Chapter 74 - How Are You Still Alive?

During lunch hour, Zaria waited for Desmond to leave his office, but after waiting for almost half an hour, she concluded that he would not go out for lunch. She thought about it and took a small box with her to his office.

"Haven't you gone to eat lunch?" He asked when he saw her since she always had her lunch at the employee cafeteria.

"I already did." She lied, but the truth was that she was waiting for him the entire time, and it was probably already too late. Most of the delicious food would be sold out by the time she went there.

The man's gaze trailed down to the small box in her hand and wondered what she was carrying. He observed that it must be a gift box and his lips curled into a smile. Did she bring him a present?

"Did you need something?" He asked, his voice gentler than it had ever been.

"I came to check up on you. Do you need me to order you takeout?" She asked and secretly hid the box behind her, glad that his desk was high and he couldn't have seen it. She had initially wanted to give him a gift, but when she thought about it, she found it silly. He had everything. Why would he want anything from a brand that could only pass off as third tier?

"Are you worried about me? I'm not hungry." His expression was full of joy as he probed, "Is that for me?"

She realized that he was gazing down at the gift box she was trying to hide and felt bummed. Since he had already seen it, it would not make sense for her to deny it. "Yes."

She presented it to him and the man impatiently tore the wrapper open. His gaze fell on the golden watch-the one she had bought the previous day while shopping with Ximena. He stared at it wordlessly for a while.

"I thought it would look good on you…" She explained, her words trailing off when he didn't say a word. She had found it beautiful when she saw it, but would he despise it? Although golden jewelry didn't cost peanuts, there were different types of it and the type used to make this watch wasn't one of the most valuable. It couldn't even match up to a single button of his shirt, she thought exaggeratedly.

While she waited for him to throw it on the floor, or worse, in her face and erupt in anger at the 'insult', the man looked up in astonishment. "You bought this for me?"

He was surprised but he didn't look displeased so she nodded.

"You have good taste. Thank you." His face uncontrollably revealed a smile and he immediately picked it out of the box. Under her shocked eyes, he took out the immensely valuable diamond watch on his wrist and replaced it with Zaria's gift. She would have thought that he was doing it for show, but he lifted his wrist to check the time, looking like he couldn't wait to show his new watch to the entire world.

Her heart that was racing finally calmed down but in the next second, her eyes drooped.

"Are you alright?" He noticed the change in her expression.

"Yes." She smiled, pushing the thoughts of that woman out of her mind. Why did she suddenly think about her? Her brain had just replayed a memory of her childhood yet again.

At the time, she was only six and had joined the drawing art class. They had been tasked to draw portraits of one of their parents. After being laughed at by the entire class for drawing the ugliest woman who was supposed to be her mother, she went home and desperately tried to hide it, only for it to be discovered by her mother when she took her school bag.

"Did you draw me?" Asked her mother with a gentle smile, running her fingers over the horribly shaped heart with a 'mum' written inside it. Beside it was the barely recognisable outline of a woman with long hair.

"I wanted to give it to you but it's too ugly." Zaria was on the verge of tears as she tugged the hem of her school uniform.

"How can you say that? It's lovely." She patted Zaria's head and kept the picture. At the time, Zaria also thought that her mother was merely saying it to make her feel better, until she saw the same drawing framed and displayed on her mother's desk in the study.

Jolting back to the present, Zaria blinked rapidly and tried to clear her mind of the unwelcome memories. "Why don't you want to eat lunch?" She asked the man in front of her.

He had noticed that she had spaced out but did not interrupt her. When she snapped back, he was still caressing his new watch as he answered her question. "I don't like the idea of eating from restaurants every day. Sometimes I like to have homemade food but I can't cook."

"Why don't you let someone deliver your lunch from your mansion?" She suggested, thinking that he must have already thought of this. To her surprise, he looked like he had just made a discovery.

"Good idea."

She was baffled. "You didn't ever think about it? How are you even still alive with your slow brain?"

"If I was capable of doing everything on my own, I don't think I would need you." He laughed, and her eyes narrowed.

While what he said was true, why did it sound ambiguous coming from his lips?

Not wanting to have a starving boss, she ordered food for him and made a mental note to remind him to tell his chef to prepare his lunch the next day.

"You look nervous." He noticed her balled fists and pulled her to sit on his lap. She was startled but he hugged her waist so she couldn't move and could only give up trying to get away.

"The bid is today. The Su family hotel chains."

At her words, he remembered that she had been preparing for it lately. "Are you scared that you might lose?" He asked.

"A little." She was confident that not many companies could offer more benefits than she did on behalf of Preston and Fort Group, but she came up with a sum by statistical prediction. She could not completely rule out the possibility of one of the companies offering more than one could ever guess.

He understood her worry. In truth, she was doing this for him and she would not lose the money if she failed. She was just afraid to disappoint him and it warmed his heart up. He ran a thumb along her neck. "If you lose it, you can try to snatch it back from whoever wins. It doesn't matter how much money you use at the end of it."

She gave him a surprised look. While she was used to him throwing huge choices at her, wasn't this too much? Wasn't he scared that she could make use of his trust to send Preston and Fort Group to bankruptcy?

"Thank you." She whispered, and he leaned down to kiss her lips.

"You don't need to thank me, babe. It's the company that will gain the most out of this."

She heard the telephone in her office ring and rushed to answer it, before returning a few minutes later.

"It was Mr. Dumont. He wants to know why you pulled out your investment from your joint project." The man had not stated the specifics but she knew what he was talking about.

"If we have called off one deal, then the others are cancelled too. What was the use of him spending so many years in school when he cannot even figure this out?" Came Desmond's unfiltered sharp words, his mood dampening. How dare that man disrespect his executive assistant then contact her later to ask baseless questions? The audacity!

Her feelings were in a mix when she realized what this was all about." Thank you. But you don't have to burn bridges for me."

"Don't worry, it will not affect me in the slightest." He reassured her with a smile. "If I can't even protect my employees, who am I supposed to protect?"

....

"That sick bastard." Snarled Samantha, who had just arrived at a private villa that only few people knew about. She slumped onto the couch opposite which Jaime was sitting and waiting for her.

"He came looking for you a few days ago. What did he tell you?" Asked Jaime.

"To change my statement." Samantha burst into laughter, not believing that the unintelligent man she was talking about was her brother. Did his brain get eaten by a zombie? She met Jamie's amused gaze with a smile. "Don't worry. I wrecked him."

Not only was Jaime not reassured, he was deep in thought. "What about Liam?"

"That fool doesn't know what's good for him." She shrugged. She enjoyed the chase anyway, and she would make him hers by all means. She sat up when she thought about what had been happening lately. "Something doesn't seem right, Jaime. Natalie befriended that journalist even though she is Desmond's mistress. Just what is going on?"

"It doesn't matter. She will soon be mine." Jaime knew that his sister was talking about Zaria.

Hearing his words, Samantha's lips secretly twitched. This idiot.