She followed him as they exited the hospital because she wanted to end whatever they would talk about. But she had no plans on speaking to him in his territory. "I'm not going with you inside…"
“I thought you wanted privacy?”
“I thought we’re going into a restaurant or a coffee shop near the hospital. There are lots of them.”
“But we have no privacy. Anybody can hear about us. Do you want that?”
She shook her head. She did not want another headache. She just did not like the idea that she was in his territory and they were alone. Esmeralda clenched her fist. She did not trust him.
“We’ll just talk,” she reassured. As long as he would not try to seduce her, they won’t have a problem.
"Are you trying to convince yourself or me?" he teased.
She frowned at him and got down from the car. She did not wait for the driver to open the door for her. She did not stand close to Amadeus when they rode the elevator until they reached the penthouse suite. He offered her food, but he refused.
She sat on the settee. “I just wanted to end this once and for all.”
"Esmeralda, I know I have a bad reputation for you," he said in a soft voice and sat across her. "But I want you to know that I'm really concerned about Jeremy. I want to know if I could be of help."
“We don’t need your help. We don’t need your concern.”
Esmeralda had prepared all her lines when she stared at his face and noticed the bruised skin under his beard. She did not see it a while ago because she was avoiding his face as much as possible. She stood up and leaned on the table to touch his face before she could even stop herself. "What happened to your face?" she asked, concerned.
"My brother did it. He went to my office, terrorized my secretary, and punched me to defend your honor." Amadeus grinned, and she did not miss the sarcasm in his voice. It was as if he was trying to say that she had no honor to protect in the first place.
She pulled her hand away from his face. “Well, you deserved it.” She wished she could punch him too to make up for the embarrassment and pain he caused her.
"But it's still against the law to hurt someone, so I had a medico-legal. I am planning to file a case against him."
Esmeralda stared. “You’re going to sue your brother for petty things such as this? Are you crazy? You’re going to drag your names because of your whim? Are you even using your head?”
Amadeus stood up and motioned his arms. His eyes sparkled as if he had thought of a great idea.
"Ah! It would be scandalous. They were already asking why he suddenly left after I introduced his date as the woman I love. Maybe it was just a simple punch. Very shallow. But people will dig deeper. They will find out that Aiden's fiancée and the woman I love are one. And people won't ask much. They will think that you purposely dated us at the same time because you were selfish."
Her lips quivered in anger. “That’s not true.”
He pinched her chin. “Too bad, that’s how it usually works. The society can be cruel to women.”
“I don’t care what the society will say. I don’t know them. Their opinions don’t matter to me.”
He clacked his tongue. “While I admire your spunk, you seem to be forgetting something. It was not only Aiden and I’s reputations that were at stake here but our business. Many employees will be affected. If you don’t care about other people’s jobs and the business we worked hard for, you can just think of Jeremy. He will be involved in this. Do you think your brother can handle all the stress? That’s too unfair for the child. He is innocent in all this mess.”
She gritted her teeth. “You wanted this to happen…”
“Wrong. Those are the consequences of our actions. In my defense, I am only protecting myself and exercising my rights.”
Esmeralda sat down, distressed. He was right. He got all the right to file a case. And he would take the opportunity to pressure her again. That was what Amadeus wanted. He held the advantage in their battle. And he would shamelessly use Jeremy, who was her weakness.
Amadeus walked and stopped behind her. He held the backrest of her seat and whispered to her. “I can forget about the case, though. I can tell everyone that I slipped and banged my face at the edge of the table. I can just sue the table.”
She glared at him when she turned to him. “What do you want me to do so that you don’t have to sue your brother?”