Chapter 051 Hiding Under His Desk
Grace ran back inside, where Xavier was still working at his desk.
Hearing her return, Xavier lifted his gaze and noticed the panicked look on Grace. She said, "Mr. Patrick Montgomery has arrived."
"I know." The butler had already informed Xavier of Patrick's arrival at the entrance.
"He can't see me here!" she exclaimed, realizing that no matter what, she couldn't explain her presence.
She planned to hide for a while and then make a quiet escape while Xavier was out greeting his guest.
She reckoned she could avoid running into Patrick by hiding somewhere else in the sprawling Bameran mansion or waiting until he left before she made her exit. She had to ensure they didn't cross paths.
"You're hiding in the wrong place," Xavier said coolly.
"What do you mean?" Grace asked, confused.
"The butler just called to inform me that Patrick has arrived. I told him to bring Patrick straight to the study," Xavier explained.
Grace was stunned. "What?" If Patrick headed to the study, wouldn't he run right into her?
She intended to find another hiding spot and then quietly leave. But as she reached the doorway and her hand touched the doorknob, not even having turned it yet, there came a knock from outside.
The butler came knocking on the door, announcing, "Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Patrick Montgomery is here."
"Xavier, I've come to visit you," came Patrick's voice from the entrance.
If Patrick were to open the door right now, he would see both Xavier and Grace in the room. Fearful, Grace was petrified on the spot. She didn't want Patrick to spot her here, and she hadn't planned on coming in the first place.
Instinctively, Grace looked towards Xavier, unsure of what to do. Her clear, bright eyes were like those of a startled deer, panicked and lost.
"Mr. Montgomery, please help me. You probably don't want others to see me here and cause you any trouble, right?" she pleaded.
"It makes no difference to me," Xavier replied, seemingly indifferent as he enjoyed Grace's disarray. "Patrick wouldn't dare to trouble me."
Grace fell silent. It wasn't just about troubling Xavier, Patrick was highly deferential to him. Although Patrick wouldn't trouble Xavier, that didn't mean he wouldn't cause problems for her.
Grace stepped beside Xavier and even started to massage his shoulders, trying to ingratiate herself with him. "Mr. Montgomery, please help me out. I will surely repay you in the future."
"I've never hidden anyone before," Xavier stated plainly.
"Just one word from you and Patrick would simply leave. He wouldn't need to come in, and I wouldn't have to hide," she argued.
However, Xavier's eyebrows slightly furrowed. The next second, he simply said, "Come in."
Grace was shocked. He had caught her off guard, and as the door was about to be opened, Grace had nowhere to hide. The only place possible was under the desk in front of Xavier.
With no other options, Grace quickly ducked and crouched next to Xavier's legs. The desk wasn't particularly large, so any small movement she made could brush against Xavier's legs.
"Xavier, hope I'm not interrupting," Patrick walked in, glancing around before turning his gaze to Xavier.
"Why are you coming over so late? Is something wrong?" Xavier squinted his eyes as he spoke.
With each step Patrick took further inside, Grace had to scrunch up a little more to hide, terrified she might be discovered by him.
"It's nothing major. I've been trying to invite you over for dinner a few times and you've been too busy. Today, Amy made hand-tossed pizza, and I wanted to bring it to let you try it."
Patrick walked up to Xavier's desk with the pizza in hand. As he set the pizza down, the plate clinked against the desk, startling Grace, who clung tightly to Xavier's leg.
Oblivious to Grace's presence, Patrick continued, "Why don't you move back home? There's more company at home, we can look out for one another, and please don’t feel obligated to decline."
The pizza in front of him seemed quite tempting. Yet Xavier's expression turned cold, and the atmosphere grew intimidating. "Don't you know that I don't like pizza?" he said.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea," Patrick genuinely didn't know Xavier disliked pizza.
He remembered when Xavier first arrived at Montgomery Manor, he would eat pizza and seemed to enjoy it.
"If you truly don't know, you might want to ask your son about it." As a child, Xavier did love eating pizza, especially the ones his mother made by hand.
After he was brought to Montgomery Manor, he wasn’t even able to get enough food to eat, let alone enjoy pizza. He could only devour leftover pieces if the Montgomery family didn't finish them. He would save some for his mother, fearful that she might not have enough to eat.
However, on one occasion, a servant had saved food for Ryan, and Xavier, thinking it was leftovers intended for disposal, took them instead. When Ryan returned and found out, he was so furious that he ordered Xavier to be beaten until he vomited the food up, resulting in a bleeding stomach.
Although Ryan was superficially reprimanded, Xavier held a deeper grudge against this barely older illegitimate half-brother.
Back then, Xavier was still in school. He once encountered a pitiful stray dog that looked freshly weaned and desperately pitiable.
Feeling sorry for it, Xavier bought it a couple of hot dogs, and it was as if the little pup had recognized him after that, sticking close to him.
Xavier knew he couldn't take the dog home. It reminded him of himself, abandoned. In some twisted way, he even envied the puppy; at least it had its freedom.
The little dog kept Xavier company for a few days, and they developed a strong bond.
However, Ryan never knew exactly when he became aware of the existence of the dog. One evening, when Xavier got home, Ryan showed up with a pizza, claiming he knew he had messed up before, and as an apology, he wanted to make amends by sharing the pizza with Xavier.
Xavier found this gesture highly unusual; it was completely out of character for Ryan.
Apprehensive that the pizza might be poisoned, Xavier refused to eat it. Insistent, Ryan instructed the housekeeper to pin Xavier to the floor and forcibly stuffed the pizza into his mouth.
Only after Xavier had a bite did Ryan burst into laughter and taunt, "Doesn't it taste good? Isn't it especially delicious? Do you know what it's made of? It's made from dog meat—your dog. Does it taste different, maybe even better?"
Immediately, Xavier spat the food out.
He pushed Ryan away and ran outside, only to find that the puppy was gone. In the area where it had usually played, there was nothing but a pool of blood left.
Kneeling there, Xavier was overcome with nausea and vomited for what felt like an eternity.
From that day forward, he could never bring himself to eat pizza again.
Patrick was rattled by the look in Xavier's eyes, truly unaware of whatever Ryan might have done.
"Ryan was thoughtless as a kid. If he ever did anything wrong, feel free to set him straight. Treat him as if he were your son," he suggested.
Xavier just scoffed in response, without a word.
"Give me a moment," Patrick told Xavier, then walked away to make a phone call.
"Bring Ryan to me!" Patrick needed to sort out what had happened in the past and have Ryan come over to apologize.
Grace was terrified upon hearing this.
Not only was Patrick not leaving, but he also intended to bring Ryan over. This meant that they would not be leaving anytime soon.
Grace tugged at Xavier's pant leg, signaling him to hurry and persuade Patrick to leave because she couldn't take it much longer.
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