Chapter 14: The banquet is about to start

His loud and firm voice commanded not just Blake's attention, but everyone else standing around us. People's eyes were now fixed on us, even if they weren't before. They were watching with anticipation swirling in their eyes, waiting to find out what he would do or say next. 

A smirk appeared on Blake's lips as his eyes stared right into Xavier's dark eyes. Smugness was radiating off every inch of his body as he tightened his grip on my head and shoulder. 

"Who do you think you are, showing up here at my workplace banquet demanding me to do things?" He challenged, refusing to back down. "I'm not letting her go." 

Xavier raised a brow at him as his face darkened visibly. "Is that so?" 

"Yes!" Blake exclaimed, his voice full of confidence as he straightened his posture while keeping his grip on me despite my struggles. "You can't tell me what to do."

Before I knew it, Xavier had closed the distance between us. He grabbed me and pulled me away in one swift movement, and I was now back by his side. In the next second, he pushed Blake away from me, causing him to stumble a couple of steps. 

A low chuckled left Blake's lips and I could see the way impulse clouded his judgement. There was this intense look in his eyes. Within the next second, he dashed towards Xavier without hesitation and raised his clenched fist to hit Xavier in his head. 

Gasps erupted from the crowd. 

"Xavier, look out-" the words barely left the tip of my tongue.

Yet, before his fist could even come close to him, I watched as Xavier swiftly turned around and caught Blake's fist in his hand effortlessly. His grip on Blake's fist tightened as tension continued to brew in the air between them. He finally let him go, throwing his hand out of his grasp forcefully, causing Blake to fall back onto the ground. 

"Blake!" Stella exclaimed in concern as she ran to his side. She gently held his face as worry was evident on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked in a soft voice but Blake ignored her, only scoffing loudly as anger pulsed through every single vein inside of his body. 

He shook her off, standing up on his own, ready to march towards Xavier once again. But he was quickly held back by someone who grabbed him by his arm, and that person was Harrison. 

"Blake! Have you lost your mind?" Harrison questioned as they locked eyes. "Do you know who that is? Are you trying to get yourself fired?"

"I don't care who he is!" Blake spat the words out of his mouth with disdain as he glanced over to glare at both Xavier and I, contempt swimming in his ice blue eyes. "How is he going to fire me? You are my boss, you are the one giving me my bonus."

"I have been meaning to tell you this, Blake. I sold the company," he announced and I watched as shock and surprise crossed Blake's face in an instant, it looked as if his whole world had come crashing down on him. 

"Wh… what? Why would you do that? Isn't the company…doing just fine?" He stammered in a panic, struggling to register the words he had just heard. "You even promised me my bonus."

Harrison leaned in to murmur beside his ear. "I'm sorry kid. There's no bonus this time," he answered and Blake's face fell. There was a brief pause. He then turned to match Xavier's gaze. "Xavier is your new boss."

I looked up at Xavier to see a smirk had morphed itself onto his lips as his eyes met Blake's. 

"You heard that, Blake?" He asked as he took a step forward, their faces merely inches apart. "I'm your new boss," he taunted with a smile etched onto his face. 

Disbelief was written all over Blake's face. "What? No, there's no way. This must be some mistake…" he muttered under his breath, as he remained in denial the entire time. "Harrison, tell me, is this some kind of sick joke?" He asked as he turned to look at him, desperation laced his voice.

"It's true," Harrison confirmed with a shrug as he gave Blake a pat on his shoulder. "I tried to hold you back earlier. Just apologise to Xavier, don't make things worse for yourself," he urged in a serious tone that laced his voice.

A scoff emerged from Blake's lips. "I'm not apologising. I did nothing wrong at all," he insisted, stubborn as always.

There was a tiny frown etched onto Harrison's face. "Blake, just do it. Don't be stubborn."

"No. He can fire me if he wants to," he challenged, puffing his chest with a defiance glint in his eyes. 

Xavier let out a deep chuckle as the corners of his lips twitched upwards into a slight smile. 

"I won't fire you. I'm not that petty, I'm more generous than that," he remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he stared at Blake, his eyes gleaming with a knowing look. "Come on now, the banquet is about to start."

***

"Good evening everyone, thank you for coming today," Harrison greeted up on the podium as I was seated next to Xavier at the first table up front. "I'm sure some of you must have heard by now that I have sold the company to someone who is extremely capable. I truly believe that he can bring us to greater heights. Let us welcome, Xavier Wilder!" 

Applause erupted from the crowd, reverberating in the grand ballroom. With a smile on my face, I watched Xavier walk up onto the stage nonchalantly as he buttoned his suit easily on the way up.

"Thank you, Harrison. I'm honoured to be able to step up and take over this role," he started and I turned to see that Blake and Stella were watching with a displeased look plastered across their faces. "But today, I also have an important announcement to make," he declared and everyone started murmuring and whispering among themselves in anticipation. 

At this moment, his eyes found mine and we locked eyes. 

"Aurelia," my name left his lips and I looked up at him with wide eyes. "Please come up on stage."

A mixture of surprise and confusion was swimming in the depths of my eyes as I looked at him. Why would he want me up on stage? My mind started to buzz with thoughts and questions were swirling at the back of mind as my brain tried to think of an answer.

"Who is she?" I heard someone muttering under their breath.

"I have never seen her before, is she new?" Another murmured. 

I found myself rising from my seat as I carefully walked up the steps and onto the stage to stand beside him. Blake, who once looked bored, now had an expectant look hanging on his face. He straightened his back and kept his eyes fixed on the stage, so did Stella who had changed into a new gown.

I was now up on the stage, looking into the crowd that gathered at the ballroom that evening. I gave a polite nod as my lips were curled into a demure smile, despite my heart that was racing inside of my chest.

At this moment, Xavier grabbed my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine. For a moment, I felt more relaxed. 

"This is Aurelia. She is my wife," he announced casually, eliciting gasps from the people and the crowd broke into whispers and murmurs that filled the air. "And she will be working alongside me as the company's new vice president."

A soft gasp left my parted lips as I looked at him with wide eyes, surprise evident on my face. "What?" I mumbled under my breath as chaos ensued, but he only winked at me. 

"Xavier Conner Wilder!" A familiar high-pitched voice pierced through the air at this moment. "So, this is the new girl you picked over me?"