Chapter 47 : Shadows of Deception

***— Back to present —***

It took a while for Aishleen to recover from the shock and realize that she had held her breath after hearing Keenan speak. None of them moved until he did. Aishleen looked away from the man's eyes as he tilted his head, mocking and challenging her at the same time with a look on his face that seemed to say, *"So? What do you have to say about that?"*

Taking a deep breath to calm Aishleen's racing heart, she finally spoke, "What are you talking about?" and forced an awkward laugh to cover the woman's fear.

The man scoffed, his smile still plastered on his face, without releasing his tight grip on the woman's wrist. Aishleen's back was still against the wall as the man hovered in front of her. His smile may have been warm - just like the way he had been smiling at her all night - but with the accusatory words Keenan had spoken to the woman earlier, and his sharp, caring eyes, everything she felt coming off of him only made Aishleen feel more uncomfortable and very exposed.

"I've noticed how much you enjoy your little spy game, baby. Are you having fun?" Keenan finally said. "You've been busy hiding from me, digging up secret shadows. Would you mind telling me what that's all about?"

"It wasn't—" Aishleen choked on her own breath as she tried to speak, "It wasn't to hurt you, Keenan. I would never—"

Keenan sighed. Even as he stood calmly and his grip on his wife's hand began to loosen, Aishleen could still feel the burning tension in the man's gaze. "Then can you tell me what you're doing? What are you looking for?"

Aishleen bit her lip, trying to think of an answer that would suffice, knowing that she still could not reveal to Keenan the true reason for her independent investigation. Aishleen's true mission. Even though she could feel it hanging on the tip of her own tongue, ready to escape the beautiful woman's lips. But Aishleen knew she could not slip. *Not yet.*

"I can't tell you. It's—" Aishleen tucked her lower lip under her teeth to stifle the words that threatened to escape, and the woman watched carefully as the man's eyes flickered to the woman's lips before lifting to meet Aishleen's with a dark stare. Aishleen took a deep breath to calm her trembling voice and spoke, "All I can say is that I had no intention of hurting you.

Keenan pursed his lips. "Can you prove it?"

Somehow the question made Aishleen feel defeated. She didn't know how to show the man without revealing all the things she had done in front of him, showing what Aishleen had been working on behind his back. The challenge made Aishleen's heart beat faster, but she knew she had to keep her secret. Then Aishleen remembered the books, the data from her company that she had studied and worked on, and Aishleen remembered finding something suspicious in them before handing them over to Erick. Does he think it was me? Aishleen wondered to herself.

"You already know the truth. You've seen the numbers in the data I gave you and Erick. Those numbers were changed before I got there," the woman spoke calmly. "I am not who you think I am. If I had done all that, if I had changed the numbers, or if I had stolen all the missing data, I wouldn't have helped Erick reveal it to you two."

Aishleen frowned at him. She noticed that the man's expression didn't change at all. But there was something, something in his eyes that tried to tell her more. Keenan took a long breath. "I'm not talking about the numbers changing. I've noticed them before."

And then everything clicked. That was why Erick did not react immediately when Aishleen told him. That was why neither of them showed anything when Aishleen asked them to check the numbers again, and when she asked if the data was still incomplete.

"You're testing me?"

His face showed no change as Keenan replied, "I need to know if I can trust you."

There was a surge of anger inside of Aishleen as she realized how she was being played by her own husband. "Really?" Aishleen challenged him, clenching her hands against the wall, her arms tense under her husband's touch. Aishleen knew that if Keenan hadn't held her hand so tightly at that moment, she would have pushed him away angrily.

Keenan finally released Aishleen, slowly, letting her arms fall to her sides before placing his hands on her sides, holding her against the wall without touching her.

"I want to," he whispered. His eyes dropped for a moment to look away before Keenan looked at her and said, "But not if all you talk about with your mother is her grudge against me."

Aishleen's breath caught in her throat. "How did you—" Aishleen froze when she heard the man's statement.

Keenan then suddenly leaned down, catching Aishleen completely off guard as he grabbed the woman's lips and planted a soft kiss to keep her from speaking again. Aishleen could feel her heart about to explode, not knowing whether to be angry at him for doing this without warning or to give in. But before Aishleen had a chance to make a decision or even react, Keenan pulled away from Aishleen.

"We'll talk in the morning," he said with a groggy voice and pursed lips. "I don't think it's worth talking about when you're too tired to process everything in such a short time. And I'd hate to ruin your evening after this lovely date."

Aishleen didn't want to slap him or yell at him when he had already ruined everything. But Keenan pulled away, and it was at that moment that he continued to speak, just before he walked away, "I hope that we can talk about your ex-lover's company at some point."

"What?"

Aishleen's breathing was still not regular after the kiss, after the mixed feelings of anger, disappointment and warmth that Keenan had just given her from his kiss. And the woman's mind was still a mess, so it took Aishleen a few seconds to absorb his words. "What do you mean, what company?"

Keenan stopped and looked at Aishleen with a simple smile. "Black Mold Ltd. I know you're not there yet. So I'll wait to see what you've discovered from it," he said without removing his smile. "Good night, Ash."

Keenan turned and walked away, leaving Aishleen still rooted to the spot. Her heart raged with mixed emotions. Aishleen felt confused, angry, and shocked by the information Keenan had just given her. Black Mold Ltd. was a company she had heard of, but she had no idea Keenan knew about it.

After a few moments of standing in confusion, Aishleen finally spoke up and shouted, "Wait a minute, Keenan! How do you know about this company?" By the time she started to run after him, Keenan had already disappeared around a corner.

Aishleen saw the man walk away. Her body was still where she had been after trying to chase him. Aishleen's heart nearly exploded in her chest with overwhelming emotions that she could not describe. Aishleen had done her best not to fall apart, when in reality her knee had been nearly broken from the moment her husband had delivered that one blow—

*"Are you still going ahead with your plan to bring me and my company down, my love?"*

"No," she whispered to herself as Keenan disappeared down the hallway to his office—the private office inside the penthouse.

"I never planned this to begin with." Aishleen whispered.