Love Me Like I Love You

by Willow Winters

  My stomach sinks because this is it. Whatever Sophia has been working on is going to be unveiled today. I agree to go. During our walk, I try to run a few scenarios of what’s waiting for me, but nothing makes sense. I have the feeling that my brothers are involved in this too because Vance and Pierce have been absent the past couple of days working on a special project.

  When we arrive at Sophia’s place, I find Pierce, Mr. Parrish, Sophia, and Owen Edelstein, who is pacing around the living room area. When he sees me, he says loudly, “Aldridge, I expect you to control my daughter.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are to yell at me?”

  “I am Owen Edelstein, your future father-in-law,” he states.

  “Listen, if you want to continue this conversation you need to moderate your voice because I’m not going to tolerate your tone. Now, I don’t have any control over anyone, including your daughter. She can control herself if she thinks she needs to. If not, well, she can do whatever the fuck she wants.”

  “Your grandfather and I agreed that it’d be best if you marry her. If you don’t do it, you won’t receive the money I promised,” he threatens me though his voice is less threatening.

  “You can keep it,” I suggest. “What makes you think that this scene will make me change my mind?”

  What the fuck is Martina thinking? I glare at her and then at Sophia. She shakes her head so lightly no one would notice but me. Okay, she wants me to behave. There’s something happening here, and I better trust her.

  “I refuse to sign that document,” he says pointing at the coffee table. “You can get yourself someone else to witness to this nonsense. No one is taking away my company. If this man can’t do what his family demands, that’s not my problem. I’ll sue.”

  Grabbing the paper from the table, I realize it’s Martina not wanting to continue the three-month trial. I look at her and then at Sophia.

  “Henry, I’ll walk away from this deal today, only if you promise to manage Edelstein Electronics just the way you do with Merkel. Also, by promising to offer me a job once I finish college,” she requests.

  Her father laughs, “I said you were cut off after your thirty-second birthday unless you marry him.”

  Sophia grabs one of her usual big binders and a drive, handing it to me. “Here are all the financial reports, tax returns, and bank statements for the company and the affiliates. Mr. Everhart is at the offices of Edelstein Electronics, ready to take over the company. However, Ms. Edelstein will only hand you the company if you meet her demands.”

  “You can’t do this to me,” her father says. “That is my company.”

  She waves a paper and says, “You signed this agreement, practically selling me to this man. If I decide to do things my way, you lose your company. Surprise, Daddy. As my thirty-second birthday present from me to you, I am leaving you without a cent. Let’s see how you and my dear brothers manage.”

  I look at Pierce who shrugs and says, “It’s legal, and you don’t lose anything.”

  Scanning through the document, I see that she’s asking to recover part of the company in ten years, or, if she decides to do something else with her life, to pay her half the value of said company. Whatever is better for her at that time. I shake my head and that’s when my phone buzzes.

  I want to ignore it, but I see that Sophia is texting.

  Sophia: Take it as it is. She doesn’t want to own it now. She’s afraid they might try to force her to give it back. We can see the options on how to compensate her later. For now, give her the power she needs.

  “Is this what you want?” I ask Martina.

  She smiles and answers. “Yes, if you don’t mind giving me a salary so I can pay for school. I’ll use my trust fund for my expenses. Sophie is teaching me how to budget.”

  “Then let’s do it,” I agree and sign the contract they gave me.

  “Your grandfather would be disappointed in you,” Owen says in such a way that for a second, I’m afraid of what Cyril would think.

  “I loved the old man, but I’m disappointed in him for trying to dictate my life. This should be a lesson to you and your sons. Stop playing with your children’s lives, but I guess there’s no point in saying it when you have lost your company.”

  “Surely you don’t think this is legal,” he changes his tone. “What kind of man just snatches a legacy out of an entire family?”

  “I wonder what you’d have done if I was the one dissolving this,” I ask.

  “Well—”

  “He was already planning on how to split Merkel,” Martina interrupts him.

  “Shut up. You don’t know what you are talking about. I raised you, you owe me, and this is how you repay me?”

  She signs the paper just as Blaire and Leyla arrive to sign as witnesses. Pierce calls Everhart who has a security team at Edelstein Electronics ready to escort the main executives out of the premises. They shut down the system and freeze the bank accounts in case anyone tries to touch anything. It’s all so well coordinated and executed I’m in awe. I glance at Sophia who has a wide smile on her face.

  “You can’t do this to me,” Edelstein protests, and that’s when Vance appears with Julian.

  “Sir, your business in this town has been terminated. If you don’t mind, we’re going to escort you to the airport.”

  The moment he’s gone Martina rushes to hug Sophia and says, “We did it! Look,” she shows her a shaky hand, “I’m so pumped but afraid. But we did it.”

  “You did it,” Sophia reassures her. “You should be proud of yourself. As I said, he gave you power without even thinking because he thought he had you under his control.”

  “Never again,” Martina states.

  “Ladies, this is all great, but what the fuck just happened?” I ask.

  “Sophia made me step out of my box and look at my life from a different perspective. My father never thought about the power he had given me until I took away his precious company.”

  “Is this legal?” I ask, still confused about the transaction and apparently now I own a fucking electronics company.

  Pierce nods. “Yep, we did our homework. Mr. Parrish here confirmed to Martina that what we’re planning was allowed.”

  “Look at this as a horse race,” he says. “Cyril bet his company if his horse didn’t come through, you’d have to rescind Merkel. Owen bet his company. If Ms. Edelstein didn’t reach the finish line…well, here we are. If you ask me, it was a stupid contract.”

  “Thank you for this. Once I can access my trust fund, I’ll pay you, Mr. Parrish,” Martina offers.

  “We’ll take care of his fees,” I amend. “Just… I feel like I shouldn’t be just keeping something that isn’t mine.”

  “That’s in our contract,” she says, turning it to page four. “How much you’ll pay me, when, and why. I don’t want you to gift me anything. I want to earn it which is why I asked your brother to set it that way. An incentive, you know…”

  “What about your brothers?” I ask her.

  “One of them had already sold his part of the company to the other two. They bought it without realizing that he didn’t own shit until our dad dies. He’s the one who helped us get all the documents Sophia needed and gave us the inside information to shut down the system and freeze the accounts. The other two can figure out what to do without Daddy’s company.”

  Vance arrives at the house a couple of hours later assuring us that Mr. Edelstein wouldn’t bother us. He then helped Martina with her bags. She’s leaving for New York where she’s staying with her mother until she starts school.

  “Why did you leave me in the dark?” I ask Sophia once everyone leaves her house and it’s just the two of us.

  “Payback,” she says. “You left me in the dark for three years. I think a few days was punishment enough.”

  I shove my hands in my pockets and say, “You were incredible.”

  “Well, I learned from the best,” she admits.

  As I’m abo
ut to ask about us, her dad enters the house holding two tote bags. “Lunch is ready. Your mom is spending the afternoon at the library, and I was wondering if you wanted to eat.”

  “I guess it’s time for me to leave,” I offer.

  “There’s plenty,” Emilio announces, but it seems like he wants to spend some time with his daughter.

  There’s a lot I want to discuss with her, but it can wait a few more hours. I salute him and glance at her, “I’ll talk to you soon,” before I make my way to The Lodge.

  Sophia

  Since I skipped going to Aldry’s in the morning, Julian drives me in the afternoon. I don’t have much to do, but I like to be consistent. As I’m about to enter, Jerome Parrish is standing by the main entrance.

  “Listen, I appreciate your assistance with Ms. Edelstein, but—”

  “This won’t take long,” he promises. “But I prefer to discuss it in your office if you don’t mind.”

  I look at him suspiciously, but I accept. My hands tingle, and it’s not fear but anxiety, because this man is like the grim reaper.

  Is he going to offer me money or a way to destroy the Aldridges? Not like I would accept the deal, but what is he up to?

  “The way you handled this entire situation was surprising,” he states as I close the door. “I don’t understand your angle, Ms. Aragon.”

  “There’s no angle. If you think I’m here for the money, the answer is, I don’t work for free,” I state. “You bill your hours, don’t you?”

  He smiles. “I didn’t mean it that way. Not even Cassandra, William’s ex-wife, would’ve handled herself the way you did, and she loved William.”

  “Never met the woman, but I’m familiar with her work.” She was horrible with Blaire when Carter was dying. I’m not a fan. “What do you need?”

  He hands me an envelope and I gasp because this is it, one of the letters William left. My heart beats incredibly fast. I want to rip it open and see why he’d leave me a letter.

  “Just a word of advice, the moment you read that letter, you’re taking your relationship with Henry Aldridge seriously enough to abide by the stipulations of the testament, like the Aldridge brothers and their significant others,” he warns me. “You can’t leave the towns.”

  “I have to go to Portland, constantly. You are aware that Aldry’s future depends on my trips, since you keep watching me.”

  He crosses his arms. “How do you know?”

  “Julian, my driver caught your people. I’m onto you, Jerome Parrish.” I wave the envelope and shove it in my purse. “I’ll think about opening it, but not yet.”

  “I need an answer now or you’ll have to give me back that letter.”

  “I need in writing that I can travel to Portland,” I push. “And assurance that if something happens to my mom and she’s in New York, I’ll be able to go.”

  “That’s a given. If there’s an emergency, you are exempt.” He sighs, and I stare at him not budging. Who does he think he’s dealing with?

  “I need it in writing,” I repeat.

  “Fine. I’ll send you the amendment.”

  I show him my computer. “You have remote access. Why don’t we make it legal right now?”

  “You are a pushy woman,” he complains and then amends, “but I like you.”

  It’s not like I don’t trust him, but I watch the screen as he works. Even with a guest user account, I want to make sure he doesn’t try to access anything that belongs to Aldry’s. Once he’s done I receive a text from Pierce.

  Pierce: Anyone know why I got an amendment from Parrish saying that Sophia is allowed to travel to Portland freely, but all the other stipulations apply to her as of today?

  Henry: Because she loves me?

  There’s a knock on the door and Henry enters. “Time to leave, Parrish. I’m in no mood to deal with you. Hopefully, we won’t see you any time soon.”

  “You have more than a year to slip and now, there are nine of you who can make a mistake,” he says. “I’ll be watching.”

  “What’s happening?” I ask once Parrish leaves. “How did you know?”

  He pulls out an envelope from his jacket’s pocket. “Since I wasn’t invited to lunch, I left for The Lodge and found him waiting for me.”

  “Dad said there was plenty,” I say, trying to apologize. “You could’ve stayed.”

  “It’s okay. He wanted to spend time with you, and I had work to do. Now back to Parrish,” he says. “He said William would be proud of me.”

  “Not the best words you’d like to hear?”

  “Actually, I didn’t think about that part. I was more intrigued by the envelope he held. So I asked why me and not Hayes and he said, ‘It’s at my discretion, and I think this is the best moment to give this to you.’ He then asked how serious I was about you, and I told him the truth.”

  “The truth?” I ask because it sounds too serious.

  That’s when he gets down on one knee and opens his fist showing a gorgeous ring with round and marquise-shaped emeralds surrounding a princess cut diamond.

  “I want to be part of your dream. This time, I don’t plan on making your dreams come true, more like work with you to create dreams of our own. I want you to continue being my partner, not only in business, but also in life. I promise to be your lover. To bring you coffee with your favorite pastry every morning. Kiss you awake as the sun rises and kiss you to sleep as the night falls.

  “My promise is to love you for always and forever and to grow with you as a person and as a couple. I promise to wash your hair when you’re sick, and never go to bed angry…unless it’s an excuse to have makeup sex. I want to make a life with you, create a family, and raise children who’ll be loved no matter what they decide to do for their future.”

  “But…” I’m astounded by this. We were supposed to discuss our relationship, but…he’s proposing. There’s no doubt I want to spend the rest of my life with him because even when we weren’t together, I knew we were still one person at the soul and heart level.

  “I know you deserve better,” he says before I can say anything, and it’s breaking my heart. He really thinks he isn’t worth loving. Except he’s the most wonderful man in the world.

  Sitting on his lap, I hug him.

  “You know what I deserve?” I kiss his nose. “I deserve a man who wants me, who desires me exactly the way I am, whoever I am in the morning or when I’m moody because I haven’t eaten at all.”

  I kiss his jaw and give him a peck on the lips. “I deserve a man who values my opinion, trusts my gut, and believes that we can have a family together. I deserve to be with a man who believes in me so blindly, he helps me reach my dreams and dares to dream with me.”

  Kissing his ear, running my mouth along his jaw. “I deserve a man who loves me and takes the emotional and financial load I’ve been bearing for years and says, ‘here, we can both carry it.’”

  I hold his face and stare deep into his eyes , “You might think I’m mad for learning that you helped me all these years but now, after I sat down and thought about it, I’m grateful to you for being the one person who was there for me carrying the weight when it was too heavy.

  “I love you, Henry Lloyd Merkel Aldridge and of course I want to be your wife.”

  I tilt his face, and I place my lips on top of his. But of course, he takes charge of the kiss almost immediately. He kisses me so deeply, possessively, hungrily, but most of all lovingly.

  Henry

  I can’t believe she said yes. I had an entire speech if she said no, but who could argue with the woman after everything she said. I mean, I thought I couldn't fall more in love with her, and she proved me wrong. After a long, desperate kiss that ends with us fucking on top of her desk, we start getting dressed.

  “So, you got a letter?” she asks, and I nod.

  “Have you read it?”

  I shake my head.

  Confused, she asks, “Why not?”

  “I feel like I want all
of us to receive them at the same time. I don’t know. It feels strange to have it while none of my brothers has received one yet.”

  “Should I wait too?” she asks looking at her letter.

  “Let’s discuss it as a family,” I suggest. “Shall we go home?”

  “Yes. I doubt I can get anything done today. It’s Friday, and…” She shows me her finger, “I’m engaged. Third time’s a charm, right?”

  “I’m the only man who has asked for your hand in marriage. So technically, I feel as if I am your only one.”

  “Wait, you asked Dad?” She frowns. “He said yes?”

  “Of course I did, and I talked to your scary brothers too. Eva threatened to cut my balls off if I ever pull a stunt like I did with Martina. Alexa couldn’t be here, but she texted me a threat. It was all so scary that I feel like part of the family already.”

  “When…how?”

  “They came to Portland last Monday. You’ve been so busy with Martina that you didn’t notice,” I explain and smirk victoriously. “I spent half a day with them.”

  When we arrive at the mansion, everyone is waiting for us. After congratulating us, we ask them to take a seat and explain what happened with Parrish and what we decided to do with the letters.

  Hayes glances at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Earlier, when he arrived in town, he came to the practice to give us our letters too,” he says.

  “Did you open them?”

  He shakes his head. “No. Blaire and I were wondering if we should wait for everyone to get theirs.”

  Blaire turns to Sophia and suggests, “You should open yours. We can save the rest.”

  “Why hers?” Pierce protests.

  “Because he doesn’t know me,” Sophia answers and Blaire nods. “He sent me a generic letter.”

  Sophia pulls her letter out of her purse, shows it to everyone, and taps on the three words written on the envelope, To Henry’s Wife.

  “It’s not fair for me to open this if Beacon doesn't have his yet,” I state, and Hayes agrees.

  “Why do you think I’ll receive mine last?” Beac protests.