Chapter 13 The Playboy Brother

Laura was just about to stir up some trouble for Aria when the bodyguard rolled Lewis over, and the crowd just naturally stepped aside.

"Ms. York," Lewis's deep, ocean-like eyes locked onto her, his voice low and magnetic.

Wait, was he talking to her? Laura's anger vanished in a flash, replaced by a shy smile. "Mr. Windsor..."

But before she could finish, Lewis didn't even look her way. His wheelchair rolled right past her and stopped in front of Aria.

Laura's face twisted with jealousy and rage.

Was Lewis calling that bitch Aria?

When did they have a connection?

Aria smirked, "Sorry, Mr. Windsor wants to chat with me. You can go now."

Everyone's eyes were on Laura, making her feel super embarrassed. She shot Aria a nasty look and hurried off.

Aria lowered her head a bit, meeting Lewis's intense gaze, thinking about those harsh comments online.

She figured Lewis thought she had ripped off his first love Clea's song and was here to confront her.

Aria knew she hadn't plagiarized, so she calmly pulled out some digital audio files she had created as Amnesia and handed her phone to Lewis.

"I didn't copy anyone. My songs have been like this for years." Since the Windsor family had helped her a lot and they were going to be family soon, Aria didn't want to be misunderstood by Lewis .

The style of these songs was similar to the one causing all the fuss, and she hoped this would clear her name.

Lewis took the phone, scrolling through the songs.

His gaze grew deeper, like he was hiding some big secret.

Aria couldn't read his expression, feeling a bit uneasy.

"Break off your previous engagement ASAP, and contact Simon if you need help." Lewis handed the phone back to Aria and left.

Leaving Aria standing there, feeling all sorts of confused. Did he believe her or not?

Just then, Simon walked over.

"What's on your mind?" Simon asked, noticing Aria a bit down.

"Nothing." Aria snapped out of it and looked at Simon.

"Lewis is like that, tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Don't take it too seriously. He's just bad at expressing his feelings." Simon tried to defend Lewis.

Aria looked at Simon, puzzled.

"What's that got to do with me?" She was supposed to marry Simon! Why was he defending Lewis? He was acting really weird.

But Simon was the kind of guy who would tell his family about a one-night stand, so relying on his uncle wasn't a problem.

"Uncle's boy!" Aria threw out the remark and walked off.

Simon was fuming, "You don't get my good intentions at all! You two are perfect for each other!"

He wanted to comfort Aria, but she called him an uncle's boy, which was just too much!

However, Aria didn't hear Simon's words.

As soon as Aria got home, she felt the heavy atmosphere as she walked in.

Ruth and Ian were sitting in the living room, looking grim and scary, clearly waiting to grill her.

Laura was standing beside, her eyes full of spite. The moment she saw Aria, she looked like she wanted to rip her apart.

Billy was there too, glaring at Aria, "Aria, you went too far on the talent show today. How could you treat Laura like that?"

Aria looked at them innocently and said calmly, "I went too far? I just didn't want you all to be fooled by her anymore."

With that, she pulled out a few photos and tossed them on the table.

Unlike the blurry photos from the banquet, these were crystal clear, showing Laura making out with a guy in various places. And that guy wasn't Billy—it was Duke.

Billy’s face turned beet red with anger the moment he saw the photos, his eyes full of rage and suspicion.

"Laura, what the hell is this?" Billy yelled, throwing the photos at her.

Laura was stunned but quickly started crying and pleading, "Billy, she's setting me up! You have to believe me!"

Billy, already fuming, started arguing with Laura, and soon they were at each other's throats, causing a huge commotion.

Even Ruth and Ian had no spare time to scold Aria; they were too busy to protect Laura.

Aria just smirked and headed to her room.

Laura watched Aria's back, a flash of malice in her eyes.

She knew she had to keep Billy on her side, so she played her trump card.

"Billy, I swear I didn't cheat on you. I'm pregnant, and it's your baby," Laura cried.

Billy was taken aback, his anger slowly turning to surprise.

"Really? Laura, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Billy asked.

"How could I, when you don't trust me?" Laura said, touching her belly with a hurt expression.

"Laura, it's all Aria's fault for trying to tear us apart." Billy stared at Laura's belly, forgetting all about the photos.

Seeing Billy believe her, Laura felt a surge of satisfaction.

"When you get engaged to Aria, you have to get her shares!" Laura said, leaning against Billy's chest, looking pitiful.

"Of course, for our child and our future, I'll get back what's rightfully yours," Billy assured her.

Just like that, they made up as if nothing had happened.

Aria heard everything through the bug she had planted.

She sneered to herself, thinking how greedy and stupid they all were.

Without wasting any time, she contacted her grandfather Victor Russell's lawyer and transferred all of Victor's remaining shares to her account, as they had previously arranged.

Now, she owned forty percent of the York family's shares, making her the largest shareholder.

She decided it was time to take action. Even without trustworthy allies, she called for a board meeting.

Meanwhile, Ian was clueless, completely unaware that the power dynamics in the company had shifted.

Laura‘s younger brother, Earl York, got furious at school when knowing that Laura was being bullied.

Though he was just a high school troublemaker, he always protected Laura under Ruth's influence.

He rounded up a group of delinquent friends and went for Aria.

That day, Aria had just left home, planning to go to her grandfather's company, when she saw Earl and his gang heading her way. She knew something was up.

Aria didn't want a confrontation, so she tried to avoid them.

But Earl and his crew had the numbers and weren't about to let her go.

"You bitch, how dare you mess with my sister? You're gonna pay!" Earl shouted, glaring at Aria.

With that, he signaled his friends, and they surrounded her.

"Earl, what are you doing?" Aria struggled, trying to find a way out.

But Earl's buddies didn't hold back, and Aria, being outnumbered, couldn't fight them off.

In a moment of distraction, she got hit on the head.

Aria felt a sharp pain, then everything went black as she passed out.