“Edward I love you.” The tears were a stream down her cheeks. “How can I do anything to hurt you? As for the shares, I had no intention of parting with them and certainly did not sell. There must be someone either in your office or the brokers…”
“You have to realize something Gladys. Like I told you that day I gave you the shares, it‘s my lifeblood. Love is all good, but is it worth it?” It‘d taken over ten years to build Bestman from scratch. Managing it made him who he was, gave him the purpose to continue in the face of his blank history. With Gladys, he‘d become so distracted that he was now on the verge of losing everything.
“Edward, don‘t cheapen our love this way. We have to talk things through.” Gladys folded her arms across her chest and tapped her feet on the floor. She was tired of his stubbornness.
“I don‘t know why you seem to have it stuck in your head that I must be culpable. Please don‘t equate me to the people that hurt you in the past. Listen, we can stop this takeover by showing that my shares were not obtained through the right means…”
“We have to prove that first.” His eyes narrowed at her tone.
Gladys moved to hold his arm and he backed up. She stepped away and gestured right at his face, “What‘s wrong with you? If all I want is money then why haven‘t I taken off with the fifty million?”
He moved to pick up one of his suitcases which she was yet to unpack and grabbed his toiletries on the way. With the mood he saw her in; he might just do something they‘d both regret if he remained.
“What are you doing?” She asked in surprise.
“I am going to a hotel for the night…”
“You don‘t mean that Edward! You‘ve barely listened to me as it is and now you want to leave?” Her voice was shaky with the mixture of anger and disappointment she felt.
Edward read the sincere hurt in her tone but did not look at her. He needed to clear his thoughts and not allow mushy emotions take him over. “I know we agreed you‘ll stay here till your aunt returned and you can remain. We‘ll talk when I return tomorrow evening.”