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Maia’s expression is so malicious that it contorts her face into something not even remotely beautiful. “Here is the reason for your marriage.” She lifts a manila envelope from the table and tosses it at me. “I can assure you it has nothing to do with love, you little fool.”
Harper
I catch the envelope automatically. My first instinct is to drop it on the floor and refuse to see the contents, but I don’t. I have to know what’s made Maia so happy. With shaking hands, I lift the flap and pull out a thin sheaf of papers. A cursory glance reveals legal jargon. “What is this?”
“Those are the papers that allow Jayson, as your husband, to act as a voting proxy for your shares of Satyros Corporation.”
I shake my head. “You’re crazy. I don’t own any Satyros stock.”
“Wrong.” Maia laughs, clearly enjoying her revelations. “Dmitri gave your father ten percent of the company ages ago. That came to you upon his death, and you blindly handed over the control to your husband.” She shakes her head, sending glossy strands cascading over her shoulder. “Did you really think he loved you?”
It takes every ounce of control, but I manage to hide my bewilderment and the stirrings of anger. “I allowed Jayson to vote for me because he knows the company,” I bluff. “Besides, I hardly think he would have tied himself to me just to get back my ten percent. He could have bought me out.”
“Not then, he couldn’t. When Dmitri died, the company was in trouble. Jayson’s managed to turn it around, but the company couldn’t have absorbed the costs of buying you out, and Jayson was using his own money to finance the day-to-day expenses of the company and of caring for Dmitri’s daughter.”
My chest aches with a hollow pain, and I find it more difficult to maintain a calm façade. “My share would hardly matter. I couldn’t do anything with ten percent.”
Maia shakes her head. “Kostas had given away other shares before Dmitri took over, shortly after he started the company. He was the son of a poor fisherman and didn’t have the necessary capital. His partners had shares in the company.”
“What does this have to do with me?” I ask her coldly, desperate to be rid of Maia.
“Kostas purchased back much of the stock he’d used for collateral, but there remained bits and pieces among friends and family. Dmitri attempted to buy back the shares when the company was strong, but a few refused to sell.” Maia leans a little closer. “The other shareholders were pressuring Dmitri to take the company public. He remained steadfast about keeping it a private corporation, and he had your father’s full support. However, when they died, you were left with enough shares to secure a majority share of the company if you threw in with the others.”
My head spins, and I shake it, trying to clear my thoughts. “You’re lying. Jayson didn’t even want to run Satyros Corporation.”
“True.” Maia shrugs. “Nevertheless, he is Greek and knows the importance of family. He wanted to honor Dmitri’s plans for the company.” She grimaces. “Jayson was willing to do anything, apparently.”
“Get out.” I’ve stopped caring about hiding my reactions. I get to my feet, letting the envelope scatter on the marble floor.
Maia regards me coolly. “I will leave, but I’m sure I’ll be back before long. Now that you know the truth, you have no reason to stay.”
I straighten my shoulders. “Jayson still needs to control my shares.”
The other woman gains her feet in one fluid motion. “Not any longer. He’s reacquired all other stock, and the company can easily purchase your stocks. He has control of your stock, so I am not sure why he’s keeping you around. Perhaps he has decided a divorce is too expensive, or he doesn’t want to risk you being petulant and refusing to sell the shares now that the company is almost fully under his control.” Her eyes narrow, and the smile widens. “My theory is he has decided to woo you into signing over those stocks. He’s trying to make you so besotted that you will agree to anything. Once you give up the stock, it will be the end of your ‘marriage.’” Her laugh is full of cruel mockery.
“I want you to leave. If you come back — ”
“Oh, I shall return. Soon, I will be Kyria Satyros. I made a foolish decision years ago, but I refuse to let Jayson slip through my fingers again.” An expression resembling pity flashes across her face. “You can’t really think you would be able to compete with me?” Without another word, she turns and strides from the room, her heels tapping against the marble.
I sag into the chair, leaning down to pick up the dropped envelope. Pulling out the papers, I examine them more thoroughly. My signature appears on several pages, all authorizing Jayson to control my shares of the company for as long as we remain married, unless I revoke the right. At the time, I signed them without really reading, assuming the papers were more paperwork relating to the marriage contract.
Nausea burns in the back of my throat, and I swallow thickly. Jayson told me I was penniless. Selling the stock would’ve allowed me to finish my education and have the life I’d wanted. He must have thought I’d choose my own comforts over allowing him to keep the company under his control.
Marriage was such a drastic step to secure the shares. Of course, he’d needed a companion for Sophie. It must have seemed like a small sacrifice, exchanging three years for total control of the Satyros Corporation.
So why had he suggested extending the marriage? Had he developed feelings for me? Or was it as Maia had theorized, that he’s trying to make me fall in love with him so desperately that I would do anything he asks? Is it simply a matter of convenience? He sai
d he didn’t want to start over in another relationship. Am I merely his convenient wife, made even more convenient now that I’m fulfilling all the wifely duties?
He didn’t expect Maia to be available. Would he change his mind now that he knows she wants to take on the role she shunned years before? Or would he keep Maia as a mistress and me as his wife?
My lips compress at the thought. I refuse to be in that position. It doesn’t matter why he changed his mind, or even if he changes it again. What matters is our marriage began under false pretenses, and he deliberately withheld the only way I could have maintained my original plans for the future. In just a few minutes, the truth shatters all the trust I’ve placed in him.
Anger cuts through the numb disbelief, and I jump to my feet. The pages scatter around the floor, but I don’t stoop to pick them up. My focus is centered on returning to packing, but not with the intention of waiting for Jayson to decide it’s time to return to New York. I’ll arrange for the jet to take me home. Once in the city, I’ll move my things from his penthouse apartment and go on with the plans I made when our marriage was supposed to dissolve at the end of summer.
Anger fuels my movements, and I fill my cases in less than an hour. I’m stuffing clothes into the last bag when the bedroom door opens. My spine stiffens, my heart races, and my stomach churns as Jayson comes in.
He seems to be in a better mood than yesterday, and I briefly remember Sophie’s plight. If he’s still intent on forcing a marriage, I’ll do my best to stop him. Forcing a marriage must be his answer to everything.
