When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

###Chapter 12 Used as a Pawn

Hazel Hawthorne knew better than anyone how much Aiden Xavier loved Raina Lowell. After all, the only reason he’d married her was because of Raina.

Fiona Forrest didn’t approve of Raina and had even declared that Raina should never dream of stepping foot into the Xavier family home. To avoid being forced by his mother to marry some other woman, Aiden had chosen to partner up with Hazel.

His only goal was to have her hold the title of Mrs. Xavier for Raina, making it easier for Raina to marry into the family after he and Hazel divorced.

Hazel suddenly realized, ’Isn’t everything I’m doing now just clearing the way for Raina?’

As she’d thought, she was just a pawn, and Aiden Xavier was the one using her.

Still, her arrangement with Aiden was mutually beneficial. It wasn’t like she was getting the short end of the stick.

Having come to this conclusion, Hazel wandered back into the house. She had just been wondering why Aiden was back when she saw him coming down from the second floor, laptop bag in hand.

"You’re leaving again?" The question slipped out unconsciously.

To Aiden, it sounded like Hazel was asking him to stay.

Aiden walked up to Hazel and stopped. "Do you want me to stay?"

Hazel looked startled and quickly shook her head. "You’re reading too much into it. I was just thinking there was no way you’d actually come back. Turns out you were just grabbing your laptop."

"Getting your laptop is such a minor thing. You could have just sent your secretary. Why would a busy man like you make the trip yourself?" Hazel said casually. Looking at the bag in his hand, she couldn’t help but think something was wrong with his head.

"I won’t be around for a while. You’ll need to handle my mother," Aiden said, his face devoid of expression. It didn’t detract from his noble, princely air; if anything, it added the alluring charm of a cold, powerful CEO.

Hazel calmly averted her gaze. "I know."

He continued, "Raina isn’t well. I’m going to be taking care of her for a while. If my mother asks, you know what to do, right?"

"What happens between Raina and your mother isn’t for me to get involved in. But I know what my role is, so you don’t have to worry." For a second, Hazel almost thought Aiden was actually explaining his plans to her.

"Hazel," Aiden stressed, "my mother is very fond of you." Fiona’s fondness for Hazel was beyond his comprehension, but it was precisely why he had chosen to cooperate with her and enter this contract marriage.

Hazel waved a dismissive hand. "Fine, I know what to do. Nothing’s even happened yet. If my mother-in-law finds out, we’ll figure out how to handle it then."

Aiden was clearly unsatisfied with her answer. He was about to bring up her father, but Hazel cut him off. "And don’t you forget our three rules! The third one is that I get to go out and work!"

"Fine. Just don’t embarrass me when you’re out there working."

"Heh, you can rest assured on that front. I’ll be working under the name Hazel Hawthorne, not as Mrs. Xavier."

Aiden sneered. "See that you do."

After seeing Aiden out, Hazel felt a wave of relief. She was more comfortable living here alone. When Raina had been staying over, she’d felt completely out of place.

It was as if Raina had become the lady of the house, and Hazel was just a guest.

Thinking of Raina, Hazel couldn’t help but mock herself. ’To think I actually believed for a second that he and Raina had a fight!’

She’d seen how Aiden treated Raina—he was the model boyfriend. The normally cold, ruthless man became as gentle as water in front of the woman he loved. He was unbelievably tender, considerate, and understanding.

The only thing he didn’t do was hold Raina in his arms and pamper her every second of the day.

So she must have been out of her mind to suspect they had fought. And just like that, reality hit her in the face. Aiden had clearly come to tell her he was going to be by Raina’s side for the foreseeable future.

Hazel collapsed onto the sofa. Seeing her like this, the housekeeper couldn’t help but sigh.

Hazel was the most unfit wife they had ever seen.

She actually let her husband keep a mistress.

But Hazel never cared what others thought. She wasn’t a child anymore; she couldn’t live her life based on the opinions of others.

That evening, Hazel sat with her laptop and started searching for a suitable job. She had studied jewelry design in college, but finding a job in her field would be difficult. And if she wanted to shed the "Mrs. Xavier" title, she would probably have to start from the bottom.

But that wasn’t a problem for her.

Starting at the bottom would be a good way to gain experience. Besides, she hadn’t worked since college, so she was definitely lacking in that department.

Hazel found a company she liked and immediately submitted her pre-written resume. All she could do now was wait for their reply.

To be safe, she sent her resume to a few other companies as well, just in case.

After submitting her resumes, she thought about Dylan Miller’s miscarriage. While the online abuse didn’t really bother her or seriously affect her life, she couldn’t help but want to see how the situation was trending.

People really are masochists. She knew she wouldn’t find anything nice, but she couldn’t resist looking anyway.

The news of Dylan Miller’s miscarriage had shot up the trending charts, holding steady in the top three with its popularity only growing.

A video interview caught Hazel’s eye. Curious, she clicked on it. It was Dylan Miller, being interviewed by a reporter from what was clearly a hospital room.

’It looks like Dylan Miller just can’t sit still. She just woke up and she’s already eager to have reporters cry injustice for her, terrified of missing the chance to cause me trouble.’

In the interview, Dylan Miller had thoroughly painted herself as the victim, and Hazel as the absolute villain.

The reporter was moved to tears, and Dylan sobbed inconsolably. The comments below the video were filled with righteous indignation.

Hazel sat in front of her computer, wanting to cry but having no tears.

’What a damn spectacular show. And I have the honor of playing a major role in it.’

Should she thank Dylan for making her infamous, or for saving a role for her in this drama?

The whole thing was just pathetic.

The vicious first wife, harming the innocent child in the mistress’s womb, all to have Aiden Xavier for herself.

Hazel let out a hollow laugh. She logged into her account and left a brazen comment under the video: "What a great story. After watching, even I think I’m pretty vicious."

Her comment caused an uproar.

Hazel’s reply was met with a storm of verbal abuse from netizens. The vicious, nasty comments were a spectacle in themselves—things she had never seen or even heard of before, spouted in an endless stream of various regional dialects.

As the target of it all, Hazel just laughed, ignored them, and couldn’t be bothered to reply. So as not to disturb her sleep, she simply logged out.

After a restless night, she woke up the next day feeling completely drained. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling dizzy.

She had forgotten to close the window before bed, and the night air had been exceptionally cool. It only made her existing cold that much worse.

Hazel’s reply pushed the drama surrounding Dylan Miller’s miscarriage to its peak.

Hazel, however, went on with her life as usual. When she received a call from one of the companies for an interview, she excitedly got ready to go.

Aiden Xavier’s scandalous press really had no effect on her. But it had quite an effect on him.

*****