Chapter 14: His Wealth and Power

Every eye in the store was on Dax as he placed his hands on my shoulders to steady me. Women all around the store were whispering as they turned to look at him in interest.

It was embarrassing that he had to see my tear-streaked face. I didn’t want him to see me looking such a mess. I could only imagine how terrible I looked with my makeup utterly ruined.

His face held concern for me, and he confidently walked up to a sales staff. The staff member looked utterly stunned to see Dax in the store. She was so caught off guard that she almost bumped into a rack of clothes.

He stood up tall and said, “I am just out of a very important business meeting and had to see what this store was like for myself.”

The worker asked, “Is there anything you’re looking for sir?”

Other people in the store must’ve sensed his power from the way he spoke and carried himself. They continued to watch his every move.

Dax ended up telling the worker, “No, there isn’t anything I’m looking for. Thank you for asking.”

She nodded her head and turned back to her other co-worker and whispered something. These girls were being so obvious.

I had never reacted to Dax like they had. These women were desperate to get his attention, which was disgraceful to see.

I stood in the same spot and tried to figure out what Dax was up to. Was he trying to catch everyone’s attention to distract people from me? It was kind of him to do but not necessary. I was just about to leave anyway.

I knew after this experience that I would never show my face at this store again. Nothing would convince me to ever return, since it had been that awful of an experience. I wouldn’t want to relive this day.

He had come too late regardless. Addison had already torn down my self-esteem and made me feel so miserable. He couldn’t make her take back her words and fix the hurt I went through.

Suddenly, Addison approached Dax and said, “You are so much more handsome in person. I’ve never imagined a CEO could have your looks.”

Other women in the store were trying to carry on as usual but seemed to be watching Addison. I was sure they were all jealous of her making a move on Dax.

One worker scowled by the cash register. The whole scene kind of made me want to laugh. They all wanted Dax’s attention and weren’t getting any of it.

I kept my distance and continued to watch what Addison would do.

Dax wasn’t amused as he glanced at her. He seemed used to this kind of behavior and just stood there unimpressed.

I was a little bit relieved that he didn’t seem interested. This didn’t make sense, since I wasn't interested in him
myself. Maybe I just wanted to see Addison get rejected after she had been rude to me.

This didn’t stop her from continuing to pursue him. She didn’t take the hint and her flirting became almost painful to watch.

Addison kept admiring Dax and stepped into his personal space. She even touched her hand to his arm and was practically drooling over him.

Part of me wanted to go over to her and pull her away from him. This woman was reeking of desperation. I had never seen such a sorry display.

“Wow, you must work out,” she said as she squeezed his biceps.

Addison was so shameless to do that in front of Jason. He stood there with a big frown and had folded his arms across his chest.

I actually kind of felt bad for him to see his girlfriend do that. It was like she forgot she even had a boyfriend. Her
actions disgusted me.

Dax POV

This woman wouldn’t give up on throwing herself at me. I never enjoyed when women did this to me. I found it tiring and had to put an end to it. I’d let it go on long enough.

She kept her hand on my arm and continued to look at me with affection she had no right to. I was starting to get pretty irritated at her shameless behavior.

I had noticed that she left another man’s side to be with me. I really didn’t approve of people who would betray their own partner.

Besides, I knew she only wanted to make a move on me because of who I was. This was exactly why I never wanted my picture for advertisements for the company. Women everywhere I went knew who I was and tried to get my attention.

I had been dealing with this far too long as a CEO. Enough was enough.

Finally, I gently removed the woman’s hand from me and told her, “I’m sorry but I’m not interested.”

She looked offended and and surprised that her flirting had not worked.

I walked away from her and made my way back to Danica. She was my primary concern at the store. I was glad that I had shown up when I did. It didn’t look good from what I had walked into.

My urge of protectiveness towards her had increased when I saw her face. It made my chest constrict at seeing her like this. I didn’t want to see this way again.

Danica had never looked so devastated before. She had reddened, puffy eyes while her makeup had run down her face. I knew she had been upset but wasn’t quite sure what had gone on.

This disappointed me, as I had wished for her to have a great shopping trip and get everything she wanted. I had no clue it would end up like this. I had to do something to right the situation.

I just needed to figure out what went wrong here. I wished I had arrived a little sooner.

What could have happened here? I remember how excited she seemed at getting to go to the store before I left for work.

Suddenly, it dawned on me why she was so miserable. I should’ve expected that something would happen to her at a place like this.

I knew Danica was a good person. She was kind to other people and gave money to those who needed it. I didn’t think she deserved to be treated so poorly. Honestly, I hated to see anyone being so rude to her. My blood boiled at the thought of some jerk making her cry.

Hopefully the jerk wasn’t around still, or I’d unleash my pent up rage. I didn’t want someone to get away with treating her so poorly.

I wondered what I could do to make things better for her. It was the least I could do for her ruined shopping trip. I wasn’t letting her end the trip on a bad note like this.

A brilliant idea came to me suddenly.

I announced, “I will buy everything for this young woman.”

It may have been impulsive, but I had to do something to try to cancel out what had happened here. I wasn’t going to be satisfied with letting her leave in shame.

Danica's mouth dropped open as she looked over at me.

Other customers were staring at me as well. I didn’t care if I was showing off my wealth. It honestly wasn’t for my sake. Everything was for Danica’s benefit.

I walked to the cash register and said, “Charge it all on this card.”

The cashier took the card and asked, “Are you really sure you want to buy all our items?”

I nodded my head yes before she swiped it. I added, “Please send everything to this address.”

I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down my address with a pen I had in my pocket.

Danica was about to open her mouth but I decided to leave before she could say anything to me. I knew she was going to thank me but it wasn’t necessary.

I strode over to the exit and stepped out of the store and climbed into my car before driving off.