The next morning, Aiden woke up very early, as usual, and prepared for work.
He had already made up his mind to ignore Ariel when she tried to get close to him again that morning.
The events of yesterday were still fresh in his mind; he couldn’t believe Ariel would be so bold to try and seduce him, but that wasn’t the only thing that disturbed his sleep throughout the night.
He was angry and frustrated that he couldn’t get those clear green eyes out of his head. He tried countless times to rid the image from his mind, but the pain that flashed through her eyes when he said those awful things to her kept flashing through his mind.
But, he refused to feel guilty. Women were manipulative; they’d go to lengths just to make you fall into their trap, and then they’d show you the stuff they’re made of. So, he wasn’t going to pity her, he knew her game well, and he was going to win her in her own field.
As he walked past her room, he assumed she was still asleep as he heard a noise from in there. He thought it was better that way; he didn’t want to see her before he left for work, as it would automatically spoil the rest of his day.
“Good morning, Sir,” Anna greeted as she carried his breakfast out of the kitchen.
“Morning, Anna, um, have you seen… never mind,” He clenched his fists beside him.
What was he about to ask Anna? About Ariel?
He gritted his teeth and marched out of the house.
“S-sir, breakfast?” Anna asked behind him.
“Never mind,” He said without turning to look at her.
As he walked to his car, he was surprised as he couldn’t find her anywhere. He knew she was an early person from the reports Gregory gave him for the past three months. Or, after what he said to her yesterday, she had decided to stay away from him?
Then that should be a good thing; that’s what he’s always wanted, but why was he still trying to figure out where she was?
“Good morning, boss,” Gregory greeted as he opened the door for Aiden to enter.
Aiden didn’t reply as he elegantly went into the car, his facial features were hard, and his aura was cold as usual.
Gregory didn’t waste any time standing around, he quickly entered the car and drove his boss to the company.
“You said she runs every morning,” Aiden said, it wasn’t a question.
Gregory took a second to understand what his boss was asking him.
“Yes, boss,” Gregory replied as he kept his eyes on the road.
“Then, why didn’t she run today?” Aiden asked.
Gregory didn’t know how to reply; he, too, was wondering the same thing. He had come out at the exact time he knew Ariel would be ready for her morning run but he never saw her.
He thought she might just have decided to sleep in and maybe she was no longer comfortable doing her exercises since the boss had now returned, considering their rigid relationship.
“I think she just slept in, boss,” Gregory replied.
He was starting to sweat in the air-conditioned car. He felt that this discussion was leading to him losing his job.
“What if she didn’t just sleep in?” Aiden asked, his voice getting lower and more formidable.
Gregory gulped; he didn’t understand his boss; why was he asking about Ariel when he didn’t even like her? But he also knew that it might not be because he cared about Ariel, maybe he was just trying to make him understand that he’s failed in his duty. He was supposed to watch Ariel wherever she went, and if it was the case that she had left the house without anyone’s notice, then it was on him.
“I’m sorry boss, I will ask someone to check immediately,” He said with a bow.
Aiden remained silent throughout the whole ride.
The car came to a stop and Gregory quickly went and opened the door for Aiden, bowing to him as he stepped out of the car.
Aiden, aloof and cold, strode into the tall building of his company.
The people at the reception greeted him with their heads bowed as he kept on moving, going toward his private elevator.
“Sir,” A man called cautiously before Aiden could enter his elevator.
He paused and turned his face to the young man beside him.
“Harry?” He called questioningly; his body language was oozing impatience and coldness.
Harry fidgeted with the file in his hands as he summoned the courage to speak to Aiden.
“Mr. Cornell was here earlier, he left you this,” Harry said, stretching the file to Aiden.
“Trash it. He knows the right procedures,” Aiden said and strode into his elevator, leaving Harry’s hand hanging with the file.
Aiden was feeling frustrated; he had thought that not seeing Ariel that morning would leave his mind at peace, but why was he disturbed?
He didn’t care, no, far from it. He didn’t just like it when people breached the contract between them.
Did she think she could just up and run away because she felt like it? No! She thought wrong. He had accepted this damn marriage to please his grandma; she was the only woman he regarded in this world, so if Ariel thought she could sabotage his plan of pleasing his old and weak grandma by escaping from him, she was so wrong.
He would make sure to get her back to his side before the day ran out; after all, she couldn’t have gone far with no money in her pocket.
The elevator opened and he walked into a quiet working area with glass walls showing the view of the whole city. Cubicles were demarcated with glass walls, leaving each employee in their own space.
Only his office had a normal and soundproof wall. He liked his privacy.
As he walked straight to his office, he saw his average-height manager running towards him with his tablet in hand as usual.
“Good morning, Mr. Chaz,” The middle-aged man was panting as he greeted.
“Did you find a replacement, Anthony?” He questioned as he used his thumb to unlock his electronic office door.
He had fired his previous secretary because she was trying to find a chance to seduce him. He didn’t like women, but when it came to business, he did have an exception of working with the few smart ones. But that didn’t mean that being smart removes their gold-digging nature from them, no. After all, his mother was also a very smart woman too.
He always made sure he stated the rules clearly for them, but in the end, they ended up showing their true intentions. That’s why he asked his manager to find him a male secretary this time. It’ll save him a lot of stress.
“Yes, sir, but… it’s a she,” Anthony slowly informed as he followed Aiden into his office.
The office was similar to his office at home, but this one was larger with more sofas to sit.
Aiden heard what Anthony had said and paused his hand from reaching his chair.
“You did what, Anthony?” Aiden asked menacingly.
He turned to Anthony, glaring at him, “My instructions were clear, Anthony. A male secretary! And what did you do? You disobeyed my order!” Aiden’s voice was low but his looks were threatening.
Anthony gulped and took a step back. “I’m sorry, boss, but, Ms. Dew’s portfolio was amazing, even though she’s not had any work experience, she looked very promising, and I’ve just finished an interview with her, I can promise you that she’s exactly what you need for a smooth work right now,” Anthony rushed his words out, gripping his tablet tightly.
Aiden stared at Anthony for a long time. He was angry that he had disobeyed his order, but he trusted his judgment. After five years of working with his manager, he realized that he made good choices in choosing employees and in other aspects of work.
“I need to see this Ms. Dew. If she’s good as you said, then she starts to work immediately; I have piles of work waiting to be done,” Aiden said and pressed a button beside his chair, and the chair automatically rolled out for him to sit and slowly rolled his legs back under the table as he sat down.
“Yes, sir, I will bring her right away,” Anthony said and rushed out of the office.
Anthony quickly went into his office, which was just three offices away from Aiden’s; he smiled brightly at the girl sitting patiently on the chair and said, “Ms. Dew, the boss is here, let’s go,” he said to the girl.
Together, they walked over to Aiden’s office, the door opened before Anthony could even knock.
“Go right in; good luck,” Anthony said to the girl, who replied with a gentle smile.
Aiden was busy on his large screen when he heard someone come in and shut his door. He didn’t bother looking up until he finished what he was doing.
“You have three minutes, Ms. Dew,” He said, still working on his screen.
“Good morning, Mr. Chaz, thank you for the opportunity,” She said.
Aiden instantly snapped his head away from the screen, wanting to confirm if he heard right or if he was finally losing it by imagining things.
“Ariel?” He called, shocked as he stared at his wife in her cute office wear.