The convenient marriage

Chapter 49. Lesser of two evils

"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?