Ch. 491..500
Chapter 491
Chapter 491
Stanley Batton snapped his phone shut and focused on marinating the steak.
On the other hand, Sebastian Brenand and the guys continued teasing Stanley in the group for quite some time before they gradually calmed themselves down and discussed their gathering later in the evening.
***
In the blink of an eye, the twilight faded to darkness and it was already night-time.
Xyla Quest, who had finished her dinner, returned to her room.
After putting on light makeup, she headed to the cloakroom and picked a black, polka dot knee-length dress, matching it with a snow white suit. Subsequently, she put on wine red stilettos and carried a black Chanel handbag. Satisfied with her own outfit, she left the house and walked to her car.
She began to feel nervous as soon as she got into the car.
While she was starting the car engine, she peeked at the clock and it showed seven o'clock sharp.
This meant she would be meeting her husband in an hour.
Would their negotiation go well today?
Would her husband give her a hard time?
Well, he was not that bad, right?
Never in her life had she worried about these problems. However, they started to pop out in her mind right now and her heart was burdened with terrible anxiety.
When she was about to reverse her car, her eyes caught sight of the man who was dressed in a suit stepping out of her house.
The light from her car's headlamps shone brightly on the man, causing his figure to be particularly clear in the darkness of night.
After tonight, she did not need to hide her feelings for this man anymore. She could finally open up her feelings for him...
Right?
The man was dressed all in black and his hair was styled in a loose, fluffy slicked-back hairstyle, looking exceptionally classy and cool. He was just like the main character from a comic, stunning yet bossy. Meanwhile, Stanley's eyebrows furrowed a little when he saw Xyla's car. Striding forward, he made his way to the driver seat and knocked on the car window.
Xyla lowered the car window shortly after and looked at him. "Are you going out?"
"Yup. I've got plans tonight." Stanley told her before asking, "Where are you going if you're not staying home?"
"I've got plans too. I'm meeting up with someone important..."
"Can you skip the meeting?"
"I don't think so."
"Alright then. Drive safely, okay?" Stanley reminded her in earnest.
"I will." Xyla closed the window and turned the car sharply, finally leaving her house.
As she drove up to the gate, Stanley's black Honda caught up with her.
Soon, the black Honda overtook her...
The gap between the two cars was only a few meters.
However, the Honda managed to drive past the traffic light at the cross-intersection.
Xyla, on the other hand, stopped her car as the traffic light happened to turn red.
While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, Stanley's blank Honda became tinier and gradually disappeared from her line of sight.
As she got closer and closer to the clubhouse, anxiety and guilt began to flood her soul and her heart was racing frantically.
Her palms were glazed with a layer of fine sweat.
The red Maserati finally reached its destination at seven fifty.
It pulled up at the parking space right in front of the clubhouse.
At the same time, the parking lot was filled with cars. It was just like a luxury car show at first glance.
Amongst all the branded cars there, a familiar black Honda caught her eyes...
Her gaze slowly shifted to the car plate. Shock and bewilderment flashed across her eyes when she saw the plate number.
Was this not Five Batton's car? Why would he come to this place?
The building in front of her was one of the most high-class clubhouses in Atlantis. Wealth was not necessarily the requirement you needed to have in order to enter the clubhouse.
Chapter 492
Chapter 492
Did he come here with his gang leader?
That seemed to be the only explanation.
Xyla Quest did not have time to think about that. She stuffed her phone into her bag and marched to the clubhouse.
After showing her membership card to the security guard standing at the entrance, the guard let her enter the clubhouse without hesitation.
The lobby was as glorious as the ancient European palace where the King used to stay.
There was a huge crystal chandelier above Xyla, occupying the entire ceiling and illuminating its surroundings with the light from the lightbulbs as well as from the reflection of the crystal pendants. The lobby was as bright as day under the presence of the beautiful chandelier.
Soon, a waitress dressed in an elegant uniform walked up to Xyla and led her to the fancy elevator decorated with gold and silver theme, all the way to her destination.
The private room was as magnificent as the outside.
It was designed with the same European palace style, using gold as the main color of the room.
The room was huge, about a few hundred square meters.
Besides, there were various kinds of entertainment facilities prepared in the room for visitors to sing, to play cards, to swim and so on.
Xyla slowly approached the coffee table before sitting down on one of the chairs.
She took a look at the time. It was eight o'clock on the dot.
This meant that his husband might enter the door anytime from now. Perhaps in the next second.
What kind of person was he? It would be revealed soon enough.
Would things go well as she wished later on?
When Xyla was lost in her deep thoughts, the door of the private room was pulled open from the outside.
Xyla's heart clenched instantaneously. Without any delay, she turned to face the door as well as the man stepped in.
Surprisingly and unexpectedly, Five Batton's face hit her in the eyes.
The man's eyes, too, were brimming with shock and confusion the moment he saw Xyla.
"Why are you here?"
Xyla's appearance in the room was completely out of the blue to him.
A few days ago, his grandfather gave him a call and asked him to come to this private room tonight. The elder said that there was someone he needed to meet.
His grandfather sounded very serious about it on the other end of the phone so he agreed to the meeting.
So the person who his grandfather wanted him to meet was actually Xyla?
If that was the case, his grandfather must have found out about something. That was the reason behind this meeting between Xyla and him. The elder planned this on purpose. Perhaps he heard it from his parents. Perhaps he looked it up himself.
"Why did you come here?" Xyla asked.
Suddenly, a ridiculous idea flashed across her eyes.
Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone and searched for her master's text message, which ended with her husband's phone number.
Then, she dialled the number.
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
About a second later, the phone in the man's palm vibrated.
Xyla was struck dumb, stopping dead in her tracks.
So...
He was her husband?
What the heck was this all about?
"You... You're Stanley Batton?" With all her might, Xyla tried to suppress her shock and remained as calm as possible as she questioned him. Trembling with horror, she raised her lower arm and dangled her phone in front of his eyes. The call had been put through and his phone vibrated.
Stanley hung up the call with his head down and responded in an indifferent tone, "Yes."
"Heh..." All Xyla could do at the moment was to simply sneer.
Rage began to overtake her initial shock, a vortex of anger swirled inside her.
What did he think she was? Fooling her like that?
He was her husband but he did not bother to tell her anything about it. He just acted like nothing happened and rambled around her every single day.
He was Stanley Batton himself but he told her that his name was Five Batton. He even played along with her to pretend that he was Stanley Batton.
Chapter 493
Chapter 493
The more Xyla Quest thought about it, the angrier she felt. Apart from that, she felt even more ridiculous of herself, being kept in the dark for such a long time.
From Stanley Batton's point of view, he must have thought it was funny to make a fool out of her, right?
She could not believe that Stanley could lie to her without blinking an eye. Was there anything that he could not do?
She did not know if she could trust anything he had said to her before. Which of them were truths? How many lies were there?
Noticing the changes in Xyla's expression, Stanley rubbed his forehead helplessly for a second before he walked up to her, both his hands clasped firmly on her shoulders. "I can explain. Just give me ten minutes."
"What have you got to say for yourself? You've been making a monkey out of me all this while! If Grandpa doesn't set up the meeting for us today, how long are you going to hide the truth from me?" Her first instinct told her that he must be doing this for some purpose.
She was really speechless at the moment. She had always trusted him and she had never hidden anything from him, thinking that he would be the same as well.
But guess what? He had been lying and acting in front of her all the time.
Could you imagine what it felt like? She gave her heart to him, but in the end, she found out that everything he said or everything he did was merely a lie, they were all fake.
Above all, she had fallen in love with this liar. This must be the biggest joke ever.
Amused with the truth, Xyla wondered how he used to feel when she told him about her marriage and her mysterious husband.
How did he even manage to remain as calm as usual in moments like this?
She was pretty impressed by his acting skills as well as his indifference.
She was really, really, really dumb. She fell in love with her real, actual husband but she knew nothing about it. Moreover, she had been blaming herself for cheating on her husband and letting herself to be tortured by guilt. "Please calm down, Xyla. Come, have a seat and listen to me..." Stanley held her hand in his as he spoke. "Listen to you? What else do you have to say for yourself? You fraud."
Following that statement, Xyla shrugged off his hand and darted an apathetic glance at him. She grabbed her bag from the couch and stalked out from the room, refusing to stay with him any longer. Resentment and anger almost overwhelmed her brain.
At this moment, she could even feel the buzzing filled her ears.
Never in her life had she imagined the man, whom she trusted so much, had been lying to him all the time.
Panicked with Xyla's reaction, Stanley immediately rushed toward the door and grasped her hand tightly. "Calm down and listen to me... Okay?"
Xyla simply snorted before she turned to look at his face. "Do you think that I will believe what you say? After what you've done to me? Five Batton... No, Stanley Batton. It's quite a pity that you didn't end up being an actor."
With that out of the way, Xyla fiercely shook off his grip once more and scurried all the way into the elevator.
Stanley chased after her without hesitation, running as fast as he could.
However, the elevator door closed right in front of his eyes when he reached the elevator.
Stanley darted to the staircase over the other side and ran all the way down the stairs.
He knew that Xyla was extremely angry with him right now. He could understand why she was mad too.
Right now, there were a lot of things in his mind that he wanted to explain to her properly.
He had never been so panicked before in his whole life.
On the other hand, after Xyla stepped out of the elevator, she scuttled off to her red Maserati and got into it right away. Without any delay, she started the engine and drove away, blending into the flow of traffic and speeding down the road.
Her car had driven a long way before Stanley ran out of the clubhouse, panting.
Placing his hands on his knees, he quickly scanned through the parking lot as he panted but he could not find Xyla at all. He knew that, he was late, he missed her after all.
He took out his phone and called Xyla instantly.
Meanwhile in the middle of the road, anger stirred within Xyla and consumed her again when she saw the name displayed on her phone screen.
She hung up the call without hesitation and turned off her phone, throwing it onto the passenger seat furiously. She could not stop screaming by herself, "You liar!"
With rage pulsing through her veins, she drove all the way to Georgie Clementine's condo.
She took the elevator and stomped along the aisle to Georgie's house followed by a few consecutive knocks on the door.
In the meantime, Georgie was sleeping soundly in her bedroom at home.
Upon hearing the noise from the door, she crawled out of bed in a daze and casually put on the white silk nightgown placed by the bedside, shuffling to the door.
Through the peephole, she found out that it was Xyla who knocked on her door but her face was exceptionally gloomy. Her heart throbbed for a second as she quickly opened the door for her.
Chapter 494
Chapter 494
When the door flung open, George Clementine bore an extremely worried face as her hands grasped Xyla Quest's shoulder. "President Xyla, what's wrong with you?"
"I'll sleep over at your house tonight." Xyla said with a deep, depressed sigh.
She did not want to go back to their house tonight.
Georgie realized that she must have gotten herself into a difficult or complicated situation from the expression on her face. Immediately, she caught up with Xyla and pulled her to the sofa, sitting down together with her. "What's the matter? Did you have a fight with Five Batton?"
Upon hearing the name 'Five Batton', Xyla could not help but sneer bitterly. "Five Batton? Pfft... Just call him Stanley Batton from now on."
The initial worry on Georgie's face was replaced by shock. "What do you mean?"
"He's Stanley Batton... My husband."
Georgie was struck dumb by her words, her eyes out on stalks as she gaped at Xyla's face. "What? He's your mysterious husband that you never met? Stanley Batton? Why did he hide it from you if he's that man himself?"
Another bitter smile was Xyla's response. She leaned against the sofa and lamented, "How do I know? He must have his intention."
Engulfed by exhaustion, she plopped herself down on the sofa.
"Judging by his reactions before and after the encounter, I think Master did not tell him that I was the one who he was going to meet tonight." Xyla spoke with a flat, weary tone, her mind was still in a mess. "I couldn't stop thinking about it when I was on my way here. I don't think that Master was aware that the two of us had been seeing each other for quite a long time. He must have planned our meeting today without any knowledge about it. He wouldn't have arranged us to meet in such a way if he knew what his grandson had done to me." Xyla forced herself to gather her thoughts.
No matter how hard she thought about the matter, this seemed to be the only possibility.
"As for Stanley, he should have known I'm his wife since the first time we met but he acted like he did not know all the time. What's his reason then? Why does he hide it from his family?" "And me? What's his intention for putting on such a show? He's such a liar. I suspect that he's actually not a gangster as well, it's just a disguise for his real identity."
"Everything he presents to me is fake. Is there some ulterior motive behind everything he did?" The frustration and perplexity in her heart were only amplified with each word she spoke.
After listening carefully to the ins and outs of the incident and Xyla's speculation, rage swelled within Georgie's heart. She was as irritated as Xyla. While she was flicking the side of her nails, she began to analyze Xyla's situation in earnest, from the perspective of a bystander.
However, she failed to find a reasonable excuse for Stanley in the end.
It seemed that he did everything with an intention, just like what Xyla had guessed.
He would have told Xyla that he was Stanley Batton himself if he was not guilty.
To be frank, Georgie believed that he bore no malice toward Xyla from the way he treated her all this while. Nevertheless, it would be a different story if he was a particularly good actor, pretending to care for her.
From what Xyla had told her, Stanley's acting skills were unexpectedly outstanding.
"Can he be coveting something on you?" Georgie's mind raced frantically for an answer before coming to this conclusion.
"Like what? Quest Property Group? Or X Entertainment? If that's the case, he could have told me that he was my husband in the first place and made me fall in love with him. Wouldn't that be much easier?" hissed Xyla.
Georgie pondered her reasoning for a few seconds and nodded. "Well, you've got a point there. But what else can it be? If he's not after these?"
"President Xyla, maybe Stanley is not as complicated as we think. He's simply interested in you after that night, that's all. Do you think this is possible?"
"He wants to get close to you and finds out whether you're his Mrs. Right. If both of you get along well, he'll confess his real identity to you. Conversely, he's going to divorce you after the three-years-marriage if he loses interest in you."
Georgie bore a serious expression on her face as she continued to analyze the situation.
With all sorts of suspicions and doubts clogging her heart, Xyla was too worn out to investigate the matter anymore. Everything that happened at the private room came as a shock to her, making her head extremely dizzy and dreadful.
Chapter 495
Chapter 495
Xyla Quest shook her head. "I don't know. Speaking of which, which room is empty? I need some sleep to put my mind at ease. I'll get back to you on that after I wake up."
Georgie Clementine did not say anything else. She simply held Xyla's right hand in her own before leading her to an empty guest room and stopping in front of the door. "You can sleep here tonight. There are pajamas and some brand new bras inside the closet. Feel free to wear them."
Xyla nodded her head in response. "Thanks, Georgie."
Then, Georgie pushed open the door and turned on the lights. "Go to bed now and stop thinking about it. Call me if you need anything, alright?"
"Okay. If he calls you to ask about my whereabouts, please tell him that you have no idea." Xyla reminded her before she sank onto the bed.
She refused to see him at the moment. All she wanted to do was to calm herself down and leave everything behind.
"Although your post-surgery recovery is going really well, you still need to have enough rest. Just get some sleep first, okay?" Georgie added.
Georgie was well aware of what Xyla felt for him. She understood how much she trusted this man, too.
Suddenly, it turned out that the man, who she had opened her heart to, was wearing a mask all the time. He approached her with a fake identity, hiding many secrets from her and lying to her for years. Undoubtedly, Xyla must have felt very hurt deep inside.
However, Georgie also knew Xyla's personality very well. She would not listen to anyone's consolation or advice at this moment.
What Xyla needed the most now was a good sleep, to cool down and to keep her emotions under control, before pursuing the matter.
As her best friend, Georgie felt terribly upset to see her fall into despair too.
Closing the door behind her, Georgie sighed heavily and headed back to the living room,
Her initial sleepiness had all vanished because of Xyla's arrival...
Meanwhile, Xyla had gotten to bathe after grabbing the pyjamas from the closet. After that, she dried her hair using the hairdryer and plopped herself down on the bed without bothering to apply her skin care products.
She could not fall asleep despite her immense sleepiness. Her eyes were closed but her heart was rather restless.
All sorts of thoughts flooded her brain, refusing to let her rest.
There were too many things about Stanley Batton that she could not see through.
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz... Outside of her room, Georgie's phone vibrated.
It was 'Five Batton' that displayed on the screen...
Immediately, she pressed the green 'answer' icon while trying to maintain her composure...
"Did Xyla go to your place?" On the other end of the phone, Stanley was currently standing, panting, in the middle of the living room of his villa.
"No. What happened?" asked Georgie.
"Really?" Stanley did not believe.
"Yeah... What's going on?" Georgie questioned him again.
"Nothing." Following that, he hung up the phone and stalked out of the house.
Xyla was not with Georgie. He had gone to the balcony just now to take a look at the yard. However, Xyla's red Maserati was clearly not in the yard, which meant that she did not come home either. Where the hell did she go?
He did not have time to think about it. He instantly called Zack Cassidy after he got into the car. "I want to know where Xyla is within two hours."
On the other end of the phone, Zack was still in a daze after being awakened by Stanley's call. As soon as he heard Stanley's order, his sleepiness had disappeared right away
Chapter 496
Chapter 496
Zack Cassidy woke up instantaneously. He turned on the light and stole a glance at the clock.
It was already ten o'clock at night.
This bastard...
"Yes, Fifth Master!" Zack nodded respectfully before jumping down from the bed with a heart full of resentment.
On the other hand, Stanley Batton had gone to some of the bars and hotels that Xyla Quest often went to after he drove away from his villa.
As he drove, he could not help but started laughing at himself. Never in his life had he been so crazy for anyone, or anything, not even once since he was a child. He felt very much like a blind, headless fly right now, roaming through the streets, not knowing where to go.
The person he was at that very moment was akin to an immature boy who fell in love for the first time, doing all he could do for his first love.
When Stanley was drowning in his deep thoughts, it started to drizzle.
Under the drizzle, the black Honda continued to roam between the streets, traveling through the city.
Meanwhile at Georgie Clementine's house, Xyla was still tossing and turning restlessly on her bed, unable to fall asleep.
The pitter-patter of rain outside of the house flowed from the window into her ears, causing her to feel even more annoyed. Hence, she buried her entire body under the thick blanket in order to make herself feel a little more comfortable.
Try as she might, it ended up being a sleepless night.
The possibilities that Georgie had proposed earlier kept flashing across her mind.
Various kinds of thoughts tore her apart. Breathing became difficult and she felt like she was constantly out of breath. Hours later, the air outside was getting cold.
The streets were starting to fill with heavy traffic and the city was busy once more.
Ding Dong... Ding Dong... The doorbell rang.
The sudden noise pierced through the darkness and penetrated her eardrums.
The sky was not even fully bright yet, indicating that it was still very early in the morning. Who could it be?
Was it him?
Georgie was making breakfast at the moment. Upon hearing the doorbell, she strode out of the kitchen and quickened her footsteps to the door, peeping through the peephole.
It was Stanley Batton who was standing outside the door.
He looked extremely exhausted as if he had not slept all night.
Realizing the visitor was actually Stanley, her utter dismay reflected in her eyes.
How did he know Xyla is here?
She told Stanley that Xyla was not around last night, did she not?
Pulling open the door, Georgie glared at him with irritation written all over her face. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see Xyla."
"She... She's not here." She clearly remembered Xyla's reminder from last night, that she did not want to see him.
However, Stanley straight away stepped into the house without saying anything. Putting on the slippers, he made his way to rooms and began to search every one of them. Finally, he found Xyla.
His heart eventually returned to its original, peaceful state and the panic under his eyes disappeared.
On the contrary, Xyla's face went sour as soon as she saw him. "What are you doing here?"
"I owe you an explanation so I'm here to clarify myself." Closing the door behind him, he slowly approached Xyla and sat beside her. "Well, I actually knew you're here all the time but I didn't want to disturb you rest. Therefore, I waited downstairs all night long."
He figured out she was here around one o'clock in the midnight. Without hesitation, he drove all the way here, as fast as he could. When he was about to go upstairs, he noticed that the lights in the house were off and he was afraid that she had fallen asleep. On second thought, he gave up the idea of intruding the house at that hour because he did not want to disturb her.
As a result, he sat in the car for the whole night, waiting for her outside of the condo without any complaints.
Upon hearing that, Xyla's heart softened right away and mixed emotions began to mount up in her heart once again.
Chapter 497
Chapter 497
Though Xyla Quest knew that Stanley Batton was a liar who could not be trusted at all, her heart softened right away as she looked at him. The exhaustion on his face was real, and so were the red veins in his eyes.
For a moment, she hesitated to chase him out of the room. That would be too mean to him.
"First of all, I apologize for lying to you. Let me introduce myself first. I'm Stanley Batton, and the Dragon Group belongs to my family."
"I'm the fifth born in my family. Besides, I'm the President, as well as the heir, of the domestic Dragon Group." He recounted, the seriousness in his tone retained with each word he spoke.
Upon hearing that, Xyla was completely shocked...
He was the young master of the Dragon Group? The young master with God-like existence in the eyes of the citizens?
The husband who she agreed to marry that time was such a remarkably successful person in real life?
As for her master, he was related to Dragon Group too? Ron Batton?
No wonder her master had never told anyone about his real name! Throughout the years, everyone around him would address him as either Dr. Batton or Doctor.
The truth was, he wanted to keep a low profile because his real identity would attract unnecessary attention or even some unsolicited comments from the public.
She had found out way too many secrets that were beyond her reach ever since last night. Though Stanley had just told her the truth that she craved for, she felt curiously unreal, as if she were in the midst of a dream.
Speechless out of shock, Xyla remained silent on the bed and waited for him to continue his story.
"Well the first time, which was that night, I really didn't know who you were but I... I was interested in you. Therefore, I had my underling look you up."
"After looking up on your background, I realized you were the wife that I had never met. Because of that, when you asked me to pretend to be your husband later on, I agreed to do it."
"That was because I wanted a reason to get close to you, a reason for me to get to know you well. I decided not to confess my real identity to you because I enjoyed being treated like a normal person by you." "Besides, I thought it was a good chance for me to find out what kind of person you are and understand more thoroughly about you." Stanley continued to explain the details in earnest, his eyes expressed only sincerity as he spoke.
"Please trust me, Xyla. I swear I bore no malice toward you." He added.
The words blurted out from his mouth, in fact, were sensible and reasonable to her.
This man was a noble of Country Z. Due to his special identity, it was hard for him to tell if the people, who approached him, were doing it for his money or because they liked him in person... This was the reason why he decided to approach her by pretending to be an ordinary person.
"To be frank, I've been thinking to come clean and explain everything to you but I didn't manage to find the perfect timing. I really had no idea that Grandpa would suddenly arrange for us to meet yesterday evening." Stanley clasped his hands on her shoulders as he spoke.
However, Xyla had not recovered from all the shock and surprise. There was too much information for her to digest.
Everything seemed to make sense to her now. Previously, she was very confused why the Dragon Group would suddenly give Quest Property Group money without seeking any benefit from them. She finally understood the reason behind it.
It turned out that it was because she had the young master of Dragon Group by her side!
No wonder she always felt that this man has a strong aura exuding from him. It painted a clear difference in status compared to the others, as if he was some noble or higher-ups. After all, he really was. As she recalled all these little details of his, she was utterly convinced by everything he said. She did believe him.
"Look, this is my ID card, and my family's household register booklet." Stanley directly took out his identification card as well as the household register booklet from the pocket of his suit, placing them in her palms.
He was afraid that Xyla did not trust him. Therefore, he went to hunt for these yesterday and carried them along with him, thinking that he could show her some proof if she refused to believe his words. His sincerity was undoubted and undeniable indeed.
She took a glance at the identification card before opening the household register booklet. The names of every member of his family were clearly written inside the booklet.
Other than the familiar names that she knew such as Ron Batton, Wilson Batton and Catherine Batton...
She saw Josh Batton's name!
Josh was his brother? It was no wonder she always thought that Josh resembled him!
Likewise, Josh had used a fake identity to involve in the entertainment industry. Just like Stanley, he stood up high on the social ladder.
Xyla could not believe her eyes at all. Everything seemed so unreal.
"Can... Can you forgive me?" Stanley asked her carefully, "I really don't mean any harm, Xyla. I'm sorry that I'm only confessing all of this to you now."
Never in his life had he been so petty and low, begging for someone to forgive him.
Chapter 498
Chapter 498
The truth came like a thunderbolt, leaving Xyla Quest tongue-tied.
Suddenly, many things that had never crossed her mind were happening right in front of her.
She was unsure how to register the situation in her mind.
The man who was standing in front of her right now... was actually her husband? He was even the master of Dragon Group?
No wonder she could not find out who her husband was at that time. She tried to look him up but it was a failed attempt.
"I swear I won't lie to you about anything from now on. I swear." He continued to justify himself with a sincere face, the three fingers of his right hand rose in the air, forming a scout's honor sign.
As Xyla stared deep at his genuine and solemn face, her heart melted away once more. "Really?"
"Yes, I promise," He said confidently.
Xyla did not say another word. Her hands proceeded to flip through his family's household register booklet.
On the last page of the booklet, a familiar name hit her in the eye again...
Sharon Lindt...!
Aunt Sharon was his mother?! She was her mother-in-law?
No wonder Aunt Sharon had been so kind to her all the time.
Finally, the puzzle had been solved. The truth was as clear as day.
Her eye-catching name on the booklet somewhat reminded Xyla of the incident where Aunt Sharon brought a group of people to buy the properties of Imperial Prime. Her intention was not as simple as buying or investing the buildings.
Conversely, she wanted to help her to achieve her sales target!
"Aunt Sharon... She's your mother?" Xyla gaped at Stanley.
"Yes."
"Then... She visited Imperial Prime that time because she knew that I was her daughter-in-law? Was that the reason she..."
"Otherwise what do you think?"
"I always thought it was my marketing skills that helped me to attract so many big names in the society. I thought my marketing strategies were brilliant."
Upon hearing that, the man's eyes were instantly filled with his love for this silly girl. "Well... Your marketing was indeed very well done."
"But, Aunt Sharon made a significant contribution to the sales of Imperial Prime. That was undeniable."
"Aunt Sharon?"
"Yeah, your mom."
"My mom?"
"Well yes, your mom."
"Isn't my mom your mom too?" Stanley raised his brows in a teasing manner, his eyes bore into her face.
"I... I was still trying to digest everything okay." Xyla rubbed the back of her head awkwardly
She was given too much information out of the blue. It was true that she still could not grasp the situation before her.
"From the way you're talking to me, I guess you've forgiven me?" He asked with anticipation.
"Well, I can't deny your sincerity. You explained everything so clearly to me and you even showed me your household register booklet. Won't I be too egotistical if I don't forgive you?" blurted Xyla.
Delighted with her answer, the corner of the man's lips instantly curved up into a beautiful smile and his restless heart had regained its peace, too.
"Thanks for everything, Xyla." Shortly after, Stanley pulled out his phone and called Zack Cassidy. "Transfer the two buildings of Pacific International purchased under my name to Xyla's name. Oh yeah, don't forget my yacht as well, the Blue Whale."
With that out of the way, he hung up the phone.
The man had dropped a bombshell on Xyla with that statement. Xyla was dumbstruck for the fourth time today. "What... What are you doing?"
Was he trying to be like those rich guys on television? Giving presents to their wives to compensate for the mistakes they made?
Moreover, they were not just ordinary presents. They were two buildings of Pacific International and a yacht!!!
Pacific international was the high-end district in Atlantis. The average price of the houses in that area was around thirty thousand dollars per square meter.
Two buildings... How much were they worth?
She could not even calculate their actual values at the moment. There were too many zeroes swimming in her head.
As for the yacht...
Even without knowing how it actually looked like, she could already guess that Stanley's yacht must be one of those high-end models based on his status. A yacht like that was worth at least fifteen million dollars!
"They're my gifts for you, for forgiving me," declared Stanley.
"Are you crazy?"
"I'm not."
"I don't want any gifts from you..." She could never have them.
"I don't care. You have to take them."
"Stanley Batton!"
"Be a good girl, alright? I'm your husband. What's mine is yours." As he spoke, he ran his fingers through her hair gently. "There's no need for us to stand on ceremony."
Xyla's heart skipped a beat when she heard the phrase 'husband' from his mouth, her cheeks were kissed pink like a spring rose.
Chapter 499
Chapter 499
Even until now, Xyla Quest still found it unrealistic that the man she fell in love with just happened to be her husband.
"Look... I really can't have them. I'm not short on money."
"Yes, you are."
"I told you I'm not."
"That's it. I assume you are. Just keep properly what's given to you, okay? Stop being so dumb and silly." insisted Stanley Batton assertively, though his tone remained gentle as usual.
Xyla scowled with dissatisfaction. "Excuse me? Who's dumb and silly?"
"You."
"You're the one who's dumb, okay?" Xyla refused to comply with him.
"All the stuff that I mentioned just now will be yours by noon today. You can do whatever you want with them."
"You're just like an insolent fellow." She had never seen anyone like him, forcing her to receive the gifts without even caring about her opinion.
As she spoke, her stomach started rumbling.
The aromas of food wafting through the air, all the way from the kitchen into her nose, making her feel extremely hungry.
Embarrassed by her growling tummy, Xyla awkwardly covered her stomach with her hand as fast as she could. However, the rosiness on her cheeks gave her away.
"Are you hungry?" Stanley asked, his eyes could not stop teasing her.
Xyla nodded in response.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Isn't Georgie cooking breakfast? Let's just eat here," Xyla answered.
"Sure."
"That reminds me, we need to wash up first. Let's go home after having breakfast," Xyla added.
"Great idea."
Subsequently, she led Stanley to the bathroom.
Without taking much time, she found two sets of brand new disposable toiletries in the bathroom, one for each of them.
Georgie Clementine heard the noises from the bathroom as she walked out of the kitchen with breakfast in her hands. Immediately, she placed the food and empty plates on the dining table and tip-toed to the bathroom door so as not to alert them.
When Georgie saw Xyla and Stanley were harmoniously brushing their teeth from the gap of the door, she was frozen to the ground instantly.
What was that? Had the two of them reconciled? In such a short time?
"Good morning, Georgie." Xyla greeted Georgie with a smile.
"Well, morning. I've made some breakfast. Come and eat when you're done." Georgie said as she exchanged looks with Stanley. She then gave him a polite nod before turning away and returning to the dining
room.
She pulled a chair and sat in front of the dining table, questions swimming in her head.
After Xyla and Stanley had done washing up, they walked into the dining room one after the other, joining Georgie for breakfast.
When Georgie noticed them walking to her, she rose to her feet and pulled out the chairs for both of them.
Georgie had prepared some authentic chinese breakfast for the three of them. There were soup dumplings, shrimp dumplings, soy milk as well as white porridge on the table.
"I'm not a good cook. Hope you guys don't mind," Georgie said awkwardly.
"They look appetizing to me." Stanley reassured her.
Picking up the chopstick in front of him, he took a soup dumpling from the bamboo steaming basket and placed it on Xyla's plate. "Eat more."
Xyla picked up the soup dumpling with her chopstick and ate it with her head down, her heart melted by his sweetness.
Bewilderment continued to pile up in Georgie's mind as she looked at the interaction between the lovebirds. However, she did not have the chance to ask Xyla about it due to Stanley's presence so she just kept quiet the entire time.
After finishing their meal, Stanley and Xyla bade a brief farewell to Georgie and left her house. The two of them went downstairs together before getting into their respective cars.
The two cars departed from Georgie's condo in tandem, speeding all the way back to their house.
As soon as they set foot into their house, Stanley's phone vibrated.
It was Zack Cassidy who called him.
Stanley took his time to put on his slippers before answering the call and turning on the speaker. While listening to Zack, he held Xyla's hand and walked her to the sofa in the living room. He had no intention to hide their conversation from Xyla, not in the slightest.
At the moment their fingers intertwined, Xyla's heart leaped once more.
"Fifth Master, I've already transferred the things you had requested just now under Xyla's name. They all belong to Xyla now." Zack reported to Stanley over the phone.
"Good."
"Fifth Master, when will you be back? Everyone's waiting for you to start the meeting."
"Inform them that the meeting will be postponed to four o'clock in the afternoon." Stanley responded without hesitation and hung up the phone shortly after.
"I'm still very sleepy, Stanley. I'm thinking of taking a nap first. You haven't slept well all night either, I suppose? Go up and get some sleep as well," Xyla said. "Sure. We'll sleep together."
Chapter 500
Chapter 500
Stanley Batton held her hand in his all the way up the stairs.
As the two of them reached the master bedroom, Xyla Quest stopped before Stanley and slowly released her hand from his, her blush seared through her cheeks. "I... I'm going to bed first."
However, before Xyla could even lift her leg, Stanley forced her against the wall beside her door and placed his right hand on the wall, bringing himself close to her. His calloused fingers proceeded to pinch her chin lightly as he whispered, looking her in the eyes, "Aren't we sleeping together? My dear wife."
His warm breath spread over her ears. The tickling sensation across her skin made her heart beat faster and faster every second.
His gaze was just like hot iron. Anywhere it landed on Xyla, it brought a flush of heat across her skin.
In the next second, the rosiness on her cheeks spread across her face, all the way to her neck.
"I... I'm tired."
Xyla did not dare to meet his eyes. Slowly sliding down from the wall, she slipped away from the gap under his right hand and ran straight into the room, locking the door behind her.
The man's right hand was still pressing on the wall as he stared at the door that clicked shut in front of him, the corner of his lips began to curve upwards into a mischievous smirk. Shortly after, he left the spot with a satisfaction expression on his face and headed back to his room.
After locking herself in the room, Xyla found herself leaning against the door and panting heavily. Her heart was racing so fast as if it was going to pound out of her chest.
It took a moment for Xyla to recover from all the shock. She then shuffled to the bathroom and took a simple shower before sinking into her large, soft bed.
Though she finally got to lie on her bed, her sleepiness initially had all been swept away by Stanley. As the time passed by, her body finally gave in and she fell asleep soundly.
When Xyla woke up from her nap, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon.
She stretched her back comfortably and sat up in a slow manner.
Her long hair gradually fell from her shoulder to her back as she got up, the ends of her hair landed perfectly at her waistline. It was as light as a cloud, and a little messy at the moment, adding a slight sense of minimalism to her overall temperament.
After washing up, she stepped out of her room and went down to the living room.
He was not downstairs. Xyla guessed that he might be still sleeping so she made her way into the kitchen to prepare some dinner.
However, the fridge was almost empty and there were only some shrimp, tofu, vegetables, potatoes and a little beef left inside.
She decided to cook the rice first.
Then, she cut the ingredients accordingly and began to cook the dishes one by one. She made some shrimp tofu soup first, followed by stir-fried vegetables and finally potato beef stew.
After moving the dishes to the dining table and setting up the cutleries, she went up to Stanley's room, intending to wake him up for dinner.
Knock knock knock... Xyla knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The familiar voice was ringing behind the door, and soon fluttering her heart effortlessly.
She cautiously pushed the door open.
And slowly, she peeked inside of the room.
Surprisingly, Stanley had already gotten up. He was currently sitting on the couch by the window with a headphone over his head and a laptop placed in front of him. A serious expression etched on his face as he stared at the screen of the laptop.
The man was wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of light blue trousers, looking fresh and noble at the same time.
The first two buttons of the shirt were unfastened, revealing his sexy collarbone.
Xyla was impressed how he could look equally stunning anytime, anywhere, without even trying.
He was more attractive than any male lead in the drama.
"Come over here..." He waved his hands at her, the coldness in his eyes had melted away due to Xyla's arrival.
Immediately, Xyla quickened her footsteps to his side, where she saw a huge conference room displayed on the screen of his laptop. It was only then she found out that he was having a meeting. The U-shaped conference table was filled with numerous people.
Everyone was sitting solemnly in front of the table and the atmosphere in the room was extremely serious yet spectacular.
At this moment, Xyla had crashed into Stanley's webcam as she approached Stanley.
Very soon, the serious faces on the screen had vanished. They were all staring without blinking, their mouths slowly dropped open. Obviously, it was Xyla's appearance that came as a shock to them. Astonishment and bewilderment were brimming in everyone's eyes as if they saw something world-shaking.
Stanley, on the other hand, kept a straight face the entire time without saying anything. Stretching his arm, he pulled Xyla onto his lap and stroked her hair gently. "Give me two minutes, alright?" Stanley dropped a bombshell on everyone in the conference room with his unexpected gesture.
Meanwhile in the conference room, all of them were rooted to the spot, unsure how to register the scene in their minds.
What had just happened? What did they just see? Their President, who always bore an extremely serious and cold expression on his face, just hugged a girl in the middle of the meeting? The crowd nearly jumped out of their skin!!!