Aaron wasn"t the type to share personal details. When exactly had he told this woman about her? It had to have been before they were married or Alice wouldn"t have been so surprised when he told her the truth just now.
"How long are we talking here?" Keeley asked curiously.
Alice smiled. "Last April. I was at that party where he got fake engaged. I was confused since I hadn"t heard he was dating anyone and he ended up confessing he only did it to protect who he really cared about.
"I guessed who you were because he said it wasn"t anyone in our circle. You"re the only person I knew of that Aaron ever had consistent rumors with. I had no idea he would actually marry you in secret though. Congratulations, by the way. Your babies are adorable. What are their names?"
"Kaleb and Violet," Aaron cut in proudly. "And yes, they are adorable."
She raised an eyebrow at his unusual behavior (at least around anyone other than his family) but didn"t say anything because the other members of their party arrived together. They both did a double take when they saw their boss sitting next to an unfamiliar woman and holding a baby.
"Hey, Aaron," one of them said cautiously. "Who"s your friend?"
Keeley was sorely tempted to laugh at how nervous this guy looked. Well, her husband could be scary. He was probably afraid of being accidentally offensive.
Aaron"s expression was nonchalant as he explained. "Roger, this is my wife, Keeley. We"re all meeting up today because it"s time for me to take my shares back and kick my father out."
Roger"s jaw dropped. "Wife?! When did you get married?!"
"Last fall."
"Why now?" the other man, whose name Keeley just remembered was Kyle, asked.
"Ah yes, you aren"t aware of the terms of the share transfer contract…when I was given ten percent of my father"s shares last spring it also stipulated that I would get another ten percent when my wife gave birth to a son, which she has," Aaron said coolly.
Everyone"s eyes turned to Kaleb, who was happily sucking on a pacifier in his mother"s arms. Roger and Kyle were very confused and Cameron, having mercy, took it upon himself to explain the rather strange wording of the contract.
Keeley still found it ironic how this all played out. Aaron had told her about it after they found out the genders of the babies on the ultrasound. Alistair tried to use the contract as a way to guarantee Lacy Knighton would be able to steal Aaron away from "Bethany" but it ended up working in Aaron"s favor instead of hers.
Alistair"s scheming was about to lead to his own downfall. There was something deliciously poetic about it.
Roger and Kyle exchanged glances. "So what are we going to do after this?"
"Not have to attend any more meetings," Cameron said blissfully before Aaron could answer.
"He"s right," Aaron said with a shrug. "You"ll continue your jobs as usual. I have enough shares that I"ll become the CEO. I also have a bit of dirt on my father so I can use that to make sure he doesn"t cause any additional trouble during the handover."
A slight frown appeared on Alice"s face. "What about me? I don"t have a job in Hale Investments. Those shares were supposed to be my insurance against…you know who."
He was quick to rea.s.sure her. "I"ve already told you I"m your ally permanently. If they give you any grief, send them my way. I"ll deal with them for you."
She was appeased relatively easily. Aaron Hale was a force to be reckoned with and he didn"t work with just anyone. She would be perfectly fine.
He pulled out stacks of paperwork and handed them to everyone at the table but his wife, explaining that signing these would give his shares back. All they had to do after that was show up at one more shareholders meeting when the announcement was made.
"I can"t wait to see the look on Alistair"s face," Cameron said with a wicked grin. "All of your hard work is about to pay off."
Keeley had nearly forgotten how long Cameron had been working with her husband. Of course he wanted his friend to succeed the most out of all the dummy shareholders. She knew they met in college…but when in college? Beginning, middle, or end?
If it was the beginning…they had been working together for eight years. She would have to ask Aaron about it later.
Once the agreements had all been signed, everyone (minus the Singletons) wanted to know more about Keeley. It was a bit overwhelming answering all of their questions.
How did you meet? How long have you been together? What do you do for a living?
Some of them were a bit hard to answer because of the tangled web woven by the rebirth situation. Especially since Jennica thought she met Aaron in middle school. In the end, she used the go-to method: telling bits and pieces of truth from both lives where they fit best.
Alice made an impressed noise. "You"re a geneticist? I had no idea Aaron would marry someone smarter than him."
Cameron nearly choked on his taco as he tried not to laugh. Jennica had to thump him on the back to dislodge the food.
Roger and Kyle seemed a bit wary of her comment but Aaron wasn"t offended at all. In fact, a soft expression appeared on his face. That was even more frightening since those two had never seen their boss look like that.
"She"s brilliant," he bragged. "I wouldn"t be at all surprised if she won a n.o.bel Prize in medicine someday. Her dissertation research was groundbreaking."
"Oh please," Keeley laughed, embarra.s.sed.
"I"m serious!" he said earnestly as he turned to look at her. "You"re going to cure cystic fibrosis and that"s a huge deal."
Violet, who was in her father"s arms, squealed at that moment as if in agreement, breaking the tension around the table as everyone laughed.
"She"s so cute," Jennica observed with a smile. "I think she looks like you, Aaron."
"Just her hair color. If you"ve ever seen Keeley"s baby pictures, Violet"s face looks more like hers."
Keeley frowned. "When did you see my baby pictures?"
He smiled innocently. "Your dad showed me during one of your many early pregnancy naps."
"Of course he did," she said flatly, causing another chorus of laughter around the table.