Chapter 54- Sabotage
“Vic, how’s my father?” Aaron asked the moment Victor came out of the emergency ward.
“He’s going to be sent to the cardio-respiratory department. He had a heart attack and needs emergency surgery,” Victor responded. He looked at Aaron and added, “Don’t worry, he will be fine. We have a very good cardiologist so your father is in safe hands.”
Victor was one of Aaron’s friends. He had specialised in emergency medicine so he could only assess Edmund’s situation and stabilise him before recommending the best action to take.
Aaron dragged in a sharp breath, his heart clenching as worry for his father crept into him. He glanced at his friend and inquired, “A heart attack? Since when did my father ever have heart. problems? He’s always been healthy.”
Victor patted his friend’s shoulder and said, “It may have been due to the shocking news or he already had a problem with his arteries and didn’t tell you about it. Sometimes, people have health issues and don’t know about it. This is why it is important to occasionally have proper non-invasive tests to prevent sudden medical issues. He will be fine. Just put him in your prayers while the doctors work on him.”
When Victor left, Aaron stood still. His eyes had become red and he kept clenching his hands into fists. His father had always been healthy so he was taken aback by the current situation.
Tessa was standing next to him as he talked to Victor and when he left, she walked up to Aaron and grabbed his clenched hand. She said, “Hey… he’s going to be ok.”
Aaron glanced at her and a tear rolled down his cheek. “I can’t lose him too.”
Tessa’s heart ached as she stared at Aaron. He looked so vulnerable and afraid. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, caressing his back.
She comforted soothingly, “You’re not going to lose him. Didn’t you hear what Victor said? He’s going to be ok. He just needs to have surgery.”
“I hope so,” Aaron responded, hugging Tessa back.
He took a deep whiff of her scent which made him feel at home and sighed.
When he received a call from Enock that Edmund had collapsed and had been rushed to the hospital, he drove to the hospital with Tessa while he let the kids go home with the bodyguards who always followed them behind.
His father was already in the emergency room when they got there and he was yet to find out. what had happened for him to suddenly collapse.
After a few seconds of inhaling Tessa’s comforting scent. He let go of her and they went to wait outside the operating room for Edmund to have his surgery. Taking out his phone from his pocket, Aaron called his assistant, saying, “Come to the hospital. I want to know what
happened.”
Aaron had put his work away to spend time with his family without any disturbances that day so he had not watched the news or gone through his portfolio to see the sharp drop in the company’s shares.
“I think we can deal with it later. Let’s be there for your father first,” Tessa suggested. “The company is my father’s proudest achievement. He would feel better if he knows I dealt with the problem already. We will stay with him until we know he’s out of the woods. I just want Enock to explain so that I have an idea of what we are dealing with,” Aaron responded. He swallowed painfully as the light on top of the operating room door switched on, knowing the surgery had began. It hurt him to know his father was vulnerable and relying on someone else to keep him alive.
‘Please, be ok, Dad,’ he pleaded silently.
Noticing that Tessa might get tired, he suggested that they wait in the visitor’s lounge. “The surgery might take long. Let’s go and wait in the-Argh!”
Suddenly, Aaron felt like his knees had been hit with a sledgehammer. He bent over and grabbed his knees. His eyebrows creased and beads of sweat coated his forehead as pain jarred up his legs.
Seeing this, Tessa’s heart jumped to her throat. Panic crept into her and she asked, “Aaron, what’s wrong?”
“N-nothing- Argh, fuck!” Aaron groaned, his face scrunching up as excruciating pain hit his legs from all angles.
“It doesn’t look like it’s nothing! Are your legs in pain? Didn’t you say you were not in pain anymore?” Tessa asked anxiously with wide eyes.
“I’m fine, just help me get to that bench. I just need to calm down for a few minutes,” Aaron said with difficulty.
He gritted his teeth and bit his tongue to stop himself from making a sound. However, the veins almost popping out of his forehead showed Tessa just how much pain he was in.
‘I thought he was healed,’ she thought silently and bit her lower lip, her heart squeezing painfully.
“What should I do to stop the pain?” She asked, her voice shaking.
Guilt crept into Tessa and completely filled her. A lightbulb went off in her head and she realised Aaron never mentioned it because he didn’t want her to feel guilty.
“Nothing. I’m already on medication so I can’t take more. I just need to wait it out…” Aaron responded through gritted teeth.
25
Tessa’s stomach knotted and tears blurred her eyes. She draped Aaron’s arm over her shoulders and helped him to the bench that was in the hallway.
Hearing him stifle his groans of pain, tears streamed down Tessa’s face as she hugged him. She recalled how he had protected her during the accident and her heart felt grateful.
“I’m sorry, babe. Let me call Victor-”
Aaron tightened his arm around her shoulders and shook his head, saying, “No. It’s not necessary. The pain is psychological and I’m stressed right now. Holding you like this is making me feel better.”
Tessa’s heart clenched painfully at his words. She snaked her arms around his waist and said, You should have told me you were still in pain. Now I feel bad.”
“It’s not that bad. I only feel the pain when I stand for hours or when I’m stressed about something. My therapist told me it will take some time for me to fully heal. I knew you would react like this, that’s why I didn’t say anything. Also, I didn’t want you to accept me back into your life because I broke my legs while saving you. I didn’t want you to love me because of guilt.”
“I’m not the type of person that would date someone because of guilt. I will always react like this if you’re in pain. It’s normal because I love you and I’m worried about you. That’s why you were supposed to tell me so that I can share your pain. We are in a relationship, Aaron. Meaning we are supposed to share every little thing no matter how insignificant. Or are you saying you wouldn’t want me to tell you if I was hurt or in pain?” Tessa remarked.
Aaron glanced at Tessa and shook his head, replying, “No. I would want to know.”
“You see. Don’t ever hide your pain as if you’re alone. You have me and our children,” Tessa proclaimed.
For a few minutes, Tessa massaged Aaron’s legs until the pain stopped. He glanced at her and said, “Thank you, love. I feel so much better.”
“You’re welcome. Your father will be fine. We just need to wait for a few hours and be there for him when he wakes up,” Tessa said as she sat up straight and grabbed his large hand. She gazed up into his eyes and declared, “I’ll stay with you.”
An hour later, they were in the visitor’s lounge as Enock briefed Aaron about what had happened.
“We had two ships with ten billion worth of goods at sea. We suddenly lost contact with the ships. It is feared that the ships sank because our satellites can’t pick up their signals. The families of the workers on board have already started suing us for damages which has caused a drastic drop in our stock price. At this rate, enemies might take the opportunity to buy out large shares of the company at a low price.”
Aaron knitted his eyebrows. He looked at his trading portfolio on his work tablet and noticed that most of their shareholders were selling out their shares.
He took in a sharp breath and said, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would our ships. suddenly lose contact with us? I made sure all our ships were safe. Millions were invested to make sure no such thing happened. Someone is trying to sabotage the company.”
Enock nodded and replied, “My thoughts exactly. All three of our ships lost contact at the same time. It wasn’t an accident. What do we do now? I think a rival is trying to buy the majority of the shares so that they can become a major decision maker in the
company.” Aaron’s eyes narrowed dangerously. The air around him became icy as his powerful aura radiated off of him in waves. ‘Who could be so daring to mess with me?’
“Buy all the shares those ungrateful shareholders are selling and put them in Tessa’s name. In the meantime, I need the names of the affected families. I’ll write to the families and ask them to give us time to find the ships and their loved ones,” Aaron said.
Victor came through and Aaron quickly stood to his feet. “How is he?”
“The surgery is over and it was successful. He will be awake in a few minutes or so,” Victor replied.
Aaron let out the breath he was holding. He placed the side of his fist at his mouth and blinked back his tears. “Thank you, Vic.”
“I didn’t do anything, bro. You can go and see him. I’m sure he would want to see you the moment he wakes up,” Victor suggested and then glanced at Tessa who had just woken up from the short nap she took, “See you later, sister-in-law.”
Tessa blushed. She had fallen asleep because she was tired after playing with the kids all day so she didn’t hear Aaron and Enock’s conversation.
Aaron grabbed her hand and led her to Edmund’s ward. He woke up a few minutes later and told Aaron to look for the person who was trying to destroy the company.
“I will deal with this, Dad. Just rest and leave everything up to me,” Aaron swore.
“Ok. The company is in safe hands with you. Son, find the culprit and show them what happens when you mess with a Wentworth,” Edmund said in a low voice.
He had just come to so his voice wasn’t as strong as always.
Aaron nodded and promised, “I won’t let anything happen to the company, Dad.”
When Edmund fell asleep, Aaron glanced at Tessa and said, “I’m going to have him discharged soon and then his personal nurses will attend to him. I’ll be a little busy at the office so I
might not see you for a few days. I’m going to write handwritten letters to ask the families to calm down. You’ve worked with me before, so you know how I do things when something like this happens.”
Tessa nodded. Back then when she was Aaron’s assistant, one of the reasons she respected him was the way he handled issues in the company. To show his sincerity, he would write apology letters or visit the victims personally to give them an explanation.
He was rich and powerful but he treated everyone equally. That was one of the many things
she loved about him.
She gazed at him and felt butterflies in her stomach. Smiling, she offered, “I’ll help you. We can go to your office and I’ll help you write those letters. We can work together just like old times.”
