Chapter 8
1227 Words
Jade knew it was now or never.
She needed to escape, or her life would become a living hell.
She took a deep breath before gently knocking on the door.
Whatever she planned to do, she had to be smart about it.
She heard the click of the lock, and the door slowly opened on its own.
Jade walked into Xavier's room.
He looked busy with some papers and his laptop.
"You want something?" he asked without turning to her.
"Um... I, um... are you busy? I can come by later," she stammered.
"What do you want?" He finally turned to her with an arched brow.
This was definitely not the time to ask for favors.
He was either angry or stressed.
"I... never mind." She turned to leave, but the door shut before she reached it.
"You missed me?" He walked toward her.
"No!"
"Too bad." He gave her a small smile.
"I mean... you look tired, and I don't want to disturb you, really." She stepped back.
"Isn't it sweet that you care about me?" He followed her.
"I don't! I... mean, I wanted to ask if I could go to the mall, but you're really busy." She smiled.
"Yeah, I'm busy. I can't go with you." He went back to his desk.
Jade rolled her eyes.
"You can go alone if you want." He searched through one of the drawers.
"Really!?" she asked.
He walked back to her.
"Why not? Here." He placed a gold card in her hand. "Buy whatever you want."
He kissed her on the cheek and went back to his work.
"How much do you have on here?" she found herself asking.
He swiveled his chair around.
"I'm sure it'll cover whatever you want to buy." He laughed.
"And I can go alone?" she asked again.
"Yeah. Maybe I'll join you next time. A driver is available, and you can take whichever car you want," he said dismissively.
Why was he being so nice?
Did he just give her permission to go out on her own with a card that probably contained millions?
Jade chose a red Ferrari that drove her to her desired mall.
She walked around for a few minutes and finally bought ice cream and doughnuts.
She constantly felt watched and tried to discreetly look around, but she found nothing.
Jade finally sat down and scanned the area.
Someone was definitely watching her, but who?
Nobody looked suspicious.
Everyone seemed to be having a great time.
On her way to get another round of ice cream and doughnuts, Jade bumped into someone and accidentally stained a woman's blouse with ice cream.
"Can't you watch where you're going?" the woman angrily asked.
"I wouldn't have bumped into you if you were watching where you were going." Jade offered her a napkin, but the woman only shot her a dirty look.
"Keep that diseased thing away from me." She looked down at her white blouse. "Mannerless people. You don't eat while you walk. Is that so hard?" She pulled out some tissues and cleaned herself.
"Okay, don't you dare insult me," Jade said angrily.
"Or else what?" The woman gave her a challenging look.
Jade assessed her.
She looked about the same age as Jade—slim, tall, with a curvy figure. She wore cargo pants, a white turtleneck blouse, and carried a Gucci handbag.
"You don't want to see me angry," Jade replied.
The woman looked her up and down.
"I don't have time to waste on some spoiled brat."
"And who's to say?"
"I don't need to be told. Your distasteful choice of dress, poorly styled hair, and that awkward ring on your finger. I'm sure your dad found you an old billionaire who easily won their affection in exchange for you. That's what girls like you do these days. They threw you into his disgusting arms to make some money out of you, obviously."
"How dare you!?" Jade's face turned red.
"Oh, shut up! I know your type. You're nothing but a social climber and a fortune hunter."
The woman roughly pushed Jade and walked away.
After a few hours at the mall, Jade finally returned to the house.
The woman's words kept ringing in her head.
How could someone be so rude to a complete stranger?
She was bitter, but what did that have to do with Jade?
Or had they met before, and the woman was carrying some kind of grudge?
"No, I don't know her, and I've never met her," Jade muttered to herself, dropping her purse onto the bed.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
"Distasteful choice of dress."
But Xavier bought this dress for her, and he had made it clear that he liked it.
So why were a stranger's words getting to her?
Maybe the woman was right.
Her parents did sell her off to save the company, so in a way, they had used her.
Jade took off her ring and placed it on the vanity.
She curled up on her bed and closed her eyes as tears soaked into her pillow.
"Wake up."
She felt someone poke her.
When she opened her eyes, Xavier was standing a few inches away from her bed.
"I want to sleep." She turned to the other side.
"It's seven," he stated. "Let's have dinner. I'll run you a bath."
All she heard were his footsteps and then, after a while, silence.
"Jade," he called coldly.
"What is it!?" She angrily sat up. "Stop suffocating me, okay? First, you bought me, and now you're forcing me to marry you. You've locked me up, and I don't have a family anymore! God, I hate you so much!"
She jumped off the bed and slammed the bathroom door shut.
Jade quietly ate her food with Xavier seated across from her.
"How was the mall?" he broke the silence.
"Can you stop? We are not a real thing. This is all fake, so quit pretending like we're a happy couple." She poured herself some whiskey.
"I told you not to take your ring off." He placed it on the table between them.
She angrily put it back on.
"It is too heavy, and it gives people the wrong idea about me!" She dropped her fork.
"Like?"
"Gold digger. Fortune hunter." She counted them off.
"Isn't that true?" He arched a brow.
Jade stared at him in shock.
She had never asked him for anything.
She was only here because he forced her to be.
So how was she a gold digger?
"You forced me to come with you. I didn't ask you for anything. So how am I a gold digger?" She was obviously hurt by his words.
She had never been an opportunist, so why would someone judge her like that?
And the fact that he was sitting there acting like all of this was normal made it even worse.
"Your parents sold you to me, so technically, all of you are gold diggers. And in a way, you profited too. Isn't it your company as well?" He smiled.
"I'm not responsible for what my father did. Goodnight."
She stood up, but he grabbed her arm and pushed her back into her seat.
"I'm not done talking." He glared at her.
"Hey, Xavier."
A sweet voice made them both turn toward the balcony doors.
- Writer
