Chapter Twenty Three

Third Person Pov "When exactly do you want to hear from me, Corey?" Liam asked, trying to control his anger. "You are making it sound like I don't have a point and I'm only being crazy by trying to antagonise you but that isn't the case and you and I know this. I just asked you if you feel that you're not a part of the problems that we have in this family and I need you to respond to that," Corey replied, with a deep frown on his face. He has always hated the fact that Liam would always be seen as the innocent one and nobody tries to call him out whenever he does something wrong. He was more than certain that the rest of his siblings would probably be thinking that he was only being jealous of Liam or that he was only trying to pass aggression to him but they would never admit that Liam was also making things difficult for the family with the decisions that he was making. "Why in the world would I ever agree that I'm a part of the problem? Listen, Corey, I know where you're getting at with all of this and I understand where you're coming from believe it or not, but I won't ever admit that I'm a part of the problem. If you want to talk about which one of us is a problem then it's most certainly not me because I have done everything to keep this family going and I ended up sacrificing myself to run the family business while you were busy doing god-knows-what," Liam fired back and Corey rolled his eyes. "When are you going to stop repeating the same thing over and over again? We get it, Liam, you have it in that head of yours that you sacrificed yourself to take over the family business when you wanted to do something else but let's be honest here, it's not like mom was going to give the position to any one of us if it wasn't you. You were always the mummy's boy and you were definitely bound to get the position so don't blame us for something that we are not responsible for and stop trying to act like you're a victim," "You want to call me a problem, go right ahead and do that cause I don't care but don't you dare think of yourself as the saint here because you and I know that you're not exactly innocent in all of this and it's high time you just admit your faults and try to correct them," Corey hissed. "This is why I never come for such meetings because I know both of you are only going to get at each other's neck instead of trying to resolve the problem. We're supposed to be talking about mom and how she is hell-bent and having Hannah marry Liam but instead of focusing on that and trying to come up with a solution, you two morons are too caught up in your dislike for each other and you are allowing it to bother the rest of us," Jessica hissed furiously as she could no longer stand both her brothers. The fact that Liam and Corey were arguing was nothing new to any one of them here because they always ended up experiencing this whenever they tried to have a siblings meeting to clear up misunderstandings or talk about something they didn't like and Jessica hated to be there whenever they fought because she had a close relationship with both of her brothers and she just always found them very childish and embarrassing whenever they got into their foolish fights. "That is exactly why I want Liam to admit that he also has something to do with him and he knows perfectly well that I'm talking about that girlfriend of his. Why exactly aren't you guys seeing what I'm seeing or thinking what I'm thinking? You mentioned earlier Jessica that the only way mom can snap back to her right senses and stop acting so desperate is if the collection is a success and if Garrison ends up selling the shares to her but the problem now is, how is the collection going to bring success to us when the director is supporting a criminal?" Corey voiced out and Liam fumed internally. He already knew where Corey was going with everything that he had been saying and he was trying so hard not to get upset and flare up but then again, Corey kept giving him reasons to be even more upset and now that he had directly mentioned Gabriella, Liam knew that it was only a matter of time before he was no longer able to keep himself in control and he feared that his anger would push him into a fist fight with Corey even though he didn't want something like that to happen in front of his younger sisters. "Corey, I mentioned that we should try and talk about things that relate to us but I don't think it is appropriate to bring in such a sensitive topic and you can't call her a criminal as far as she hasn't been declared as one by the court," Tyler chimed in quickly. He already noticed that Liam was clenching and unclenching his fist and he didn't want them to get into a fist fight of any sort so he had to chime in and stop Corey from saying anything else that could trigger Liam and cause a serious fight. "This is why I can't stand you guys. You're always trying to take his side and act like I'm the bad guy that's always trying to antagonise him. Liam is aware that if that girl gets convicted of attempted murder, it is going to put our family in a lot of trouble and also ruin the hard work of the people that are working on the collection at the moment and hoping that it is a success so that AT fashion doesn't fall into a state of bankruptcy and instead of worrying about our future, he's too focused on a girl that could most likely ruin our lives," Corey argued. He just couldn't understand why none of them could ever admit the truth and call Liam out and why they just always chose to keep quiet about things and try to pretend like everything was okay when it wasn't. "So what exactly is your point Corey? What is it you're trying to say? Are you insinuating that Gabriella is a criminal and that she's going to be behind the downfall of AT fashion? Is that what you think? Listen, Corey, I don't know what goes through that head of yours most of the time but I need you to realise that, you can't always expect things to go the way you think they should. Just because Gabriella is in the situation that she is in right now doesn't mean that Liam should abandon his girlfriend all in the name of saving the company," "He believes that she is innocent and I also think that she is because I've met Gabriella before and I've also met Martin and I doubt Gabriella would want to harm Martin so until the court proves Gabriella guilty of that crime, I have no intention of condemning her and asking Liam to end things with her for the sake of the company because you seem to be forgetting that, Gabriella's situation isn't our only problem here and there are many more reasons why things could go wrong even with the release of this collection," Tyler fired back and Corey scoffed. "I would have been more surprised if you'd taken my side and tried to understand where I'm coming from. You people are so blinded by this crazy trust you have in someone that you don't even know all that well and you're willing to put the company in jeopardy over your stupid faith in somebody that could turn out to be a criminal. Tell me what exactly makes you think that she is not guilty of the crime that she's been accused of because I certainly can't say she's innocent just because she has an innocent-looking face," "I'm not trying to accuse her of being a murderer or anything like that but we have to be sensible because a lot is at stake for us and if she turns out to be guilty of the crime, not only is she going to go to jail, we are also going to be on the verge of losing everything and only a miracle can end up saving us then. Nobody would want to associate with a brand that supports criminals even when the prosecution is so certain that she's the one that tried to kill her friend," Corey argued and Tyler could not believe him. He has tried on several occasions to talk sense into Corey's head and let him know that he shouldn't always try to see the negative side of things and that even if he had certain thoughts about sensitive issues like this, he should always know when and when not to talk but Corey never listened to him and he had a habit of just saying things as brashly as he wanted to without ever thinking of the consequences of his words. "I didn't want to say anything just yet because I wanted to listen to you and I was also trying to understand where you're coming from but listen, Corey, I feel like you're not even trying to make a point on how things could go wrong for the company, instead, you're only insisting on this issue with Gabriella because you're trying to find a fault with Liam because you have this crazy obsession in your head and you just want him to seem like he isn't as perfect as he claims, according to you," Cassidy said, after listening and observing for a while. She had agreed with Corey at first because she could understand where I was coming from and she could also understand his concern but now that she thought about it, she realised that Corey's words weren't exactly because he was concerned about the company and how whatever happens with Gabriella could affect the company, instead, she sensed that his only concern was making Liam look bad and trying to make it seem like Liam was making a bad decision by choosing to support Gabriella. She didn't know who Gabriella was and she didn't exactly support her or was against that in any way and she would have supported Corey's claims if he wasn't being so malicious about it. "What are you trying to say, Cassidy? Are you accusing me of trying to make Liam look bad when I'm only trying to talk sense into your heads and make you guys realise that Liam is making a bad decision by supporting Gabriella because it could end up hurting us? Why can you guys understand him but yet you cannot understand where I am coming from?" Corey questioned, genuinely confused as to why they just couldn't understand where he was coming from. As far as he was concerned, Liam was the one that deserved to be attacked, not him, because he wasn't the one putting their family reputation on the line just because of a woman that he had only known for a few months. "It's not like I don't understand you Corey because I agree with you in a way and I understand where you're coming from but at the same time, I also agree with Tyler and I don't think we should condemn her as a criminal when the court hasn't done that. The best thing we can do right now is to hope that she's proven not guilty and even if she ends up being guilty, it doesn't automatically mean that our lives are going to be over," "You think you're making a point here by trying to get Liam to admit that he's responsible for a lot of things and I would have supported you if you weren't being so malicious about this entire situation. I know you're just trying to make Liam look bad, Corey and that doesn't make any sense to me and I feel like it's high time we stop with this whole back and forth and just round all of this up so we can go home," Cassidy responded and Corey let out a frustrated sigh. "You people are crazy," he muttered under his breath, feeling rather frustrated that nobody was on his side.