Chapter 9 Live Well
Chris, true to his word, had unearthed the truth in a single night.
But whether or not there was a truth to uncover was beside the point.
I had given him a few recent photos of Aaron.
They were like spitting images of each other.
There was no way he could deny that Aaron was his son.
When I opened the door, Chris was slumped against the doorframe, utterly dejected, surrounded by a trail of cigarette butts.
He looked a decade older, his beard unkempt, his eyes bloodshot.
“Amber… I don’t know, I didn’t know Aaron was my child. I thought…”
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He grabbed the hem of my skirt, begging
for forgiveness.
My heart remained untouched.
“You thought he wasn’t your child? Didn’t you even bother to investigate? Just assumed he wasn’t yours?”
His eyes were filled with regret. “I was afraid, afraid of the results of the investigation… afraid that the child was really Troy’s.”
“I was afraid you’d run off with Troy, so I decided not to come clean, to keep you and
the child by my side.”
I frowned.
Worried I’d run off with Troy?
What a joke. Didn’t he love Sharon?
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said.
Aaron was gone. No truth or remorse could bring him back.
“Amber, please forgive me. I’ll do anything
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you want. Marry me if you must, or take my life…”
His guilt threatened to spill over.
His humbled appearance mirrored my past. self.
“I want my family’s company.”
The other night, I had dreamt of Aaron. He didn’t want to see me living like this.
He asked me to live well, to go out and explore the world.
So, I decided to step out of my shell.
He was taken aback, not expecting my request.
Then, he nodded.
Chris held a grudge against me and my mother.
He believed that we were only keeping him around to prop up our failing company.
He thought he was just a lapdog my mother
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kept, to be ordered around at her whim.
And then, she would use marriage to trap him, and he would never be able to escape
- us.
The truth was that my father’s infidelity caused my parents‘ divorce. He took most of the family fortune and abandoned me, a of mere boy at the time.
Yet, Chris believed we had forced him to stay.
He had a keen business mind.
That was why my mother was confident in chanding the company over to him, and under his leadership, our business had grown more vital than ever.
After being taken back by the Walker le family, Chris merged our company into
theirs.
At the time, I thought it was a reasonable arrangement since we were relatives and he was capable of managing both
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companies.
But now that they were separated, it was time to untangle the mess.
The two companies‘ interests were deeply intertwined, making it a complex separation.
I had been spending most of my days at Chris‘ company.
Back then, I could barely get past the front door, but now I could roam freely in his office.
He had his assistant bring in lunch.
I was engrossed in the financial reports.
“Eat first, there’s no rush,” he advised.
I shook my head. “The sooner we sort this out, the better. I can’t keep troubling you.”
He froze. “We don’t have to separate. Isn’t it easier to just take dividends every year?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Walker, for your years of management.”
