Chapter 44 Chapter 44 The Buyer Aria Hartwell.

Chapter 44 Chapter 44 The Buyer Aria Hartwell.
Chapter 44
The Buyer
Aria Hartwell.

Three days later, my phone rang with Cassian's name flashing on the screen. I knew he had still not returned to the country. And still, I had a lot of questions for him, and about trusting him. And this was the first time he had called since he traveled. I let the phone ring for a few seconds before I placed it against my ears.

"Good morning," I said.

"Who bought the shares?" He didn't even greet me at all before launching straight to his purpose of the conversation. He didn't even check in to see how I was doing, which sunk my mood slightly. "Fourteen percent, Aria. Someone bought fourteen percent of Hartwell Industries at a thirty percent premium. Do you know what that does to the company's structure?"

"Good morning to you too."

"Aria."

"It changes the voting weight," I said calmly. "Which you already know."

"Who is he?"

I got up from my bed and walked to the window. "His name is Ethan Calloway. He's a friend of mine. He has significant capital and he wanted to invest."

"A friend." He repeated, and I could hear a hint of jealousy in his tone, and that improved my mood significantly. "A friend who just happens to buy fourteen percent of your father's company while you're facing a board audit?"

"Oh, you knew about the audit and could not warn me beforehand about it. How nice of you." I said sarcastically before I continued. "He heard I was in a difficult position and he wanted to help."

"By spending—" I could almost hear the calculations that were running through his mind by now. "By spending nothing less than sixty million dollars."

"He has it to spend." I shrugged it off airily. "He's a rich kid and is willing to invest. So, why not?" I sounded indifferent about it, and I knew it was going to do nothing but infuriate Cassian.

Unfortunately, his voice was calm when he replied. Like he did not take my bait. "What do you know about him?"

"Cassian—"

"What do you actually know about him? Where his money comes from, what his background is, why he's interested in this company specifically—"

"Why are you so concerned about a board member who hasn't even attended a meeting yet?"

"Because nobody spends sixty million dollars on a struggling company because they want to help a friend." His voice was controlled and sharp. "That's not how money works and you know it."

I leaned my forehead against the cool glass. "He's a good person, Cassian."

"You said that about Marcus once." He replied sharply. "I remember how you whined to your father over and over again when he warned you against her."

I felt the heavy weight of what he said settling in my chest. This wasn't a necessary comment and he knew it.

"Was there something else?" I asked.

When he spoke again, his voice had shifted to something lower and more careful. "There's something I need to tell you about your father. About how he died."

"What about it?"

"The toxicology supplement that Harrison requested before he died." My back straightened as I listened to what he had to say... One of the questions I'd been waiting to ask him when he comes back. "I've known for a while that Richard didn't die of a natural heart attack. I've been building a case quietly. Harrison found out and was trying to reach me when—"

"When his office burned," I said.

"You already know?"

"I was the first person that was called. That was one of the reasons why I didn't come to the second day of your marriage." I replied. "I attended the burial, and I know Harrison prepared something for me that I'll never see now." I kept my voice level. "I know his death wasn't an accident. And I know you've been sitting on information about my father's death without telling me." I paused. "How long, Cassian? And to think everything keeps pointing at you, seeing that you had a lot of arguments with him."

"How long have you known?" I asked again before I realized that he wasn't going to make any comments about it. "Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon," I said, and ended the call.



Rosa Hartwell.

The spyware delivered Aria's conversation to my laptop in clean audio, every word crisp and clear.

I listened to it twice, then closed the laptop and sat at my writing desk with my tea going cold beside me.

I had listened to all her conversations so far, but none of them were as important as the information that Cassian was telling her now. I knew he held back telling her everything, but at the same time, I didn't know how far he knew, and I wanted to be two steps ahead of him as usual.

I picked up the phone and called Marcus.

"He's told her about the toxicology," I said when he picked up. "Nothing specific yet, but enough for her to know that something like that exists."

"How much time do we have?"

"Less than we planned for." I looked out the window at the garden. "The audit is next week. If she passes it, her position in the company becomes significantly harder to remove. And with this new board member..."

"Calloway." Marcus said the name with an odd tone I didn't think twice about. "I'll look into him."

"Do that." I paused. "And Marcus. The board's motion about relationships between staff and management. I want it presented in the next board meeting before Cassian comes back. He thinks that he can escape just because he got married to some model?" I scoffed.

"On what grounds would I present the motion to the board members that are in our side?"

"Find grounds." I picked up my cold tea. "You're creative when you need to be. Remember that we need to lower the company's image so that the shareholders can dump their shares and the price would fall. Then, when the price falls, you will buy up eighty percent of the shares and use your connections to raise the company again."

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