When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

###Chapter 73: Is That Going Too Far?

The voice on the other end cut off abruptly. It was hard to tell if Raina Lowell had hung up or was simply too shocked by Hazel Hawthorne’s voice to know what to say, and had chosen silence instead.

Hazel Hawthorne moved the phone away from her ear. Seeing that Raina Lowell hadn’t disconnected, she asked again, her voice laced with a smile, "What’s wrong, Raina? Are you not feeling well? Should I wake Aiden up?"

"N-No... you don’t have to. Why would Aiden be with you?"

Hazel didn’t beat around the bush and answered frankly, "Aiden’s been with me all evening. Is there a problem with that?"

’I went to a hot pot restaurant, happened to run into Aiden, and he pulled me over to eat with him. If you round up, that counts as being together all evening. After all, we were both eating at the same restaurant.’ 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Raina, are you really not feeling well? You have to tell me if you are. Aiden specifically instructed me to pay more attention to you, to keep you from calling him all the time over nothing. You know the rumors about you two are all over the place, and his family is putting a lot of pressure on him."

Hazel was about to say more, but Raina snapped angrily, "It’s none of your business," and hung up.

Hazel put her phone down, her conscience clear, only to be so startled that she nearly swerved the car off its course.

"Aiden Xavier, you’re going to scare me to death! If I die, you’ll have to accompany me to the Netherworld."

Aiden rubbed his eyes. He had drunk a lot tonight, and this sort of business-related drinking was always the most exhausting. He didn’t even like hot pot, but his current business partner had a particular fondness for Kenport-style hot pot and loved to eat it every time he visited.

Aiden silently closed his eyes again and said in a hoarse voice, "Why did you deliberately mislead Raina?"

"I didn’t deliberately mislead her." Hazel was genuinely startled. After all, she had secretly answered Aiden’s phone and said things to mislead Raina; there was no way she was going to admit that to his face.

"Is that so?" Aiden clearly didn’t believe her.

Hazel gave a dry laugh. "What exactly did I say that misled Raina? Weren’t we together tonight?"

Aiden turned his head, shot Hazel a glance, but didn’t say anything further. "Just focus on driving."

Hazel was confused. She’d thought Aiden would press the issue, or maybe call Raina to explain things. But he said nothing, nor did he make any move to call Raina. Instead, he simply closed his eyes again, acting as if nothing had happened.

Hazel found Aiden increasingly difficult to read. Even after being by his side for three years, she still couldn’t fathom what the man was truly thinking. He was like a shroud of mist—inscrutable and unfathomable, whether viewed from a distance or up close.

「Back at home」

Hazel had no intention of bothering with Aiden and was heading straight to her room when he suddenly grabbed her arm, blocking her at the doorway.

He planted one hand on the wall, trapping Hazel in the space between his arm and his body. In short, it was just like a scene out of a cheesy romance drama.

Aiden had just pinned her against the wall.

"What do you think you’re doing now?" Hazel asked, completely bewildered.

"You’re close with Nathan Miller? Do you two eat together often?" The strong stench of alcohol on Aiden was overwhelming, and Hazel couldn’t help but turn her face away to avoid looking at him.

Aiden misinterpreted the simple gesture, assuming she didn’t want to answer his question. His expression immediately iced over. "What? Did I hit a nerve? When I agreed to let you get a job, I never agreed to let you get this close to other men."

"...Aiden Xavier, what exactly are you trying to say?" Hazel lifted her head, ignoring the acrid smell of alcohol. "Are you accusing me of having an improper relationship with Nathan?"

"I just had a meal with him, and we had other friends with us, didn’t we?" Hazel stared at him intently. "I should still have the right to make friends, shouldn’t I?"

Aiden stated, his face devoid of expression, "Nathan likes you."

Hazel was shocked he had figured it out. Her immediate reaction was to accuse him, "Did you have me followed?"

"I’m a man, and I know how men think. The way Nathan looks at you is wrong." Aiden’s tone was so definitive that it left Hazel speechless—mostly because Nathan really did like her.

If she hadn’t been aware of Nathan’s feelings, she would have argued back. But since she knew it was true, she didn’t have the confidence to refute him.

"You’re drunk, so stop talking nonsense. The person you should be worried about isn’t me, it’s Raina. She knows you were with me tonight, so you’ll probably have your hands full tomorrow." There was a hint of gloating in Hazel’s voice.

Aiden remained unfazed, his focus still on Nathan. "Spend less time with him." He paused, then added, "You are my wife. If you’re seen with other men, the press will jump on it and run a story."

The implication was clear: people would assume she was having an affair.

Instead of getting angry, Hazel laughed. "Listen to yourself. I’m a grown woman. Can’t I have a private life? Nathan is my friend. Is there a problem with me eating with a friend? Don’t use that as an excuse to restrict my actions."

"Besides, have you forgotten?" Hazel enunciated each word clearly. "We both promised we would never interfere in each other’s private lives. I’ve never asked about you and Raina, whatever that is, so don’t you start asking about my life now."

"Raina and I—" ’It’s not what you think.’

Before Aiden could finish his sentence, Hazel interrupted him. "Whatever is going on between you and Raina has nothing to do with me. I don’t have time to care, and besides, I’m not one for gossip. I have no interest in other people’s private lives, so you don’t need to tell me."

The moment she finished speaking, Aiden let out a small laugh. "If that’s the case, then why did you let Raina know I was with you? You could have pretended you didn’t hear the phone, like you’ve done before. But you answered it, and you deliberately misled her. Isn’t that interfering in my life?"

’So Aiden was looking to settle the score?’

Hazel knew he wouldn’t be so generous. She also realized that he must have been pretending to be drunk this whole time. ’He knew Raina was calling and deliberately didn’t answer. What was he trying to do? Was he testing me?’

’But why would he test me?’

Hazel felt utterly confused by Aiden’s bizarre behavior once again. She frowned, tempted to ask him what was going on, but then thought better of it. He would never tell her the reason anyway, so asking would be pointless.

"Because I damn well felt like it!" Hazel, a mix of furious and flustered, shoved Aiden away. "Fine! I just won’t answer Raina’s calls from now on. Big deal."

"Hazel."

Hearing her name, Hazel looked back at Aiden. "What is it now?"

"It’s nothing. Go get some rest. It’s late, and don’t you have a business trip tomorrow morning?"

Hazel nodded and muttered under her breath, "If you knew I had a business trip in the morning, then why did you deliberately waste so much of my time?"

Still muttering, Hazel turned, entered her room, and slammed the door shut.

A moment later, when she realized something wasn’t quite right and opened the door again, Aiden was already gone from the hallway.