When the Contract Marriage Ended, He Stayed

Chapter 33: Missing from Your Bar

Julian Sterling didn’t know Hazel Hawthorne had been there. All he saw was Raina Lowell sniffling, so he announced, "Hey, this is the best a friend can do for you. I heard you and Aiden had a fight, so I took the liberty of calling Raina here to give you two a chance to reconcile."

Julian noticed Aiden Xavier’s expression was off. Raina Lowell was still sobbing, and the private room was dim. He thought he’d seen a woman walk out moments ago, but he hadn’t given it much thought, assuming it was just some barfly trying to hit on Aiden who’d been caught in the act by Raina.

To avoid any collateral damage, Julian thoughtfully sent all the other women out of the private room. When only the three of them remained, Julian still hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation and even pulled Aiden down to sit.

He said softly, "If you and Raina have something to talk about, just talk it out. Don’t make the girl cry." After that, Julian turned to the sniffling Raina and said gently, "You should stop crying, too. Aiden only came to the bar to blow off some steam because he was in a bad mood after fighting with you."

Aiden, who had been standing to the side, glared furiously at Julian, who was still confidently playing the peacemaker. "Who told you to take it upon yourself to bring Raina to the bar?"

That wasn’t what Julian had expected to hear. His face went blank as he stared at Aiden. ’Could I have been wrong? Aiden didn’t come to the bar to blow off steam because of Raina? Is that why he’s so angry to see her here?’

A thought suddenly struck Julian. ’Don’t tell me Aiden was planning to leave with that woman from earlier, and I ruined his fun by calling Raina here?’

While Julian was still lost in his own wild theories, Raina started sobbing softly. "Julian, it’s not your fault Aiden’s so angry. Maybe I’m the one who shouldn’t be here. I should have stayed abroad... I never should have come back."

"Huh?" Julian was completely confused.

Aiden picked up his jacket from the sofa, about to go after Hazel. Raina must have sensed his intention, because she immediately rushed forward and grabbed his hand. "Aiden," she said, her voice full of hurt, "are you really going to leave me here all by myself?"

Aiden gave Raina a long, hard look, and for a split second, his resolve to leave wavered. But the memory of Hazel’s expression and words made him anxious. He could never seem to grasp what she was thinking, and it was incredibly frustrating.

Raina, knowing she had made him hesitate, tried to seize the opportunity to lead him away and

a shred of hesitation,

could only watch as he bolted from the room. Julian was completely clueless about what

liked women, but not women who were always crying. Their tears just got on his nerves. Right now was a perfect example; he silently watched Raina weep, unsure what to do. He could only sit on the sofa and wait for her to tire herself out so he

*****

her expression stormy. The security guard who had stopped her earlier happened to be standing nearby. Noticing her foul mood, he approached with a few

thirsty. She took the water and started

to pick him up, why call Raina over too? Did he do it on

empty into a nearby trash can, and gave the can a vicious kick. She never should have bothered coming

him up, only for it to end like this. She should have just let Aiden rot here. What was the point of worrying about

What fucking rotten luck!

to herself that if anything like this ever happened again, she would

her, he still

to get involved in Aiden’s

out, but even

slap Aiden didn’t come around every day; how could she have wasted it? If heaven gave her a do-over, she wouldn’t use her hand. She’d grab a plate off the table and smash it right in his

out but couldn’t find Hazel. He waved a security guard over

evasively. He stammered, pointing in the opposite direction from where Hazel had actually gone. "I... I think I saw her

headed in the opposite direction from where he’d pointed. He knew Hazel would have driven. The cars in their garage at