His laugh rang hollow, “Really? Well let‘s sit down.”
He sat down on the bed but when she came to sit by him, he moved to an armchair. Gladys remained where she was but her mind was in turmoil. Something was certainly wrong.
“What happened to the twenty percent stock of my company which I gave you for an engagement gift?” Edward queried without preamble. He‘d decided to get direct to the point.
Gladys was thrown off balance, “How do you mean?”
“Do you still own them?” He sat forward and his tension was obvious from the nervous shaking of his legs.
“Yes I do, the certificate should be with the stockbroker. You introduced them to me. What‘s going on?”
“It is not with the brokers.” The statement was flat.
Gladys struggled to understand what he was saying. He couldn‘t mean they were burgled. “What happened?”
Edward leaned back. “Don‘t be facetious Gladys. Didn‘t you instruct your account officer to sell off the shares for you?”
“Sell? Of course not! I can‘t do that without telling you…”
Edward powered on over her words, “When did you hear of the takeover bid and why didn‘t you tell me?”
“What takeover bid?” Gladys was totally lost. Kanayo had mentioned something about insider trading but no bids.
“You don‘t have to pretend. I know about everything.”
Gladys was tired of the games. “Edward why don‘t you tell me what you already know? I still don‘t understand.” She felt like screaming out of frustration. After their long trip, she wasn‘t in the most patient frame of mind.
“Stop this cat-and-mouse game!” Edward snarled as he got to his feet. “All I want to know is when you were contacted by the rival company that wants to buy me out.”
Gladys eyes widened before she could stop it. “Edward, I‘m telling you the truth. I didn‘t know of any takeover bid and I wasn‘t contacted by anybody. Why won‘t you listen to me?”
He looked at her and sighed, “Does this relationship mean anything to you at all? Those times you said you love me, the times we made love, for God‘s sakes…” Edward slumped back into his seat. After all the conversations they‘d had, sharing their visions and goals. They‘d agreed to be on the same page always, to share everything and support each other.