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He raises his eyebrows like he’s amused. “Worthless pig? I’m wealthier than you could possibly imagine. At least I’m not a slumdog like you.”
“I’m happy with my life. Sad that you’re not happy with yours, though. You think that you need to be this tough, superior man to be wealthy and successful? I tell you now, you may be wealthy, but you don’t have anyone who loves you. Not one person in this world loves you the way you are,” Mom scoffs. “At least I have family and friends who I care about as equally as they care about me.”
Niall swallows hard like that’s hit home. “Look, I don’t need people to love me, woman. I look after number one.” He slaps his chest, hard. “Me, myself, and I. As long as I do that, my life’s great. Thank you.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” Mom huffs.
“I will... Aiden, your slut is fired. I don’t want her in my office ever again.”
My eyes widen and mouth opens in shock.
“Father, if she’s fired, so am I.”
Niall’s eyes open wide as his mouth pulls together showing all his wrinkles. It’s as though he’s struggling with his thoughts. “Fine. She stays. But I swear to God, Aiden, if you don’t start acting your age—”
“You’ll what, Father?”
“Just act your age, son.”
“How about you act your age, Niall?Stop hurting the people you love just to keep up this bravado, or you’ll end up alone and lonely for the rest of your godforsaken life. And you and I both know you don’t want that… do you?” Mom emphasizes.
Niall exhales, shaking his head infinitesimally. “You don’t know what I want.”
“Then what do you want?” Mom asks.
His body slumps. “For my son to follow in my footsteps. I’ve worked hard to get Aiden to where he is today, and your daughter is tearing him away from our business and me.”
Mom shakes her head. “He’s in love, Niall… nothing you say or do is going to change that. My daughter is his soul mate, and I know, deep down, that you wish things were different. You wish you could let your walls and your tough exterior down. You wish you could tell Callie how much you love her. You wish you had control over everything, but you don’t, Niall, and that’s no one’s fault but your own.”
He glares at Mom. “I have plenty of control, thank you. What do you know about how I feel toward Callie? That’s none of your damn business.”
Mom shrugs. “Play it that way, but sooner rather than later, they will all abandon you. One by one. Mark my words. If you don’t change, they’ll all be gone before you know it.”
He swallows harshly, and I can see he wants to reply but doesn’t.
I think what Mom’s saying is getting through.
Niall huffs, throwing his hands in the air in defeat, then he turns and walks over to the car. Bill opens the rear passenger door for Niall to get in as we all take a deep breath and walk toward our cars, the argument finally over and done with.
Niall makes my skin crawl. He’s so wrapped up in himself that he doesn’t even see that he’s killing his relationships with everyone he loves. I wish someone could knock some sense into him. If not for his sake, then for Aiden’s. Because Aiden is the one who’s suffering right now, and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s when Aiden’s upset.
“Do you want to come back to my place for dessert?” Mom asks everyone. I look at Aiden, who nods in agreement along with Sarah.
“We’ll see you at Ev’s,” Aiden tells Sarah and Chris.
We walk over to the car where Mike and Callie are standing. “Callie, would you like to come back to my place for dessert?” Mom asks.
Callie exhales like she’s relieved it’s all finally over. “Sounds divine.”
We hop into the car—girls in the back, guys in the front—and drive to Mom’s as she searches through her handbag to find her keys while we all chat among ourselves. Eventually, she finds them and holds them up in the air. “Found ‘em.” She shakes them in her hand.
Bella’s there to greet us, barking and wagging her tail when we enter. Callie bends down to pat her. I think Callie secretly loves dogs, but, of course, Niall won’t let her have any pets.
After everyone greets Bella, we make our way to the living room.
“Sorry about the lack of room, guys.” Mom starts tidying up the cushions before people sit.
“Oh, this place is adorable, Ev,” Callie chimes, sitting on the sofa. Bella jumps on her lap straight away. Callie smiles as Bella snuggles into her. Sarah and I walk into the kitchen to get some tea, coffee, and cookies for everyone, and then we head back into the living room and sit.
