552: [Bonus chapter]Dedicated

[Bonus chapter]Dedicated

"Bye, Mr. Zhang!"1

Dane looked back and smiled at the team, who were getting back in their own car. He watched them tilt their heads down slightly before he opened the passenger seat door. Deep lines appeared between his brows at the things on the front passenger seat. 

"You sit in the back."

Dane heard a very familiar voice inside the vehicle. He lowered his head and moved it inside the front passenger seat, eyes landing on the back seat. 

'I knew it,'he thought with a slight frown, seeing Heaven in the backseat. 

"We're going back to the office, so our destination is the same." Heaven patted the space beside her. "Let me tag along with you since the car I rode in here is a little crowded already."

Reluctance flickered across Dane's eyes, but he couldn't do anything. Heaven was still the young madam of the Zhu family, his boss's wife. So, without creating a fuss, Dane joined her in the backseat. As soon as he got in, their car started moving to their destination. 

"..." 

"..."

The first ten minutes of the ride were filled with nothing but silence. A silent ride was something Dane appreciated because he could always do work during the ride. But how could he concentrate when someone's gaze was literally burrowing a hole in his cheek?

"Young madam." Dane let out a deep sigh, peeling his attention from the tablet in his hand to look at the person beside him. "Is there something you want to discuss with me?"

Heaven had her eyes squinting, looking at Dane as if she was chanting her spells in her mind. It was almost scary! Dane couldn't remember sharing a ride with Heaven alone. This was the first, and both of them were aware that they weren't fond of each other. 

"I met Ivy today," she said, and just with that sentence, Dane could think of a few ideas that Heaven and Ivy talked about. "And I found out that the person she kept talking about all this time was someone I knew all along."

"..."

"Mr. Zhang, you are really a piece of jerk." Heaven clicked her tongue continuously while keeping her eyes on him. "How could you hurt such a delicate lady?"

Dane's frown deepened, but not surprised at Heaven's accusation. It was the truth, after all. He had been exclusively a jerk to Ivy, and it was intentional.

"Young madam, this discussion is not within the scope of my work," he explained with a level head tone. "It's a part of my personal life. I don't mean to offend you, but I have no obligation to discuss my personal life with you."

"First things first, this is not work. I'm talking as Ivy's friend and not as your boss's wife." Heaven raised a finger and shook it. "Though I won't force you to talk to me about it, you can't stop me from judging you as a man."

"..." His face twitched, watching his expression to not show dismay. He failed, though. "I have no defense. Be my guest."

"Tch." Heaven clicked her tongue. How could she argue now?!

Dane sighed as he looked away from her, setting his eyes on the tablet to read some documents. He told himself to ignore Heaven and just focus on lessening his work while traveling back to the office. However, even though that was what he wanted to do, he found himself zoning out. 

"Is she alright?" he asked after a moment, making Heaven arch her brows. Dane looked back at her once again, sighing. "She seemed to be rattled some time ago after she visited Director Zhu's office. So I'm a little curious if she's fine now."

Heaven's brows rose. 'She went to see Silas?' Ivy didn't mention anything like this to her. 

"Well, she's fine," she guessed, not telling Dane that Ivy didn't mention anything about Silas. "I mean, not really, but you know her. She's a strong woman, and she finds ways to make peace with everything."

"I see..." Dane rocked his head, sighing in relief. "That's good then."

"Why are you asking, by the way?" she returned, arching a brow. "Mr. Zhang, please tell me this isn't a story where the plot is the guy actually likes the girl, but he simply had to push her away? That's cringe."

"Huh?" His brows knitted together, but still answered, "No."

"Good." Heaven nodded approvingly. 

"Young Madam, I already said this just a moment ago that I don't plan on discussing my personal affairs with you. However, if I'm going to say anything to Miss Wei's friend, then there's only one thing I can say. Miss Wei and I are impossible."

"And why is that?"

Dane took a few seconds to answer. "Because I don't want to be a part of the Wei family."

"..." Heaven assessed Dane quietly. 'That's not what I expected to hear,'she thought. 

"My life is already hard as it is, being your husband's assistant requires a lot of things. On top of that, I have to deal with countless employees and business associates. Not to mention, the young madam often makes my life uncomfortable or thinks of ways to add more workload on my desk." Dane didn't hesitate to reveal the gravity of his duties and bits of things that came along with being Dominic's assistant. "I am not emotionally capable of reciprocating a person's feelings. Let alone have another broken person rest on my shoulder. I'm tired and my plate is full. Judge me as you may, but I'd rather hurt Miss Wei by straight up rejecting her than hurt her by giving her false hope."

"Wow," Heaven blurted out under her breath. "You really went serious about it."

"I just thought I should let you know that... in hopes you'd help me make her realize this truth." Dane slowly peeled his eyes from her, setting them on the window beside him. "Asking about her well-being is just a part of my nature to care for my boss's business associates. At the end of the day, if she ends up ending the contract with the LYON Group because of that incident, then that only means more work for everyone in the company."

Heaven stared at Dane's side profile but didn't say anything afterward. Now she had a deeper understanding of Dane's heartless action toward Ivy. Dane seemed to have pledged to pour his life into the LYON Group. In other words, his priorities were his work and career, love was the least of his concerns. 

'No wonder my husband keeps him around, even when Dane disappoints me at times.' She sighed, turning her head to the window. 'Dane didn't need to excel at all times. What Dom needs is someone as dedicated as Dane. Someone as loyal as Butler Fu.'

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