Chapter III. A Scotsman with Fixed Ideas

Finlay.

"I don't know why you always have to go against me, Elise Reid. He's a very good match for you: the daughter of your father's former partner. The two companies would be reunited. Don't you see the advantages? You would run everything. You would be the president and largest shareholder of both companies. Elise doesn't like business; she prefers to be a socialite. And..." I looked at her seriously, interrupting my mother with a look that brooked no further comment. My gaze was similar to my father's, and it had always worked with Mrs. Alacintye.

"Mom, do you think I'm going to marry the daughter of the man who betrayed our family and left us practically bankrupt? The man responsible for my father's death by exhaustion while trying to save his company from ruin? It took me almost five years since graduating college to ensure that my father's last effort was not in vain. I protected the family business and took revenge on Malcon Reid in the process. Now that we have surpassed Reid International, he is in trouble thanks to me. We have become leaders in air and sea transport. And now you want me to marry the daughter of the man who betrayed my father? Tell me the truth. Whose idea was it? Malcon Reid's or Susan Reid's?" I said, fed up with my mother being so easily influenced by Reid's wife. Despite everything that family had done to us, my mother still considered Susan Reid her best friend.

"It was just a vague comment..." I interrupted her, knowing that with Malcon Reid and his wife, nothing was accidental. That manipulative family lived to leech off anyone they could benefit from.

"Isn't it strange that, after years of ignoring you, Mom, they're suddenly interested in marrying me off to that useless Elise?" My mother couldn't argue with me. In any case, Seelie Alacintye is the kindest, most good-natured person I've ever known. She never sees bad intentions.

My father used to say that he had all the evil intentions that my mother lacked since she was an angel, a being of light who came into his life and endowed it with beauty to prevent him from ending up in hell and paying for his sins.

But this lack of evil in her personality made my mother the perfect victim for people like the Reids, who took advantage of her kindness.

"Well, it was just an idea. You're twenty-five now, Finlay. I want you to get married, start a family, and give me grandchildren. Since your father died, I'm afraid the same thing will happen to you and you'll die of exhaustion. If I lose you, I'll have no reason to stay in this world," Mrs. Seelie Alacintye said tearfully. She had been through a lot in a short time. She didn't deserve it.

"I promise you, Mom, that when I find the right woman—the woman who fulfills me like you fulfilled my father; the woman who makes me feel complete just by looking at her or being by her side—I promise I won't let her get away. Even if I have to chase her to the ends of the earth or to hell itself, I won't let her go." I promised, making her smile.

What I didn't know when I made that promise was that, a few years later, I would have to keep it in the most desperate and maddening way. Without meaning to, I sealed my fate that day.

Hanna.

"Mom, this is the fourth time I've called your psychopathic son, and he keeps ignoring me. Have you and Dad decided to punish me for not telling you about my marriage? Is that why you sent Arthur to make my life miserable? Is that it? Is that true?" I asked the desperate goddess Miller.

Ever since my twin brother, Roy William Miller, the CEO of the Miller Group, arrived in London two years ago, my life has been a living hell. At first, the investigation and harassment that I subjected Walter to without his knowledge wasn't very blatant. My husband didn't even know my brother existed. I was afraid that he would find out who he was and discover my identity, given Walter's mother's selfish nature and how little I showed Walter in front of his mother. This made it difficult to continue hiding my true identity.

When I started receiving photos of Walter waving, looking at a woman, or eating in a restaurant with a woman, and he always had a credible excuse whenever I asked him about them, I stopped looking at the photos and reports that Arturo sent me.

This only made that bossy, obsessive man redouble his efforts to "open my eyes to reality."

I already had enough to deal with in my open war with my mother-in-law. She no longer hid her feelings from me but only from her son. She expressed her displeasure at my inability to conceive a child and give the Patel family an heir to their meager possessions. They referred to these possessions as if they were a great fortune.

"Leave it to me. I'll sort it out today." That was the last communication I had with my mother.

Knowing Arturo, I received a complaint from him two hours later while I was working on the plans for the latest renovation of the presidential suite at the Miller Place Hotel in Dubai.

"Ailan Caroline Miller, I don't care how many times you call Mom. I'm going to protect you from that pig, despite yourself. So call her as many times as you want. And another thing: It would be interesting if you stopped by the Grand Miller Continental Hotel tonight. I'm sure you'll be interested in what you'll see there." The stupid man thought he could intimidate me. We were in the same womb together! I know more about him than he does himself.

"Idiot! Stop meddling in my life! You're so annoying, Roy. I'll see you tonight. I hope it's not one of your stupid ideas. You know how I deal with those. And, by the way, my name is Ailan Caroline Patel. Don't forget." I said this to piss him off more. I knew the fact that I was now a Patel and no longer a Miller drove the all-powerful CEO crazy.

That said, I knew I would have to be prepared. With Roy, you could never let your guard down. He would have something planned for me tonight to get me away from Walter. But I wasn't going to fall for it. I had faith in my husband.