Chapter 177 - Love Is An Ambition All Its Own
Aaron briefly explained the predicament he found himself in because of his father and the Knightons. "Any ideas would be helpful at this point. I've got nothing."
Jennica thought about it a moment.
"If it's someone who doesn't exist…say you've been doing things long distance and you didn't want to tell anyone in case it didn't work out but that you couldn't hold back your love when you saw her again and that's why you proposed in public."
"Alistair might fall for it," Cameron mused. "Just act as lovesick as you always do when you talk about Keeley and you should be fine."
He scowled. Was he really that bad? He thought he was better at hiding his emotions than that. If even Cameron could see through him, why couldn't Keeley?
"Speaking of Keeley…does she know about this?" Jennica asked hesitantly. "I wouldn't want her to be hurt by it."
Aaron let out a small, hollow laugh at the very idea that she could be hurt by him getting engaged to someone else. She didn't care. She had texted him to congratulate him as soon as she found out. In her mind, she probably saw him getting engaged as a way to get rid of him.
"She knows but even if she didn't, she wouldn't care."
She made a soft skeptical noise. "Don't be too sure. Before you guys got into your fight I was near positive she liked you."
His blinked several times in disbelief. Jennica thought Keeley liked him?! How had she come to that conclusion? She obviously hated him.
"Really?" he asked faintly.
"Well she always got really defensive whenever you were brought up. I think it was a case of protesting too much."
Interesting. Aaron didn't know Jennica well enough to gauge her ability to read people but if she was right, Keeley had been softening towards him before discovering the truth.
It was like she said; she never would have been friends with him if she knew he remembered everything. She only accepted him because she thought he was an entirely different person.
All he could do was make a noncommittal noise in response before changing the subject. "Well, that's all I really needed. I can embellish the story from here. Thanks for the idea and enjoy the rest of your night."
They both said goodbye before hanging up. He imagined they resumed their cuddling without giving him a second thought. How nice it must be to have the one you love by your side.
He felt even worse after the call than he did before. If Jennica was right, he might have actually had a chance if Keeley hadn't figured out the truth. The thought was like a dagger straight through his heart.
There was nothing he wouldn't give to be spending the entire day holding her while they watched movies like Cameron and Jennica were doing right now.
Aaron had never been the biggest fan of movies so back in the day whenever Keeley asked him to watch one with her he said no more than half of the time. He should have taken it as an opportunity to be closer to her and disregarded what was happening on the screen.
He wanted to slap his younger self for being so stupid. Here he was, desperately wishing for something he used to turn down.
===
As predicted, everyone wanted to congratulate Aaron on his engagement at work. People he had never spoken to before in his life were coming out of the woodwork to wish him happiness. It was unnerving.
It was only a matter of time before his father called him into his office. To his surprise, it didn't come up until they were out to lunch at a sushi restaurant nearby.
Alistair normally ate lunch out with other executives but today it was only him and his son. This meant Aaron was in for a serious scolding. Joy.
He didn't attack until after the appetizers had been ordered.
"Care to tell me why you didn't answer any of my calls this weekend?" he asked in a tone that could freeze an ocean.
"My cat knocked my phone under the couch when it was on silent," he deadpanned.
"Since when do you have a cat?"
"I got her last summer. Haven't you seen the picture in my office?"
Aaron knew for a fact that his father swept his office for evidence against him that he never found at least a couple times a week when he wasn't in there. Aiden had the footage to prove it.
He wouldn't admit to that though so he cleared his throat before continuing. "That is beside the point. Your little stunt put me in a very awkward position."
"Why, because you tried marrying me off without even consulting me on it? I have told you a hundred times: I would rather cut my own ear off than marry Lacy Knighton. I already have someone I love."
Alistair grew even colder.
"You could have told me about her sooner. Bethany Carlisle is a perfectly acceptable candidate for your wife. I wouldn't have said no. All you accomplished by keeping your relationship secret was embarrassing me in front of one of my business partners."
"Our relationship was long-distance. I didn't want to say anything until we were on more solid ground," he lied, using Jennica's idea.
He waited a moment to see if his father took the bait. The appetizers arrived while Alistair gathered his thoughts and Aaron dug into his spring rolls as if he didn't have a care in the world. He could not show a speck of weakness in front of the enemy.
"If you were waiting to be on more solid ground why on earth would you do something as incredibly stupid as proposing in public at someone else's party? That was done in very poor taste. I raised you better than that," Alistair said icily.
He hardly raised Aaron at all. Anything he did impart onto his son was cold, harsh, and businesslike.
He had some nerve talking about raising him when he only gave him the time of day if he was excelling at something. The rest of the time he was ignored and left in the care of nannies.
"I lost my head in the heat of the moment," Aaron said, trying to sound the way he did when he talked about Keeley. "I was so overwhelmed by seeing Bethany again after a long separation that I couldn't control the urge to make her mine permanently."
Aaron wasn't sure if it worked. Alistair looked less convinced this time. "Love only gets in the way of ambition."
"Love is an ambition all its own," he replied coolly, thinking of his own ambitions in love that would likely never be fulfilled. "It does not affect my business sense so you have no room to complain."
"Lacy Knighton would have been a better choice business-wise," his father said stiffly. "Her father and I already work together. We could have merged our interests much more easily. As it is now, you've offended them and I have to clean up your mess."
"Your business partners have nothing to do with me, Father. None of this would have happened had you not jumped the gun and set something up without talking to me. I am not to blame here."
Alistair wanted to refute but he couldn't deny his son's logic. Point to Aaron. He ate his next spring roll with a sense of supreme satisfaction. He had won this round.