The Rise Of A Secret Heir

Chapter 7: Manipulation

Ann kept shut immediately and they all looked at Amelia at the same time.

Anne took Amelia’s hand quickly. “Are you alright, dear? Do you still wish to get some rest? I mean it’s the normal thing to do. You look tired anyways. You shouldn’t let a fool disturb your beauty rest,” she rumbled on.

“Mom!” Amelia called quickly, a bit frustrated. “You should stop too, Mom,” she looked at Ann. “You really need to. Besides, I thought we were done with this discussion. I told you that I’m not going to marry Zayn and no one else.”

Derek looked at Ann. “See? She doesn’t want to.” It was actually pleasing to him that Amelia was fighting for him at the last minute.

Ann sent him a glare before she looked at Amelia and smiled nervously. “I understand, dear but I’m not even talking about Zayn now. I’m talking about the president of Aircastle.”

Derek felt alarmed. He looked over at Ann quickly. “What about him?”

Ann gave him a cold look. “What did I say about interrupting me?” she yelled. “This is none of your business. I’m having a conversation with my daughter, not you! Why won’t you understand such a simple thing? Despite living with us for a year, you still don’t know the etiquette,” she shook her head briefly with pity. “This is why-,” she looked over at Amelia again. “This is why I wanted you to do this. You need to listen to me, Amelia. This is all for your good.”

Amelia released an exasperated sigh. “Mom, this isn’t helping. I’m going to bed,” she turned around and started towards the bedroom.

Ann spared Derek another cold gaze. “You are leaving, mark my word,” she threatened and stormed away.

Derek released a sigh and hurried after Amelia. “Wait, Amelia.” He called after her. Maybe she didn’t know that he was calling out to her or she merely felt like not replying, Derek wasn’t sure but he soon caught up with her. “Amelia, wait.”

“What for, Derek?” Amelia seemed uninterested in whatever he was about to say.

Derek ignored her look of disdain. “I was going to ask you about Aircastle. Did-,“ he didn’t finish as she was cut off rudely by Amelia.

“Spare me!” she said with disdain. “I definitely don’t wish to hear. You can take your tale elsewhere, I’m not interested,” she didn’t wait for him to talk before she continued. “Don’t think I’m taking your side just because I don’t want to divorce you. I’m only doing that because I don’t want it to look like I was being controlled by my family the second time.”

“We could actually talk this through,” he offered. “Besides, there’s something I need you to know concerning my family.”

“Like I said, I don’t want to know! I mean, why should I care about your family? It wasn’t as if we were really married or were we?” she raised her brows and waited. When Derek didn’t talk, she continued. “You know how much I hated you the moment grandfather said I should marry you. We were never married, Derek, so we can never act like one,” she muttered and turned to leave.

Derek understood everything very well. After all, Derek hadn’t even touched Amelia within a year that they had been married. Though he was very loyal to her and had kept his body holy for her but that didn’t look the same to Amelia. There was never love in their marriage, it was merely a contract marriage.

“Was that why you did that?” Derek said suddenly, stopping Amelia in her tracks. “Was that why you cheated on me? You would rather cheat than be with me? Is that how much you hated me?”

Amelia didn’t do anything for a few seconds as his explanation sank in. She released several breaths before she eventually turned to look at Derek, with a straight face. “Like I said, Derek, this wasn’t a love marriage. It was merely a marriage of convenience. I own my body and I can do it as I want,” she finished and walked away.

Derek couldn’t move for a moment. He felt very shocked and speechless. He expected Amelia to at least deny it. He was very sad to discover that she wasn’t even apologetic about it.”

.

Ann's phone rang suddenly just as she stepped into the living room. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the caller ID. Ethan was watching her with curiosity. So, she decided to answer the call in her room.

The phone stopped ringing, only for it to start ringing all over. A groan escaped her as she picked up the call.

“What is this all about, Kevin?”

Kevin laughed. “I thought you weren’t going to pick up, sister.”

“What do you want, Kevin? Is Seattle not enough for you?”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Well, it was. Seattle has been a great place to live in but I’m currently in Orange Park.”

“What!” Ann yelled before she could stop herself. “What are you here for?” She relaxed. “Well, I don’t care. You can come to Orange Park for all I care. It’s none of my business.”

“Come on!” Kevin dragged lazily. “You don’t sincerely mean that, do you? Is that how you treat your cousin? Or have you forgotten how close we are to each other? Have you forgotten that I bargained my last deal thanks to your mother’s influence?”

Ann scoffed. “Do you sincerely think that will move me? I’m pretty sure my mother wouldn’t let you stay. You will be forced to return to the hole you came from! The worst thing is that you might even implicate your mother,” she warned.

“Come on Ann, I know better than meeting with your mother when I’m pretty sure you can help me out.”

Ann laughed. “You must be joking!”

“Let’s see after I let the whole world know of the flaw in your family. I wouldn’t blame Amelia that much for marrying a poor man, I mean she was only following in her mother’s footsteps,” he said with sarcasm.

Ann's eyes widened with shock. “What!”

Felix laughed. “I bet you are surprised at how I got to know that despite how much you have kept it from the outside world. I’m sure your mother is disappointed in Amelia just as she was in you. If you aren’t careful, you and your daughter will lose the entitlement to your father’s company. While Sam and Ethan will take over everything,” he laughed.

"There's nothing else you can do, Kevin. My mother permitted Amelia to marry Derek. There's nothing you want to tell her that she doesn't know about already."

"Let's see, Ann. We will know when the newspapers take it up if she will be interested or not. Are you going to help me or not?" His voice hardened as he awaited a reply.

Ann was confused and shocked. Kevin was deadly and she knew it.