In the future, as a part-owner in the company, Kylie would be ent.i.tled to a voice in the company. Khloe, though, would be nothing but an employee, subject to the whims of her bosses – one of whom was she. Never again would Khloe have any power over her; it would always be the other way around!As time went by, Kylie intended to slowly buy up more and more stock until, finally, she had full control of it. She would do it stealthily. Then, when she made the big announcement that she had 51% of the shares, everyone would be completely shocked, and she would finally have her revenge. On that day, with a smile on her face, she would terminate the employment of David, Khloe, and even her father, along with all of their private staff. She wanted to see their reaction when she finally came to that actual event.
The next afternoon, Laurence and Kylie found themselves sharing the same s.p.a.ce outside of the studio. Kylie spat her gum into a garbage can and faced her father. "s.h.i.t!" she laughed. "I wouldn"t have thought you"d be able to share the same s.p.a.ce with me without me making you sick to your stomach. Tell me this, though, Daddy dear, when was it that you began to hate me, or did you always hate me?"
Laurence scowled at her but said nothing. He kicked at the dirt and, finally, it seemed as if he might say something, but then Faith and Lucas emerged from the building with grins on their faces, laughing. A car pulled up, and Kylie turned to her father. "Catch you later, Boogaloo."
The three of them climbed into the car, and, as they pulled away from the curb, Faith asked her what she and her father had been talking about.
"Nothing much," she replied. "You know, father-daughter stuff…"
Their morning had been very productive, so Lucas suggested that they go out and celebrate. Faith and Kylie thought it was a great idea, so they set a course for a lobster joint that was just an hour out of town and, on the way there, they chatted about the conversation Kylie had had with David the night before.
"How long have you had this idea in your back pocket?" Faith asked Kylie.
"It has been on my mind for a while," Kylie replied. "The company has been going downhill for a long time. The people at the top are all morons. The only way for it to recover would be for me to take it out from under their feet and lead us all in a different direction."
"Now that you have stood up against Khloe though," Lucas pointed out, "they will have Aiden"s family on their side. You may find that Aiden"s family is a lot more formidable adversary than your own is."
"Well then, I am happy to have you on my side," Kylie replied.
Changing the subject slightly, Faith chuckled and said, "Khloe"s such an idiot, especially compared with you."
When Laurence and his fellows went back to the hotel, Aiden found himself an excuse to go outside so that he could call Khloe. Khloe was busy, though, and only halfway home, so he offered to bring her snacks, and then he let her go.
Once she was back at the hotel, Khloe dressed in black from head to toe. Once she was dressed, she went downstairs and got into a cab that she"d called. Next, she went straight to the nearest pharmacy. She wanted to buy a pregnancy test kit, and she didn"t want to be recognized.
When she got to the till, she threw a hundred dollars at the cashier and rushed out of the store with the test, not bothering to get her to change back, above all, she did not want anyone to know what had happened between her and her cousin.
Once she was back at the hotel again, she went into the bathroom, locked the door behind her, and fixed her eyes on the pregnancy test kit. She took a p.i.s.s on the stick, waited five minutes, and was relieved to discover that she was not pregnant.
Knowing that she was safe, Khloe crushed the box and flushed it down the toilet along with the test.
Instead of buying snacks for Khloe, Aiden went to a local café and called Kylie. Unfortunately, the call went straight to her answering service.
Faith ordered a bottle of wine that could be shared between the three of them, and they took deep sips from their gla.s.ses as they chatted amicably. They had each ordered pasta with s.h.i.take mushrooms and baby lobsters. They all thought it was very good, but Faith complained that it was too spicy.
Lucas laughed and explained that, in Hamorna, all of the food was spicy. "You"d better get used to it," he told her. "If you can"t, though, maybe Kylie could cook for you while we are here. She is actually a very good cook."
Faith turned to Kylie and asked her if she would teach her how to cook, but Kylie refused to answer her directly. "I once fed Lord Ethan," she chuckled, "but I was mad at him at the time, so it wasn"t my fault that it made him cry…"
Lucas and Faith both laughed at her story. They were having a very good time, but then Kylie"s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Aiden. Scowling, she picked up the phone and demanded to know what he wanted.
"Kylie," Aiden replied, "it"s me! I heard about your conversation with David. If you want to get even more stocks, I can help you!"
Kylie was slightly confused. "Are you hoping to marry me?" she wondered.
Aiden was speechless because Kylie was right, but he had not expected her to discern his plot. "Kylie," he stammered, "if you cannot have access to your fair share of the stocks, why not marry me? If you want, later, we could get a divorce, but you would still retain your stocks."