Chapter 816 A Man in Dishonor Is a Man in Disfavor
After Jamie took his phone back, he stared somewhat absent-mindedly at the picture for a moment before answering, “This one? She’s Narissa Cuber, a friend of your mom’s too. She’s mischievous like you. There’s not a thing in this world she fears.”
Irvin thought the man was baffling, for he hadn’t expected Jamie to ramble about a casual question.
“A hunk? You’re the ugliest in the picture.” Irvin sassed.
“You’ve got a terrible eye for beauty, kid.” Jamie was determined to prove himself despite being despised so badly by a child. “Take a good look at this face, these abs, and these long legs. Tell me what any part of this has to do with ugly. I don’t want to brag, but there’s barely anyone in Tissote more good-looking than me!”
“Yeah, right,” Irvin retorted. “I already found one after I jumped out of your car.”
“Who?” Jamie narrowed his eyes, and his vanity suddenly came into play.
“Here, this guy!” Irvin pulled out the screenshot he got from the cafe.
Jamie leaned over only to find it was none other than Alexander Griffith. He drew a gasp in response. As much as he wanted to retort, he knew he could only swallow his words back down.
“Okay, you win. You got lucky this time.” Jamie then deliberately changed the topic, finding an out. “Your mom will arrive tomorrow. You just stay here for the night. If you need anything, you can ask the staff to get it for you. Tell them to put it on my tab.”
With that, he pressed down the door handle to leave.
“Are you leaving?” Irvin looked up from his tablet in response, leading Jamie to turn around with a grin. “Why? Are you already missing me?”
“You wish.” The boy’s attention was now on his tablet. “I just want to tell you to come and take me to the airport with you.”
“Hey, you’re taking me for a chauffeur now, aren’t you?” Jamie’s face fell, aggrieved. “What if I say no?”
“Then, I’ll find a chance to run away again and make it hard for you to explain to my mom.” Irvin didn’t even move his eyes away once when he was speaking.
“For a kid with a warm mouth, your words sure are cold.” Jamie was rendered exasperated. This little rascal can really make a man angry.
“I can go on if you’d like,” Irvin said curtly.
“Forget it. I’d like to live a couple more decades.” The man left at once for fear that he would die of anger on the spot. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you, himbo!” Irvin bid Jamie farewell with a deadpan face.
Jamie could only play dumb and leave when there was nothing he could do about the kid.
The entire room fell silent as soon as he left.
Irvin opened a unique search engine and uploaded Alexander’s picture into it, only to receive tens of thousands of related searches.
The first link was his Wikipedia page. Alexander Griffith, former general manager of Griffith Group and current CEO of Smith Co., estimated net worth of trillions, divorced…
Irvin skimmed through it, then moved on.
He learned fashion design from his mother for a couple of years, so he could tell Alexander was wealthy from the moment they met, but what he saw next was outrageous.
‘Alexander Griffith late-night voyage with supermodel; out all night.’
‘Alexander Griffith divorced half a year into marriage; iniquitous or twisted humanity?’
‘Alexander Griffith wife No. 3 out after mere three months.’
‘Same, same, but different; Alexander Griffith divorces again after one-year marriage.’
There were a plethora of similar articles.
All in all, they said one thing—Alexander was a womanizer, and he would date and marry anyone who looked like his late wife, Elise.
Just like that, the little guy lost all liking toward the man, and his frown only deepened the further he read, to the point where he chucked his tablet aside in anger and sulked with crossed arms.
Hmph, Alexander Griffith, you skunkbag! Just when he still had a sliver of hope that his father wasn’t someone like that, but now, it seemed that he was absolutely and utterly wrong! This man is nothing but a playboy! He doesn’t deserve Mommy, and he doesn’t deserve to be our daddy! A man in dishonor is a man in disfavor; Alexander Griffith is the worst of the worst!
“Ugh, it pisses me off!”
Irvin couldn’t understand why he would be so mad either, but he was just so pissed off that he jumped around in the entire room and had a terrible sleep the whole night.
…
Meanwhile, Alexander sat in front of the computer in his mansion. On the computer was a picture of Elise and their babies, and his latching gaze at it was of nothing but affection.
Knock, Knock… A knock suddenly came from the door, interrupting his train of thought.
He moved the mouse and hid the picture away before looking out the door. “What is it?” he asked impassively.
The woman from earlier that day came in with a bowl of warm soup and very naturally placed it on the desk. “I’ve made you some soup. It’ll help with your stomach.”
“I’m not hungry,” said Alexander expressionlessly, “and you don’t need to do this either. You’re not here to be my maid.”
“I know.” Abashed, the woman drooped her eyelids. “All relationships are mutual. I’ll also treat you well when you treat my kids and me well.”
“It’s all in your head,” Alexander said plainly. “I treat you guys well to benefit myself and not you.”
Crushed, the woman frowned but still didn’t want to give up. She picked up the bowl of soup and moved to his side. “Why don’t you have some soup first?”
Lo and behold, the man left his seat and stood far away just as she came behind the desk like she was some deadly plague, though.
“So you hate me so much, Mr. Griffith?” Her eyes widened with incredulity, looking hurt.
Alexander frowned in response. “I don’t hate you, but I don’t feel anything for you either. Don’t forget that all that we have between us is a contract. All of our intimacy is only a show for the public. There isn’t anyone else here, so you can drop the act.”
“Is all your affection for me really just an act? Do you really have no feelings for me at all?” she asked with unyielding conviction.
“None,” Alexander answered forthrightly.
She had a marriage before this, after all, so she didn’t snap despite feeling sad. With that, she took a deep breath to calm down, then came up with an excuse to ease the awkwardness. “Can you at least see this as my gratitude for you?”
“If you really want to thank me, then just do what you’re supposed to do according to the contract. Don’t get any more ideas about what’s not in the contract,” he warned expressionlessly, “or I’ll consider terminating the contract earlier.”
A hint of loss flashed across the woman’s eyes at that, for at that moment, she thought she had never truly understood Alexander.
“Got it.”
She picked up the now slightly cold bowl of soup and walked to the door silently, dragging her steps, hoping Alexander would change his mind. Alas, he didn’t, and the man did nothing to hold her back. If anything, he couldn’t even wait until she had walked far away before closing the door.
The woman brought the bowl of soup into her bedroom and sat in front of the vanity.
Sadness crept up to her as she looked at her face, which looked a lot like Elise’s. I clearly look the most like Elise Sinclair than any of his past wives, but why does he feel nothing for me?! We both share the same last name, but can I only really ever live in her shadow?
