The convenient marriage - Chapter 52: Chapter 52

"The children are doing alright. The smaller of the two has also started breathing on his own and doesn't need to be in the incubator anymore. The doctor said he will keep them for another week just to be sure there are no complications. But it's almost certain that by next Monday the latest we will be able to bring them home." Victoria spoke with a small tone.
A quiet almost whispering voice unlike her usual self left Victoria's mouth. It would appear that she was mindful of interrupting the sleep of the small beauty that laid motionless on the hospital bed, although her attentiveness regarding this fact was unfortunately unnecessary.
An outside person, seeing this scene, might have also thought that Aria was truly only sleeping, Victoria in the same way tended to feel the current situation as such... Maybe it was because she hoped for Aria to only be momentarily unconscious, or perhaps she had been influenced by her son, who was acting as though Aria was only sleeping, unable to accept her coma state.
But deep down inside their minds and hearts no matter how they wanted to deny it, the both of them were fully aware that even if they raised their voice the sleeping beauty would not open her eyes, she was already too far gone to come back.
Even the most optimistic of doctors who had received her chart and data gave her almost no chance whatsoever of recovery. And with each passing day that chance became definitely impossible. It was no wonder, after all not even the smallest brain wave could be detected on the machine which monitored her state.
Zane did not verbally reply to the information his mother had relayed to him, he barely even nodded to signify he was listening to her words, keeping the same soundless atmosphere. But Victoria knew he was aware of what she had said, he just couldn't find it in himself to do more than he was already doing.
"It's been more than a week already... are you still not even going to come take a single look at the children?" Victoria sighed as she watched the tall man crouched near the bed.
He was ever so gently and carefully wiping Aria's hands and face with a damp cloth, keeping her clean. Everything that a nurse should do, with the exception of the medical part, he would do. There was no need for a nurse to even be mindful of the intravenous drip. As soon as it was depleted, Zane would have already informed them of this.
"You are already taking care of them. There's no need for me..." Zane started to say after a moment of silence, his hands not stopping for a second from their movement.
"You are their father. Zane, they need at least one of their parents by their side. They should also have your care..." Victoria could understand why Zane took care of Aria, she had never advised him otherwise. But the children also needed him. For five days straight not even once had he gone to see them, not even a glance or a word did he direct towards the children.
Even though they were only babies at this moment, the bond of a parent and child needed to already be forming between them. She feared that if Zane was like this from the very beginning, he would only grow apart from the twins. It felt as though part of the blame of Aria's current state in Zane's eyes could also be attributed to the children, and as such he refused to care about them.
That night the doctor had told them that Aria's pregnancy had been a burden on her body, further helping in declining her health. Hearing this at that time, Zane had kept mumbling that it was all his fault, he had ordered the doctors to keep the pregnancy.
Both Victoria and Malcom had tried to convince him otherwise, but he hadn't listened to them at all, he had only stared vacantly towards Aria and did not talk to them or exchanged a word more. He did not even bother to contradict them, but it only meant that he took it as the truth, and did not accept another opinion.
"Mom please stop trying to persuade me..." Zane interrupted before Victoria could continue convincing him to visit the twins.
"Aria is the one who wished the most of all of us to see the children..." He continued slowly, gazing lovingly towards the small cruel beauty who did not wish to grant him his most fervent wish... her awakening.
"I will not see them... I do not have the right to be a parent, if Aria can't do it with me as well. I really can't, please do not force me. I beg you."
The cracked hoarse voice of her son who appeared no different than the immobile girl on the bed, a living dead, stabbed Victoria's motherly heart. Her son had never begged her for anything in this life, never did he so tiredly plead to her before...
She did not know whether to feel relieved that Zane was not really blaming the children, at least not on a conscious level, or sad that he did not think he had the right to be a father anymore.
Her eyes moistened at these thoughts so she could not find it in herself to continue convincing Zane to visit the children. She could only give him a bit more time to make peace with the situation and see clearly his priorities. She feared she would break him completely were she to try to forcefully remind him that from now on he had to play the role of a father and mother to the two small peanuts.
"Aright. I will take care of them. Promise me you will eat the lunch I brought. You can at least do this for me. To take care of Aria you need strength, if you collapse you won't be able to properly look after her."
Using Aria was the only thing that could work these days for Zane to accept to eat the least bit, so Victoria had no choice but to use it each time. Though this reason unfortunately could not make him visit the children.
"I will eat... Did Ryan tell you anything about what he found out about the Langdons? I neglected my phone and I think it ran out of battery." Only at the mention of Aria's health did Zane pause for a bit his action of wiping the fair hand, then continued inquiring about the matter concerning the people who caused the petite woman to be in this state.
He would be a fool to think that Aileen Langdon had thought by herself of such a vicious plan, so he wanted for all of them to suffer even though he was not absolutely certain all of them had intended to hurt Aria. Just for the fact that they as parents had raised such a daughter was enough to be considered guilty in the grieving man's eyes.
Not to mention the stupid woman was most likely influenced by her father in acting the way she did. And the most conclusive evidence in this regard was the fact that she knew of the contract, which she had no right or reason of knowing at all, and used it in her benefit at the most crucial time.
If her father hadn't told about the agreement to his family members, then how would the mother and daughter know about it? Moreover if the former Aria had indeed spoken of it to her family despite the breach penalty she would incur, as Darren claimed she did, why was there a need for Aileen to come forth and ask her about it now, during the night of a party, more than three years after the contract was signed. And not only this, why choose this time to do it when it was pretty clear that the initial situation had changed, and the contract would most likely not be fulfilled after all.
The Langdon family would have discussed with Aria of the contract a long time already, Aileen wouldn't" have waited to discuss these matters with an amnesiac Aria. The concern for her cousin which Darren spoke about could also be clearly refuted, those people had not visited the former Aria even once during her coma... how could they use care now as a motive for revealing the contract to her?
"You can have my charger. It's a wireless one so it should work for any phone, I'll have my secretary bring it from the car. Just make sure to have your phone charged so I can keep in contact with you. As for the Langdons don't worry about them, I'll take care of everything." Victoria stated, just as Zane was covering Aria's upper body with the warm blanket, having finished wiping her face and hands.
Gazing lovingly at the small woman, he gently patted her hair and opened his mouth to reply to Victoria.
"Mom, they all knew and planned this together. What was their reason for this I have no clue about and I am also not interested in knowing. I only know I just want the whole family destroyed beyond repair, I do not want to leave for them the slightest shot of ever rising up again. But I am aware you have an old affection with the old Master..." Zane's tone was still as gentle as before, he hadn't raised his voice in the slightest, but the resentment behind his words could still be felt perfectly.
Frankly at this very moment, although he wished to personally take revenge on the Langdons, Zane did not bear to remove himself from Aria's side for even a second, even if it was to pay those people back for what they did to her.
Her wellbeing and the search for a doctor were more important inside his heart. So he had only planned for the assistant to gather data about them and deal with the rest of the family later.
As such, his mother's suggestion was quite welcomed by him. Of course if he had a choice he did not want to leave them a moment to relax and enjoy their current lifestyle without a care, while his small beauty was suffering.
So if his mother could handle them faster, it would be better. He knew fully well just how ruthless his mother was if the situation called for it. Ryan's abilities in collecting information were topnotch, but for that family's destruction a person who could command was still necessary. But at the same time, he was also aware that the Langdons and the Blacks had been friends for generations. If his mother would be softhearted for the sake of the previous generations, then he did not want to involve her in his revenge.
"Zane, my affection for the old Master at this moment only extends to the child he raised by his side, the girl he asked me to marry to you. Do not worry about anything. I will take care of all the matters cleanly."
If Zane could think of these matters and deduce the involvement of the whole family in his current volatile state, Victoria his mother of course would also suspect these facts and even more. After all, she was better acquainted with Darren's character than her son was.
Seeing his mother agree to his words without a second thought, Zane's worry went down a notch. So he did not continue inquiring what his mother meant by saying she will take care of all the matters cleanly. Either way, there were a multitude of other things he could do to the Langdons at a later date as well, were his mother to still leave a bone behind.
The Black's consortium, a few hours later
"Come in." Victoria gave permission to the person on the other side of the door to enter, as she continued reading one of the dozen files on her desk. She did not lift her eyes up at all to identify the person who had opened the door.
Since Aria had fallen to a coma once again, Zane had never left her side, even if only to check up on the company, all work related matters were handled by Victoria these days. But since she had stepped down as president of the consortium for more than five years already, even though she was aware of the different larger projects that the consortium had underway, she had become somewhat unused to dealing with the everyday matters.
As such, taking the time to familiarize with Zane's work and the toll of the personal problems... she was so busy at this moment that she could hardly find time to breathe. Not to mention, she also had to supervise the wellbeing of the twins and that of Zane and Aria.
"Mrs. Black, you have ordered that no calls from the Langdon family are to be connected to your office phone, so we have withheld all calls from the reception desk to be redirected to your office. But now Darren Langdon and his family have come in person to the company.
The receptionists have asked them to leave repeatedly, saying they have no appointment to see you, but they have started making a ruckus at the reception insisting on meeting you personally."
Normally according to the protocol uninvited persons, no matter who they were, were not allowed to go up to the higher levels, without a need to inform the ones who they were looking for. But since Aria's previous visit incident, the receptionists had become many times more cautious.
They did not dare kick out the Langdons briskly, even though they had orders from above to not allow them in. It was better to ask once more, than to make a mistake. With similar reason as them, the current secretary also decided to confirm Victoria's orders.
"Let them in the conference room. I will be there shortly." Victoria ordered after an initial hesitation. She had thought to let the guards show them out forcefully, but changed her mind in the end and permitted the Langdons" family entry in the building.
"Auntie!" The young woman urgently stood up and greeted when Victoria had barely set a foot inside the council room. The make-up free face, modest styled of clothing and an aggrieved expression were a far cry from Aileen's usual appearance.
And she wasn't the only one... Patricia's haggard face and the grim visage of Darren, which appeared to have grown a few years older in a matter of days, also painted a totally different image than from how Victoria knew them. Not the least bit of arrogance could be seen from each one of their faces.
Well... maybe Darren still retained an indignant countenance, due to Zane's broken promise. The resentfulness could be sensed not in only his aura but even in his voice, though it was many times more toned down than normal.
"Victoria, what is Zane's meaning? He had promised he would not intervene in Aileen's punishment, but the letter from the district attorney's office states that they are asking for maximum punishment. My daughter will be jailed for one whole year, if the judge approves the lawyers" request." Darren stated matter-of-factly, conveniently forgetting that the one he had spoken to was Ryan and not Zane in person.
"My daughter was only concerned about her cousin so she asked Aria about the divorce agreement. I mean the twins are just about to be born, isn't it natural to be concerned of their future? The children can't be without their mother.
Her method was indisputable wrong, but her heart is in the right place. The two of them have been close since childhood so she felt like she could talk with Aria about such things. How was she to know it could affect her health? Please Victoria talk with Zane and help my Aileen. You know my daughter, she would never intentionally hurt someone, especially not her own family."
Patricia also added hurriedly with a much more mellower tone. She hadn't let Victoria speak after Darren had said his piece, because she had seen Victoria's much too calm face...her instincts were telling her that the momentum Darren tried to create by complaining first would surely backfire.
How could it be so easy to corner the consortium's former president using his method? She was more likely to completely cut them off rather than compromise. But being a mother herself, Victoria would be empathic to her feelings as Aileen's parent.
"Darren, Patricia... I understand your complaints and I could even sympathize with Aileen's situation and reasons..." Victoria said calmly as she leisurely approached the head of the table and put the folder she had in her hand on the mahogany surface. While seeing the anxious couple's endless barrage of excuses, her expression still had not shown a tinge of agreement as opposed to her concurrent words, or disagreement for that matter.
"Then can you talk..." Patricia urgently attempted to ask Victoria to convince her son of lowering the punishment. It was as she expected, a soft approach worked better for a person like Victoria.
"... if they were real. If it were about someone else, I would probably give her the benefit of doubt. But do you really think I would believe she was only innocently trying to change Aria's mind regarding the divorce, when she is in love with my son?" Victoria icily continued, interrupting Patricia's words without any qualms. The slightly cold smile that adorned the corner of her lips only adding to the uneasiness her words had already made the three feel.
"That, aunty... I..." While Darren and Patricia had become momentarily too stunned to deny Victoria's claims, Aileen fearfully opened her mouth to explain. Moreover as the one directly involved, she was the only one who could reply.
When the letter from the lawyer's office arrived at their home, Aileen almost fainted in despair, and Patricia really did. All of the young woman's arrogance evaporated at that moment, but it was starting to rekindle moments earlier when Victoria allowed them to enter the building. She had thought that all the procedures were directed by Zane, and Victoria had no knowledge of them.
Once they found and told Victoria what Zane was trying to do, the latter could placate her son and thwart his plans. So her permission to see them, for Aileen meant that Victoria would unbiasedly listen to their side of the story and then agree to help. After all, she had always shown Victoria impeccable manners and a flawless image of a tender pure hearted girl. The latter should believe in her innocence.
But the hard cold reality proved her otherwise. If Victoria suspected she was in love with Zane, then all her actions could not be blamed on her kind character, no matter how she justified herself. It would only become a jealous woman's attempt to create discord. But how did she realize it?
What Aileen was unaware of was that in fact her perfect image was what allowed Victoria to see the truth. Aileen had impeccable manners, gestures and even her expression was without a hint of blemish normally. So when this flawless image slightly wavered, someone as insightful as Victoria could pick up on it almost immediately. Especially since this image did not only slightly crack, it was totally changed in the presence of Zane and Aria likewise.
The love filled gaze at the restaurant could be easily sensed by Victoria, who was trained after years in the business world's dealings. The jealous face towards a cared for Aria even more so.
It was just that Victoria had no knowledge of the extent of Aileen's hate, or the weapon she had in her possession which could hurt Aria like she had done. If she knew of the contract beforehand, things would be different now. But sadly the past could not be rewritten.
"My son may be a one track minded person when it comes to love, so much so that he is completely oblivious to others" intentions regarding romantic feelings. He is only interested in his wife and thus does not notice his surroundings. But it does not mean others are like that too.
I was wondering why you kept finding reasons to approach me in the past few years, a chance encounter... the coincidental same chosen spot for a vacation... your occasional visits to the mansion when it was obvious you did not like your cousin all that much.
All of them was an attempt to meet Zane. It was only unfortunate that you hardly if ever managed to catch a glimpse of him. And even harder it was to have us all in the same place at the same time. If it was not for the meal from some time ago, I would still be unaware of your infatuation."
Normally Victoria was a quiet person, she did not like to use more words than she absolutely needed to. Normally... but this was not a normal situation, and her anger had been stirred even more by what Ryan had found out earlier during the day. She had thought that Darren might have only used his influence to reduce the shares Aria probably had received from her father, she did not expect he robbed the entire company from Aria. The entire branch family from top to bottom was filled with snakes.
The company was the previous leader's inheritance for his children, but whomever that leader chose to give the entirety of it, this was his decision alone. If the elder chose William, then Darren had no right over the company. But from what she remembered, William never directly managed the company, he had left Darren at the forefront for the entire time, he left his brother with his pride as the successor intact.
And his kindness was used against him in the worst way possible. It gave Darren the opportunity to steal the shares of Aria without anyone suspecting a thing. After all no one knew who the real owner was, everyone had assumed Darren had inherited it from the start.
"No! Auntie Victoria, why would you think I love Zane? He is my brother in law, I wouldn't think of him in another position than his current one. This is why I honestly merely wanted to help my cousin, to keep the both of them together. Aria is part of my family so I only wished she was well and happy." Aileen tried to maintain what she believed was still a perfect act, but it only made Victoria angrier, even though she did not appear to be so.
"This is the truth Victoria. I protected my niece since she became an orphan at a frail age, and brought her up alongside Aileen as a pair of true sisters. Even when the old master Langdon brought her over to the main house, Aileen and Aria still had the best relationship." Darren added convincingly, bringing out the best evidence in their defense. Not only did he point out Aria's and Aileen's close bond, but also reminded how selfless the family was.
"Don't tell me you consider Aria family and evoke this reason for informing her of the contract. Especially picking out that particular moment when no one was around to talk to her about it, not even one of you think of her as family." Victoria added using a much harsher tone, quieting both the father and daughter down.
"Let's leave all pretenses aside, and speak the truth.
Firstly, all of you never visited her or even asked about her health when she was in a coma. Not even a phone call did you make to find out how she was.
And secondly, Darren if u really considered Aria your family you wouldn't have stolen her company. By doing that, it's hard for me to think now that everything was not planned. If you were capable of stealing your niece's company, a child who was under your legal guardianship... how could I not believe you are equally capable of destroying her future?
You have every motive to do so... Aileen's infatuation, the growing closeness between Zane and Aria, which could have possibly made Zane pay closer attention to her wellbeing and possibly uncover the past misgivings towards her, your pure simple hate towards your half-brother, old master Langdon's designation of Aria as his inheritor.
There are countless motives that point out your intentions in hurting Aria, and none whatsoever that could make me think otherwise."
Finishing these words, as her anger was reaching its limit, she threw the documents filled folder towards the other end of the table.
The forceful actions ruffled the neatly stacked papers, scattering them across the wooden surface.
Darren hadn't even registered what Victoria meant, when his eyes were drawn towards the once familiar documents.
Legal guardianship, acquisition contract of shares, stock value reports and other such words that he hoped would remain buried forever appeared in bold letters all over the white sheets. And this was only what he could spot at a first glance, there were probably many more incriminating words written in black and white.
All the blood seemed to drain from his face at the realization of how deep Victoria had investigated the company, and his knees seemed to give up from under him, as he tried to stand up and speak. Patricia of course had known all of what her husband had done in the past and so was in a similar state.
Only Aileen, who was already frightened on how to explain herself, became confused. She had been too young when Darren unlawfully took over the company after all, so she had always been under the assumption that her father had rightfully inherited the company from her grandfather.
"Dad, what is she talking about?" Aileen inquired bewildered, even forgetting to keep the appellative of Victoria. They had come to discuss on lowering her punishment, why was the talk turning towards her father?
"Where did you get these documents from? They are not real..." Darren spoke urgently quick to state his innocence, though his eyes could clearly see legalized un thus unforgeable papers.
"The truth is that when Aria inherited the company, due to some bad investments and the fact that the company was owned by a little girl the value of the shares dropped dramatically. I was forced to buy the shares from Aria because they would have gone into the red in a matter of days. It was better for me to be the one..." The smooth lawyer quickly adapted to the situation, and serenely started spouting lies, though his heart was violently thumping inside his chest.
"Darren you and I both know the truth so stop pretending. My advice is that right now you should stop worrying about your daughter's jail time, and start worrying about your own. I have already verified all the facts at that time, and will forward them to the district attorney's office by tomorrow."
Hearing the exchange, Aileen slumped on the chair and lost all strength to argue. Of course she was aware her father was bluffing. All this time the company was inherited by Jillian? That woman was the real heiress, instead of her? Her hands trembled as her eyes filled with tears thinking of the impending future.
A secret kept hidden for more than a decade had been exposed due to her actions. If she hadn't shown Aria the contract none of these facts would be known, she would still be the heiress, still obliviously happy. She had opened Pandora's box with her own two hands.
"Wait Victoria, we have a friendship that has lasted for generations. I'm the only one left that's closest to the main bloodline of the Langdons. Are you trying to destroy the family that has befriended yours for more than a hundred years?"
"Darren that friendship concluded with the integration of the heir to the main family in our own. When Aria married Zane and left behind the Langdon name, we already had nothing more to do with each other. Only out of consideration to my daughter in law, I still maintained a somewhat cordial relationship with you." Victoria pointed out then turned around and proceeded to walk out of the room. There was nothing more that she wanted to talk to the Langdons.
"Victoria, wait..." Darren still tried to reason and attempted to get closer to Victoria, who was already opening the door to exit.
"One last thing...
Darren, you raising Jillian Monroe... do you really think it would not be seen as weird in other people's eyes?
William Monroe was your father's illegitimate child, with your sense of pride in your position, you must have thought he was a thorn in your side. Why would you ever want to help raise the child he left behind?
And for someone who actively tried to make his father increase the size of the firm as ardently as you had done at that time, only to briskly stop pushing this matter into motion when he had died and until your own brother died as well. Do you really think others would not find your actions odd?
For me, it was not a matter of my own family so even though I found it strange, I had no reason to investigate it."
Ryan who had waited outside the door for the president was awed by the former leader of the Blacks" company. He had only worked as an assistant since Zane had taken over the position from his mother. So although Ryan knew that Victoria had held the title of the president for more than ten years, he hadn't realized just how insightful she truly was.
When Victoria had told him to extend his search of any misdeeds inside Darren Langdon's company to more than fifteen years ago, despite his team having discovered various unlawful deeds in the last five years that were enough for Darren's company to suffer quite a heavy loss already, he hadn't understood her purpose.
"What I am trying to say is that... these matters of the succession of your father's firm, I can almost certainly ascertain that the Old Master Langdon was also quite aware of.
Knowing his personality, the Old master turned a blind eye to you stealing the company from Jillian because as she had become his heir, there was no need for even more wealth for the girl.
For the sake of his cousin's family, he must have felt there was no problem as the company would still remain owned by his bloodline, even though it was not in the hand of Jillian.
So he left you to your own devices, but it's clear to me now that he shouldn't have hoped you would be content with what you already stole from a small girl.
It was not enough you robbed her of her first inheritance, now you people wanted to steal her future as well?
Just how much greedier can a human get?" She concluded with the harshest tone she had used in years, then briskly walked out, not giving Darren a chance to speak again.
Well even if he had tried to follow her, it was impossible. Outside the door several guards were also waiting to escort the family out of the building again.
"President?" Ryan asked when Victoria abruptly stopped in her steps as she entered her office, but did not attempt to sit at her desk.
"Firstly, tomorrow morning take all that you found out to the district attorney's office. But don't leave them at the reception, take all the documents to Richard Abbot, he is one of my closest friends and will take care of everything quicker. I will call him personally to ask him for a favor.
Secondly, get all our legal team to start acting.
I want them left on the streets, take absolutely everything they possess. The value of the company can be considered as stolen money which generates interest similar to a loan from the bank. It has been a long time since Darren took over, all his personal possessions should be used to cover the interest. All of Patricia's as well, she is a housewife so all the assets she has can be considered gained by Darren's company as well, jewelry even brand clothes can be used to cover the costs . Ask the lawyers to write it in their requirements.
Thirdly, make sure all of his partners at the law firm and his closer friends learn of his illegal deeds. I don't want anyone helping him in any way whatsoever.
Also ask for Darren to receive maximum punishment as I had told you to do in Aileen's case."
Hearing Victoria's orders one by one, Ryan remembered the phone call he had received from Zane. The president had asked Ryan to inform him of all the actions Victoria thought to do against the Langdons, fearing it wasn't enough to quell his anger.
But at this moment, the assistant really thought Zane had nothing to worry about in this regard.