Chapter 11 We’re Disqualified
Maria had been waiting for Xavier in the Hogan’s mansion for a while. already. She took his coat and was slightly stunned when she saw Karina
behind him.
“Ms. Norton, your room’s ready. Follow me this way.”
Karina was about to step into the elevator with Xavier. Hearing this, she looked at Maria, stunned. “Xavier and I aren’t gonna sleep together?”
To her, since Xavier had already agreed for her to live here, of course, he’d marry her.
It only made sense if they shared a room.
Xavier frowned at her words.
“Well…” Maria didn’t dare to respond.
Amina had specifically asked her to prepare a guest room for fear that Karina would notice any traces left by Eliana in the master bedroom.
“I have to deal with work stuff. You may go to bed first.”
Xavier glanced at Karina, his tone indifferent.
“But…”
Karina tried to catch up with him, but after hearing what Xavier said, Maria blocked her way. “Ms. Norton, this way.”
The elevator doors closed quickly, and Xavier’s utterly icy face vanished from Karina’s sight.
stobool
Chapter 11 Were Disqualified
Karina took a deep breath to suppress her displeasure. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that Xavier had treated her differently since her return to the country.
She was totally baffled. Sometimes he was so close, not refusing her approach at all. Yet sometimes he treated her like she was a mere
stranger.
After entering the study, Xavier took a shower, changed into his bathrobe, and flipped through the documents. However, he couldn’t concentrate at
all.
In the past, Eliana would bring him a bowl of bone broth and then wait for him in the bedroom.
He had mostly stayed overnight in the study. Occasionally, he’d go back to the bedroom but would just take the sofa. However, her habit of bringing him the broth had never changed.
Yet, no matter how long he waited, no one came knocking today.
He was overwhelmed by a sense of loss, which irritated him utterly.
Just then, his phone buzzed. Upon seeing Micah’s name flashing on the screen, he frowned imperceptibly, not being able to account for his earlier
emotion.
Micah said, “Mr. Hogan, the person in charge of Plymbourne Medical Exhibition just called me. We’ve been disqualified from participating because we didn’t donate enough.”
Xavier pulled a long face at once. Eliana had been in charge of things like this, and Micah took over after she left.
He said, “What’s that supposed to mean? The exhibition decides the participant list based on how much each group donates to the Red Cross. We donated 50 million dollars last year. 50 million dollars is not
10 341
Chapter 11 We’re Disqualified
enough?”
Sensing Xavier’s foul mood, Micah was very nervous. “I’m confused, too. I called Eliana, wanting to know if she knows something about it, but her number has been deactivated…”
Micah’s voice trailed off.
He didn’t dare to continue.
The study fell dead silent. Xavier frowned as what had happened in the office earlier today came flooding back to him. Eliana had taken off her uniform so resolutely, determined to leave even though she was utterly humiliated. Somehow, he was engulfed by an inscrutable emotion.
If he remembered correctly, she had once told him she came from a small village, and it took her a lot of effort to get into university and stay in the city.
Then she opened a boutique on her own merit but closed it down shortly after marrying him.
Over the years, she had relied on regular allowance given by the Hogan family and had no income at all.
Where could a penniless woman go?
He remembered the address of the village she had told him and was confident he could find her. “I need you to go to a village.
“Also, contact the exhibition organizers and tell them I’d like to talk to their chief executive.”
He then hung up and tossed his phone onto the desk, his expression darkening even more.
