When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

### Chapter 79: You Can Go

Hazel Hawthorne sensed that something was off. As the man leaned in, she grabbed a vase and swung it at his head.

Unfortunately, the man was quick enough to dodge the vase.

Her hands now empty, Hazel Hawthorne grew tense. Her palms were slick with sweat. ’I’ve been gone for a long time. Holly Shaw must have realized and called the police. The most important thing now is to stall for time until she finds me.’

The man, of course, saw right through her plan.

As the minutes ticked by, the man made no move to harm her. Hazel Hawthorne had no idea what he wanted. The two of them remained at a standoff.

This continued until the man answered a phone call. She couldn’t hear what was said on the other end, but when he hung up, he turned to Hazel Hawthorne and said something bizarre, "You can go."

"..." ’He brought me here, did nothing, and now he’s just letting me go?’

Still clutching the vase, Hazel Hawthorne watched the man warily. "What do you really want? Why bring me here just to let me go?"

"You’re a strange one. You’re not happy I’m letting you go?" the man chuckled.

Hazel Hawthorne narrowed her eyes. Cautiously, she shuffled toward the door, still clutching the vase. She used her free hand to try the knob. It turned. The door was unlocked.

The door opened.

All she had to do was take one step forward, and she would be free.

Hazel Hawthorne turned to look at the man still standing in the room. "You’re really letting me go?"

"Of course."

’This isn’t right. The man only let me go after that phone call, which means he’s taking orders from someone. Who is he working for? What was the point of kidnapping me and then letting me go without doing anything?’

Hazel Hawthorne took a large step out into the hallway. When she saw that the man remained in the room without moving, she set the vase down on the carpet and bolted toward the elevators.

Even after she escaped the hotel, she still couldn’t make sense of it.

The man had taken her phone and not returned it. She couldn’t remember anyone’s number and was completely penniless. Even if she could get a taxi to The Creston Hotel, she’d have no way to contact Holly Shaw.

Hazel Hawthorne didn’t even know where she was.

A young woman—dressed maturely but looking quite young—was walking toward her. Hazel hurried over to ask, "Excuse me, miss, do you know where I am?"

"Riverbend Road." The girl gave her a strange look; there was a bus stop with a sign not far away.

"How far is it to The Creston Hotel from here?"

"It’s about a half-hour taxi ride."

"Um..." Hazel Hawthorne had no money. She asked sheepishly, "Could you lend me some money? I’ll pay you back as soon as I find my friend. If you don’t believe me, you can add me on WeChat."

"Lady, you’re dressed well enough. How can you have no money? And you’re asking a kid like me for cash? Do I look rich?" The young woman rolled her eyes. "Besides, you’re out here in the middle of the night asking strangers for money. You think I’m an idiot? I’ve seen plenty of scammers just like you."

"I’m not a scammer," Hazel Hawthorne said helplessly.

The girl waved a dismissive hand, cutting her off. "I’ve seen plenty of scammers like you. You must be new to the game, huh? You picked the wrong target with me. Didn’t your boss teach you? If you’re going to scam people, you should target men. With a face like yours, they’re guaranteed to fall for it."

Hazel Hawthorne didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Was that a compliment or an insult?’ she wondered.

With that, the girl walked away.

It was eleven at night, and the streets were mostly empty. After the young woman left, Hazel walked for a long time without seeing a single other person, much less someone to borrow money from.

She tried hailing a car from the side of the road. The taxi drivers who stopped accused her of trying to pull a scam as soon as they heard she had no money. The only people willing to stop for her were men, all of them with leering eyes.

’That young woman was right. With looks like these, she could wrap any man around her finger.’

Just as Hazel Hawthorne was sinking into despair, squatting by the road and debating whether to get into a stranger’s car, another vehicle suddenly pulled up in front of her.

A moment later, a shadow fell over her, engulfing her completely. Thinking it was another man trying to hit on her, she quickly looked up. Her eyes met a familiar gaze. She stared, dumbfounded, at the person who had no reason to be there.

"Where have you been?" A deep voice pulled Hazel Hawthorne back to reality. She cautiously reached out a hand to touch him. When she felt the warmth of his skin, she realized this wasn’t a hallucination.

Seeing her staring like an idiot, Aiden Xavier’s voice grew sharp with anger. "I’m asking you a question. Do you just go wherever you please without telling anyone? Are you always this reckless? Do you have any idea how worried people were?"

Whether it was when she was trapped in that hotel room or later, wandering aimlessly on the street, a part of her had hoped that Aiden Xavier would appear before her in her moment of helplessness.

She never thought her wish would actually come true.

Aiden Xavier was really here.

But... ’This can’t be right. Isn’t Aiden Xavier supposed to be in Kenport?’

It still felt unreal, so she reached out to pinch his cheek. Before her hand could even touch his face, Aiden Xavier slapped it away harshly and yelled, "Hazel Hawthorne!"

’Oh, right. Aiden Xavier hates it when people touch his face.’

’Touch his face, and he explodes.’

’Yep, it’s definitely Aiden Xavier, no doubt about it.’

Hazel Hawthorne suddenly threw herself at Aiden Xavier and hugged him.

Aiden Xavier froze, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Holly Shaw and Finn Quinn, who had gotten out of the car and were standing nearby, immediately turned their backs, thinking the two were about to start making out.

"It’s not a hallucination. You really came," Hazel Hawthorne said, her voice filled with excitement.

"Why are you here? And why were you unreachable?"

Hazel Hawthorne pulled away from Aiden Xavier and asked with an amused smile, "Is this you being concerned about me?"

Holly Shaw and Finn Quinn thought Hazel Hawthorne was stating the obvious. If Aiden Xavier wasn’t concerned about her, why else would he have rushed to Freyburg in the middle of the night?

"Hazel, I couldn’t reach you, and when you still hadn’t come back to the hotel, I thought something had happened to you. So I’m the one who called Aiden Xavier, and he rushed here overnight from Kenport," Holly Shaw explained, unable to watch the two of them any longer.

"We were all so worried about you. What were you doing this whole time you were unreachable?" Holly Shaw stepped forward only after Hazel let go of Aiden. Seeing that Hazel was uninjured and her clothes were still neat, she asked, "Do you have any idea how terrifying that was?"

Hazel had come to Freyburg on a business trip with her; if something had happened to Hazel on her watch, how could she possibly explain it to Aiden Xavier?

Hazel Hawthorne did a little hop on the spot. "I’m fine."

When she looked back at Aiden Xavier, she saw his dark expression. Assuming he was worried she was injured but wasn’t saying anything, she quickly clarified, "I’m really fine."

Hazel Hawthorne wanted to pull Aiden Xavier back to the hotel so she could explain the strange things that had happened that night. But before her hand could touch him, he took a step back, putting distance between them. In the moonlight, his cold, predatory gaze sent a chill through her.

"So, you were intentionally playing the disappearing act with me? What was your goal in doing this, Hazel Hawthorne?"

"What do you mean, ’intentionally playing the disappearing act’?" Hazel Hawthorne was confused. She had actually been kidnapped, even if she had no idea why her captor had suddenly let her go for no reason.

*****