The Million Dollar Question

"You what?" Aaron asked in a deadly tone over the phone.

Aiden could feel the murderous intent coming through the speakers so badly that his arm hairs stood on end.

"I just gave her some advice on how to take care of herself! You're not supposed to drink a bunch of coffee after staying up all night. You should have seen the security camera footage; she was about to ascend into the astral realm from shaking too much."

He felt the need to defend himself. "You're the one who's always telling me to check up on her! Isn't it natural that I'd get a little attached?"

The icy waves rolling through the phone worsened and the kid immediately backtracked. "Not that I'm interested in your girl, dude! I like someone else! I just mean that I'm a little invested in what happens to her at this point. She feels almost like a friend."

Aaron sighed heavily. "She isn't supposed to know what we're doing. You probably made her think she has a stalker."

"But…she DOES have a stalker."

"Well, she doesn't need to know that!"

Children could be so annoying. Would his child have been this bad? No, probably not. His child was a Hale. Hales were professional by nature.

Although…Keeley wouldn't have raised the baby the way his parents did so maybe things would have turned out differently. He would never know.

"Are you ever going to fess up?" Aiden teased. "Don't be lame, man. You're super rich. Why wouldn't she like you?"

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it," he responded sourly.

His mood got worse the closer it came to New Year's Eve. Everything was wrong right now. They were supposed to start dating soon after being friends for nearly an entire year.

He wondered if he could see her at all over the school break, even for a little while. Probably not, unless he showed up at her house. But there was no guarantee she would be there.

"Sorry, man. I didn't mean—"

"I know. Just…don't do anything like that again. Watch her but don't interact. You'll meet her someday."

"Really?" Aiden perked up. "When? I haven't even met you!"

"I plan on getting you a job in my IT department once I'm vice president. You'll be graduated from high school by then. Keeley and I will be together again once I'm back in New York."

"No way, really? But don't I need to go to college before getting a job?"

"Someone like you has nothing left to learn about computers," Aaron said dryly. "No one will question it if I recommend you."

"Sweet." He dragged out the word extra-long. "My mom will be thrilled. She thinks I don't apply myself enough."

"She would think differently if she knew her son was the number six hacker in the entire country at age fourteen."

"You kidding? She'd kill me and dance on my grave," he said with a nervous laugh. "Please don't tell her."

"I won't. Get me those reports on my father's shareholders and I'll forget this whole thing ever happened."

"On it, boss man!" Aiden hung up the call to go dig up dirt not easily found anywhere but the depths of the internet.

Aaron flung himself onto his bed and rested his arm over his face. Why was everything so difficult?

He was having a hard time getting any information on the other shareholders. He already bought out Maria's fifteen shares and gave them to Cameron as a placeholder. There was no one else he could act on immediately. He needed more information.

He was more concerned about how his plans were progressing than he was about school because he had already done this before. The homework was tedious and time consuming but not at all difficult.

The truly unfortunate thing was that he needed to do some serious networking. Though he loathed the shallow, frivolous people in the socialite's circle, these were the people that were on his father's side. He needed more allies among them but that meant small talk. Endless small talk.

Alice Wheatley might be a good place to start…she didn't hold a grudge against him for not taking her home from prom and her family was influential in the financial sector, though not quite on the same level as the Hales or the Knightons.

The Knightons…Brann Knighton was firmly on his father's side because they plotted together to make Lacy take Keeley's place as Mrs. Hale. He had to find a way to suppress them.

Lacy had been annoyingly persistent in her pursuit of Aaron at Harvard. They were in completely different departments but she somehow managed to find him at least a few times a week and try to cozy up to him. 

Too bad he knew what a viper she really was. He wouldn't fall for it in a million years.

Comparing her and Keeley, Lacy was the nasty, cloying taste of cherry cough syrup while Keeley was the real cherry. Everything about her screamed 'false.'

Aaron loved Keeley because of how genuine she was. Why couldn't Lacy get that he wasn't interested through her thick skull?

If he didn't take care of her before he went back to New York, their parents were going to do everything in their power to throw them together. That was the last thing Aaron wanted.

He wanted to reclaim his throne with his rightful queen by his side and live happily ever after this time. It was an oddly sentimental thought for a man like him but Keeley tended to have that effect.

The thought of possibly seeing her again sustained him through the onslaught of papers, projects, and other schoolwork that preceded finals as well as the tests themselves. He finished the semester strong and gave Cameron his money and instructions before they went their separate ways for the holidays.

Aaron wasn't looking forward to all of the boring parties he had to attend but he was still happy to be going home. Home is where the heart is and his heart was in Manhattan.