The ride back to the house was smooth and in no time, Chase was in the confinement of his room, working on a project he had received from the states.His phone rang.He was too busy as he had to complete what he was doing on time, he ignored the call.A couple of rings later, the call got disconnected, only to start ringing again in the next second.Groaning, Chase picked the phone and pressed the green button."Why aren't you picking my calls?" The empress asked as soon as he placed the phone on his ear."I'm busy with the Riverdale project, grandma," he said in a bored tone, eyes fixated on his screen.The empress nodded in satisfaction but soon remembered the reason she was calling."I heard you're not coming back today," she said.Of course, Agatha must have relayed the message to her already. He thought to himself."Yes, grandma," he replied."Do you even care about me?" She asked a second later.Chase finally stopped typing on his laptop and leaned back on the couch."Grandma…"
Chase raised an eyebrow but walked deeper into the dimly lit restaurant."Do have a lovely evening," the manager said and bowed his head."Oh, I will," Chase replied with an evil undertone but the manager didn't get it, instead he smiled genuinely and bowed one more time before turning to leave. "Hello Mrs…" Chase started as he got to the table, pretending he had forgotten her name.Martha's eyes sparkled at the sound of his voice and she immediately turned around and stood up from her seat."Please, call me Martha," she said amidst giggles."Okay, Martha," Chase said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes while the name was like shards of glass coming out of his mouth."Thank you for coming," she said again."It wouldn't speak well of me to stand a beautiful woman up," he said, playing her game."Oh, you flatter me," Martha beamed. "Please sit," he said hurriedly and even pulled out her seat for her."Thank you," she said and sat down.Chase stared at her back with disdain but when
He had said it so randomly and so easily that she wondered if she had heard him correctly.Seeing her confused state, he decided to elaborate.He picked up his handkerchief and dabbed the corners of his lips while she stared at him with wide eyes."Your ex husband? I learned that you were married but he died a couple of years later due to unknown reasons," he said.Seeing that he already knew about it, there was no use hiding it so she decided to tell the truth. Or her own version."Yes," she said with hard eyes."And might I add that I also read that he was your current husband's brother, no?" He asked.She waited for a few minutes, trying to gather her thoughts before answering him."You're not wrong. Everything you heard is correct," she said. She took in a deep breath and tears welled up in her eyes. "My ex husband, Chase, he was a very abusive man," she started and Chase balled his hands into fists. "He would always hit me at any given opportunity and sexually violate me afterwar
"Do you want to hang out and maybe see a movie together?" Martha asked as they left the restaurant into the chilly night.They had just finished eating, Martha at least, because Chase couldn't get any food down his throat after all he'd heard."Pass, I'm tired," he replied with no emotions as he walked her to where her car was parked."We should do this again, maybe tomorrow? I really had so much fun spending time with you," she said and placed her hand on his upper arm."Yeah, okay," Chase said and finally managed a smile."Okay," she said giddily, happy that he had agreed to go out again. Everything was going better than she had expected. "Can I have your number? So I can text you when and where directly instead of going through your secretary?" She asked but she frowned her face at the mention of Agatha, Chase could tell that she didn't like her.Well, Agatha didn't like her either, so they were even.Martha thought Agatha was too nosy and for her to get what she wanted, she had to
"Mark!" She yelled when she finally found her voice and he stormed into the room a few seconds later, looking around with wide eyes for the intruder."What happened?" He asked when there was no sign of any other person in the room.With shaky hands, she pointed at the phone on the floor."What's wrong?" He repeated but bent down to pick up the phone and he read the words out loud. "I know what you did to your husband.""Someone knows. Someone knows what we did, Mark. Someone fucking knows," she said with wide eyes, going into a panic attack."Calm down, Martha," he said in a hard tone as he reread the words."Someone must have seen us," she rushed out."Calm down,' he repeated through clenched teeth."What if they have evidence? If they go to the police and….""Calm the fuck down, Martha!" Mark yelled, making her jerk.He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.He opened it again and held her shoulders and gently led her to sit on the bed."I'm going to need you to breathe
The run back to the house was a shorter one and soon, Chase was entering the front of the house."Young master," the chef approached him with a small bow, making him stop in his tracks. "Breakfast is ready," she informed him."Alright. I'll be down in a few," he said and walked up the stairs to his room."Young master," Agatha called as soon as she saw him.He stopped to answer her but she was lost for a moment as she stared at his body. Even with sweat that trickled down his forehead and soaked his sweatshirt, he was still very attractive."Yes?" Chase asked impatiently, getting annoyed by the delay."Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she apologized immediately and blushed a bit for being caught staring. "The empress said you should call her when you get back," she relayed the message that she had and Chase realized he hadn't gone out with his phone."Did she say why?" He asked."She didn't say," she shook her head no."Okay," Chase nodded once and turned to leave."Er, young master," she stopped
"Great!" She said. "I'll text you the time and place. Dress accordingly," she said. "Okay, okay," he said and threw his head back a bit.After exchanging goodbye, he hung up and dropped his phone."Let me guess. Another date?" Agatha, who had been watching his facial expressions from the other side of the dining table asked."Yes," he said simply. "But I told her you didn't want to go for any of them anymore and she even agreed," she said with furrowed eyebrows."Makes me wonder why this one's special," he shrugged before putting food on his plate."Should I tell her you weren't able to attend?" She asked."No, it's fine," he said immediately and her face fell.Yes, she was sporting a huge crush on her boss and she always felt bad whenever he went on his dates and it hurt her even more to see that he wasn't even seeing her in that manner.Since they stayed under the same roof, she always tried to dress seductively so he would notice her but he never did."Do you need me to look into
"Excuse me," Chase flagged a waitress down."Yes, sir," she replied with a polite smile.He placed their orders and whispered something to her and she nodded once before walking away.If it was any other person, she wouldn't have done his bid, but Gab and Gabe's was affiliated with their restaurant, which made Theo a part owner of the place.Chase relaxed into his seat and swiped across his phone, replying to some business mails while waiting for Martha to come back.He didn't have to wait for long because a few minutes later, she was returning to her seat after giving herself a long pep talk in the restroom to pull herself together."I'm sorry about that," she apologized politely as she took her seat."It's okay," Chase waved her off."So, how's the merger going so far?" He asked her in a bid to initiate conversation and she was relieved that he didn't ask her what was wrong with her again."It's very stressful now due to the increased workload," she said in an irritated tone."You d