Chapter 165 Big Purchases
Byron took a long breath. “Okay, don’t be mad at me but… I bought Charmers. And now every single branch of Charmers will carry your brand of clothing.”
“Byron, you promised me you wouldn’t do that!” Emily was so disappointed she was hardly even tempted by the creamy pasta.
“I promised I wouldn’t destroy them,” he said, a sly smile playing about his lips, “and I don’t intend to. I’ve even kept Simone around, though in a slightly less senior role. She couldn’t be induced to resign. The woman is very stubborn, but I know you don’t like us to make enemies…”
“So you took over the company she was running, and you don’t think she’d be mad?”
“Not as mad as I was when you told me she dropped your products,” Byron retorted, “But believe it or not she’s actually okay with the takeover. Charmers were struggling financially anyway. Believe me, I did them a favor.”
“Well you didn’t do me a favor,” Emily retorted. “I didn’t want you to get involved.”
“But—”
“I’m capable of solving my own problems.”
She moved away from the dinner table and headed for the door. A walk was what she needed to clear her head and prevent her from throttling her husband.
“Wait, I didn’t tell you about the other thing I bought,” Byron called.
“What’s that, the Eiffel Tower?” she shot back.
He didn’t try to stop her since it would have been useless.
Emily strode quickly towards the beach, fuming. Even the mellow warmth of the evening when it should have been chilly considering it was early fall didn’t cheer her up, though it might have been sneakily relaxing her. By the time she got to the beach, she sat down right on the sand, feeling its comforting warmth. The sun was about to set, but the day’s accumulated heat hovered in the air.
She knew whom she had married. He never let things go, especially when someone he cared about was hurt. Emily knew he would never change, and it was a side of his personality she had to accept. As usual, Byron did crazy things out of love.
No doubt the whole world would think of her as the spoiled woman whose billionaire husband stopped at nothing to create career opportunities for her. But she didn’t care that much what other people thought… just like she didn’t care that some people gave her strange looks while she was sitting on the beach and getting sand all over her fancy clothes.
She was more annoyed that Byron went against her wishes, but it was inevitable that he wouldn’t let the matter rest. Besides, this time he didn’t destroy any companies but was trying to help them flourish.
She had pretty much forgiven Byron and decided to go home when she saw him walking towards her.
Even seeing him from afar, recognizing the familiar outlines of his body which she could have spotted in a crowd of thousands, she felt a strong surge of love for him. No matter how annoyed she sometimes got, she knew she would always feel this strong, enduring love.
“Oh hello,” he said, pretending to be surprised.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked.
“Just luck I guess. Also I happened to know this is your favorite place in the city.”
All the residual anger she felt melted away as she kissed and hugged Byron.
They walked back home together, enjoying the mellow evening.
“Don’t kill me,” Byron said, “but… I got a piano for the kid.”
“Why would I kill you?” Emily asked, “Getting a piano is a good thing.”
“I don’t know. You weren’t exactly pleased with the last purchase I made…”
The piano purchase was worth it just to see Mandy’s eyes light up at the sight of the polished wooden instrument gleaming with that brand-new shine.
“I can play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?” she asked, incredulous.
“Yeah, daddy got this for you,” Emily said. “Try it out.”
Mandy sat down on the bench with great poise and began to play. She remembered everything Sylvia had taught her and made no mistakes.
“You weren’t kidding, she really is good!” Byron said.
The only problem was… Mandy knew how to play only one piece, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She never seemed to get tired of it, although the same thing could not be said for her parents.
After about the hundredth time Mandy played the song, Emily decided to take her daughter for an outing.
“Where are you two off to?” Byron asked as she saw Emily getting ready to go out. He looked relieved to have a break from the constant piano playing.
“We’re going to the beach,” Emily said.
“But it’s raining!”
“Oh…” As she looked out the window, the first heavy drops of a downpour began to fall. “We’ll go to the pool instead. And after that maybe we’ll swing by Sylvia’s so she can teach Mandy to play a new tune.”
