53| CONFRONTING ERON CASTILE

As his car sped past the line of jacaranda trees that indicated the entrance into the estate where Eron's office was located, Arsen carefully parked his Honda Civics when he arrived at the parking lot of the building and alighted the car, looking rather calm as opposed to how charged he felt inside.

He could not believe Eron Castile had the guts to propose to his sister, still, after ruining their family, after lowering his father to a literal nobody in the city. It was the reason he was about to cause a scene. A scene his mother and sister would not be proud of, but one his father would be proud of.

Arsen marched to the receptionist table when he went inside and spoke calmly to the woman, "Where's Eron's office?"

She smiled like she was on remote control. It didn't reach her eyes. "Do you have an appointment?" She questioned. Arsen rapped his fingers on the table to keep his emotions in check. The woman, whose working badge introduced her as Betty, stared at him, unmoved, even when she noticed his impatience.

"Call him. I'll tell him who I am." Arsen suggested. She shook her head no.

"I'm sorry, Sir. He's in an important meeting at the moment and would not like to be disturbed." She told him and then stared back at her laptop like he did not exist. Then she continued, "Would you like to book an appointment now? You could come back... next week." She looked up at him again.

Arsen kissed his teeth, still struggling to keep his anger in check. "Call your boss. Inform him that Arsen Michelson is out here, waiting to see him. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to have me here."

She sighed, looking irritated all of a sudden. "Well, if you're so close to him, see him at home. This is a business organization." She informed him, rolling her eyes. Arsen was half sure that this woman knew him or perhaps, his father and that if it was the period where his family was still loaded with cash, she would not hesitate to show him to Eron's office; herself. It made him even more pissed to see how they treated middle class and low class people, and she proved his point further by smiling so widely when an internet sensation walked in. She took out her iPhone— which looked too expensive for the type of job she had and began to take numerous selfies with the celebrity, leaving Arsen to stand there alone. She booked an appointment for the newcomer and directed him on where to go. She was rude to the next person.

Arsen fisted his palm, terribly upset. "Call your boss." He repeated calmly.

"No." She responded, stealing his calm tone.

He slammed his fist on the table then, startling everyone around. Just as security began to walk to him, he swiftly rounded the receptionist's table and pulled out a gun, pointing it to her head at once, with his left arm wrapped around her neck.

"Move one more inch and I'll shoot. I'll fucking shoot her in the brains." He threatened, loud and generously clear. The men stopped in their tracks, like deers at a spotlight.

"Don't move, please don't move!" Betty yelled, shaking in fear. Arsen pressed the gun deeper into her temple. She yelped.

"Call Eron. Call Eron Castile down here now or I'll shoot her." He spoke.

"Michelson." A deep voice spoke after him. Arsen looked up to see Eron standing across the room, his face twisted in a gallant frown. He snickered.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Castile." He responded and Eron turned to the security guards, waving them off. They moved backwards dutifully.

"Let her go." Eron ordered coolly.

Arsen pushed Betty aside like a rag doll, causing her to fall to the ground and begin to cough violently from lack of air.

Eron turned and began to head into the nearest hallway, Arsen followed suit. They ended up at a suite— Eron's suite, and he swiped his card swiftly, unlocking the door for both of them to enter. Inside the room, Eron turned to face Arsen, a hint of annoyance visible on his face. The room was almost pitch black and neither of the men made any attempt to turn on the light. The furniture was practically lost in the darkness, only highlighting few pieces of bright items.

"Michelson." Eron began. "This should be the last time you'll come into my property acting like a criminal. I love your sister, so I'll let this slide, for this moment. Now, state your business." He instructed and lowered himself to a chair behind him as he finished. Arsen scoffed, moving closer to him. Eron thought he was brave to size him up like that. Love had made him soft, he realized. Normally, no one got to look at him like that; like he did not matter, like he wasn't the boss.

"I'm acting like a criminal?" Arsen asked, emphasizing on the first word. "Funny, because we both know who the criminal is in this room." He alleged and Eron offered him a tight smile, before making a show of checking his watch. He'd truly been in a meeting, but as soon as he heard about the commotion outside and who it was associated with, he had to abandon the board members and rush to resolve the impending issue.

"I do not have time for back and forth. Speak or let yourself out of here." Eron snapped, his tone dead cold this time.

"Well then. I'll just let you know. You cannot marry my sister, Eron Castile. So, you should start searching for someone else to stroke your worn out sack. My sister has gone through a lot in your hands these past years, I do not care if she chose to forgive you, but as her family, I'm saying hell no. It's not going to happen." Arsen spat the words out, causing Eron to clench his jaw so hard, his teeth would've turned to sand if he'd grounded them for much longer.

"And what makes you think you have a say? That I'll listen to whatever opinion you have about us?" Eron questioned.

"Because you know I'm right. You know you'd never forgive yourself if you were in her shoes. You know you were a monster and you don't deserve someone as good as Fremantle." Arsen accused. Eron was quiet for a good while, tapping his fingers against the arms of his chair.

"Fortunately, I thought about all those and I forgave myself. I'm trying to be a better man for Fremantle and my children. We're going to live together a have a happy li—" Eron was interrupted by Arsen's fist slamming on a table before him. Then there was a long stretch of silence before Arsen spoke again,

"You must be mad to think that you'd be let off the hook so easy. Already planning a happy life when you were the cause of her pain for years. She raised her children alone, you left her for five years when she needed you most. And now you're back and you claim them as your children? Fucking hypocrite." Arsen yelled. Eron stood up now, beginning to get riled up. He loosened his tie, but there seemed to be no air coming forth. Arsen continued, "You did everything to ruin our lives and it worked. Now leave us alone to bear our shame. We don't deserve you showing up again to finish us off, don't you think?"

Eron sighed, running his hand so fiercely through his hair, one would think his scalp had obtained serious injury through the action. "Look, Michelson. I love your sister—"

"You do not—"

"I've loved her for as long as I remember. True, I made some terrible mistakes. A handful of it, but I'm willing to make amends. I'm willing to do anything, to make sure we're together." Eron said but Arsen scoffed at the words.

"Anything?" He asked. Eron nodded once, slowly. "Alright. I have just one request and my family might just consider forgiving you." Arsen spoke and Eron waited in silence.

"Give it all back." Arsen requested. They both knew what he was talking about. In fact, Eron had expected it. Unfortunately, that was one thing he could not give back at the moment, even if everything they'd had was only one third of his possessions.

"No." Eron retorted calmly. "Ask for something else."

Arsen was more than pissed now. He could not believe how greedy this man actually was. And the fact that he wasn't remorseful about it ticked him off even more. "What the hell?"

"I'd do anything else. Not that." Eron repeated, then proceeded to wait for Arsen's response.

Arsen shut his eyes and took in a sharp breath. "You'll never marry her. I swear on everything I represent." And with that, he was out of Eron's office, wondering how a man so cruel and heartless managed to capture the heart of the purest girl he knew.