Chapter 53 Things We Refuse to Admit

Chapter 53 Things We Refuse to Admit
Mayzie and Arking stood frozen as Ariel pulled back, completely stunned by the sudden kiss. Mayzie's entire body went rigid. Ariel offered a casual nod. "See? No big deal. You’ve kissed us both now, so we can all just stay friends. It didn’t mean anything."

The words snapped Mayzie out of her shock. She raised her hand, ready to slap him across the face. Ariel braced for her strike, but before she could throw it, someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backward. A fist came crashing down into his face. He stumbled blindly into a row of barstools before hitting the floor. Mayzie and Arking looked up, wide-eyed, at Dalton, who was towering over his fallen friend.

"What the hell?" Ariel muttered, wiping blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

Dalton stood there in his swim trunks, a small towel draped over his shoulders. His eyes burned with pure rage. "Don't touch her," he growled, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

Mayzie shivered at his tone. Stepping forward, she snatched the towel right off Dalton's shoulders, knelt beside Ariel, and pressed the damp cloth onto his bleeding nose. "Are you okay?" she asked, completely ignoring Dalton.

Dalton stared down at them, his chest heaving. His hands began to shake with anger as he watched Mayze tend to Ariel.

"Arking, go get some ice," Mayzie ordered.

"Arking?" Dalton muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the man behind him. "Wait... that was Ariel?" He looked back down at the floor.

Arking slipped out of the room to get off the ice, while Mayzie and Ariel didn't even seem to hear the question. She helped Ariel to his feet and guided him over to the couch. Muttering a curse under his breath, Dalton turned and stormed out of the manor.

The fact that Mayzie hadn't even acknowledged him made it worse. She hadn't yelled or screamed; she had simply acted like he wasn't even in the room. He couldn't tell if she was just too worried about Ariel or so furious that she refused to speak to him. Either way, he hated it. Dalton was not a man who tolerated being ignored.

Down on the pier, Dalton kicked a wooden piling as he tried to clear his head. His mind was at war with itself. He kept trying to convince himself that he didn't care about the girl. All he ever did was cause her trouble, and he had promised himself he would make up for it from the day she was hired. He shouldn't have lost his temper just because he thought Arking was kissing her. Granted, she hadn't judged him when she caught him in that messy situation with Kelsi, but that was different — he had pushed Kelsi away. Mayzie had just stood there and let it happen.

"Everything alright?" Blake asked, stepping onto the pier.

"No," Dalton muttered.

Years of dealing with Dalton's moods meant Blake could easily decode his short answers. "Want to talk about it?" he asked, already having a pretty good guess after seeing the state of Ariel's face.

"My damn assistant can't keep her mouth off other guys!" Dalton snapped. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to make sure Blake hadn't been foolish enough to bring Bellatrix along. Seeing no sign of her, he turned back to the ocean.

Blake stood beside him, looking out at the water. "Ah. Is that why you broke his nose?"

"Is it broken?" Dalton turned sharply, a flash of genuine concern breaking through his anger.

Blake shrugged. "It's swelling up and bleeding. Hard to tell, but it looks bad." He chuckled when Dalton looked away again. "Well, at least we'll be able to tell the twins apart for a while." When Dalton didn't laugh, Blake realized he needed to drop the jokes. "Why does it bother you so much if she's with them?"

"I just don't need my assistant sleeping with every guy she meets. It looks bad on me," Dalton said, trying to sound professional, though his frustration gave him away.

"Then why hit Ariel? If that's the case, shouldn't you be mad at her?"

"You thought it was Arking, didn't you?" Gustav asked, appearing right behind Blake.

Dalton closed his eyes, a sharp pang of regret hitting him. "Fuck."

"Why would you think it was Arking?" Blake asked, confused.

"Go on, tell him," Gustav prompted, gesturing toward Dalton. Dalton ignored them both, keeping his eyes locked on the horizon.

Gustav grinned. "We overheard Mayzie telling Bellatrix that she had a crush on Arking. Apparently, Arking told her he was just playing with her feelings, but we know that's a lie. Don't we, Dalton?"

"What?" Blake looked between them.

"Arking isn't the type to pull a stunt like that," Gustav explained. "Which means he’s doing it for a different reason entirely."

Blake's eyes widened in realization. "Why would he do that?"

"It doesn't matter," Dalton growled.

"I think it's time you stopped fighting it," Gustav told him plainly. "Just admit you have a crush and enjoy it."

Dalton sneered. "I don't—"

"Dalton, you piece of shit!" Arking shouted, running down the pier toward them. They could immediately tell it was him because his nose was perfectly fine.

Arking threw a wild punch the moment he reached them, but Dalton stepped back, dodging the blow. Before Arking could swing again, Dalton drove a hard fist straight into his stomach. Arking gasped, doubling over and dropping to one knee.

"Both of you need to keep your hands off her," Dalton hissed.

"Are you asking or telling?" Arking snapped, glaring up from the ground.

Dalton didn't answer, his dark stare pinned to his friend.

Arking pushed himself back up to his feet. "It's none of your business who Mayzie hangs out with. You aren't her boyfriend!"

"And are you?" Dalton shot back.

"No, but I’m going to be! So screw you!"

Dalton lunged forward, grabbing Arking by the collar and yanking him close. "Don't touch her." He raised his fist, ready to strike if Arking said another word.

"Or what?" Arking taunts, a smirk flashing across his face. "You're going to beat me up too? That's definitely not going to win her over."

"I'm not trying to win her over. I'm protecting her from your mind games."

Arking let out a harsh laugh. "Mind games? You're the one who messed with her head! I had to scare her away just to fix it." He shook his head. "It's hilarious, really. You punched the one guy today who was actually trying to get Mayzie to like you."

"I don't care if she likes me or not." Dalton dropped his hand and shoved Arking away.

"Why are you in such deep denial?" Arking asked, turning to Blake and Gustav. "Why is he suddenly acting like this?"

The other two wanted no part of the drama and simply raised their hands in retreat.

"I'm not denying anything!" Dalton barked.

"Fine. If you don't care, then you won't mind if I take her out," Arking said, crossing his arms with a confident grin.

"I told you, stay away from her!"

"Make me. I can do whatever I want."

Dalton clamped his jaw shut, forcing himself not to escalate the fight. He didn't want to hit Arking again, but more than anything, he didn't want to admit the truth. With a sharp exhale, he turned on his heel and marched back toward the manor, leaving his friends behind on the pier.

"What the hell are you playing at?" Blake asked, shoving Arking's shoulder.

A trace of sadness washed over Arking's face. "Just making him realize that if he waits too long to take what he wants, it won't be waiting around for him forever."

"Huh?" Blake glanced toward Dalton's retreating figure.

"Are you really just giving up?" Gustav asked quietly.

Arking frowned. "No. Honestly, I hope he fails. I hope he tries and gets rejected over and over. I hope she breaks his heart... he deserves it. But I won't make a move until he's had his fill of trying. I'm the one who has to wait and see if she'll still be there later. Not him."

Blake and Gustav nodded slowly.

"You're a better friend than me," Gustav admitted. "I don't think I could step aside and let one of you guys take a shot at a girl I wanted."

"I'm not doing this for Dalton. I'm doing it because Ariel asked me to," Arking sighed. "Come on, let's go inside."

· · ─────── · 𓅪 · ─────── · ·

"Are the others coming?" Mayzie asked as she took her seat at the table in the fancy restaurant. She looked across at Dalton, who was busy reviewing the wine list.

"No," he muttered shortly.

Mayzie frowned, trying to mask her nerves. "Why not?"

"Because I uninvited them. I'm in a terrible mood and I don't need their nonsense making it worse." He snapped the menu shut and reached for a piece of bread from the basket.

She sighed softly, looking around the dining room. Every table was packed with wealthy-looking customers. Soft classical music drifted through the air from a grand piano on a small stage. The establishment was clearly designed for wealthy tourists and the elites who owned the surrounding private islands. She doubted any of the local residents could afford a meal here.

"Then why invite me?" she asked, bringing her focus back to him.

"I didn't want to eat alone, and you're my assistant," he said defensively. "Besides, we're partnered up for the week. We're supposed to stay together on the main island." He took a bite of his bread and began to chew.

The silence that followed was suffocating. Mayzie hadn't brought up the incident with Ariel at all, and she didn't even seem angry. Dalton couldn't understand how the fiery girl from school had suddenly transformed into this quiet, compliant woman sitting across from him. He hated it.

He missed Mayzie, who had slapped him when he crossed the line with Clyde, the one who wasn't afraid to yell at him.

"Ariel deserved it," he burst out, unable to handle the tension any longer.

"What?" Mayzie looked up, startled.

"I said he deserved it!" he repeated, his voice carrying across the quiet room. Several nearby diners turned to stare.

"Keep your voice down, idiot," she hissed, quickly offering an apologetic wave to the neighboring tables. "Who deserved what?"

Dalton fought back a smile at the insult; it was the first sign of her real personality all evening. "Ariel. He deserved to get hit."

"They both did," Mayzie muttered, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "Honestly, you should have punched Arking too. I was about to hit them both myself, but you ruined it."

Dalton stopped chewing, staring at her in disbelief. "What?" he managed to say around the bread.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," she sighed. "Look, maybe they didn't deserve bloody noses, but they definitely earned a good smack. Arking for lying to me, and Ariel for... attacking me like that."

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No! I was literally winding up to hit him when you jumped in," she said. Realizing her voice had risen again, she quickly nodded apologetically to the surrounding tables.

Dalton smiled, though he quickly replaced it with his usual arrogant expression. "Of course you aren't mad. You don't have any right to be. After all, I was just protecting your—"

"Alright, drop the hero act. I don't need you or anyone else protecting me. And you're the last person who should talk about being on my side. You're the one who turned the whole school against me." She rolled her eyes.

"I did not turn the school against you!" Dalton protested, accidentally spitting a crumb onto the table. He quickly flicked it away and swallowed it. "I just stopped telling people to leave you alone. It's your own fault for attending a school full of people who want to keep their social circles clean of outsiders."

Mayzie snorted. "Outsiders? I have more integrity than anyone in that entire building. You're all just a bunch of spoiled, arrogant brats who think a bank account makes you superior. Well, newsflash: it doesn't. Being a good person is about character and how you treat people."

"I treat people perfectly fine. And honestly, you can't afford to lecture me on integrity," he countered, scowling. "You think working in a coffee shop and paying a few bills makes you better than us? Our entire futures are mapped out for us. We don't get to choose our careers, and we don't get to choose who we marry. We have to take whatever our parents hand us, and saying 'no' isn't an option. And once we inherit those roles, we have thousands of employees depending on us. Every single choice we make impacts their livelihoods."

Mayzie quieted, watching him. She hadn't realized he carried that kind of weight around.

"We have to make the brutal calls that the public hates us for," Dalton continued. "Like layoffs. Nobody wants to fire people, but sometimes it's a choice between cutting a few thousand jobs or letting the entire company collapse, which would ruin everyone. And that's just the baseline stress of what's waiting for us."

"And yet, you still get to live in absolute luxury," Mayzie challenged softly. "I highly doubt you're thinking about the average worker when you're sitting in a boardroom. All your world cares about is profit."

"You think money solves everything? You need to turn a profit to keep the doors open and keep people employed. Like it or not, money makes the world turn. We can't run a corporation into the ground just to keep underperforming people on the payroll out of pity. That's what charity events are for."

"You—" Mayzie started, but cut herself off as the waiter arrived with their wine.

Without asking for her input, Dalton smoothly ordered meals for both of them. Unfortunately for Mayzie, he ordered the exact dish she had been eyeing on the menu anyway, leaving her without a valid reason to complain about his controlling behavior.

Once the waiter left, Dalton picked up his glass. "Your choices affect you and a handful of people around you. My choices affect the entire corporate ecosystem," he said, shaking his head. "Even right now, the board is watching everything I do. I can barely breathe without checking if it fits into the proper, high-society mold I'm forced into. So don't sit there and act like my life is a breeze or that yours is inherently harder. We both have our own baggage. Let's just deal with our own problems without pretending one has it worse."

Mayzie pressed her lips together, feeling a pang of regret. "Okay, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You're right. Everyone has their own struggles. Even if it looks like you're just messing around right now, I know people are trying to force you into a mold."

Dalton blinked, genuinely caught off guard by the apology, though he quickly masked it. "Good. I'm glad we can agree on something."

"I know how to admit when I'm wrong. You should try learning that skill too."

He frowned. "I won't even grace that with an answer. The fact that you're sitting here at this table proves I know how to fix a mistake."

Mayzie took a sip of her wine. She knew exactly what he meant. It was finally clear why he had given her this assistant job in the first place — he felt guilty about what happened at school and for buying the café out from under Freya. "You're right again. I'm sorry."

A comfortable silence settled over the table before Dalton broke it. "Why did you major in psychology anyway?"

"I like it. I like observing people and figuring out how the human mind works. I think I'll be good at it."

"You should go into business instead. Something practical."

She laughed. "Why?"

"Because then I could hire you at the firm once I take over as president. Give you a position with some actual responsibility so you can stop living in a closet."

Despite the arrogant delivery, Mayzie felt a warm touch of appreciation for the sentiment. "A lot of responsibility? Why's that?"

"Because you'd never accept a high salary unless you felt you earned it through a difficult job, would you?" he asked pointedly.

"I guess not," Mayzie chuckled. "Well, thanks for the offer, but I don't think corporate life suits me."

Dalton looked down into his wine glass, his voice softening slightly. "You should think about it anyway. It would be nice to have someone around who isn't terrified of telling me the truth. Especially when I mess up. Most people will just suck up to me and pretend everything is perfect, just like they did with my father."

"Oh, I see. So hiring me is for your benefit, not to help me out of my financial situation?" she teased.

"Obviously. Why else would I keep you around? It's not like you're a stellar assistant. You walked in on me while I was changing, and you constantly forgot to pour my coffee."

"Both of those things happened exactly once! And I thought we agreed never to mention the changing room incident again," she growled, her cheeks flushing.

Dalton grinned, completely ignoring her protest. "Tonight, we're drinking vodka. We needed to hit the store on the way back to the manor to grab some juice mixers. I doubt the other girls will want to take shots straight."

Mayzie nodded, the tension between them finally gone. "I'll remind you."