When Xander heard her cautious voice, trembling as if she had done something wrong, he clenched his jaws as he scolded himself for scaring her.
She was finally being confident and yet because of his hesitation, she was starting to falter and all that for a phone?
He stretched his hand towards her and took her small hand in his before using the other hand to lift her chin so that she was looking at him and said solemnly, "Madam, we are married. So how can I be stingy with the money?" after all, he didn't even bother to sign with her a prenuptial agreement. So why bother being stingy with a phone?
That wouldn't make sense.
Gloria's eyes lit up when she heard that. She shyly looked at him, feeling a bit bad for misunderstanding him and overthinking.
When he saw that, he felt relieved that he added, "I will have Rory prepare a card for you. Whatever you want, just swipe. You don't have to ask me or anyone else in the future," his tone domineering. It struck Gloria's maiden heartstrings.
When had she ever experienced something like that?
"Thank you so much!" that's all she could think of as she looked at him.
It seems that she had thanked him a lot of times. She was losing count.
'I will surely nurture the flower at all costs. I won't disappoint you!' she solemnly vowed, knowing the only way to repay Xander.
"If you are thankful, then smile more and live well. I don't want to be a widower anytime soon," he responded with a tease which made Gloria burst into a hearty laughter.
The atmosphere in the car changed abruptly and in a good way.
With the two of them speaking comfortably, it wasn't long before Xander arrived at his company's headquarters.
Gloria looked at the building, that was very tall. She couldn't even imagine how many floors it was and looked at the man sitting by her side, preparing to alight the car.
Seeing that big building belonging to one man, she could understand why her ex-husband sold her to another man. Even she could sell someone to get an investment. Anyone entering and exiting the building just screamed money. Anyone would be tempted.
"I will be off to work now. I will not be returning for dinner. I have an appointment I pushed towards that time," he reported to her in a gentle manner, his eyes very soft. Gloria felt comfortable listening to him.
It was one of the few times her spouse was reporting to her. She felt needed and important.
Seeing her smiling as she listened attentively to him, he continued, "I will arrange for that teacher to come tomorrow and if you aren't comfortable with anything at home, just tell Cassy or the butler. Also, I will bring your phone tonight when I return. I will find you a durable one. Much better than the ones currently sold."
Her eyes sparkled the more she listened, and her lips were curled into a smile. She was literally smiling from eye to eye.
"I will be waiting for you to come home and don't worry; I will no longer bottle anything. If I have any matters I am concerned with, I will raise them up," she smilingly said, her tone earnest.
She didn't want to collapse again. It was already scary that she was going everywhere with an inhaler, just in case she suffered another seizure due to shock.
Xander was satisfied with her response. He couldn't help but pat her hand generously, though all he wanted to do was rub her hair. But then, seeing her beautiful hairstyle, he couldn't dare mess it up.
Gloria smiled shyly at Xander's ways of coaxing and comforting her. It made her feel like she was back in her childhood days. She kind of liked what he was doing.
After saying everything that he wanted, he leaned towards her and smooched her cheek before pulling away, saying, "Have fun and don't run around leaving the security team behind," and she beamed at him shyly watching him as he opened the door of the car.
"I will take care, don't worry!" she promised smilingly while waving at him as he alighted from the car.
Xander threw a wink at her before closing the door and Gloria covered her heated cheeks while squealing inside.
As a result, she didn't see the spectacular scene of Xander being welcomed by the staff and brought into the office building in such a majestic manner.
By the time she felt cool and calm, he was nowhere to be seen.
With Xander gone, she couldn't help but think about where to go.
Should she go home or shop around?
But then reality struck her. She didn't receive the bank card yet. So, she could only report her destination to the driver.
"Take me back home," before slouching on the seat, several thoughts swirling in her head.
As the entourage of cars left, the few staff members who were idling away outside as well as those peering through the windows curious about who was in the car with their chairman sighed with reluctance after not catching even a single.
They could only click their tongues furiously as they thought out loud.
"Was there someone?"
While others who were quick-witted and had masters to report to hurriedly sent messages.
[The chairwoman was sent to work by someone. I am not certain who that person is since he or she didn't alight from the car.]
As for what these masters would think, that wasn't the subordinate's business.
Meanwhile, on Xander's side, after entering the company, he took the private elevator with Rory all the way to the 66th floor where his office was.
When he got there, the group of secretaries welcomed him by the elevator, which wasn't anything surprising. He was used to that.
As he walked towards his office, the secretaries followed behind before the majority of them stopped by their station, while Rory and another female secretary followed him to his office.
When he got inside, that familiar fragrance circulated in the office. It was refreshing and sort of calmed the mind.
The office was squeaky clean, with curtains drawn open, the desk shining with the computers already open and numerous newspapers lined up on the table for his perusal.
He removed the suit jacket and the female secretary collected it before hanging it on the rack while he sat down.
Once he was seated, he looked at Rory and began to issue orders.
"Prepare an extra card for the madam to use and get me another phone similar to the one I use. Also ..." and everything was all related to Gloria, it made the female secretary's gossipy side feel itchy, curious about which woman finally managed to snatch the chairman.
Rory jotted everything down attentively and once that was done, he and the female secretary started reporting Xander's itinerary to him.
On the other side, Gloria, without money, couldn't go shopping at all, so she was sulking as she listened to soft music in the car.
Thinking about how she would be so busy that she wouldn't have time to waste and go to play after the etiquette teacher was found, she even felt more depressed.
She regretted not getting married sooner or becoming braver sooner. If only she talked about the money issue in the beginning, wouldn't she be parading in her beautiful dress right now in the shopping mall?
It was a pity that such a dress would be returned to the closet without many people seeing it.
'I will have Cassy take photos of me. This needs to be commemorated!' she solemnly thought before her phone disrupted her train of thought.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Which person is calling me again?" she hissed as she stretched her hand lazily towards the handbag which was on the seat that Xander was sitting on earlier.
She didn't have a lot of friends. Except for Simon, her family, the former mother-in-law she barely talked with, the housekeeper and the clan's doctor. The other people in her contacts were basically zombies.
So, among these people, who else could be calling and why?
She couldn't help but be curious. However, when she saw the caller ID flashing on the screen, a murderous glint flashed in her eyes as she clenched her jaws as well as balled her other hand into a fist.
"How dare you call me?" she angrily said through gritted teeth as she swiped the screen to answer.