"What took you so long?" Catherine snapped the mont Matteo entered the front doors, held open by the family butler.
Matteo rely gave her a side-eye before he headed straight for his father, who sat on the armchair. Aiden stood in a corner and leaned against a wall. For the first ti, there was no smirk on his face― his expression was equally grave.
"What is it?" he asked, completely ignoring Catherine’s aggravated groan in the background.
Charles Montgory slowly looked away from the tablet in his lap. On it, Matteo could see a video playing. The angle and people in it told him that this would’ve most likely been CCTV footage from the hotel where he and Alia held their wedding. There he was on the screen with Emline Hawthorne.
"Have you lost your mind?" Charles Montgory coldly said. "You told Emline Hawthorne to abort the child?"
Matteo frowned. He did, that was true. But that was not information his father should’ve gotten, especially when it just happened at the hospital less than an hour ago.
"Where did you hear that from?" Matteo asked.
"See it for yourself!"
Matteo took hold of the tablet his father held out and rewind the video back to the start. Then he pressed the play button.
The CCTV footage was not the clearest by any ans. However, it was impossible to mistake them for anyone else. After all, Matteo was already dressed in his wedding suit, while Emline was wearing the sa dress she wore while attending their wedding.
She stepped closer to Matteo, and Matteo stepped back to create so distance. That was when the audio played.
’Please... I love you! You know I always have, Matteo! If you marry Alia, what about ? What about our child?’
’Emline, be reasonable here,’ Matteo said in the video. ’I wouldn’t get together with you. I have no intention of having a child with you, to begin with. You’ll be having a child out of wedlock.’
’You...’ In the video, Emline lurched forward once more, trying to hold Matteo’s hand. He managed to evade it, and in the process, Emline nearly fell before she caught herself against the wall. ’How could you treat so heartlessly?!’
’Having a child with you would not make love you any more,’ Matteo said. ’If you wish to inflict this brand of suffering on yourself, be my guest.’
’I’m carrying your child!’ Emline cried. ’Not only are you offering any support, you’re leaving in the lurch?’
’Frankly, I would rather you abort it,’ ca Matteo’s cold reply. Then, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Emline alone. She collapsed to her knees, her face in her hands.
The video ended there.
"This video is manipulated," Matteo flatly said.
After all, those words had just left his lips less than an hour ago. There was no way the CCTV would’ve caught all those words too even if it was actually from the wedding― they were speaking so softly, with silence surrounding them most of the ti.
"It doesn’t matter," Charles Montgory said. "What matters is that people think that is what you said― that you’re refusing to take responsibility after your night of fun. You knew about Emline’s pregnancy and yet you still carried on with your wedding with another woman."
"Night of fun?" Matteo echoed before he coldly laughed. "Have you forgotten? The only ti anything could’ve happened between Emline Hawthorne and would be the ti she drugged . If I had the choice, I wouldn’t go anywhere near here with a hundred-foot pole."
"The stocks for X’el have been dropping ever since the tabloids updated the news of Emline’s pregnancy announcent," Catherine said, sitting down on the couch with one leg crossed over the other. She leisurely picked up a glass of wine and sipped.
"We’ve had a discussion with the board of shareholders," Charles said. "You need to step down from the role of CEO."
Matteo scoffed. "And what? You return to the helm? I doubt they will be too happy to see you back after you nearly led X’el to bankruptcy a decade ago."
"I am too old for this," Charles said. He then gestured to Aiden, who had been quietly watching this unfold from a corner. "Aiden will take over as the new CEO of X’el."
With his na called out, Aiden suddenly straightened to attention. "Dad―"
"Have you forgotten?" Matteo said, "I own the majority of the shares. I make the decisions for X’el."
"Either you marry Emline Hawthorne and fix this ss or you sign this," Catherine said. From her purse, she brought out a stack of docunts and slid it across the coffee table.
Matteo could see the title as clear as day― Share Transfer Agreent.
"You will be transferring your portion of the shares to Aiden," Catherine said. "We’re not asking for everything, of course. Emline’s baby will still need its father and even if you don’t plan on marrying her, it’s only right for you to offer her so monetary support after she has been kicked out of the Hawthorne family."
Matteo’s eye twitched. "You raised very well, Catherine," he snubbed. "I am not planning on taking care of a child that’s not mine."
She laughed, waving Matteo’s comnt off and ignoring the fact that he had addressed her by her given na. "Just forty percent of the total company shares will do," Catherine said. "You’re still left with twenty; that should be enough to give you a high standard of living. I’m sure you have so savings as well from all those years managing X’el."
Matteo reached for the docunts and prepared to rip them into shreds. However, Catherine’s next words stopped his actions, causing his blood to turn cold.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you," Catherine said. "Either you marry the girl or you sign the docunts. Otherwise, you can prepare yourself a nice scuba costu and a fishing boat that will send you to the Pacific waters."
The corner of her lips curled up sinisterly as she threw the pen on the table.
"Your mother’s ashes will be scattered there, along with that precious bangle of hers."
The pen rolled to the edge of the table, stopping right before it could fall off.
"It’s your choice," Catherine said. "I heard that the bangle belonged to her mother, and her mother before her. Quite the family treasure, isn’t it?"
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