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Edward lifted me high in the air and spun me around like a crazy man. Afterwards, he told me he had been unscrupulously set up the evening of the party. We kissed each other like never before. I apologized for my pig-headedness. I should have given him a chance to explain. He apologized for all the pain I had gone through even though I acknowledged it was not his fault.
We returned to the living room and Edward proceeded to tell Michael and I the whole story about how he had been set up by Raymond Bidwell.
“Raymond Bidwell? Are you sure? What makes you think he was the culprit behind it?”
“Well… At first all I had was a hunch and a picture of a dog, but it didn’t take long to put together an indisputable paper trail leading to him that shows he hired those three hookers in my office.”
“Really? Why in the hell would he do something like this?”
Michael jumped in to proudly interject at that moment.
“See I knew there was a logical explanation for all this! Edward didn’t betray you Julia! I knew it!”
“Well I’m thinkin’ you realized that after you socked me in the jaw! Anyway… There was a guy that night claiming to be an investor by the name Max Wakefield. He wanted financial information on Armani Industries. I thought it was odd that we were out of prospectus brochures already. He must have hidden them somewhere! Max demanded to see one of those damn brochures because he was considering making an immediate large investment in the company. He was a weird-looking man with a bad hair piece and very tacky clothes.”
“A bad hair piece and tacky clothes? Was he wearing red cowboy boots by any chance?”
“Yes Julia! How did you know that? Did you see him?”
“I not only saw him I talked to him! Who do you think steered me up there to you? He told me he had just seen you out in the hallway waiting for the elevator. He sent me to your office!”
“That filthy fucker! By the time I got back downstairs everyone was shouting about goddamned food poisoning.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Michael said, looking down at the carpet.
“It doesn’t matter… What matters is Mr. Red Boots was already gone.”
“That Raymond Bidwell! Wait till I get my hands on that creep! He purposely derailed our wedding! Why would he do that Edward?”
“Money. Lots of money. Isn’t that always the motive? When we missed our Halloween marriage deadline it’s not like my Grandfather’s inheritance money vanished into thin air. The will made it clear if I failed to achieve the terms presented, my Grandfather’s entire estate would go toward charity work. The corporate lawyer is in charge of all decisions from the charitable arm of the Armani corporation. He holds a 49% share in the company Julia, and has nearly a billion dollars in cash at his disposal…” Edward said quietly.
“And the corporate lawyer is…” I began, catching Edwards eyes.
“Raymond Bidwell, of course. That’s why my grandfather had him working with his estate. Raymond is now in direct control of my grandfather’s estate. He immediately cancelled every single charitable contribution I was making prior to the takeover. I’ve already discovered several disbursements Raymond has pledged to questionable charities! I know damn well he’s getting huge cash kickbacks. He’ll be able to skim untold millions off the top with nobody ever being the wiser. That crooked bastard is going to get very rich very fast... All due to my grandfather’s generous nature and wicked sense of humor.”
I listened carefully to what Edward was telling me.
“Wait… Since your grandfather’s death, you’ve been continuing his charitable work?”
“Of course Julia. I wouldn’t consider running his company any other way. I’ve seen the true value of helping the less fortunate. It’s pretty amazing, just like you always tried to tell me.”
A lump formed in my throat. Edward was truly carrying on his Nonno’s work and legacy!
“It’s not fair! Nonno clearly wanted US to be together and he wanted YOU in charge of his company! Now Raymond Bidwell will be in control?! It’s sickening Edward!”
“It gets worse… The quarterly board meeting happens tomorrow, and Raymond is going to use the voting shares he has to remove me as CEO. The entire board is in on this Julia. They’ve shorted the stock like crazy. They’re going to deliberately destroy my grandfather’s company, and they’re going to get rich doing it!”
“What’s going to happen to us?” I asked with tears filling my eyes.
“Well there’s nothing stopping us from still being together Julia. Not even Raymond Bidwell…”
“Is there anything we can do to stop this?” I asked him with tears in my eyes. “We can’t let this happen!”
