In the Lap of Luxury

Hazel had grown up without a family, which was why she was like a drifting leaf. Xander had been like a savior to her.

"I'll never forget the days when I had to make every penny count, and I won't forget the debt I owe to Mr. Fulton. When I first joined Fulton Group with him all those years ago, I swore that I would always obey his commands." Hazel looked firm.

Grace narrowed her eyes. The lights at the roadside seemed to glare brightly in her eyes.

"You were with him every step of the way as he reached the position he's in today."

"Of course."

"Did he suffer a lot in the past?"

"When Mr. Fulton first joined Fulton Group, he started from the bottom so that he could prove himself to everyone.

"There was a time when he waited outside a client's house every day for a month without fail just so that he could get the client to agree on a project. One month later, the project was confirmed, and he was promoted by 3 levels."

Hazel leaned against the car, smiling as she reminisced about the hard times they'd had together.

"Two years later, Mr. Fulton became one of the nine directors in the company. However, the client we were working with at the time suffered a slump in their business. In the end, he became bankrupt and jumped off a building.'

Grace's heart jolted when she heard this.

"Did Xander do it?"

"Ms. Lewis, things in the business world are never that absolute. Mr. Fulton never did anything personally, but he definitely played a part in it.

"I admire his style. If you want to become the top dog, you have to have this kind of determination."

At this point, Xander's black car slid to a stop in front of them. He got out of the car, and there was a gush of wind as he slammed the car door shut. Grace's hair swirled in the wind, and then she was pulled in his arms. "Are you alright?"

He was breathing slightly heavily, giving away how worried he was.

Hazel moved away.

Grace clutched his shirt tightly and instinctively pushed him away.

"I told you that I was fine. Why did you rush over here?"

Xander held her face in his hands and looked closely at her. He finally relaxed when he saw that she really was fine.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Grace gestured to Hazel. "I met Ms. Yale. I'm very thankful to her for giving me a ride."

Xander frowned and finally noticed Hazel standing beside them. She said respectfully, "Mr. Fulton, I came to deliver the handover documents." Xander only inclined his head. Then, he looked at Grace again. "I'll drive you back."

She did not refuse.

Once they were in the car, the driver raised the partition between himself and the back seat.

Grace nestled into Xander's embrace. "Did you ever help Hazel out financially?"

Xander did not deny it as he knew that Hazel must have told her.

"My mother sponsored a batch of underprivileged students in my name. Hazel was one of them. Out of all of them, she was the most capable, so after she graduated she became my assistant."

Grace played with his fingers thoughtfully. "The other day, I was at fault as well. It isn't completely her responsibility. Don't demote her. Let her stay." Xander raised his eyebrows. He lifted Grace's chin, as if to search for a trace of something. However, there was nothing.

"You're not jealous at all." There was a note of danger in his voice.

"I don't need to be jealous of something like this." Grace felt rather melancholy.

"I just feel that as a woman, it must not have been easy for her to get to this point. She shouldn't be punished so severely for such a small mistake."

What she found harder to accept

was that Hazel had been with Xander through the most difficult time in his life, while Grace hadn't cared about him at all at the time.

He studied her closely and frowned. "What did Hazel tell you?"

"She told me about the client that made things difficult for you for a month. I know what you're like. If he hadn't tortured you, you wouldn't have pushed so hard against him. At least not to the point of pretty much foreing him to jump off a building."

That was it.

Xander looked stern as he rubbed his fingers together. "Hazel shouldn't have told you about this."

Xander wished that in front of Grace, he would always be gentle and bright. He did not want her to see his dark side.