When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

### Chapter 30: Who Dares to Make You Angry?

Hazel Hawthorne disliked flippant men, and Julian Sterling struck her as exactly that—the type to hit on any random person he saw. Besides, after marrying Aiden Xavier, she had become immune to handsome men. When she saw someone who looked like Julian, she naturally superimposed Aiden’s image onto them.

To sum it up in one sentence: handsome men were all scumbags, all flash and no substance. The more handsome a man was, the harder he was to control, and the more of a player he tended to be.

Hazel left the balcony, mentally blacklisting the spot. The company wasn’t her private domain, after all. She had to be more cautious to avoid unknowingly offending someone and getting stabbed in the back.

Hazel didn’t dwell on her encounter with Julian Sterling. She went to and from work as usual and spent her time at home alone as usual. The only difference was that Aiden Xavier had been showing up at home a lot more recently, which made her, a woman long accustomed to solitude, feel thoroughly uncomfortable.

Hazel thought carefully about when Aiden Xavier’s behavior had started to change.

It was probably after Fiona Forrest told them to have a child, and Aiden agreed without a second thought.

An inexplicable fear crept into Hazel. This fear stemmed from the possibility that Aiden was actually developing feelings for her.

Hazel hoped she and Aiden could eventually part on good terms, and she didn’t want any emotional entanglements with him. Deep down, she felt he had far too many romantic scandals. She couldn’t even count the number of women she’d had to deal with for him on both hands.

Falling in love with a man like Aiden Xavier would surely mean a lifetime of exhaustion.

Her father, Harrison Hawthorne, was a prime example. He had a mistress while he was married. The man her mother had loved her entire life ended up marrying that mistress less than a month after her mother passed away, and he even had a secret daughter with the woman.

She could never truly feel the pain of her mother’s betrayal, but she had witnessed firsthand a man’s heartlessness. It made her question the very idea of unwavering love.

She believed that steadfast, unwavering love existed in the world, but she also understood it was a one-in-a-million chance. Her mother hadn’t found it, and she didn’t believe she would either.

All Aiden Xavier saw was Hazel Hawthorne’s distance. Even when he appeared before her, she would only offer a faint smile, just like when they had first gotten married—polite and respectful, but with nothing to say to each other, merely maintaining the facade of a married couple.

Aiden didn’t understand the reason for Hazel’s sudden change.

A woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea. One second, she could be laughing and talking with you; the next, the storm hits.

He could read anyone in the business world, but when it came to relationships, he couldn’t figure out a woman’s thoughts to save his life. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Hazel went upstairs as if nothing was wrong. Aiden sat in the living room, staring blankly at her retreating figure. When she didn’t look back, he suddenly felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. He didn’t even know why he had come home.

What he understood even less was why he had turned down a chance to be with Raina Lowell, choosing to come here instead.

Aiden’s frustration mounted. The vast living room felt suffocating. The maids bustled about, pretending to be busy with their tasks, but they kept stealing glances at him, quickly looking away whenever they thought he might notice.

Aiden looked like a husband who had been given the cold shoulder by his wife—lonely, desolate, and rather pitiful.

After a long while, Aiden stood up with a grim expression and left without a word.

’I must be crazy,’ he thought, ’coming back here just to be met with her cold shoulder.’ He knew Hazel was unhappy at the Sterling Group and had planned to ask if she wanted to work at his own company. But her indifferent attitude had wounded his pride.

His returning home was already a proactive gesture on his part. He couldn’t be expected to grovel and beg her to come work for his company.

After leaving, Aiden drove straight to the restaurant.

Julian Sterling was seated in the spacious private room, a cigarette held in one hand and a glass of water in the other. He exuded an air of elegant laziness, a faint smile playing on his lips, which widened when he saw Aiden Xavier push the door open with a deadpan expression.

"Well, well, who’s gotten on our dear Young Master Xavier’s bad side?" Julian was all smiles, not looking in the least bit serious. He seemed more interested in watching the drama unfold than actually helping Aiden vent.

Aiden shot Julian a cool glance. "You talk too much."

Julian poured Aiden a glass of warm water and asked in a teasing, punch-worthy tone, "Come on, tell me who it was. I’ll definitely help you teach them a lesson."

"Besides, I’m really curious who has the nerve to make you this angry."

Aiden recalled that Julian was a master womanizer. Thinking of Hazel’s recent strange behavior, he frowned, briefly considering whether he should ask this veteran player for advice. After a moment’s thought, he dismissed the idea.

Seeing that Aiden refused to say anything, Julian made a clever guess. "It couldn’t be your precious darling, Raina Lowell, could it?"

Everyone knew that Raina Lowell was Aiden Xavier’s darling.

The phrase "precious darling" suddenly sounded exceptionally jarring to Aiden. He instantly recalled how Hazel also liked to use that term to describe Raina Lowell, yet his attitude toward Raina was no different from his attitude toward any other woman.

Everyone knew he was always incredibly generous with women.

"No. It has nothing to do with Raina," Aiden immediately denied.

"Besides Raina, who else could it be?"

"Is Raina the only person you can think of?"

A sudden flash of inspiration hit Julian. "Don’t tell me it’s your wife, Hazel Hawthorne?"

Aiden remained expressionless, just sweeping a cool glance over Julian.

Julian couldn’t be sure if he had guessed correctly. The way Aiden was staring at him sent a strange chill down his spine. Then again, he figured Hazel was just someone Aiden had found to marry to appease his family.

"Let’s drink."

Aiden resolutely refused to say more. Julian knew that even if he pressed the issue relentlessly, he wouldn’t get a thing out of him, so he had to drop it.

One doesn’t need wine to get drunk when their heart is already heavy.

The thought of Hazel made Aiden’s head ache. The alcohol tasted like plain water as he downed glass after glass.

Julian was taken aback. He quietly put down his glass. "Buddy, from the way you’re drinking, no one would believe you if you said you haven’t been heartbroken a thousand times over."

Aiden shook off Julian’s hand and scoffed. "A man like me? Experience heartbreak?"

Julian roared with laughter. For handsome, wealthy men like them, women were always throwing themselves at their feet. What was heartbreak? It was something they would never experience in their lifetime. They were the ones who broke hearts, not the other way around.

Alcohol is a wonderful thing; it brings joy. And so, at this moment, Aiden Xavier and Julian Sterling were very, very joyful.

The two of them went to a bar together. The music was intoxicating, the dancing seductive. Women with gorgeous figures, both sexy and fiery, twisted their bodies with abandon to the deafening beat.

Men pressed close to women, swaying along with them.

The DJ whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and Aiden and Julian found the best vantage point in the house—to be precise, the most conspicuous spot.

Their arrival made nearly every woman in the club want to go over and strike up a conversation.

Julian shot Aiden a wicked grin, brimming with confidence. "Even if I’ve retired from the scene, the moment I make an appearance, I can still stir up a storm."

Aiden stood up, lazily resting his long-fingered hands on the railing. He held a slim cigarette between his fingers, his gaze both indifferent and utterly mesmerizing.

*****