Aiden was feeling awkward being in the shopping mall with Dylan. He had never done this before with Dylan, not even when they were in their teens. Dylan himself wondered why he volunteered to shop for Aiden when he never shopped for his own clothes and had hired a designer for it.
Dylan had taken Aiden to a branded store, and Aiden almost fainted at the cost of the suits.
" T-The prices are too expensive. I-I can't afford it," Aiden whispered.
" Have I ever asked you to pay for the things I gave you?" Dylan asked, raising a brow, and Aiden looked away, flustered.
Dylan had given Aiden a lot of his dresses when they stayed at the Hunt mansion, but they were all basically Dylan's clothes, which he wore once or twice and got bored of it. It was never new. This time the situation was different. They were now adults, and Aiden didn't want to take anything from Dylan but was too scared to oppose him.
Dylan bought too many formal and casual clothes, more than what was required despite Aiden's repeated protests. He even got him a few pairs of shoes, watches, and even a phone when he saw Aiden using an old phone.
When Noah was back home, he was shocked to see the numerous shopping bags in the living room. " Do you want to say something?"
" It was unexpected. I never thought Dylan would approach me again," Aiden replied.
" That's not the point here, Aiden. Why didn't you tell me about your adoptive family? Not even after you saw Dylan at the graduation ceremony."
" I-I didn't have a very good relationship with the Hunt family."
" What do you mean?" Noah asked, looking concerned.
" I-Its just that they were particularly not fond of me, especially Dylan's parents. After Dylan left for England for his higher studies, I was sent to a boarding school, and Mrs. Hunt said she didn't want me to contact them again."
" That's so bad. Why did they adopt you if they didn't care for you?" Noah asked, appalled.
This was the question Aiden dreaded. It was too shameful to tell Noah that he was nothing but a servant to the Hunt family. " I-I don't know. They adopted me from the orphanage when I was 10."
Noah saw Aiden's crestfallen face and didn't ask anything more, but he was sure there was more to the story than Aiden was letting on. What problems had he faced in his childhood? Did he go from one abusive family to another? No wonder Aiden was so scared and laid back when Noah first met him. He hugged Aiden tightly to wash away his concerns and assure him that he would always be there for him.
The following day, Aiden got dressed in a suit to go to Dylan's office.
" Wow, you look hot," Noah said as soon as he saw Aiden. " I feel like f**king you right here right now."
Aiden blushed and looked down. "S-Shut up."
" Is my boyfriend shy? You look cuter when you blush."
Aiden threw the cushion at Noah and said, " Are you going to drop me or should I take a cab?"
" Fine!! I was kidding. Let's go."
Noah dropped Aiden in front of the vast building of his new office and left to go to his own. Dylan happened to come at the same time and saw everything.
" Don't you have a car of your own?" Dylan asked Aiden harshly.
" N-No."
" Why?"
" I-I didn't think it was needed."
" How can anybody not need a car?"
" I-I stayed in the college dormitory for the past few years."
" Fine!! I will get you a car; your friend won't have to drop you off every day."
" You don't have to bother. My friend has no problem in..."
" I will get you a car," Dylan said in an irritated tone. It bothered him to see Aiden being so close to Noah; he felt like somebody else was claiming ownership of his property.
" I-I don't know to drive," Aiden said softly.
Dylan didn't respond and just took out his phone and called his driver. " Arrange for a driver immediately. I want him by the end of the day." He kept his phone back in his pocket, looked at Aiden, and said, " Problem solved."
Aiden was about to say something but stopped when Dylan glared at him. They entered the office building, and Dylan asked Aiden to go to the HR department to complete his joining formalities.
As Dylan had promised, he had given Aiden a spot in the Production development team. At least in that aspect, Aiden was happy and satisfied. His team members were also excellent and helpful, and Aiden didn't have much problem getting along with them.
Noah thought it was weird that Aiden's adoptive brother was suddenly so attentive to Aiden that he would even send a luxury car with a driver at his beck and call, but he decided to ignore it for now.
The first few days were great. Aiden got occupied with his new job, and Dylan was a busy man himself, so they did not have much time to meet. After a few weeks of working in the Hunt Industries, Aiden and his teammates had been to a nearby restaurant for lunch when they happened to see Dylan with his girlfriend, Natalie.
" You seem to be getting along with the team," Dylan said, curtly staring at Aiden. " You are already going out on lunch." He didn't expect Aiden to be so comfortable with the team so soon.
Aiden's team members were shocked to see their CEO being so casual with Aiden.
" Do you know him?" Natalie asked Dylan.
" He's Aiden," Dylan replied.
" Oh!! The same?" Natalie asked, and Dylan nodded.
" You are so cute!!" Natalie smiled at Aiden and pinched his cheek. " I have heard a lot about you."
Aiden was baffled at Natalie's reaction, and his face was as red as a tomato.
" I am Dylan's girlfriend, Natalie."
" H-Hi..." Aiden said shyly, and Natalie chuckled.
" He's exactly as you said," Natalie said, looking at Dylan. She then faced Aiden and said, " I studied in England with Dylan, and he always spoke about you. Aiden did this...Aiden did that...and whatnot. It felt like he couldn't live without you."
Aiden was so mortified that he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole. He glanced at Dylan, thinking even he would be embarrassed, but he didn't seem bothered by the conversation.
" We should meet up again," Natalie continued.
" Why do you want to meet him?" Dylan asked suddenly.
" Why not? I like him."
" What?" Dylan asked, gritting his teeth.
" Oh!! Are you jealous..." Natalie cooed. " It's good to see you getting jealous for the first time."
Dylan was confused. He was never the type to be jealous. Even though Natalie was his first long-time relationship, he never felt too possessive about her. Why did he feel uneasy when she said she liked Aiden?
Dylan was not with Natalie because he loved her, but only because it was too much of a bother to be chasing a new girl every now and then. He was busy building up his career and didn't want to get distracted by such trivial things. Natalie was good in bed and not too demanding, so he stuck to her for his needs.
Aiden stared at Natalie, who was gorgeous as well as classy. Just the type of woman Dylan would go for. The only surprising thing was that Dylan had managed to keep a single girlfriend for so long. Back in his teenage days, he never had a stable relationship.
When Dylan saw Aiden staring at Natalie, he was even more annoyed. " Don't you all have work to do?" he said to Aiden and his team members. " How long are you planning to stay here for lunch?"
" We were just about to leave," Aiden's team leader said in a hurry.
" Let's go," Dylan said to Natalie.
" Bye, cutie!! I will see you again," Natalie said to Aiden and waved, and Dylan clenched his fist in anger.
As soon as Dylan left, Aiden's team members bombarded him with questions. " How do you know the CEO?", " Why didn't you tell us?", " Are you two close?"
" We studied in the same school," Aiden said briefly. He didn't want his team members to know about the adoption, as that would lead to a more extensive explanation which he tried to avoid.
The next few days, work was too busy. Aiden's team had taken up a few new projects, and they were forced to stay in the office for longer times as Dylan was constantly on their backs for a result.
" Don't you think the CEO is too involved in our team these days?" one of the team members asked the team leader.
" I wonder why? Previously, the General manager handled the production team, but now we are directly reporting to the CEO."
" Do you know why?" he asked Aiden.
" What?" Aiden asked, confused. He was busy working and never heard what the others were talking about.
" Do you know why the CEO is so involved with our team?"
" Was it not always like this?" Aiden asked.
" No."
" Then I have no idea."
The team members did not comment further, but they all believed it had something to do with Aiden since the changes occurred after he had joined their team.