Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 67 -

Jessica

I didn't know what to think about what Aiden had just told me. I didn't even know what he meant by 'my feelings have changed.'

Sure, his feelings may have changed when he learned the truth about my innocence - his hatred may have evaporated, but what then? Well, it explains one mystery that had eluded me for a while, which was why Aiden's behavior towards me had suddenly changed, why he had become...nicer. I remembered that night he had come to get me out of jail; how uncharacteristically nice he had been to me, and how it had made me realize that he had been capable of caring for me, but had chosen not to.

I'd thought he just wanted me close because of the pregnancy, but right now, I don't trust my thoughts or my intuition anymore. After all, I'd blindly trusted a man who had secretly despised me, a man who had punished me for being the daughter of his enemy.

I chanced another look at Aiden. He was watching me and my heart crumbled a little more as I thought of all he had to go through, all because of me. He'd told me I had no blame in all of this, but that wasn't true. Back then, I should have backed out of the marriage when Julian had first brought it up. And when Aiden had made it clear that he despised being forced into it, I should have gracefully ended things there and then. But I had clung on, like a leech. Truly, I was very much like my mother and that thought shook me to my core.

He heaved a sigh and raked his fingers through his hair. "I'm not trying to embellish anything, Jess," He continued steadily. "I mean every word. I've spent too long hating and resenting, only to realize that I was blinded by lies. You deserve the truth, the entire truth this time."

I shuddered at that. "There's more? God! I don't know how much more 'truth' I can take after this." The room seemed to close in on me at that moment, a suffocating embrace that made it hard to draw breath freely and my vision blurred, the room felt like it was spinning on its end.

I sat back down, nausea bubbling in my belly, gulped in a breath of air, and in a forced tone of nonchalance, asked. "What else is there to know? Other than what my mother and Julian have been up to."

Aiden took a seat too, this time closer to me, but with enough distance that I didn't feel skittish. I felt bad that I was putting Aiden through this. He sat in silence for a few minutes, deep in thought, then in a low voice, asked gently. "Can you tell me how you got to replace out about my father's secret? Who told you?"

"I don't really know," I confessed, "Umm... the other day...yesterday at the restaurant, I got a weird text that claimed to know something important about Julian...and it also claimed that you were not being entirely honest with me." Aiden said nothing, but when I studied his face, he had a look of remorse and regret on his face. "Go on," he encouraged when he met my gaze.

"I was going to ignore it, thinking it to be someone trying to scam me, but then I found out you'd been in contact with Mom and I just..." I broke off and shrugged. "I was struck with curiosity and took the bait."

I told him the rest, the conversation with the unknown woman, the video. The more I spoke, the more the emotions threatened to overwhelm me again, and I struggled not to burst into fresh tears, hating how vulnerable I felt.

I could sense that Aiden was affected by my emotional state by the way his hands clenched and unclenched, his jaw working, and the way he held himself tense, struggling to respect my need for distance as he listened to me. When I wound down, he leaned forward to ask. "How much of the video did you watch?"

"Not all of it," I admitted, "It...it was all too much and I couldn't take much more."

A look crossed his face and he leaned back, rubbing at his temple. "I'm truly sorry that you had to go through all that, Jess. Believe me, I never wanted you to replace out this way."

I looked at him doubtfully. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

He nodded, his face earnest. "I was, but not like this, and not when you were still in recovery and in the precarious stages of pregnancy. I also hoped that I could replace a way to undo the terms of Julian's secret will. "What secret will?"

Aiden looked at me sharply, surprise etched on his face. Then he asked, curiously. "In the video you watched, my father didn't mention anything about a will?"

"I didn't watch the whole way through," I admitted. "I got to the part where he said...he'd tried to punish me for my mother's sins and it got overwhelming."

He grimaced and looked sympathetic. "Yeah. that part was hard to stomach, it took me a while to get past it too. I can only imagine how it must have been for you. I'm sorry."

"But what did Julian's will say?" I asked, steering the conversation back on point. I didn't want to dwell on that horrible moment much more than I could manage.

Aiden rose and began to pace, apparently needing to blow off some steam. "Do you remember those shares my father gifted you when we wedded?"

I nodded, feeling a sense of foreboding build within me as he cast me a look filled with silent apology and continued. "He did it to appease your mother, as you know, but like I said, he anticipated our divorce, and he didn't want those shares to leave the family and fall into your mother's hands, so he made a few extra clauses in our marriage contract."

I was almost afraid to ask for an explanation of those clauses. Julian's betrayal was still too fresh and my mind still struggled to replace the kind-hearted man with the monster. "What conditions?"

"The first one, you already know. I couldn't be the one to file for a divorce or I would be forced to give up my rights as CEO of Skylark." Guilt flashed across his face as he carried on. "I guess he must have figured out what I intended to do to circumvent that, so he created a new will, which was to be read to me in private upon his demise."

He stopped pacing, glanced around, then marched over to the bar. He fetched the half-full bottle of brandy and poured himself a drink, brought it halfway to his mouth, then paused and looked over at me as I watched him.

He grimaced and set down the glass slowly, almost reluctantly. "Sorry, I shouldn't drink...when you can't."

If you're loving the book, nel5s.com is where the adventure continues. Join us for the complete experience all for free. The next chapter is eagerly waiting for you!

Despite my mood, I found it funny how he was apologizing, for drinking in my presence and unconcerned about acting like a rude guest by raiding Margaret's bar without permission.

"Go ahead, I don't mind," I assured him. He tipped the liquid straight down his throat and grimaced, probably from the burn.

I waited while he set the glass down and returned to his seat, looking a bit more composed now. "Julian made it so that if we went ahead with a divorce anytime within a ten year period, regardless of who started it, I would still have to step down as CEO and that twenty percent goes back fully under your control. If we have kids or you conceived before the split, I had to gain full custody or else, I stand to lose whatever remaining shares I have.

I stared at him, stupefied, the words scrambling like salad in my brain. "But...we're already divorced and you agreed to shared custody..." I trailed off in horror as it finally sunk in.

Aiden had lost everything. Not only had he lost a controlling stake in Skylark, but he had lost the right to sit as a member of the board.

In other words, he had been disinherited. I was hit by a wave of revulsion towards Julian. How could he treat his son like that? And all to preserve his reputation and secret?

He must have reckoned that the prospect of losing so much would be enough to keep Aiden under his thumb even from beyond the grave, but he hadn't counted on Aiden being willing to sacrifice everything. Not to mention how, once again, I had unwittingly become the one who had ruined Aiden's life. The realization was a crushing weight on my chest.

"Aiden...you...why didn't you tell me?" I cried, desperately. "Why? I would never have gone through with the divorce if I had known this would happen " I clasped both hands to my head in shame, horror, and guilt.

Aiden merely shook his head, a wry smile playing on his lips. "It doesn't matter now. I wanted you to be free of my family's hold, even if it meant -" he broke off his next words and changed track. "Jess, before you start blaming yourself again, I want you to know that I have everything under control.