Chapter 5: The Suspicious CEO

“So if we do this, then…” Aria explains to Lucas while pointing from paper to paper within the files she had collected to help them with his project. The pretty woman was so caught up in explaining their plan and layout that she didn’t even stop to ask Lucas for any opinions of his own. But when she finally did look at him, she spotted him staring at her from the other side of the table that they sat on. Aria becomes flustered with a blush as she raises her voice. “Mr. Augustine!” 

Lucas jumps when his surname is yelled at. By his reaction and sudden change in expression, it was obvious that Aria’s words had gone in one of his ears and flew right out the other without registering anything in his brain. Aria heaves a tired sigh and crosses her arms while shaking her head. “Honestly, sir, if you want my help then you need to take this seriously!” 

The former heir gives a sheepish grin since he was just caught gazing at her in a trance from her beauty once again. “Sorry. And, again, call me Lucas.”

“I’ll start calling you Lucas when you start taking your job seriously!” Aria reports, making Lucas hang his head in defeat. He can’t bring himself to give a cocky or snarky remark when speaking to the beautiful Songbird. 

Aria’s impatience turns into curiosity as a new thought crosses her mind. “Speaking of your job… You said you’re the new head director, right?”

“That’s right. What about it?” He asks while leaning back into his chair.

“You were the heir of the Augustine Company. I learned about David Augustine passing away from the news so I assumed you finally took your place as the CEO… but if you’re not, then who is? Did you step down?” Aria asks questions that she didn’t feel comfortable asking until now. It meant bringing up the fact that his father is dead, nobody wants a reminder of something as awful as the death of a loved one.

Lucas frowns and looks away. Despite how carefully Aria chose her words, it still stung just bringing up the title of CEO. “After I got amnesia, they didn’t deem me fit to take the position so they put me in the second best thing. I guess. It’s been three years so everyone thought that my amnesia was permanent but, who knows?” Lucas then gives her another affectionate smile. “Being around you is making my memories come back piece by piece. Maybe I’ll still be able to become the CEO of my family’s company if my memory keeps gradually returning. I’m grateful to have you back in my life.”

Aria can feel her cheeks warm up as they take on a pinkish color and she swiftly looks away. “I… I didn’t do anything…” She couldn’t find the words to say that he was remembering everything on his own. But at the same time, she didn’t want him to remember everything. If he does, he’ll remember their past and she was scared that he’ll act differently towards her. Aria wasn’t worried that he’d feel disgusted or anything negative. She was afraid that he would beat himself up and become depressed over something that he couldn’t change. Nevertheless, she still smiled softly. 

“Your progression is all from your strength, not mine.”

“I guess you can say that you’re the fuel to my strength then.” His voice has a hint of a flirt in it, making her cheeks become even hotter. 

Aria wanted to yell at him to focus but she knew that she’d only be a flustered, stuttering mess so instead she just clears her throat and looks back down at the papers on the table. “You never told me about the current CEO…”

“Oh, right. My father had a twin brother so he’s taken the position. But…” Lucas’s voice trails off.

“But what?” Aria asks with a tilt of her head. 

Lucas hesitates with his words then shrugs his shoulders as he finally speaks his mind. “I don’t know. It just felt odd. And then he started acting differently towards me… colder, curter, never paying any attention to me ever since he became the CEO. That’s when it dawned on me, he stopped treating me as if he was my loving, supportive uncle once he took that seat. Why else would he if that was his goal the whole time? In other words, his love was fake, just to get on my good side.”

Aria’s silver eyes widened. “His love for you wasn’t real? But he’s your uncle! If all he wanted was your position as the new CEO, then… well, do you think he had a part to play in your amnesia?” Aria knew that was a very big question with an answer that neither of them wanted to think about. After all, what if she’s right?

Lucas can’t keep eye contact with her this time. “...I don’t know. We don’t know. Mason has had similar suspicions. It’s as if this is a game of dominos and all the pieces just perfectly fell into Davis’s hands… a little too much for a coincidence, but…”

“You think that your uncle did something to you?” Area asks with a tone that shows how hard it was to believe such an awful thing that still had a possibility of being true.

Lucas shrugs and then gives a sad sigh. “Unfortunately, Mason has been pretty distant lately… I asked him to keep an eye on my uncle for me but lately, he hasn’t been too chatty with me. But, at least he keeps me up to date on what my uncle is doing so I can’t complain too much. For the past week, Davis hasn’t been up to anything special. Thankfully.” 

Aria was silent this time. News like this was shocking to even think about it, let alone if it was the truth. But, there’s no proof, so it’s nothing but suspicions and rumors currently. And Aria hopes they remain that way. Even when the truth does come to light, she hopes that it isn’t as ugly as they think it is.

She leans over and places a hand on top of his and gives him a soft smile. “I’ll be here for you, Lucas. No matter what.”

Lucas’s turmoil eased up into something warmer, something that was hard to define. Though he may not have smiled, his eyes told her how grateful he was to have her. Aria then freezes as he sweeps some of her stray black strands of hair behind her ear and then slowly leans forward towards her face.