Chapter 81
Aiden's hand kept closing in, but Victoria was no longer the woman who used to just stand there and take it.
In other words, after the divorce, she had slipped right back into the version of herself from before the marriage—bold, unapologetic, and entirely ungovernable.
She instinctively stepped aside, her body snapping backward in one swift, practiced motion, and she probably would've dodged that slap.
But as fast as she was, someone else was faster still.
Aiden moved as if he had already predicted her reaction. Before she even registered what was happening, his fingers clamped around her slender wrist, and the slap landed.
The sound cracked through the hallway.
Her head whipped to the side, hair spilling across her cheek in a messy curtain, making her look startlingly disheveled.
She had actually been slapped.
Not even back when their marriage had been circling the drain had he ever laid a hand on her.
Not even her parents had ever hit her.
"Aiden!" Her eyes stung red, fury flashing sharp enough to cut. She glared at him like she wanted to tear him limb from limb. "You are going to pay for this. You'd better remember exactly what you just did."
Aiden had always owed her.
How dare he judge her—much less hit her—now?
She didn't understand it, didn't even know how to begin to understand it.
All she knew was that something molten was clawing up her chest, a fire so fierce it felt like it wanted to erupt straight out of her rib cage and burn everything to ash.
Aiden let out a disdainful laugh. Just as he opened his mouth, about to speak, a cold voice suddenly came from beside him. "Mr. Smith. Must be nice having so much free time."
Edward had appeared without warning, standing a short distance away, his expression utterly flat. "Instead of being at your company, you came all the way here to bully one of my employees. That's impressive."
His words carried the same sharp bite Victoria was famous for, maybe even worse.
"Mr. Windsor, this really has nothing to do with you, does it?" Aiden withdrew his hand, and for some reason that even he couldn't name, a faint tremor of guilt flickered through him.
He forced on a cool smirk. "I didn't know you suddenly cared so much about your employees. Or is there some other reason?"
A clear attempt to probe.
But Edward was immune. "What exactly are you trying to imply?"
His sharp features stayed impassive as he glanced over, almost bored. "Are you referring to the day you sent someone to the hospital to intimidate a girl, only for them to run into my mother?"
His long fingers tapped lightly against his watch, every word a blade. "I wasn't aware kidnapping had become an acceptable business tactic, Mr. Smith. Care to explain?"
Anyone capable of running a corporation like his didn't waste time circling around a point.
Sweat instantly broke out along Aiden's spine.
He had never expected Edward to say it so bluntly.
'Run into her?'
His men had been stopped before they even reached the hospital.
'Run into? Not even close.'
"Let's put that aside," Aiden pushed on, clinging to refusal like a drowning man to driftwood. "First, tell me—did you and Victoria start something while she was still married to me?"
His last-ditch attempt to drag Edward down with him.
He jabbed a finger toward the man, voice loud with forced righteousness. "Your relationship looks way too close. What normal boss and employee act like this? You owe me an explanation!"
His words rang hollow even to him.
If he really confronted Edward head-on, he would stand no chance.
Creative Haven wasn't even in the same league as Windsor Corporation—the gap wasn't a step but a canyon.
But if he didn't fight, he truly had nothing left.
"What answer are you looking for?" Edward asked, his tone barely rising. "Everyone knows exactly what you've been telling yourself. The only one still living in denial is you. So what outcome are you hoping for?"
His voice remained cool, the ease in it almost insulting.
It wasn't arrogance—it was something ingrained, a sophistication etched into bone, an effortless authority others couldn't mimic even if they tried.
Aiden hated him for it.
Just like he hated the old Victoria—before she had fallen so far.
Why did people like them get to live above everyone else?
Just because they were born that way? Who decided they got to look down on him forever?
His resentment ignited all over again.
Aiden snapped, words spilling out sharp and ugly. "Didn't think the famously celibate Mr. Windsor would go for someone like her. But hey, her hand's ruined now—she's basically useless. If you want her that badly, I can introduce you to someone better."
He kept going, tearing into Victoria in every possible way.
But the more he talked, the stranger it sounded.
None of it stirred disgust toward Victoria—if anything, it exposed something twisted in him. It felt like he needed to crush her just to feel like a somebody.
As if only by grinding her into the dirt could he convince himself he was above her.
Edward's patience thinned.
His brows pulled taut, his eyes hardening with outright irritation.
Victoria, meanwhile, shrank inward.
Strip away the obviously vicious parts of Aiden's rant, and some of what he said she actually believed.
No matter how composed she appeared, a sliver of insecurity lived in her bones.
Her lips pressed tight, her gaze dimming.
Maybe she really didn't deserve someone like Edward. Maybe she shouldn't keep accepting his help. Maybe she should—
"So what?" Edward's voice cut straight through her spiraling thoughts.
He stood tall, posture straight enough to draw every eye without trying.
"Creative Haven's situation—you, as the CEO, should know better than I do."
His cold gaze flicked toward Aiden. "And yet instead of focusing on your sinking company, you're busy obsessing over other people's lives. You're not even on par with a failure."
He had never had patience for people who cut corners professionally.
Least of all someone like Aiden, whose head was filled with nothing but cheap tricks.
His stare sharpened with open disgust.
Aiden completely misread it.
If Edward truly had nothing to do with Victoria, he would've left after confirming she was fine. He wouldn't be standing here arguing.
He watched them, suspicion twisting deeper with every second.
There had to be something between them.
And one day, he swore, he would drag it all into the light—just to shut them up.