Chapter 11 Xander's Wife
Xander was having dinner with a business partner at their house.
He had come to Silas City for the inauguration of a joint project with the Anderson Group. Mr. Kevin Anderson, president of Anderson Group, had invited him to dinner at their mansion. Xander had never involved himself in these types of family dinners with a business partner, but the Andersons were longtime friends of the Blakes. His grandfather would have wanted him to attend the dinner. William had kept his distance from him for the past five years, but Xander still attended the dinner to honor his sentiment before returning to Zavion City.
After dinner, Xander and Jose sat on the couch opposite Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, having a casual conversation. A little girl came and stood in front of Xander. He raised an eyebrow at her as the girl was staring at him expectantly.
He remembered she was Mr. Anderson's daughter as she kept staring at him throughout the dinner. Normally children avoided Xander because of his intimidating and cold unapproachable aura, and never bothered him. However, this girl appeared to be different. She seemed to like him.
Xander narrowed his eyes at her, confused, as the girl smiled at him and extended both hands toward him.
"She wants you to carry her." Jose informed Xander.
"Why should I carry her?"
Mrs. Anderson's eyes widened in surprise at Xander's reply. 'What a rude man.'
"Umm...actually, he isn't fond of children. Don't misunderstand him." Jose said, feeling awkward.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson nodded in understanding before Mrs. Anderson summoned her daughter and made her sit on her lap.
"It appears that you don't have your own children yet." she said, smiling.
"Why should I have children? They are troublesome." Xander furrowed his brows in confusion.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson exchanged glances before they began laughing.
"It seems like you really don't like children at all. Still, your family would want you to have an heir as you are the only heir in your family. Don't you, Mr. Blake?" Mr. Anderson said casually.
Xander didn't respond as he had never considered having children. He couldn't stand being around children for a while, let alone live with them. But what irritated him the most was where this topic came from. They were supposed to talk about business.
"As far as I remember, you are already married. So I thought you might have your own kids." Mrs. Anderson spoke, answering Xander's unasked question.
The couple recalled hearing about Xander's marriage a long time ago.
"Yes, and if I remember correctly, your wife is Aaron Miller's daughter, from the Miller Group." Mr. Anderson added. "What was her name?" he tried to recall the name.
"Crystal Miller. I recently heard some news about you two on social media. You two look great together." Mrs. Anderson said.
"Yes yes, Crystal Miller, the CEO of Miller Group. She is a beautiful and talented young woman. You have found yourself a good wife, Mr. Blake."
Jose looked at Xander, horrified, as the latter clenched his teeth.
"Crystal.... is not my wife." Xander said and paused for a moment. "My wife was......Ariadne Miller, and we divorced five years ago." Xander clenched his teeth as he spoke that name after a very long time.
Ariadne became a forgotten name that no one mentioned in the last five years.
"Oh, sorry, we don't know much about your personal life." Mr. Anderson apologized.
"So you didn't get married after your divorce. Crystal Miller is your girlfriend then?" Mrs. Anderson expressed her curiosity.
However, Xander didn't appeared to be pleased by her question, as he didn't respond.
"Honey, let's not discuss Mr. Blake's private life. The food was delicious." Mr. Anderson changed the topic after noticing Xander's negative attitude towards the subject.
After a while, Xander said his goodbyes to the family and left for the airport. Silas City was not far from Zavion City. They returned in three hours.
.....
Next day at Blake Corporation, Xander was reviewing some documents when his office door was knocked on.
"Come in."
the door pushed open and Jose entered with a file in hand.
"Here's the list of companies interested in taking on the Grace Children's Hospital Project."
Xander nodded before glancing at the file Jose had placed on the table in front of him.
"There's one name on this list you would like to know." Jose smirked.
"Who?" Xander raised an eyebrow at him.
"Watson Group wants to work with us and has sent their resume."
Xander's eyes flickered as he heard the name.
Watson group was a large company, just like Blake Corporation, and both were considered competitors. However, they had never involved in a direct battle because they were separated by a long distance, giving them their own territory to rule without clashing with one another.
In recent years, Watson Group had expanded it's business into new territories. They also expanded into Zavion City and launched a construction company, a few months ago. Xander didn't pay much attention to them as their businesses were not similar. Thus, there would be no competition between the two companies.
"Interesting. Let's see what they can offer." Xander smirked.
Grace Children's Hospital would be relocated. The previous hispital building was built by Xander's great grandfather. Though the hospital management had kept it in excellent condition, it was still an old building, lacking some modern facilities. Grace Children's Hospital had become one of the best child hospitals in the world, and they wanted to build a new building with the most modern facilities in all departments.
It was a massive project, so they wanted the best. To ensure the accuracy of their decision to hire the construction company, they had made the selection procedure quite difficult. First, they would select the top five candidates from the list based on specific criteria. Each of the five candidates would deliver a presentation outlining their plan for the project. Xander and his team would then select one of them based on their preferences. And the project would go to the chosen company.
By evening, Xander had chosen all five companies and instructed Jose to notify them of his decision.
"You have an appointment with Mr. Moody at 7pm, at Heavenly Night." Jose informed Xander as they exited the office building.
"Let's head there right away." Xander said, glancing at his wristwatch, which showed it was already 5.45pm.
.....
In a private room at Heavenly Night dinner was served, after the meeting.
There were four people in the room. Mr. Ben Moody and his wife Clara, while Xander was accompanied by none other than Crystal. Crystal had asked Xander for a dinner date earlier, so he ended up bringing her along to the meeting. It turned out to be a good idea, as Mr. Moody came with his wife.
"You are such a gorgeous lady, Miss Crystal. No wonder Mr. Blake adores you so much." Clara complimented Crystal.
"Thank you Mrs. Moody. You are, too, very beautiful." Crystal replied, lowering her head shyly.
"Not just gorgeous, honey. Miss Crystal is equally talented as well. She was named the most successful female entrepreneur of the year last month." Mr. Moody informed his wife.
"Oh my goodness, that's a huge accomplishment. You are really great, Miss Crystal. Congratulations." Clara greeted her.
"Thank you, Mrs. Moody."
"We are very proud of you for raising the status of women. Compared to other countries, there are not many successful women in Zavion City." Clara said.
"Yes, in places like Purple City, women are just as successful as men." Mr. Moody added.
"A new jewelry brand has emerged in the market, and it's giving tough competition to the other companies." Clara said excitedly.
"Which brand?" Crystal asked.
"Autumn Collection."
"Oh, I have heard of it too. Their jewels are of very high quality. It's a shame they haven't yet launched in Zavion City."
"Yes, it was ranked second last year, just behind Sparks, which is an old brand. I am sure, next year Autumn Collection will surpass even Sparks. And you know, the owner is a woman. But she has never revealed her identity to the public."
"She must be a very talented woman."
Xander didn't pay much attention to their conversation and was busy in checking his phone.
"So, when are the two of you getting married?" Mrs. Moody asked.
Crystal's face fell at the question as she glanced towards Xander.
"Why don't you ask him?" she said, pointing to Xander, who was engrossed in his phone.
However, no one dared to ask him.
"What is it?" Xander's attention was drawn back to them as they all fell silent at once.
"Mrs. Moody wants to know when we will get married." Crystal answered for him.
Xander furrowed his brows, puzzled as to where this topic had come from.
"You two are frequently seen together, and you look great together. We are curious when you are getting married. I mean, you are together. Right?" Clara asked nervously.
"You don't need to worry about my marriage. It will happen when the right time comes." Xander stated flatly.
The couple stopped asking personal questions after that and focused on business.
...
After dinner, Xander went to drop Crystal off at the Miller Residence. The car came to a stop outside the mansion, and Crystal stepped out.
"Are you sure you will not come in? Mom and dad will be delighted to see you. You haven't met with them in a while." Crystal asked sweetly.
"Next time. I am tired today.... the hospital project." Xander replied.
"Oh yes, I forgot. When is the presentation?"
"Two days later."
"Okay, I will be there on time. Good night." Crystal said goodbye to Xander before entering the mansion.
"Let's go." Xander instructed Jose and looked out the window, deep in thought.
For a few days, he had been restless for unknown reasons. His gut feeling told him that something big was about to happen. He grew concerned about the project as he was currently working on it. It was a dream project for the Blakes, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.
"Will Miss Crystal really be at the presentation?" Jose asked.
"Yes." Xander replied.
Crystal had requested Xander to let her attend the presentation. Xander was helping her in gaining experience and improving her skills. It was a favour from Xander, and she would be able to give her inputs in the presentation as well.
They fell silent as the car sped down the lonely road towards his penthouse. Xander pondered his life. In five years, so much had changed. However, for a while, the topic of his marriage began to irritate him.
'Why are people concerned about my marriage and children. Don't they have anything else to do?' Xander thought in his mind.
"You are thirty one now. When do you plan to start your own family? People your age have already had two or three kids." Xander recalled her mother lecturing him.
Her mother had begun pressuring him to marry as soon as possible and produce an heir for the family. Ariadne's face flashed through his mind and he clenched his teeth.
'This is all because of that woman.'
Their toxic marriage had left a lasting impression on him, causing him to lost interest in marriage. He couldn't bring himself to get married again. He hung out with Crystal and there were rumors about their relationship, but he never confirmed them. But, deep down, he knew that one day he would have to give Crystal what she deserved. And for children, he believed that it was better not to have any. However, if he needed an heir, one child would suffice. He would put up with one child for the sake of his family. But, there was no way, he would tolerate more than one child.
However, he had no idea what surprise awaited him, because things didn't always go as planned.