CHAPTER 101
Inside the study.
Xander’s phone rang, and he glanced at the caller ID before answering, “Yes.”
Zach’s loud voice blared from the speaker. “Hey, Xander! What’re you up to? Come out for a drink or two. Jonny’s here too.”
“I’m busy.” Xander refused without hesitation. After a brief pause, he added, “I’m spending time at home with my wife.”
Zach inhaled sharply. “You’ve got to be kidding! Xander… Blink twice if Arianna kidnapped you.”
Before Xander could respond, John’s cold voice interjected. “What did you do, Xander?”
He was rarely one for gossip.
Xander narrowed his eyes, opened his mouth awkwardly, and briefly explained everything that happened that day.
Upon hearing that, John asked again, “And it worked? Maybe I should try that too.”
When one taught, the other learned.
Zach couldn't tolerate it any longer and exclaimed, “You’re a perv, Xander! And you’re even more of a perv, Jonny!”
After taking a deep breath, Zach’s tone became serious all of a sudden.
“That’s a lot of stupid stuff you did, Xander. Have you… fallen for Arianna again?”
Xander was silent on the other end.
Zach couldn't help but feel apprehensive, as if a large hand was squeezing his throat. He knew better than anyone else that Arianna was like an Achilles' heel for Xander.
No one was allowed to casually mention what happened two years ago, and he would not have dared to bring it up if he wasn't anxious himself.
Things seemed to be going south, and he had the feeling that Xander was about to send someone over to deal with him.
He was about to open his mouth and say something to save his own skin, but he heard Xander’s slightly puzzled voice.
“Stupid stuff?”
Zach's words were stuck in his throat.
He didn't expect Xander’s attention to fixate on the phrase ‘stupid stuff’ after Zach had broached such a sensitive topic.
Zach was done for…
John, ever the wise man who usually had things planned out and under control, casually extended his slender fingers to adjust his gold-framed spectacles on the bridge of his nose. He looked at Zach curiously and echoed,
“Stupid stuff?”
Zach was speechless.
Compared to the other two, Zach had always been at the bottom of the food chain. This moment of clarity felt like a rare triumph.
Feeling rather smug, Zach puffed out his chest and raised his face at a 45-degree angle, adopting an air of elitism.
“Alright, time for Professor Summer to give you guys a little lesson. When it comes to feelings between two people, one must never involve a third party. That’s a big no-no. Doesn’t matter what your justification is. Not only will the consequences be detrimental to developing feelings, but it’s also counterproductive! You’ll only push her farther away!”
"Remember, when it comes to conflicts between two people, it’s always best to shut the door and talk it out with each other. That’s the way to go!” Zach concluded with a sense of finality.
John frowned, then roasted him mercilessly, “Your method is even stupider.”
On the other end, Xander added salt to the wound, “It’s really stupid.”
John continued, “All a single man can do is make statements that are useless in practice.”
Xander then said, “After all, we’re both already married and he isn’t. Theories that aren’t put into practice are worthless.”
"And yet he has the gall to act all high and mighty?" Zach nearly vomited blood at their combined ridicule.
He slammed the table and stood up, gritting his teeth as he addressed Xander and John,
“Both of you may be married, but you might as well be single. One of you lives separately in the long-term, while the other has a sham marriage. Where did you get the decency to mock me?
“I might not be married, but I’m well-versed in matters of the heart. As someone who has been mingling with women for many years, I’m second to none when it comes to understanding them!”
As soon as he finished, he saw John’s disdainful and skeptical look. Although Xander kept quiet on the other end of the phone, his attitude made it clear that he was equally disdainful and skeptical of Zach!
Zach felt his dignity had been challenged. He took a glass of wine, drank it, and said,
“I might not be as good as you guys when it comes to other stuff, but I’m the one you should listen to when it comes to women.
“Xander, John, if you both still have feelings for your wives, then you should be treating them well. Don’t just do things without an aim. Women need to be spoiled and cheered up, not provoked or pissed off! If you don’t do that, I bet you’ll all end up like me soon enough. As single as a dollar bill!”
After hanging up the phone, Xander’s lips twitched as he dismissed Zach’s useless remarks from his mind.
Despite the conversation, he had finally seen some changes in Arianna’s mood, a departure from her usual cold and stagnant demeanor. In the past, he never knew where to even begin with her.
Arianna’s irate demeanor replayed in his mind, along with the moment she finally admitted she was Mrs. King. It was such a vivid scene, as if he had been transported back to the past.
