Chapter 12
Only a handful of people were aware of Zane’s marriage. Apart from his family, only his close circle of friends had that private information, and those included Morgan and Charlie.
Morgan had asked Zane the question on the phone before, but Zane would always answer with a smile that he would take her home once he was back in the country.
Since the cheating incident, Zane only had disgust for the woman and refused to talk about her to anyone. “What do you think?”
Morgan replied, “Enlighten me, Zane.”
“Morgan, you should know by now that things must not be going well since he doesn’t want to talk about it.” Although Charlie replied on behalf of Zane, he was sounding Zane out about the situation with his wife.
Lianne was curious about what had happened between the CEO and his wife.
It had been a while since the CEO had mentioned her.
Zane could tell what Charlie was trying to get at. Now that his night was ruined, he turned to Lianne. “Let’s go”
Morgan inquired, “Leaving so soon?”
Zane responded, “You guys killed the mood for me.”
Morgan said, “What else are you in the mood for except for work?”
Instead of replying. Zane rose to his feet and headed out. Lianne immediately kept up with him.
The moment they walked to the hall, a crowd started to form around them, holding their gla**es up to toast with Zane.
It finally dawned on Lianne why Zane hid in the game room. It was annoying to deal with businesspeople at someone else’s party.
“Sorry, but Mr. Atlas isn’t well today. He can’t drink alcohol.” Lianne stood in front of Zane, stopping anybody from clinking gla**es with him.
Lianne would drink for Zane if the invitation came from a big shot they could not refuse.
Zane was held in high regard in the community due to his status, leading to many wanting to rub shoulders with the CEO of the Atlas Group. The toasts kept coming as if he was the star tonight.
Lianne was tipsy by the time they walked out of the Quays’ residence. “Mr. Atlas, do we look like we just escaped prison?”
“Dummy.” It was all Zane had to say to her
His comment rubbed Lianne the wrong way after all the drinks she stopped from going his way. Still, she did not show it on her face. “I must be a dummy since you said so.”
Zane lowered his head and looked at her….
Lianne had ditched her usual plain work attire for a sky-blue fitted gown. Her hair was tied into a bun for the party tonight.
There was nothing special about the gown, but the dress outlined her well-proportioned curves. The consumption of alcohol painted a lovely blush on her pretty face and long neck, adding an allure to her innocence. It was quite a different look than when she was at work
The men came to have drinks with him at first, but many had their eyes on her. She was oblivious to the men’s greedy and lewd intentions, foolishly accepting drinks one after another
He could have stopped them but did not in the end Zane wanted to see the extent of her foolishness Lianne would be out if she did not keep up with him
Zane averted his gaze “Do you think I would drink with just anybody? No one can make me drink if I don’t
want to ”
Lianne had gotten brave under the influence of alcohol “Mr. Atlas, why didn’t you say so? I drank all that
for nothing.”
She had the nerve to fault him for her own foolishness. Zane raised a brow “Are you my a**istant, or am i
your a**istant?”
Lianne was speechless
The only thing on her mind was to stop Zane from getting alcohol in his system Hence why she jumped headfirst into the situation and prevented anybody from getting to him.
It slipped her mind that her boss would scare these people away with one look
She smiled to hide her embarra**ment.
Tasked behind the wheel, Pete had been on standby at the entrance Seeing that Lianne and Zane were out, he immediately got out of the car to open the door.
Zane sat in the back, while Lianne knew better to take the front pa**enger’s seat.
He glanced at the empty seat next to him. “Where do you stay? Pete can drive you home.”
Lianne gracelessly burped and waved her arm. Thank you, Mr Atlas, but I’m good I got someone to pick me up. You can drop me by the road outside the compound”
Tyler and Sierra had given her the snub the whole day due to Lianne not letting them know the one time she took a cab out alone in the middle of the night.
Lianne sent a message to inform them that she would be attending an event with Zane today, and Tyler volunteered to drive her home.
Zane offhandedly asked, Is it your husband?”
Lianne was dumbstruck. It appeared Zane had heard her exchange with Morgan.
God knew where her husband by name was. How could he possibly drive her home?
Since Lianne smiled without a word, Zane took her silence as admission.
With the vehicle cruising out of the neighborhood, Pete found a special spot to pull up. “Ms Simpson, will this place do?”
Nodding her head, Lianne opened the door and waved them goodbye. “Bye, Mr. Atlas. Bye, Mr. Xander ” Zane pressed the button to roll down the window. “Sort out the stuff in the trunk.”
“Sure.” Lianne could barely walk straight as she was drunk. Nevertheless, she had to complete the CEO’s instructions. She tottered her way to the back of the car and popped the trunk open
The trunk was full of beautifully packaged gift boxes, and she wrapped some of them herself. These were gifts the CEO bought for his wife some time ago.
All the gifts that should have been given away were lying there at the back of the car.
Lianne returned to Zane’s window “Mr. Atlas, aren’t these for your wife? Why didn’t you give them to her?”
Zane lit a cigarette and took a puff. 1 won’t be needing them anymore. Feel free to throw them away or
have them for your own use
Lianne felt a catch in her throat. “What happened to you and your wife, Mr. Atlas? You love her. Don’t say things in the heat of the moment
Before, the look on his face was so gentle and firm at the mention of his wife. However, a lot changed in two weeks. Zane could not talk about his wife without looking callous and disdainful. Something must have happened.
Zane sounded hoarse. Take the stuff out of the trunk, and don’t talk about her in my presence again.”
Lianne did not carry on with the conversation as it was Zane’s wish.
She went to the back of the car to move the gifts out. She felt a dizzy spell and a stir in her belly when she
bent over
Lianne tried to hold it together, resisting the urge to toss her cookies until Zane was gone. She did not want to throw up in front of her employer.
She drew a breath to get back to work when Pete drew close. 7’ll do it.”
His muscles were not for show. It did not take long before he moved all the things out of the trunk
Lianne was grateful Thank you, Mr. Xander”
Pete looked at her with a blank face before getting back into the car to start the engine
Zane said, “I want to smoke another cigarette before we leave.”
He could smoke during the drive, so Pete was puzzled by the smoking pit stop. Still, he did what he was
fold.
Zane took out another cigarette to light. With the lit cigarette between his fingers, he placed his arm against the window and gently tapped
Lianne could not pretend Zane was not there. Pulling through her nausea, she approached his car. “Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Atlas?”
Zane looked up at her “Has your car arrived yet?”
Lianne replied, “Traffic is heavy today. He’s caught in the jam, but he’ll get here soon enough.”
While talking, Lianne spotted a sedan coming from the other direction. Her eyes lit up. “He’s here, Mr. Atlas Goodbye”
She happily made her way to the budget-friendly vehicle. Her sweet voice echoed along the empty street in the night. I’m here. Ty.”
Zane looked at the driver’s seat of the budget-friendly car. Due to the dim light, he could not get a good
look at the man’s appearance.
He snapped the cigarette and instructed Pete, “Drive.”
Pete started the car and stepped on the accelerator. From the rear-view mirror, he caught sight of the man there to pick Lianne up. His back was facing them as he shielded Lianne. It looked as though he was hugging her.
He commented, “Mr. Atlas, Ms. Simpson has a wonderful relationship with her husband.”
Zane closed his eyes and said nothing. Nevertheless, he heard everything Pete said.
Lianne’s sweet voice to her husband played in Zane’s mind. It was a stark difference to her tone of voice when she was talking to him about work
“Ha.” He coldly scoffed.
Confused, Pete sneaked a peek at Zane through the rear-view mirror. Pete could not read anything from Zane’s straight face.
Meanwhile, Tyler gently patted Lianne’s back. “Just throw up if you need to, silly girl. You’ll feel better letting it out.”
Lianne could not keep her body straight as the world was spinning. She leaned against Tyler. “Is my boss gone yet?”
Tyler poked her head in rage. “He’s gone. You silly goose, why must you put yourself through that for double the wages?”
“Only money can offer me a sense of security.” Lianne smiled at Tyler. Suddenly, tears began to stream down her face.
