Chapter One Hundred and twenty six

Damien's POV;

"You okay, babe?"

"Hmmm." She absentmindedly responded to me while her eyes roamed her surroundings.

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but Cheryl's father wouldn't be happy with you here."

Her eyes went wide.

"So why did you bring me? You should have left me at the hotel."

"Thing is, uhm, he wants Cheryl and I to get back together for business reasons." I winced at the sudden high pitched scream that followed.

"What?!"

I literally saw flames brimming from her eyes.

"That's why I insisted on you being around."

"So you want me to spite him with my presence. Are you trying to get me killed?" She whisper yelled while trying her best to not alert the people in the elevator with us. People who by the way were already staring.

"He's a powerful man, a business man who would do anything to get what he wants. What if he goes off and puts a bounty on my head just so you could get back with his daughter?" She was frantic.

"That's why I'm here to put him in place. I need you here for moral support and to stop me from doing anything crazy." I said.

"And get that silly movie notion out of your head. This is real life." I advised jokingly but Ariana seemed like she had just seen a ghost.

"Hey hey, relax. I'm here, nothing's going to happen to you." I assured her.

"What if you're not around when it happens?"

"Nothing will happen to you." I said emphasizing every word just so it would sink in.

"Let's go." I took her palm in mine and led her out of the elevator to the floor where another security personnel was waiting for us.

"Right this way Mr Kingston." He said after saluting me with a curt nod.

The door to the conference room was pushed open. My gaze dribbled over to Cheryl who had her head down looking like she was trying to fight back tears. When I looked up, I was met by the menacing scowl of the wrinkly old man who Cheryl unfortunately had as a father.

His deep hollow eyes held the darkest of emotions and hottest flames of spite and disdain. I remembered them so well because he was such a terror to Cheryl and confronted me on several occasions.

His face morphed from a horrifying contortion to a poisonous smile as he sighted us.

"Why hello to world's current richest under forty billionaire!" He exclaimed, laughing boisterously as he reached for my hand.

"Hello Mr Schneider." I said with a clenched jaw, taking his hand in a firm handshake.

"Just call me Günter." He said and glanced behind me to give my wife a once-over.

"Your beautiful assistant can wait outside." He said with a condescending smirk.

"This isn't my assistant. She's my wife, Mrs Ariana Delaney Kingston." I gently brought her forward to stand by my side.

"Hello sir." She stretched her hand out for a handshake. He gave her once over.

"Oh this is the woman you married." He muttered, leaving her hand hanging.

Ariana awkwardly dropped her hand, looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

"Yes, she's the woman I'm married to." I responded.

"This was supposed to a private discussion."

"I discuss all private matters with my wife and I want her here."

He turned to his daughter.

"Cheryl, did you know about this?"

She slowly raised her head up, revealing bloodshot eyes that had gone blank with unhinged fury.

"Yes Father." She spoke for the first time since we came in.

"And you allowed it?" He asked once again, leaning towards her with his palm pressed on the wide mahogany conference table.

"Yes." She rasped out as she swallowed. He released a dark chuckle before sitting down at the head of the table.

I ushered Ariana to a seat and sat next to her, sitting opposite Cheryl who went to looking back down.

"Well then let's get on to business." He said to me in particular.

"You've seen the pitch. It's in both our interests but let's not get hasty. There has to be more to seal our deal."

"You want to attach sentiments to a business deal that would make us billions." I deadpanned.

"Don't say it like that. I know you still want my daughter and I'm giving you the approval you desired."

"Desired - that's the word. Well I don't want that anymore now that I'm happily married." I squeezed on her Ariana's thigh from underneath the table.

"I'm sorry I'm going to have to decline." I stated.

"Look at it this way; a fusion of two power houses that would rock the economy of both continents. Don't let your commoner of a wife hold you back and let you miss out on such an opportunity." He pitched his crazy idea, insultingly so.

"Don't ever insult my wife!" I growled.

"You've always been so touchy young man." He chuckled.

"What does this woman have other than a pretty face and body?" He had the audacity to point at my wife.

I lurched at him and pulled him by the collar, ready to punch him hard in the face for belittling my wife.

"You should be married to Cheryl and create a strong unshakable empire, not some nobody who's leaching off your wealth." He scoffed.

All reins of self control had cut loose at that point and not even his buff security men could pry me off the old bastard.

"Damien don't hurt him, he's still my father!" Cheryl's terrified scream pierced through my ears.

"Your asshole of a father just insulted my wife. Why the hell do you still respect him? He makes you fucking miserable!" I shook the idiot who still had that derisive smirk on his frog-like face.

"She'll be foolish to walk away from her inheritance, not that she isn't an airhead already."

Cheryl had always been a woman of great intelligence and it greatly annoyed me that this chauvinist had always made her think less of herself. I hoped she'd finally realize that he wouldn't change and it was pointless seeking his validation because she'd never get it. He'd never see her as more than a dependent woman.

"Damien!" I heard Ariana scream as my fist went up and was ready crack his face.

"Please don't do it. This isn't you."

Her soft touch on my arm and the pleading look in her eyes made me sigh.

"Let's go." She gently pulled me away from Günter but I wasn't going to leave without dropping parting words for Cheryl.

"You're going to drown in misery for the rest of your life if you continue letting yourself be a pushover for this man who would never accept you for who you are. He'll never realize your worth, not even on his dying day." I said the little that I could and gave her a long lasting embrace as a final goodbye. Ariana did the same and we left.

***

My knuckles bruised as I bashed the wall of our suite bedroom.

"Damien! Let it go already."

"How dare that fucking asshole?" I gritted out.

"Language, Damien." She warned sternly but I wasn't listening.

My mind was spiralling out of control. How dare that man who continuously shot down my ideas and never thought I would be good enough! How dare he talk about my wife like she was just an object!

I wish I had punched him hard on the face. I wished Ariana wasn't present so that I could have inflicted on him, the pain he truly deserved.

I pushed past the sliding door and stood by the balcony clamping onto the railings until my veins showed. I was angry, pained, hurt all at once. Memories of the past were playing before my sight and I was trying to close the doors, shut myself away from them. But even with my eyes opened, they haunted me, and were even worse when I shut them.

I felt Ariana's presence behind me, her slender hands went around my torso as she laid her head on my back.

"Babe, he made feel useless, I felt abandoned when Cheryl left me because of him. He's one of the people that made me believe that everyone would leave me." I said effusively.

"I was hopeless! My mom was basking in her love story, my twin sister was long forgotten and the only people who were there for me - Cheryl and Aiden and even Aleena - they made life a little more bearable. They made me want to be better. But then just like Gerald, Günter believed I wouldn't be anything more than a spoilt rich kid who would feed off his father's wealth until he eventually goes broke. It hurt, it hurt like a bitch." I croaked out.

"And even till date, I worry that everything would slip away and I would go back to nothing. I worry that all this wealth would disappear into thin air and I'd prove this people right." I opened up.

"Babe, none of that would happen. Don't even think it." She softly said.

"Arghhhh! I hate feeling this way!"

I tore off her hold on me and threw a fist at the glass wall that led us through to the suite, leaning an evident crack.

I heard her horrified scream at the sight of blood on my knuckles.

I didn't care about the pain, I just needed to forget about how hurt I felt on the inside.