Love's Change of Heart

Chapter 40

Aidan didn't want the children, and he was about to lose his leverage, but luckily, a golden opportunity —the Barnett Family—was right in front of his eyes. He had no intention of passing up this opportunity that had come knocking on his door.

"Uncle Gordon!"

Holding her arm, Sienna assured. "Anna, don't worry. There's always a solution for all problems."

Knowing Aidan's personality, Gordon wanted to facilitate the Pearson-Barnett marriage because it was the most important thing right now. So, he spoke to him in a conciliatory tone. "Aidan, no matter what, Anna is your sister. If you do this, what position do you put her and the Pearsons in?"

"I don't have a younger sister. You should know this the best," Aidan answered calmly.

"What nonsense are you saying?" Gordon snapped angrily.

Then, Sienna interjected in time. "Aidan, we don't owe you anything. As the heir of the Pearsons, you've received everything we can give you. Now, I only want Anna to be married into the Barnett Family with dignity. Are you against this small request too?"

With his expression remaining unchanged, Aidan said casually, "How will it be dignified when Zayn Barnett doesn't like her?"

"Feelings can be nurtured over time. Back then, weren't you against it as well when your father wanted you to marry Leanna?"

The look on Aidan's face turned a little colder, but he didn't say a thing. He couldn't figure out what Leanna liked about Zayn; while dating her, he was speaking about marriage with another woman. Did she really like to be abused so much?

Right when both parties were in a stalemate with no one willing to give in, a gentle voice that carried a light jovial tone belonging to a man echoed. "Looks like I arrived late. Is the discussion over?"

"Aidan doesn't agree to my marriage," Anna complained in disgruntlement.

Justin was sitting in a wheelchair, and behind him, Georgina was pushing the wheelchair. Content rights belong to NôvelDrama.Org.

When Justin heard this, he was a little surprised, but he quickly smiled again and said, "Anna, he doesn't agree, and there's a good reason for that. Don't make trouble for him here; he has enough trouble taking care of the company.

"But I—"

"Anna, marriage is based on mutual agreement."

Sienna moved her lips as if she wanted to talk, but she never opened her mouth. "Justin, you aren't young anymore. I didn't force you previously, but it's time for you to think about marriage," Gordon said, annoyed by what Justin had said.

Justin said slowly, in the same friendly way he always did, "I'm just a useless cripple. No one would want to marry me."

Gordon's expression froze momentarily, and he remained silent. Sienna rose up, a bit agitated, and said, "None of this is your fault; the only one to blame is the one who stole everything from you!"

"That's enough!" Gordon warned, looking incredibly grim. "Aren't we speaking about Anna's marriage? What are you speaking about now?"

Sienna sneered and then turned to go upstairs, followed by Gordon, who went to the study. Anna stomped out of the room, upset and irritated.

In the end, everyone left unhappily.

The expression on Aidan's face was icy and indifferent, and his eyes had a hint of sarcasm in them. As he was getting ready to go, Justin called out to him in a friendly tone, "Aidan, come talk to me."

In the garden, Justin sat in his wheelchair and pruned the plants in front of him. "Don't take what Mom said to heart. As you are aware, since my accident, she has been mentally unstable, and the fact that I have gone to several doctors doesn't seem to be helping the situation at all."

Aidan, who was standing behind him, hummed in agreement and then sneered at himself. "She's right, though, isn't she?"

"Aidan." After putting down the scissors in his hand, Justin turned his wheelchair toward him. "After so many years, are you still unable to let go of this? I've already moved on, so you should do the same and look forward to what is ahead. Maybe all of this is meant to happen. I'm blessed to be alive."

Leaning on the stone fence, Aidan lit up a cigarette between his lips without saying anything.

Unlike Aidan, whom Gordon and Sienna tried to control in the beginning for their own interests until they realized he couldn't be placed under their control and tried to reduce his influence while looking for someone else to replace him, Justin knew he was hopeless for that position after he became paralyzed, and he had always taken it so lightly that he was disillusioned with the world and had no grudges at all.

Instead of carrying on the topic, Justin changed to another one. "I heard that you're divorced. Did you have an argument?"

Perhaps Aidan wasn't expecting this because he was dumbstruck for a few seconds before finally saying, "Why would you say that?"

Smiling, he answered, "I feel that you kinda like your wife, so it's probably not because you didn't get along with her emotionally. Aidan, your personality is too haughty. Girls need to be pampered a little more."

"You got it wrong. I don't like her." Then, he added, "She's always reminded me of my dislike for her."

With a smile on his face, Justin shook his head, turned his wheelchair back to the scissors and continued to prune the plants. "Sometimes, when you're in love, everyone around you has already noticed it but you're the only one still in the dark."

He wasn't completely off the mark with his assertions. A few years ago, Aidan went back to the Pearson Family Estate with Leanna. The guests treated her like a servant and made fun of her, making her run around and do things all night without stopping.

The moment Aidan learned about it, he tossed his jacket at her. "Hold this and don't go anywhere so

that I can find you when I need my jacket."

If he truly despised her, he might have allowed others to boss her around and mock her. Instead, he gave her his jacket in order to inform everyone on the scene that the woman carrying his jacket was his wife.

"Will you fall in love with a woman who used a fake pregnancy to coerce you into marriage?" Aidan questioned calmly.

"Nobody can be sure when it comes to feelings."

……

When Aidan left, Georgina, who had been waiting off in the distance, went after him. "Aidan…"

He came to a halt, turned around, and said calmly, "What's the matter?"

She bit her lower lip, oddly anxious as she faced him. "We haven't seen each other in a long time. Do you not want to chat with me?"

"No."

Georgina was taken aback since she hadn't expected him to be that frank. "Can't you simply make small chats with me out of politeness?"

His expression remained constant. "You asked whether I wanted to talk with you, and the decision is entirely up to me. It's not that I don't want to make small talk with you, but it's unnecessary."

She said with a chuckle, "You... haven't changed at all."

"If this is what you want to talk to me about, I'm leaving first."

"Aidan." Once again, she stopped Aidan. "I heard that you're divorced."

He was irritated and thought, why is everyone asking me about his divorce? Is this so honorable that everyone needs to know about it, and that's all they ask me when they meet?

Then, Georgina added, "I... actually came back for you this time. Three years ago, we should have been talking about marriage. If that woman hadn't intervened, we would have..."

"I'm not Zayn Barnett. Nobody can control me."