When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

###Chapter 13: Hazel Has Changed!

Aiden Xavier never imagined Hazel Hawthorne would respond online. He also never expected Dylan Miller to keep slinging mud at her. Dylan’s series of actions had alerted Fiona Forrest, leading to Aiden being bombarded by her calls first thing in the morning.

His face dark, Aiden called Hazel. At that moment, she was happily getting ready, her mood uncontrollably joyful at the thought of her upcoming interview.

As long as she found a job, it would mean she could finally escape Aiden’s shadow.

’She’s not answering?’ Aiden’s face darkened. He glanced at the time. ’Hazel must still be asleep. Only she could sleep like a log even if the sky were falling. Nothing could wake her.’

Aiden read the online attacks against Hazel, suppressed the fury raging within him, and went downstairs. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Raina Lowell had already prepared some soup. She looked at Aiden, her expression pitiable. "Aiden, why do you look so grim?"

Aiden suppressed his displeasure. "I have something urgent to handle."

Raina walked up, carefully tugged on the corner of Aiden’s shirt, and asked tentatively, "Is it because your mother found out about you and me? Is she giving you a hard time?"

"It has nothing to do with you." Aiden affectionately patted Raina’s head. "Don’t let your imagination run wild. You’re still recovering, so just focus on resting at home. I’ll handle everything."

Knowing Aiden cared for her, Raina’s anxiety subsided. However, she still asked apprehensively, "Aiden, about you staying here... do you really trust that Ms. Hawthorne won’t tell your mother?"

Raina knew very well that as soon as Fiona Forrest found out Aiden was with her, she would immediately come and drag him away.

"Don’t worry, she won’t do that." Aiden’s confident tone made Raina uneasy. She couldn’t believe Aiden trusted Hazel so completely.

She had known from the start that Hazel and Aiden were just a fake couple, so she’d never taken Hazel seriously. But Aiden’s current tone of certainty and his trust in Hazel made her feel a strange sense of unease.

Raina offered a faint smile. "Since you trust Ms. Hawthorne, Aiden, then I’ll trust her too. I know you would never leave me."

She threw herself into his arms, leaning against Aiden’s chest. "I can give up anything, but I could never give you up, Aiden."

Aiden patted Raina’s shoulder, took a sip of the soup she had carefully prepared, and then left.

’Hazel was sleeping earlier, she should be awake by now.’

Aiden continued calling Hazel, but there was still no answer.

’Just how much can that woman sleep!’

Aiden was seething. He still hadn’t been able to reach Hazel by the time he got to the office. On the way, his secretary saw him focused on one thing: calling Hazel.

When one call went unanswered, he’d immediately dial again.

This repeated over and over, but Hazel never picked up.

"Find out what Hazel is doing at home."

Aiden stopped the secretary, who was about to leave. "And while you’re at it, dig up some dirt on Dylan Miller."

’Dylan Miller faked a pregnancy with my child to confront Hazel and force my hand. My mother had him blacklisted, but he’s still making trouble, even using online mobs to attack her.’

’Hazel might be able to tolerate it, but I can’t.’

’He’s messing with the wrong person.’

’Dylan Miller must have a death wish!’

When Hazel saw the dozens of missed calls from Aiden on her phone, her heart tightened. ’Has Aiden lost his mind? Calling so many times this early in the morning?’

’It’s a good thing I have an interview this morning, otherwise I’d definitely be asleep. Wouldn’t I have been woken up by his calls then?’

’Waking people up like that is something only a real jerk would do.’

Grumbling to herself, Hazel called Aiden back.

The speed at which Aiden answered made Hazel suspect he had been waiting for her call.

"What do you want?"

"What were you doing? Why didn’t you answer your phone?" Aiden’s deep voice carried a hint of anger.

’That makes sense, I guess. Who would dare not to answer Aiden’s calls?’

’And who else has the ability to make Aiden call over and over again like that?’

Hazel felt a flicker of pride but was careful not to show it. She cleared her throat to cover her emotions. "I was driving. My phone was on silent, so I didn’t notice. Did you call so many times about something important?"

"Don’t worry about the Dylan Miller situation. I’ll handle it."

"You called me just to tell me that?" Hazel was utterly astonished. "Aiden, is there something wrong with you, or am I still dreaming?"

Aiden was choked with anger, his face livid. His secretary, who had just come in, saw him wearing an expression like he’d just eaten shit. The secretary didn’t dare make a sound, even breathing carefully, terrified of setting off his boss’s volatile temper.

"It was my mother. She called and told me to handle this." Aiden was adept at controlling his emotions and expression; within a few short seconds, he was back to normal. "You’re the one who didn’t handle this properly, which is why things have gotten this far."

The implication was that Aiden was cleaning up Hazel’s mess.

"What?" Hazel expertly maneuvered her car into the parking spot. "Aiden, you need to take responsibility for your own words. At least *I* can’t get Dylan Miller pregnant."

’Who knew that even after being blacklisted, Dylan Miller would still pull a fake miscarriage stunt?’

She grabbed her documents from the passenger seat, got out of the car nonchalantly, and started walking toward the building in front of her. "Aiden, if you weren’t out there womanizing, would I be here cleaning up your mess? And getting treated like the bad guy for it?"

"When you get to the root of it, this is all your fault, Aiden."

"I called to tell you that I’m handling Dylan Miller. As for Raina, I’m reminding you again—don’t let anything slip. If my mother finds out... you know the consequences."

"Fine, fine, I get it. You don’t want me to get involved, so I won’t. It’s not my problem, it has nothing to do with me, and frankly, I can’t be bothered. I have no intention of meddling in your business with Raina. In fact, I can’t wait for you two to get your happy ending so I can be free of all this."

Hazel abruptly hung up, kicked a small pebble at her feet, and cursed under her breath, "Fucking hell. What rotten luck."

Who had she offended? She was just trying to live her life, but Aiden only ever brought her trouble. And the worst part was, she couldn’t get away from him.

This was the first time Hazel had ever hung up on Aiden.

Aiden never in his wildest dreams imagined Hazel would pull a move like that. He stared blankly at his phone for a long moment, only snapping out of it when his secretary spoke cautiously.

’Hazel has changed! She sees divorce as an escape!’

’How many women dream of marrying him!’

’Ungrateful!’

"Did you find anything?"

"The Madam received an interview notice from Sterling Group this morning. She should be on her way there now."

’Hazel did say she was driving. She didn’t sleep in this morning just to go to an interview?’

Aiden sneered. "And the dirt on Dylan Miller?"

"All of Dylan Miller’s dirt, from his debut to the present, is in here."

Aiden couldn’t be bothered to look. It was hardly news that someone like Dylan Miller would do anything to get ahead, including selling his body. However, the videos he had recorded to cater to the depraved tastes of certain people were more than enough to get him completely canceled online.*****