Chapter 50 CHAPTER 50

Chapter 50 CHAPTER 50
Chapter 50
A meeting with Rosa Hartwell
Laila Kent

I got the response I was looking for and booked a flight back to New York, with one person in mind. One person who could help me achieve my dreams of having Aria out of Cassian's life for good.

I called the number I had reluctantly saved six months ago after giving her my wedding card and she didn't attend the marriage out of hatred for her stepbrother in-law.

She answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Hartwell. It's Laila. Cassian's wife."

She huffed on the other end of the call as if frustrated. "I know who you are. What do you want with me?"

I knew it would be hard to convince her to stay on the line with me because she could easily transfer her aggression to me from hating Kent, and that was what I was trying to avoid.

"I want to meet you and discuss some things about Aria."

Mrs. Rosa clicked her tongue, pausing on the end of the call as if to take a breath. Probably because she wasn't expecting where I was headed with my call.

"Why? Is there any problem?"

"Because I think we want the same thing." I said after a while, chosing my words carefully.

"And what's that?"

"Aria Hartwell out of the picture."

Rosa laughed in a cold and quiet way that could send shivers down one's spine, and I was glad I wasn't seated across from her because I wouldn't know how to handle my emotions if she ever laughed at me like that. "You married my stepson. Why would you want that?"

I took a deep breath, weighing my options. I could easily drop the call right now and smooth it over as a prank call, but if I wanted her to accept meeting me, she had to have something concrete.

"Because my husband is in love with her. And I'm tired of being second choice." I swallowed after the words tumbled out.

"You're not the first woman to feel that way." She laughed lightly, ignoring the first part of what I said.

"I know. But I'm the first one calling you to complain about it."

"Fine..." she agreed easily than I had thought. "Come to my house tomorrow by three o'clock, and we'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"Thank you." I told her, feeling the calmness spread through my chest. One step at a time, and Aria Hartwell would become history in my life and my husband's life.

"Don't thank me yet." Rosa was eager to remind me before she hung up. It didn't matter because that was all I even needed.


Rosa Hartwell.

"Mom? Who was that?" Marcus had a deep frown etched on his face as he rounded the island of my kitchen.

I smiled, more to myself than to him, anytime he called me mom. It felt like the word was meant to be... Meant to always come out of his mouth, and not of a girl like Aria. She didn't deserve to call me mother.

"Well," I dropped the phone and took down the pan of bacon I had been frying, "a newlywed called me today, asking about Aria."

I watched his fists tightening imperceptibly at that as he strained his voice to ask. "Is it Cassian again? Hasn't he no shame?"

"Relax, sweetheart." I smiled and rubbed the back of his palm for him to relax. "It's the other one. His wife." A smirk began to form on my face. "She wants to join hands with me and push Aria out of the way."

A frown etched on his face as he looked up to stare at my face. "Why? She just got married. What does she have against Aria now?"

"Apparently," I huffed, my smile getting wider, "she believes that Cassian is in love with Aria."

"Oh... So, what are you going to do about it?" He asked carefully and I clasped my hands together to start dishing out the food.

"Hear her out, of course, but I won't offer any form of help." I shrugged. "We could use her to reach our goals, you know. And if she turns out to be a liability, we would put her immediately to Kent, allowing him to trust us a little. Either ways, it would be a win win situation for us." I giggled at the thought of my son at the head of the Hartwell corporation.

Marcus thoughy about it for a while before nodding and looking towards the flight of stairs from the adjoining living room.

"What about Aria? Is she in?" He made to leave and go find her before I stopped him.

"She has probably gotten a new place to stay because the room is almost empty."

Marcus squinted slightly with alarm written all over his face. "Do you think she has found the listening devices?" I could see the fear in his eyes.

"I doubt that." I told him. "We both know she'd never stay here for that long. She's a grown woman who needs her sole privacy, so I don't blame her." I placed the two bowls of rice on the dinning table and pushed out a table for him to seat. I waited for him to take a seat before placing my hands on his shoulder. "You need to try to forget about Aria for a while. We have to focus on getting a lot of money to buy the shares of the company so you'll have a little chance of being a CEO. Once we get through that little gap, then we can make big moves with it."

"I heard about the new investor in the company."

"You mean Ethan Calloway?" Truly, Ethan was a hard nut to crack because he was new and no one knew the angle he was playing from. "I heard Aria is clinging to him now like a bird. They are always seen together, and I heard he gave her the money to clear all of Viktor's debt, which means we have to find a way to put Aria back in Viktor's hold. That's one of the ways we can bleed money from both of them."

"Forget Aria right now, mom, doesn't Ethan Calloway bother?"

"No, sweetheart." I chuckled and smoothed his black hair. "I already have a moving plan to make him lose his position, regardless of the shares he owns."