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Until he walked around and slapped Aristos on the shoulder hard enough to make her flinch.
“Ah... So you’ve finally given Leo what he wants,ne? Forced yourself into a marriage, put yourself to stud just to cement your control over Carides Inc.?” Kairos began, not even trying to cover up his bitterness. “Your ambition knows no morals or boundaries.”
Her glass sloshed water over her fingers as the words registered. Fear kicked in her chest about what Kairos might say about the past, ruining the present. Mira reached for Aristos’s hand across the table, her throat aching. “Aristos, he’s drunk.”
But her husband had a savage edge to his temper that belied his steady heart. “You should be raising your glass to me, Kairos, thanking me for taking care of another duty that you have failed.” Unable to cope with his drinking and his gambling, his wife had left Kairos years ago. And yet, his arrogance hadn’t dimmed one bit.
Mira would’ve found satisfaction in his words if fear didn’t beat a tattoo in her heart.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kairos demanded.
“Carides heirs means the cushy allowance and maintenance fund that Leo grants you will be guaranteed for another few decades. It means the board will stop complaining about my actions. And even if I perish—as you’ve been praying for for years—it will still be my children who rule the Carides empire.” Utter silence blanketed the room. “As always, I’ve shot past Leo’s expectations for me, giving him two heirs. And you won’t mock them as you used to mock me,ne? Born in wedlock, made of good stock—because really, Mira beats all the socialites you’ve been panting after in both brains and beauty, and I bet you anything they’re going to be as smart and—”
“Aristos, that’s enough,” Mira whispered, each of his words landing like lashes against her skin. Was this what he thought of their children? Mere pawns and accomplishments in his ambitions? Like check marks on his list of attributes? But then, that’s how he’d been acting. She turned to Leo. “Please stop them.”
“Spread your sperm around enough and it was bound to happen,” Kairos continued before Leo could even speak.
“That’s you and your ill-fated progeny you speak of,” Aristos retorted, pushing to his own feet. “Mine are legitimate.”
It was the quiet before a storm, a wide, ugly smile contorting Kairos’s face, and suddenly, Mira knew whatever he’d told her that night, whatever he’d shown her, was somehow lies. All lies. And she’d thrown away a lifetime’s happiness based on his words.
“The whole world knows she made you sign a contract, cousin. That she intends to leave you after five years.” Kairos made a leering face at Leo, taunting the patriarch. “Did you know that bit of delicious truth about your precious heir?” Then he turned to Aristos, a knowing grin twisting his mouth. “I know that she only chose you because you offered her what she wants the most,ne? Your little secretary was happy to share those facts with me. Apparently, your pretty little wife was desperate enough for a baby that she overlooked the fact that you’re still nothing but a feral animal under all that polish you’ve acquired. It’s the only reason she came back into your life after dumping you the first time. You bought her just the way you’ve bought yourself into the entire family’s good graces.”
“Stella, take Mira to the bedroom,” Aristos said in a calm, quiet tone that fooled no one.
Pressing a hand to her throbbing temple, Mira sighed. “I’m not a child you need to dismiss from the table because it’s about to get ugly. As for him, he’s nothing but a jealous drunk.”
But Aristos... Something bleak and cold lit his gray eyes. His anger, his loathing, his ire... They were all directed at himself. Why? Her chest felt so tight that she wanted to rub a hand there.
“This is an old war finally coming to its conclusion,yineka mou. I don’t want you caught up in the crossfire.”
“I’m in the crossfire whether you like it or not,” Mira said, shaking her head.
“Just leave, Mira.”
“No. His filthy words don’t even touch me. It’s you who can...” She turned to Stella, a steely resolve taking over. “Will you please get him out of here?”
Stella nodded and with her mother and aunt’s help, she herded a swaying Kairos out the door.
Aristos’s grandfather got to his feet in a slow movement that spoke of his tiredness. He cast one warning look at Aristos, patted Mira’s shoulder and left them to the storm brewing in the room.
It had been brewing for a while. Kairos was simply the catalyst. And Mira was ready for it. For weeks, she’d wondered at Aristos’s lack of reaction to her news. On paper, he’d done everything and yet, his heart hadn’t been in it. And now to hear him boast of their babies as if they were... That she couldn’t tolerate.
Even now, he was turned away from her, tension wreathing his tight shoulders. “I wish you’d do as you’re told just once, Mira.”
“And I wish you didn’t treat me as if I was some special project, Aristos.” She went to him then, the scent of him immediately calming her, even as the man himself twisted her inside out. “I don’t understand why you’re letting him get to you. Kairos has always been jealous of you.”
His shoulders shook, his hand pressed to his temple. “And yet, he seems to have drilled down to the truth.”
She turned him around with a hand on his shoulder. “What truth would that be, Aristos? How can anything he said be worse than the fact that this is the first time I’ve heard you mention our unborn babies and that too as if they were some kind of pawns in a big game? As if they were your accomplishments?”
“That’s not what they are, Mira.”
“And yet that’s all I heard.” She sucked in a long breath, putting that concern aside for now. Yes, Kairos was an ass, but his words could prick her husband, who’d always been mocked for his background. Who’d fought his way to the top through sheer willpower and hard work. Who’d always been treated as an outsider even when he’d had a family. And she... Even unknowingly, she’d judged him and found him guilty too. It was eating away at her already. “I don’t care what they say about us, Aristos. You and I know the truth.”
“Who’s distorting the truth now,thee mou?” he asked, his tone dangerously silky, stepping away from her as if he couldn’t bear to be touched. “What we have is a contract that works in both our favor. You know why I signed it. They’re the heirs that Leo wanted, the heirs I need to shut the board up. They will be the face of the new Carides generation. My legacy—the only thing in the whole goddamned world that are truly mine. My children will rule the Carides board unchallenged, the very same board that made me run through so many hoops.”
“Yes, they’re the new generation. But they’re not the only—”
