risks involved. If he had terminated the pregnancy at that time and still kept her on life support she would now have a healthy body, instead of a worn out one.
"The children are smaller than normal, but we cannot afford to keep them in her womb. Her body is rapidly declining..." The doctors continued speaking, as Zane raised his hands and put them on his face. If he did not see, if he did not hear... then the reality he was in would not exist...
The doctors had told him the twins would take a toll on her considering her coma, they told him it could cause an even earlier demise, but she was only an empty shell at that time... she was an unimportant person. So he still chose to keep the children inside her with the hope that the children would survive until her term was over.
Only the children... not her. He had only thought of the twins, she was expendable at that time.
"Keeping them in an incubator might be better, otherwise when her heart stops beating..."
He had been selfish, not the smallest concern for her wellbeing did he take into account then. He did not even consider or hope for her life to continue at that time. He did not care what happened to her after she had fulfilled the role he had imposed on her of his own accord.
And now he was paying for it.
"We are sorry sir. We must carry out the caesarian section as soon as possible..."
"But there should still be something you can do for my daughter in law." Victoria's trembling voice requested, but even his mother's voice felt far away from him.
"Madame, the first time she had woken up was a miracle. At that time we hadn't done anything to help her wake up. This time too, her symptoms are just like at that time, no they are worse. Her body is frailer due to the pregnancy, so without her actively feeding herself and just us feeding her intravenously, it does not compare.
As for her brain, the lack of waves means she is already... we can only keep her body on life support for as long as we can, but the situation is dire."
"How long can we keep her? We will bring more doctors from other parts." Victoria questioned, she had to be the one to be firmer and try her best. Zane, her son, seemed to be on the brink of caving.
"Maybe a few more months, if other complication do not appear. But even if you bring others..."
"It does not matter, keep my wife for as long as possible. I don't care what you do, keep my wife alive!" Zane finally shouted, as desperation took over his entire being.
He had granted Darren the possibility to choose between two options as a consequence of his daughter's actions. But he...he had made the choice all those months ago when he selfishly kept the pregnancy, so now he had no more choices. He did not even know how much longer he could have her by his side, even if only she was an empty shell.
He did not even have the possibility of choosing the lesser of two evils.