Dark Revenge Of An Unwanted Wife: The Twins Are Not Yours! - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Lies
“You know, Athena, when I saw your message a few hours ago, that you wanted to see me by this time, I didn’t believe it. You don’t permit morning meetings. To you, it is a sacrilege. What changed?”

Athena laughed, stood up from her seat and gave Zane a side hug. “You are exaggerating again, Zane. Good morning. How was your night?”

Zane pouted. “I’m not sure. I woke up to this morning to trouble. Ewan’s company was going under, and then all of a sudden, everywhere was bright and clear. You had anything to do with it? My father thinks you do.”

Athena sipped from her second cup of orange juice.

Ewan had left thirty minutes ago, after she told him she was expecting a client.

She had avoided mentioning Zane, knowing it would trigger the male.

Now, she didn’t understand why she did that.

Was she having a soft spot for him again? She forbade it!

“They met this morning?”

“Yeah.” Zane answered, before calling a waiter.

Athena’s eyes glistened with awareness.

Zane’s statement explained why Ewan had been so sure that she had been behind the attack, why he had advocated for a truce.

Herbert must have told him of their past.

She wondered whether the old man told Ewan about the details, and the deal.

She didn’t think so. The proud man won’t strip himself like that. He didn’t even tell his son.

“So, what do you think, Zane? You believe your father?”

“About you being involved? I don’t think so. It must be someone else with a vendetta against Ewan. You aren’t that vindictive.”

Athena smiled.

Zane still had a lot to know about her.

But he was right at least; she didn’t do it. Her children did.

“But the media and press, especially the KN company, really beat him to pieces. They did far more damages to him.”

Athena furrowed her eyebrows. “KN media? I haven’t heard of the company.”

Except this morning during my research on the attack.

Zane nodded in understanding. “Quite expected. They aren’t exactly consistent. But they are good press, with a huge amount of subscribers. Twenty thousand dollars for monthly subscription. You can afford that easily, right?”

Athena’s mouth fell open. “That’s extortion!”

Zane smiled. “Maybe. But they give crazy news and tips. You should try applying for it. I think I have a newspaper at home. Remind me to get it for you. You know I usually forget these things.”

Athena nodded slowly, not believing her ears.

Twenty thousand dollars per month for a newspaper? It was surely for the rich then!

She didn’t exactly like it. But she will check them out before making her judgements.

“So, you have been here for a while?” Zane pointed at the cups on the table. “You had someone over?”

“Yeah, Ewan.”

It was Zane’s turn to be speechless.

“Ewan Giacometti?”

Athena nodded.

“Athena Caddell, you are really set on springing up surprises on me today! What’s next for me, on the list?”

Athena chuckled softly, and took a sip of her drink. “It was necessary. He had the notion that you and I had been behind the attacks on his company…he sent me a text…”

“Yeah, I received it too. I thought it was a joke though.” Zane accepted the drink served by the waiter, and took a sip.

“You met him for that?”

“Yeah, I knew who had attacked his company… had to set the records straight.”

Zane dropped the drink on the table. “My father was right?”

“Partly. It was done out of blind loyalty. That’s why everything has been cleared up, I convinced the person to take it down.”

“Who’s the mystery person?”

But even as Zane asked this question, he knew Athena wouldn’t give him an answer.

When he saw her look away while drumming her fingers on the table, he wondered why he had bothered asking.

“So, what did he say? Ewan, I mean…” He had to let the matter go.

“He was grateful, especially since I accepted to treat his people and reduced my request of twenty percent of his shares to ten percent…”

Zane laughed. “You were never really going to abandon his people, were you?”

“No. I’m a doctor, Zane. Patients’ lives matter to me so much, no matter who they are. I was just doing business, checking to see how far he could go for his people, while getting some profits in the process.”

Zane laughed louder this time, shaking his head. “You are really crazy, Athena. I can see who Kathleen and Nathaniel take after.”

Athena squished her nose.

Zane tapped it fondly.

She shook off his hand. “We called a truce; Ewan and I. We are partners now, seeing as I hold ten percent shares in his company.”

Zane’s jovial mood immediately plunged to a sadness he didn’t understand.

“Will you tell him about the twins now?”

Athena shook her head. “He will find out by himself.”

Zane swallowed. “Will you get back to him, considering your past. You loved him at that time right?”

“No, I never did.” Athena lied, knowing that’s what Zane wanted to hear.

She couldn’t afford to break her friend’s heart. After all, she was done with Ewan now. Her love for him in the past mattered no more.

She held back a smile when Zane sighed in relief.

What will I do when he finally asks me out?

Athena let the thought go. She would cross that bridge when she got there.

“So, we never talked about the contract Ewan had with Zack… you never finished the story.” Athena started, after a few minutes of silence.

Zane nodded, and gulped down the entire juice in his cup.

Athena furrowed her eyebrows, worried now.

Did Zane not believe her answer? Would he tell her the entire truth now, or would he be swayed by his fear of her and Ewan getting back together?

“Yeah. Zack wanted a son to bear his name, in exchange for the land. He even told Ewan that he could divorce you when he got the son he wanted. So, technically, your father offered you to Ewan as a breeder, for his own gain. He needed a son that will inherit his properties. A son that won’t know you.”

Athena was appalled by the sudden speech, its implication, and the crass way it was delivered.

She knew Zane wasn’t okay.

“So, Ewan followed through, not caring for your feelings, thinking that you were in cahoots with your father. The longer the marriage took, the more irritable he became. He had budgeted a year with you.”

Athena remained motionless, refusing to reveal her hurt and pain to Zane. She knew he was searching for it.

“That’s why he hated you. That’s why, no matter how you followed him blindly like a puppy, seeking his approval, he despised you. That’s why he was impervious to your gift of selfless love and rich goodness. That’s why he saw you as a whore. An uneducated cheap whore.”

Athena felt uncomfortable. Was Zane insulting her for lying to him?

“But I’m glad you proved them wrong, Athena. I’m glad you proved your father wrong.” He beckoned on a waiter.

Does this changes things now? Does the truth change the way you see him now?”

It did. Athena knew it did, in some way.

“No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t excuse his behaviors, his rejection, or abandonment when I was accused. I still hate him.”