The Ethan I had met the first time Aaron introduced us, and the Ethan standing before me, glaring at Aaron seemed like two different, completely opposite people. The warmth in his demeanor, the smile on his face, and the kindness in his eyes were all gone, replaced by the anger which was so similar to what I had seen on Aaron just this morning.
Aaron and he never had a normal relationship. His father trusted James more than his son, and that was what worried me. He didn't look happy about the whole ordeal. My heart was beating rapidly, and my mind was in a frenzy, but the man walking beside me, holding my hand, was far from being even mildly bothered about it all.
I stopped in my tracks and clutched Aaron's hand tighter when I saw James and Lahaina walking inside the room. She was glaring at me. It didn't concern me though, I was too accustomed to her glare to care. It was seeing James' face that made me gasp out loud. He was holding a bloody handkerchief to his nose, and a pack of ice to his cheek.
I looked over at Aaron. He had heard me gasp and tilted his head to the side to look at me. The moment our eyes met, he shrugged and looked away. Damn this man!
"You really went all the way to my father to complain about me, James? That's too childish. You're behaving like you're still in school and I'm a bully," said Aaron, cutting the tension in the room with a voice that was colder than James' ice pack. Though his words were amusing, there wasn't a hint of humor on his face. His eyes stayed on James, but the stare wasn't returned. James looked anywhere but at Aaron.
"What you did was childish, Aaron. Explain your act," Ethan huffed.
"We may sit and talk," Aaron said and settled on the sofa, looking as comfortable and carefree as ever.
He looked over at me, asking me—without words—to take the seat beside him. I did while Ethan took the chair reluctantly. Lahaina and James were about to do the same when Aaron stopped them.
"I didn't say that to you both so you will remain standing," he said. His eyes, looking sharp and as cold as ever, stayed on them.
James looked humiliated by the abrupt intervention of his seating plans.
"Where are your manners, Aaron?" Ethan chided. He was getting angrier with every passing second. Aaron, of course, didn't seem to care.
"I threw them in the bin on my way here, father. I don't have plans of changing my furniture any time soon, so they will remain standing."
Ethan eyed Aaron for a second before turning to his friend. In a much calmer tone, he said. "You both may sit down."
I looked around the room at each of their faces. Lahaina looked angry; James was utterly confused; Ethan was staring at Aaron, waiting for him to treat his guests with the expected respect; while Aaron was glaring at James, daring him to challenge his command.
"We'll remain standing. No worries. Continue your talk," James said to Ethan with a smile that was so forced that for a second I started to feel bad for him. I shook my head, remembering his actions that had led him to this moment.
Ethan gritted his teeth, annoyed at his son; whereas the said son smirked with triumph.
I leaned back in my chair and wrapped my hands around myself as if it could help the situation. It was going way too worse than I had initially thought it to be.
"Fine," Ethan said, irritated. "Explain."
"I don't need to give an explanation. Not to you, not to anyone. It's my company and I will make decisions regarding it. You should have thought about that before you made me sign a contract to hand over the company to me. It's mine now. You lost your right to question me about it the moment I signed it." Aaron was facing his father now.
There was no anger, no disappointment, no hatred. Aaron had told me many times about his non-existent relationship with his father. Though to me, it had always seemed to be lacking on Aaron's side. Ethan always spoke lovingly, it was Aaron who appeared to be disinterested in any form of communication with his father. Now looking at them arguing with each other about a man who had manipulated them both at some point in their lives made me realize how far they had come from a normal father-son relationship.
The air of indifference between them was worse than any form of hatred there was.
"You destroyed a man's life and you still have the audacity to be that arrogant?" Ethan growled.
"The man in question here has been manipulating you for years. What I did was only fair."
"James is my friend!" Ethan snapped. My eyes went wide as the tension in the room rose. "I know you hate him. You've hated him from the start. I don't know what he did to earn that kind of hatred from you, and I'm tired of telling you that he is not the person you think of him to be. You destroyed his life, Aaron. And for what? Because you hate him? That's sick! Juliea is filing a case against you right now. I tried to stop her, but she is relentless. Give him back his company before it gets worse. Because if it wasn't for me, you'd be in jail by now."
Aaron didn't reply immediately. He ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes, trying to stay calm.
Then he rested his elbows on his knees, entwined his fingers together, and leaned forward. "I don't need your favor." His voice was gentle, awfully polite as he said, "you can call Juliea and give her advice on how to sue me and my company. I don't care. You can help James and his family financially after all this. I don't give a fuck. Don't think you're my savior, dad. I don't need you to do me favors. I don't need your help. Go ahead. Do whatever you want. Just remember I warned you that you're on the wrong side."
"The wrong side? James was there for me when I lost your mother. He was there when I thought I was never going to get over that grief. I was going into depression and he was the one who pulled me out of it. I would have killed myself a long time back if it wasn't for him."
"You weren't the only one affected by mom's death!" Aaron said, ultimately losing control of his temper. "He got you out of your depression, he helped you. But did you ever try to find his intentions behind such benevolent efforts to prevent you from taking your own life? I tried to show his real face to you. But you believe him more than you believe me. I would have been happy if he was really your friend, but I'm done trying to prove he is leeching off of you. You can believe whatever. I did what I believed was right, and there is more to come his way."
Aaron was once again glaring at James. The recipient of that glare wasn't looking back at him, the ice pack still around his face, but the amusement in his eyes was evident. He was enjoying the show. Even after everything that he had done, that he had received in return, he was still relishing others' suffering. Lahaina was no different from her father.
I slid both my hands around Aaron's arm and whispered, "calm down." He didn't react.
"May I say something? I asked, looking over at Ethan. He might not believe what I was going to tell him next, but I could not give up without a try.
"No need. I'm talking," Aaron said angrily.
"You're not talking. You're shouting. I don't want you to argue with your father when he doesn't know the truth," I said. My voice was low, only for Aaron to hear. "Let me do the talking for now."
In response, he rolled his eyes and looked away. I decided it was in everyone's favor that I continue.
"Mr Woodwords," I turned to Ethan. "I know you're angry and you trust James a lot, but I want you to know a few things about him that you are clearly unaware of."
"This is how you talk?" Aaron interjected.
I ignored him and went on to tell Ethan everything that James had done to me and others. Starting from the oldest memory of his screaming at my mother, and ending with him stealing a million dollars of Aaron's money.
Ethan listened with full concentration. The deep scowl of anger on his face gradually smoothed as I continued to tell him the truth behind James' friendship to him. I didn't want Ethan to sympathize with me. My intention was not to make him feel sorry for me. All I wished to do was make him aware of the truth. I wanted him to know the other side of the stories that James had been telling him. It was necessary for him to know every little detail before he decided to go against Aaron.
By the time I finished talking, silence was all that remained. The ghost of my words hung in the air like sharp daggers, as if any little noise could make them rain.
I looked at Aaron sitting beside me. He was holding my hand in his, but his eyes were on James, bloodshot as if waiting to get his hands on him again.
Ethan was having a mental battle. It was all evident on his face. He considered James a friend, a savior when he needed him the most. All of a sudden, everything must have stopped making sense to him. It was a terrible feeling. It was difficult to accept that the person he trusted with a blindfold on was only deceiving him, exploiting and manipulating those emotions for materialistic benefits.
"Is that true?" Ethan looked up at James. Though he had asked a question, the hurt in his eyes spoke for themselves.
"No. She is lying," James said, simply. He couldn't say more. It was alarming how even after everything that had happened, and after everything I had said, he still had the audacity to lie to me in my face.
"Of course!" Aaron said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"She is your daughter. Why would she lie?" Ethan's voice lacked the usual consideration. The tone he used on James was being used on Aaron until now.
"Her mother left both of us when she was young. She blames me for it. She thinks it was my fault that—"
"I can call Carter right now and give you the evidence of the illegal transaction that happened yesterday. Stop lying, James Marshall. I have proof this time!" I glared at him, anger coursing through my veins.
"I understand you trust him, Mr Woodwords," I said, turning back to Ethan. "But if you say you trust him more than your own son, then you're making a mistake. I have seen this man use others for his personal benefits. I have seen him discard them away when he no longer required them in his life. I have seen how he treats people who know his real face. I've experienced it first hand. There is nothing he cares about more than money. He is obsessed with it. And even after everything, there is not a hint of regret in him."
James glared back at me, further proving my point.
"Calm down," Aaron took my hand in his. "I never knew you could be so aggressive," he chuckled. His anger was, once again, replaced by amusement.
"I can't believe it, James," Ethan shook his head, his voice was distressed. "I trusted you. I considered you as my dearest of friends. For years I've been helping you with your company. I was happy to see you grow as a businessman. When you asked me to get Aaron and Lahaina together, I didn't give it a second thought thinking you would always have my best interest at heart. I've been so stupid." He dropped his head, holding it between his palms.
It pained my heart to watch Ethan like that. His voice was quivering and he was trying his best to accept the reality. It must be excruciatingly painful to know he had lost the only friend he had. After all, broken trust was more painful than broken bones.
"It is very easy to blame others, Caroline!" Lahaina snapped. She was angry at me now for speaking the truth? For taking away their only hope? "What are you going to say about your husband? If we are gold-diggers, then Aaron is no less. He was ready to marry me to save his company. If Ethan was a little more strict about the contract then Aaron would have married me happily," she said. Her smirk at the end screamed how proud she was of her claim.
"Don't give yourself so much importance, dear Lahaina. You were not even a choice. It was between my company and Caroline, and I chose both," Aaron replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"But you can't deny that you would have married me if Caroline wasn't an option. That is if she was not my step-sister," she countered. This time Aaron remained silent and I knew what it meant. "Then what is wrong with my mother marrying James for the same reason?"
I turned to Aaron to find him looking back at me with pleading eyes and a sorry look on his face. He was regretting everything again. I hated to see him like that. I didn't want him to regret it anymore. Yesterday when he told me about the contract, he had clearly stated that he would have done it to save his company. He could not have let James take it away,
But Aaron had already apologized for hiding it from me for so long. And I had forgiven him. It didn't matter now. It was in the past. And I could not let Lahaina blame Aaron for something that had been merely a reaction to her father's greedy methods.
"Marrying someone to save your company that you worked for day and night. And marrying someone to look after your company that your father gave you in his will are two different things. Learn to differentiate. Your mother married James just four days after her father's death because she was not capable of taking care of it herself. Nor did she want to let go of the richness and work herself. She married him to maintain her lifestyle. Is that not enough to tell you the difference between you and him? It is definitely very easy to blame others and I'm glad I finally learned that skill from you people," I said with as much politeness as she deserved at the moment.
The doorbell rang just that instant, breaking the tension in the room like a hammer on ice. I got up from my place to answer it, needing to be away from them to get my temper under control. Just moments ago I was asking Aaron to calm down, now all I wanted was for James and Lahaina to get out of my house so that I could have a moment where I wouldn't want to pull out all my hair in frustration.
When the doors opened, I was surprised to see a group of cops waiting outside. The man, with the highest number of stars on his shoulders, said, "we're here to meet Mr Aaron Woodwords."
I threw my head back searching for Aaron, even though I could not see any of them from my spot in the foyer. Not knowing what else to do, I stepped back and guided them to the living room. What has Aaron done?
My unease rose to its all-time high when I noticed the confused look on Aaron. None of the other participants in the room seemed to have any prior information of the cops arrival.
"Good evening, Mr Woodwords," the officer said, offering his hand for a shake. "Mr VanAssche filed a case against the Marshall family. We are here to arrest them."
I sighed, while Aaron raised his brows in amusement as he shook the officer's hand. He looked over at James and Lahaina, then back at the officer. "I'm glad. Take them," he gestured with his hand towards the duo who were glued to their spots, with horrified expressions on their faces. "They are all yours."
The officer nodded. Two of his team members moved towards James and Lahaina, pulling their hands back and reciting their rights as they handcuffed them. Lahaina protested, but her efforts were futile.
"What charges are you arresting us on?" James demanded, struggling as the handcuffed clicked shut around his wrists.
"We have a long, long list, Mr Marshall," said the officer standing next to Aaron.
The officers pulled both of them out of the house. James was still issuing threats to Aaron, while Lahaina glared at me all the way as they were dragged out reluctantly.
As the cops walked out of the house, Aaron excused himself to answer a phone call. Ethan was looking lost, and when he started to walk, I assumed he was about to leave. Instead he came to talk to me.
"I'm sorry. For everything, Caroline," he said, regret clear in his voice and face.
"You don't need to apologize to me. I'm happy that you got to know the truth," I smiled at him. He nodded, then looking over at Aaron standing near the window, he sighed.
"He will never forgive me."
"You never wanted to genuinely hurt him. It was all a misunderstanding. I'm sure a little chat can clear them up," I said, following his gaze to look at Aaron.
"I've been a terrible father to him. I doubt he'll want to talk to me after all that I've done to control him. But maybe you could sneak in a few good things about me during your conversations," he looked at me. The smile on his face was melancholic.
"I surely will," I assured him. His smile got wider. "He'll forgive you. I'm sure he loves you too."
"Maybe," he sighed. I could see the fear in his eyes caused by that uncertainty.
"He does," I said confidently.
He smiled at me—a genuine one this time—and gave me a fatherly hug, the kind that I never received from my own father. "Come visit me sometime, you both. I could use some company."
With that said, he walked out of the house. I closed the door behind him and went to Aaron. He was still on the call, so I sat on the nearby chair, waiting. He was talking to someone about James and I figured who it was. The moment he realized I was waiting for him, he ended the call and came to me.
"What happened?" he asked, slipping the phone in his pockets as he sat beside me.
"You were talking to Dylan?" I asked. It was more of a statement, needing confirmation.
"I was. He said Juliea is arrested as well. It won't be that bad for Lahaina and Juliea; they will be tried here in New York. James, on the other hand, will be flown to California. VanAssche wants to have a chat with him, after which he will be sent to prison. He's done for life," Aaron said, wrapping his arms around my shoulder and pulling me closer. "Also, he is throwing a party next week. We're invited."
"A party? Why?"
"He has always wanted to see James behind the bars. He's just happy," Aaron chuckled.
Clearly, Dylan wasn't the only one celebrating it.
"You look happy too."
"I am," he said, grinning.
I shook my head, a smile forming on my face. James was going to go to jail. He was finally going to be punished for his crimes, for what he did to my mother. I wished she was here to watch. More than that, I wanted her to meet Aaron, the man who had helped me find my confidence and courage and changed me for the better.
I looked up at him and whispered, "thank you for everything."
"Thanking me just by words?" He pretended to be hurt.
I laughed as I shifted closer to him. "I love you," I said, wrapping my arms around him and expressing my love. More than just by words.
-Analia