Xander looked at the man sitting across from him, with an unreadable expression on his face, tapping the desk rhythmically.
In the video, Gloria could see how handsome the clan leader was. Despite sitting without doing much, his face seemed to be carved out of some precious material. He had that kind of face that would drive men and women crazy. Even she was affected a bit by his looks. However, her focus couldn't help but shift back to Simon, the man who mattered more in her life.
When she looked at Simon, he seemed very nervous. Gloria didn't know what kind of terms Simon told Xander but she was very curious about them as well. Although she was nervous about what she might hear, she couldn't help herself.
After a while, Xander who seemed as if he was mute, suddenly chuckled as he rose to his feet, and the camera which was recording the whole thing, showed an aerial view of the office.
Gloria's eyes couldn't help but take a look at the office as well as Xander who stood very tall, wearing that suit which seemed as if he was born with it.
Wearing a black shirt with two buttons undone, his clavicle was exposed, leaving room for imagination.
With him on his feet, she couldn't help but compare him to Simon, and she didn't find anything pleasing. Thankfully, she was distracted by Xander's baritone voice, which rang in her voice as he answered Simon's earlier question.
"Clan leader Willow, are you sure that you really want to go ahead with your previous terms to acquire investments from me?" Xander's tone was filled with amusement as he asked that.
Gloria nervously listened as she watched the screen, curious to death about what kind of conditions were raised that she had to be forced to divorce her husband and come to a different clan to tend crops.
Simon clenched his jaws as he stood up as well. He walked a few steps towards Xander who was now standing while looking at the floor-to-ceiling window.
"I am very serious about the matter, clan leader Xander. I don't have anything that I can exchange you with to get the investment. However, I believe that my earlier proposal is very beneficial to you!" Simon seriously said, and the way he said it made Gloria's heart race wildly and she flushed.
How could he sound so domineering and sexy at the same time?
If only she understood what they were talking about!
She couldn't help but sigh as she continued to listen.
Xander turned around so that he was facing Simon and his lips curled upwards in a smirk. The moment Gloria saw that she couldn't help but have another moment of foreboding feeling.
"Clan leader Willow! You are the first daring man I have seen in my life to dare trade your wife for money. Are you not afraid that she will go crazy if she learns that you sold her?" Xander mockingly asked, dropping a bomb on Gloria, who was watching that she failed to notice when the tablet dropped on the sheets.
Just because she dropped it didn't mean that she couldn't hear what was being said.
"It might seem like that, but I do trust her. She will never have such thoughts against me. Besides, if she can't do something to save the people, she always claims she loves them. Then what use is she?"
"You are speaking as if you don't love her!" Xander's mocking voice sounded.
"To be honest with you, I can't say that I love her. She is a good companion. The kind that will always be by your side. I like her, but my heart already belongs to someone else!" Simon's cold voice rang and Gloria, who was still in shock, seemed to be electrified.
She picked up the tablet with reddened eyes and her other fist clenched as she glared hatefully at the two men in the video.
"So, for a person you don't love. You expect me to just take her and then lose so much money? I don't see any benefit in taking your wife. Moreover, I don't want to be a homewrecker. I might be lacking a lover or a wife, but taking another man's woman isn't what I do. I am not desperate!" Xander's cold voice sounded, and Gloria couldn't help but tear up when she heard that.
'At least someone is thinking clearly here!'
"That's why I will divorce her to show how serious I am about the matter. As for what you want to do with her, you decide. I know that you have been looking for someone to manage your precious flowers. She might be bad at everything but crops and flowers. She is very good at it. Consider it as investing in your clan's future horticulturist!"
Gloria clenched her fists as she listened to the emotionless words the man, she had given her everything was spouting. It felt so surreal that he could utter such bold terms and marry his wife off for benefits. How could he do that?
It can't be true, right? She didn't believe so.
"I might need a horticulturist and your wife is good. But why divorce her? I can afford to hire her for a period of time. After all, I truly appreciate her talent. There is no need to go to such lengths, is there?"
Gloria nodded to Xander's words. She could be hired and work for the Frost clan for a while and still maintain her matriarch status. There was no need to divorce, right?
"Or could it be that there is another reason why you want to divorce her badly?" Xander asked curiously, his tone filled with amusement, and Gloria, who was holding to some false hope, couldn't help but laugh mockingly as she looked at Simon's expression.
He looked pretty determined. It seemed that she was the only foolish one. He left her back at the clan and told her that he was going to acquire an investment. But never told her that he was going to sell her.
Looking at how he was acting, Gloria felt enlightened and could actually see the truth. Simon didn't love her. He was determined to get rid of her even before he lied to her in the clan and pretended as if he loved her and that he had been forced.
Drip. Drop.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, falling to the sheets as Gloria felt that she was the fool in the relationship. She trusted his words and in order to save the clan she didn't hesitate but be fooled into divorcing him, thus giving him a chance to be with whoever he was protecting.
"Haha!" how could she be a fool?
She couldn't help but laugh mockingly at herself the more she thought about everything.
"Clan leader Xander, I can see that you are not fond of this deal, but what if I tell you that I had never slept with her even once? Will you take her, then?"
However, when Simon dropped another bomb, Gloria couldn't laugh anymore. She froze on the spot, her mouth wide open before her body started shaking crazily.
Thud.
Moments later, Cassy, who was diligently guarding outside, filled with nervousness and anxiety, especially listening to the voices coming from the tablet and Gloria laughing hysterically inside, was stunned in place when she heard the sound of something big falling.
'What could it be?' she wondered momentarily before it clicked in her mind.
"OMG! Ma'am," she exclaimed fearfully as she turned around and pushed the door open and her fear came true.
Lying on the floor was Gloria, whose body was twitching. The tablet was lying on the ground, the voices continuing to sound.
"You are truly a cruel man, but since you have vouched for her and I need her expertise, I will accept this deal. However, once the contract is signed, she won't belong to you. Whatever I do with her, that is my business. Can you accept that?"
However, the conversation was no longer any of Cassy's business, as Gloria's condition was the only thing on her mind.
'Why is she showing signs of epilepsy?' Cassy wanted to cry, but no tears came out.
Cassy was a fully qualified assistant and knew several first-aid treatments.
So, the second she realized that it might be epilepsy, though her information showed no such illness in Gloria's medical history. She didn't show much panic after calming down.
She first removed anything on the ground to ensure Gloria's safety before turning her on her side to prevent any choking.
After that, she loosened her clothes around her neck to help with breathing.
The next part was to note the time, but she didn't want to wait. So, while Gloria was lying in that safe position, she took out her phone and hurriedly made a call to the clan leader's secretary.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
After a few rings, the call was answered. [What is it? Any problems?] the cold voice of the secretary sounded.
That voice used to scare her, but at that very moment, she couldn't care less. All she knew was that Gloria was in danger and it was the damn video that caused her to be in such a state.