Chapter 3: Phone Call

Three days had passed and her husband was still declared missing. Vivian watched the news fervently in hopes of something positive.

The forest fire had been put out a long time ago and the remains of the plane crash had been scrounged but no bodies were found. They only found burned pieces of clothing.

Zander’s representative had turned visibly pale when the pieces of clothing were shown to him and they recognized a partially burnt necktie as the one that Zander wore when he departed with his entourage.

The representative and the Li Group quickly responded, though that it didn’t mean that their young master was dead.

Vivian sighed. Of course, the Li Group representative would deny it. If they admitted that their Chairman was dead, their investors may pull out, and there may be chaos about who would be the next to lead.

There were already a lot of rumours about the Li Group being on alert all the time and its employees were tense and nervous about what changes might happen after the death of the Chairman.

Vivian held her head. It was hurting due to lack of sleep and anxiety. Tears flowed down her cheeks. It was highly likely that her husband was dead. She turned on the phone he had given her before he departed after she signed the deal with him.

Zander had strictly instructed her that she could only contact him using that phone due to its security features. She sent him a message for the first time.

She had never contacted him of her own volition before. He was always the one who first sends a message or calls her. She usually just waited so as not to disturb him.

“Dear husband, you are safe and sound, right?” she typed nervously and took a deep breath before sending it.

Vivian clung to the hope that he might be alive somewhere. She didn’t love him or anything, but he was kind to her in the brief time they were together and the three years that they were married.

They never met after their wedding, but Zander sent gifts every now. He made special days feel special even when he was not with her. And he even sent her allowances every month.

Zander also sponsored some of her travels even though she had money to spend on her own. It was out of duty for him, but she was grateful anyway since he kept every word of his promise on the deal they had.

More than four hours passed with no reply. She froze when she heard a light knock on the door.

Vivian had not ordered room service yet. She had already told her friend not to visit her room. She blinked at the phone in her hand.

‘Was it a mistake to contact him? Did someone get his phone and track my location?’

She had read about this scenario in a lot of novels and it somehow scared her that it might happen to her. Even Hotaru had warned her about such things.

 ‘I was such an idiot. Why didn’t I think it through before opening the damned phone?’ Vivian pulled at her hair.

There was another knock. She tiptoed to the door. That was when she heard his voice.

“Dear wife, it’s me.”

Vivian froze in fear and shock. It was her husband’s voice! She wondered if he had really died and his spirit couldn’t leave peacefully and he was trying to scare her now. Perhaps he suddenly realized that he wanted to bring his wife along.

‘Wait, what the hell am I thinking about at a time like this?!’

She soundlessly moved and leveled her eyes at the peephole. She almost screamed when she saw her husband outside the door.

‘Shit! Is his ghost coming after me now? I only got two billion from him. Why would he target me?’

Then her phone rang and she accidentally dropped it in shock. Only one person can call her on that phone. It was her husband.

Her hand was shaking as she slowly picked up the phone and hesitated to answer it. She looked at the peephole again to look at her husband as she pressed the button to answer.

“Hey love, open the door. It’s me,” he said in that deep smooth voice of his that women surely loved.

Vivian watched as the person in front of the door was talking on his phone. She finally noticed that he actually had scratches on his face and there were other people with him.

He was wearing a cap but she could see that his hair was dyed ash brown from its previous natural black. He was also using contact lenses, making his eyes brown instead of blue.

“Y-you’re alive?” Vivian asked in a shaky voice. Her text message had been a gamble and a last thread of wishful thinking.

“Yes,” he replied with a puzzled look and she sighed in relief, her knees weakening such that she unceremoniously fell kneeling on the floor.

“Hey, are you alright?!” he asked with alarm. He must have heard it since she was right next to the door. He tried twisting the knob but it was still locked.

“I’m fine,” Vivian replied and stood up to open the door. But then she decided to confirm first whether it was really him. She had heard of people being able to imitate voices. Hotaru had lectured her about that.

“Where did we get married?”

“France.” He seemed to understand what she was trying to do.

“When?” Vivian asked again and he answered correctly.

“Where did we have our first kiss?”

“Hong Kong.”

“Where did we go for our honeymoon? What color did I wear that night?”

“Paris. An alluring red,” he said with a smirk. He looked like he was reminiscing.

Vivian drilled him with more questions and he answered them all correctly. She decided to add another.

“Where did you first encounter me?”

“Tokyo, in autumn.”

Vivian sighed in relief. It was, indeed, her husband. She finally opened the door.

Upon doing so, she blinked in surprise as she was suddenly grabbed into a very tight embrace that it hurt.

“Thank goodness I have finally found you,” he said against her hair.

Relief was eminent in his voice. But she didn’t understand what he meant, since she was busy trying to breathe. His hug was too tight and she couldn’t breathe against his hard chest.

Zander was so much taller than her, so without heels, she was just on the level of his chest. He finally realized she was pushing him off and he loosened his arms.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Vivian grumbled as he finally drew her at arm’s length. He looked puzzled at first, and then understanding dawned on his face.

“May we enter?” he asked, looking around. He must be wary of other people seeing them. It seems he didn’t know she booked the whole floor.

“Who are they?” she suspiciously eyed each and every one of the men with him. There were five people with him.

She only knew one of them, his butler named Albert. Albert bowed his head slightly in greeting when her eyes met his.

Vivian had read too much about betrayal and the like that, in the situation they were currently in, she could not trust people easily.

“They are trustworthy. They’re safe,” her husband must have picked up what she meant.

“Really? Are you sure you could trust every single one of them?” she asked again.

They all looked surprised and amused at the same time as she eyed each and every one of them once again, as if she was trying to weigh whether she could trust them or not.

Her husband didn’t seem to doubt any of them and none of them felt suspicious for her, so she let them all into her room.

“Are you injured anywhere?” she looked at him from head to foot looking for signs of injury and found none. She looked at his cohorts next. They all seemed fine. Or they were all hiding it well. The scratches on his face were not deadly, so that was fine.

“No. We got out before the explosion. This was from when we landed. It was nighttime so it wasn’t really safe to land using a parachute,” he clarified about the wounds on his face.

“I see. Thank goodness,” Vivian sighed in relief.

“We’re you worried about me,” he asked teasingly and she instantly glared at him.

“You jerk! Of course, I was. You could have contacted me at least,” she retorted, tears flowing from her eyes.

Vivian noticed how he blanched like it was the first time someone had ever called him that. She blinked as she recalled that there were other people with them and they might not know that she had just married him due to a deal.

Zander at least looked like he was satisfied with her response and hugged her again. She hugged him back.

Vivian was honestly relieved and happy that he was alive. Her life can go back to normal. He narrowed his eyes when she pushed him away again.

“I’ll ruin your shirt,” she explained.

“I don’t mind,” he said and kissed her forehead like a loving husband. He even cupped her face with both hands and dried her tears with his thumb.

His cohorts gawked like they were seeing an alien. They even looked at each other and rubbed their eyes as if they were trying to check if they were in some kind of dream or hallucination. Vivian decided to pretend she didn’t notice it. They must not be used to seeing Zander act affectionate.

Well, she wasn’t either. But she was trying to ignore that fact for the meantime as well. And she was just so relieved that Zander was alive and well. Further, there are more important matters at hand.

“So what’s going on? I wasn’t aware of anything,” Vivian glared at Zander as her tears finally stopped.