Chapter 5 Just One Million
1473 Words
"What are you doing here?" Jade's delicate brows furrowed as she eyed the Bentley beside Alaric. Did he just get out of that car?
Is this really my good-for-nothing husband?
Or do delivery guys get Bentleys these days?
"I... I was just..." Alaric stammered, shooting a glance at Gideon grinning like a blooming chrysanthemum through the window.
The old man quickly reached out his hand. "Let me buy you dinner to thank you."
Alaric chuckled politely, "No need, sir. You should get going." His voice was edged with urgency.
Without another word, Gideon gave a courteous nod to Jade before his driver sped away.
Jade's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Wasn't that... Mr. Hale, chairman of Nexora Group?
The wealthiest man in Olympus Reach!
And Alaric was in his car?!
"You know Gideon?" Jade whirled around in astonishment.
Alaric shrugged. "Don't know him. The old guy was lost, so I showed him the way."
Old guy?
Jade's lips quivered in fury. Calling the richest man in town an 'old coot'? The nerve!
"Old coot? That's the chairman of Nexora Group!" Jade threw him a withering glare.
He was getting harder to tolerate every day.
The sight of him made her skin crawl. Finally she snapped, "Don't forget, Alaric. My father's hosting dinner at Lumière this weekend. Get a decent gift."
"I never agreed to go," Alaric retorted.
"You—!"
Jade saw red. After finally convincing her father that Alaric would apologize, this was his attitude?
Forget it. What possessed me to marry this loser?
"Fine, whatever!" Jade snapped, her hips swaying angrily as she marched off.
Alaric stared after her, noticing she'd changed outfits.
She'd even put on perfume and makeup.
Alaric's frown deepened as he watched her enter the building, his mind working overtime. What the hell was she doing here? Wasn't Jade supposed to be at the office?
The f*****g Hilton Hotel!
No f*****g way—was Jade actually cheating on him?!
The thought sent white-hot rage through his veins. Here he was, killing himself with two jobs just to pay the bills, while she was sashaying into a luxury hotel?
Oh hell no. He was damn well following her.
Jade's day had gone straight to hell. First, their daughter's heart condition acted up because that i***t Alaric couldn't watch her properly. Then the whole Oscar mess. And just when she thought things couldn't get worse, a critical client pulled a last-minute switcheroo—now demanding she meet at the Hilton.
She'd wanted to refuse, but he'd held the project hostage. What choice did she have?
A f*****g million-dollar deal hung in the balance.
Her phone buzzed. "Mr. Hale? I'm here. Where should I meet you?"
"Sixth floor restaurant," came the sleazy reply.
"On my way," Jade forced out through gritted teeth before hanging up.
She exhaled sharply, conflict written across her face as the elevator doors slid shut.
Alaric came barreling into the lobby just as the elevator swallowed Jade whole. He lunged forward—
"Well look what the cat dragged in—my deadbeat delivery boy brother-in-law."
A voice dripping with venom sliced through the air. Alaric turned to see a glamorous teen girl—Jade's bratty cousin Carrie—leaning against her Ken-doll boyfriend with arms crossed. "Did you get lost on your way to Burger King?"
Carrie sauntered over, working her barely-legal assets like a pro. "Fancy seeing you here, bro. Slumming it with the Hilton crowd now?"
"Babe?" Her boyfriend looked Alaric up and down with the kind of smirk usually reserved for dog s**t on a shoe. "This the loser you told me about?"
Carrie immediately scoffed, "My sister-in-law's husband. Didn't I tell you? His business failed and now he works as a delivery driver. He even borrowed a few thousand dollars from me and still hasn't paid it back."
She'd always looked down on this brother-in-law of hers—what a complete failure.
In her eyes, he was just a toad who'd married above his station.
More like a mooch than a marriage.
Pathetic.
"Wow, so this is the brother-in-law you mentioned?" Her boyfriend burst out laughing, his eyes dripping with mockery. "He's even more pathetic than you described."
Chen Ping's temper flared. No matter what, he was still family—was this how she treated him?
Teaming up with an outsider to humiliate him?
"I'll pay you back," he forced a smile. "I have things to do, so I'll leave you two be."
After all, she was Jade's cousin. As family, he ought to be the bigger person.
If only she knew he was now heir to the world's largest fortune.
What would that smug face look like then?
People—so shallow and ignorant.
"Pay me back?" Carrie sneered. "I've given up hope. With your delivery driver's wages, can you even afford Aria's treatment?"
This brother-in-law was utter trash.
And that child shouldn't have been born!
Naturally, her contempt for Chen Ping extended to his daughter.
His face hardened at her words.
"Carrie, I'm still your elder by marriage. Isn't this disrespect going too far?"
"Pfft." She rolled her eyes. "I never accepted you as family. You're just some leech who married into the Kingsleys."
The audacity!
Pulling rank when he's nothing but garbage!
"No way—he married into your family?" Her boyfriend exclaimed between mocking laughs. "How low can a man sink?"
With a dismissive wave, Carrie tugged her boyfriend away. "Let's go, babe. Just standing near him makes the air feel greasy."
Chen Ping's fists clenched as he watched her sway away, arm-in-arm with her man.
He could still hear them whispering:
"Your brother-in-law's a complete joke."
"He's NOT my brother-in-law! Keep saying that and we're through!"
......
Taking a deep breath, Alaric steadied his emotions. No use arguing with a spoiled brat.
He spun on his heel and bolted for the elevator.
Sixth floor.
After circling half the building, Alaric finally spotted Jade through the glass walls of a Western restaurant.
What the hell?!
What made his blood boil? The revolting sight of a sleazy, balding slob across from Jade, leering as he reached to grope her hand.
Love shines bright? Well this looks green to me - and it's definitely not beautiful.
Alaric's vision went red. He yanked out his phone and dialed Jade.
Inside, Jade had repeatedly dodged Mr. Hale's "friendly" advances, but the creep persisted, his sausage fingers inching closer each time.
The ringing phone was her lifeline.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hale, I need to take this."
She strode outside, feeling the man's beady eyes boring into her back.
"Alaric? What do you want?" Jade stood rigidly by the entrance.
"Look across from you."
Her head snapped up to find Alaric's icy glare locked onto her.
Her delicate brows knitted in suspicion. What's he doing here?
"You're following me?" she hissed, every word dripping with ice as she marched over.
First downstairs, now here?
This wasn't chance - he was tailing me. Disgusting.
Alaric gave a humorless chuckle. "Right place, right time."
His eyes flicked to the slob inside. "Who's the tub of lard? More important than Aria?"
Missing the hospital to canoodle with this creep? Real classy, Jade.
Jade bristled at his interrogation but forced out, "Work meeting. Closing a contract."
"Work meeting?" Alaric's voice turned razor-sharp. "Looked more like he was trying to get in your pants than do business."
Jade's face darkened as she snapped sharply, "Alaric, what are you implying? You think I'm cheating? I'm working myself to the bone every damn day just to afford Aria's medical bills! And you? Delivering takeout with no ambition! When was the last time you humbled yourself to apologize to my parents? You're nothing but a coward!"
Her voice trembled with emotion, tears brimming in her eyes as she turned away, sniffing sharply. "Whatever. Talking to you is pointless. I'm not coming home tonight."
Not coming home?
Alaric stiffened—was she seriously planning to stay out? With that greasy pig?
"What if I could help you?" he offered.
Seeing Jade like this, he knew the deal must be going badly. Probably some pressure tactics at play. A pang of guilt hit him—he'd been too harsh earlier.
"Help me how? You think you can magically land me a million-dollar contract?" Jade let out a mirthless laugh, her smile icy. She'd long stopped expecting anything from him.
"A million bucks? That's nothing. I could—" Alaric began. Money was no object now. Hell, he could buy her entire company with a snap of his fingers. A small deal like this? Child's play.
"Enough, Alaric. Stay out of my business," Jade said coldly before walking briskly back into the restaurant.
After all, you're still my wife.
Watching her retreating figure, Alaric gave a wry smile and pulled out his phone.
- Writer
