Aaron was in a good mood until Keeley refused to let him keep her container. He knew what this meant—a rejection. "Don't see me again" was practically written on her forehead. She still hated him. He sighed. If he'd known this would be his fate after his rebirth, he would have preferred to die permanently during his heart attack. It would have been better than this torture. She knew the truth, but it didn't change anything. She wouldn't forgive him, so what was the point?

He stared at the cupcakes in his container, suddenly tempted to throw it across the room. They weren't a sign of sincerity; she just felt bad he'd helped her and couldn't repay him properly.

He flopped onto the couch, defeated. His cat, Dinah, meowed and jumped onto his stomach.

"At least you still like me, Dinah," he sighed.

"Bachelor party ideas?" Aiden asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. "You've come to the right person, my friend."

He'd come to Aaron's office to report on Lacy Knighton—she'd been spending a lot of time in the Flatiron District, unusual for a woman of her status. Aaron knew of no connection between her and the tech community. This needed further investigation, but meanwhile, Aaron needed serious help. He knew nothing about planning a guys' night out.

"Firstly, we need drinking games. Cameron's not interested in other women, so a stripper is out…"

"A stripper?!"

Aiden looked at him incredulously. "Yeah, that's totally normal for bachelor parties."

Aaron had never been to one. He knew some men went all out before marriage, but he wasn't close to any of them and hadn't been invited—not that he would have gone anyway.

"I think we should go paintballing. Cameron mentioned wanting to try it but lacked a group."

Aaron's mouth twitched. Paintballing? He'd never done such a thing in either of his lives. Keeley had suggested it once, and he'd refused. But he had no better ideas.

"Alright," Aaron sighed. "That works. You know more about drinking games than I do…I'll reserve a paintball place if you figure those out."

"Done, my dude. This is going to be epic!"

Aiden was clearly excited. He thrived on chaos, despite mostly living in a darkened room on his computer. It was perplexing how contradictory his interests were. Aaron had thought he only cared about video games.

Nova must have had a positive influence. Aaron had received Aiden's travel bills; they'd visited many museums and historical sites. He hadn't thought Aiden was interested in such things.

Then again, he was one to talk. He'd done countless things he didn't care about just because Keeley wanted him to. Love had that effect.

"While you're here…have you noticed any further communication between my father and any of the Knightons?" Aaron asked.

Aiden hadn't been around during the share transfer issue, but he'd learned what happened afterward. He was optimistic, like Cameron. He found it suspicious, but hey, Aaron got another ten percent of the shares, closer to world domination! (Aiden's words.)

"Nope. Makes me wonder if he's really planning on getting Lacy to replace the fake me."

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"But if he wasn't, he wouldn't have left his wife's name off the document…None of this makes sense."

In Aaron's past life, Alistair had said he wouldn't get his planned ten percent because he was marrying a nobody. Yet this document allowed him to marry anyone and still get additional shares as long as she bore a son. There had to be more to it.

Was there any other interpretation besides his father trying to get him to switch fiancées to that witch? There were no other women Alistair had ever schemed with regarding his son.

"He has to be," Aaron muttered. "It doesn't make sense otherwise."

"Maybe he just didn't think of it? He is getting old," Aiden said, shrugging, then unwrapping a candy bar and eating it in front of his boss.

"Being in your mid-fifties isn't that old."

Aaron was mentally older than his father by about a decade. No wonder the kid always corrected his slang. He hadn't been around kids enough to pick it up when younger, and later, he wasn't around them at all.

Keeley had called him old too, after learning his true age. Ah, he missed her. She'd delivered the cupcakes two weeks ago, and he hadn't heard from her since.

She updated her social media more frequently now, but almost anyone could see those posts. She'd posted three Instagram pictures: one of a fancy dinner, one of her cat, and one with her dad at a Yankees game. They looked happy in their jerseys and hats. The caption read, "Thinking of our favorite Yankees fan today" with a heart emoji. He assumed it referred to her brother, Kaleb.

"Of course you'd think that; you were born old," Aiden scoffed, snapping Aaron out of his thoughts.

If only he knew how true that was.

"You don't know how to have fun," Aiden continued. "I'm going to cream you in paintball, and it's gonna be great!"

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

"It's a promise."

Aiden grinned, brimming with confidence, practically bouncing. Young people were so easily excitable. Maybe Aaron really was old.