Brooke called the number that was saved on the phone but instead of Thane picking up it was his assistant who answered.
"Mr Grayson is in an important meeting, but I'll have the car sent to you now ma'am." Gilbert said.
"Oh, I see, thank you."
If he wasn't going to answer himself, why did he give her his number? Shouldn't he have just given her Gilbert's number instead?
Brooke kept questioning herself, up until she arrived at the mansion. She took the elevator up to her room, where Hannah had just finished organizing the clothes Thane got her.
"Ma'am, it's a good thing you're here! Come see all the clothes that just arrived." Hannah announced excitedly.
Brooke wheeled herself over to the bed, "You know Hannah, you can just call me by my name."
"What? I couldn't intrude-"
Brooke flashed her a warm smile, "It's not intruding when I insist, we're not that far apart in age, let's be informal. At least when it's just us if that's okay with you."
Hearing those words Hannah couldn't help but smile. When she found out she would be playing the role of a doting maid, she was scared that Mr Grayson's girlfriend would be a stuck up woman. But seeing Brooke, she was glad she took the offer.
"Alright, Miss Brooke." She said settling for that much.
Brooke sighed, "I'll take it." She decided not to force her any more than that.
Hannah went on to show Brooke every article of clothes brought home, and Brooke could not believe Thane had bought that many.
However, she noticed something was missing. "What about the bag?"
Hannah raised a brow, "What bag? I didn't see any amongst the items brought."
"No, there was a bag in a black box. Are you sure it isn't here?" Brooke frantically started searching the room, she knew the bag was expensive, and yet she had lost it.
"Don't worry I'll go ask the driver right now!" Hannah announced then sprinted out of the room to find out the whereabouts of the bag.
But all their efforts were in vain, they couldn't find the bag anywhere. Hannah was about to call the store where they purchased the bag to make an enquiry, but the driver suddenly remembered what had happened.
"Master Grayson took that bag with him to his important appointment." The driver explained, before Hannah dismissed him.
Brooke felt uncomfortable, 'What kind of important meeting would be need a designer's bag for? Unless...' her heart skipped a nervous beat, 'Could the bag belong to his girlfriend?!'
The thought had never crossed her mind up until then that Thane could've had a girlfriend, and was just using her for his revenge. The whole marriage and partnership would eventually come to an end, and when it did, so would her role.
Why did she all this time always thought that he was single?
"Miss Brooke, maybe he just wants to give you the bag personally, please don't look so sad. Our young master isn't that type of man." Hannah tried to explain, but Brooke's head was already spiralling with thoughts.
Up until Thane got back, Brooke stayed upstairs in her room, too ashamed to face him.
"Hannah, is Brooke feeling unwell? The cook says she hasn't eaten anything." Thane asked, staring at the board of chess in front of him. He had asked Hannah to play against him, but genuinely just wanted to ask about Brooke.
'What if meeting that bastard has made her change her mind about divorcing him?' Thane couldn't get the thought of his head the entire day, and wondered if it was such a good idea to have let them see each other so early.
"Young master, I think you should try speaking to her personally and clear up any misunderstandings between you two." Hannah said, trying not to butt in their lovers quarrel.
Thane moved a piece, "Why? Did she sound angry at me?"
Hannah sighed inwardly, 'These two are like snails, at this pace nothing is going to happen between them.' Just as she held that thought, an idea came into her head.
"I think you should take her out." Hannah announced. "She's always indoors, maybe a change of environment will be good."
"We went out today." Thane rigidly replied.
"But that was for shopping and besides, you didn't return with her, she must feel sad you two didn't get to spend enough time together." Hannah said, earning a sharp glare from Gilbert.
"This audacious girl! What are you even saying? How dare you blame Master Grayson?" He attacked.
But Hannah rolled her eyes, wondering who asked for his opinion in the first place. "I wouldn't dare. I'm just giving an opinion."
"Well your opinion is rude-" Gilbert was saying, but Thane interrupted their little banter by standing up and heading for Brooke's room to go see her.
Fortunately, Brooke and Thane met each other halfway, it seemed as though she had come to see him as well.
"We have to talk."
"We have to talk."
They both said at the same time.
Thane smiled at her, "Then let's go for a stroll." He suggested, then wheeled her over to the garden, which was swarmed with glowing green fire flies illuminating the place.
Brooke had never seen so many all in one place.
"You wanted to tell me something." Thane's voice drew her out of her thoughts.
"You can go first." She replied, but he gently insisted that he wanted to hear what she had to tell him.
And, as embarrassing as it sounded she told him everything about the bag and went as far as to say, "I can't continue with this plan, if you have a girlfriend, it's just not fair to anyone." She said with her eyes closed tightly, she squeezed her thumbs and pressed her lips waiting for his response.
But Thane caught her off guard with a sonorous eruption of laughter?
"I'm sorry-" he tried to contain his laughter, "Forgive me..." But he just couldn't hold it in.
Brooke widened her eyes in stun, "Mr Grayson, what's so funny?" She had never seen him laugh before, so she had started to think he wasn't capable of laughing.
His laugh was sweet to watch, it made her heart flutter and in the end she found herself smiling a bit.
"Did I misunderstand something?" She delicately asked.
Wiping a tear away from laughing so hard, he said to her, "It's just funny to me, that you of all people would think I have a girlfriend."
"But why can't I think that way? You're young, rich and good looking, wouldn't it be strange if you didn't?" She asked, wanting to understand the situation.
Thane leaned in close, he rested his palms on both arm rests on the wheelchair and captured her gaze.
"Everyone but you can think that way. You're the only one not allowed to ever think I'd look at another woman in that light." He declared suggestively.
But when Brooke tried to ask what that meant, he changed the topic.
"About the bag, I did give it to a woman though. But not for the reason you think. It's all for our revenge." He said in earnest.
"Revenge?" Brooke didn't follow, "If it wasn't for your girlfriend then who did you give that bag to?"
Thane flattened his lips into a devilish grin, "Do you know the strategy of sowing discord in your enemy's camp?"
In simpler words he explained, "I mean, making them turn against each other."
Halton Inc.
Ethan was in the middle of going through the divorce papers for the tenth time, when his assistant came in, a bandaid on her cheek where he had hit her.
"Sir, there's been some stir on the Internet over Cassie Crane's latest live stream. As her sponsor, I thought you'd want to see this." She said, sliding her phone over the table.
Ethan stole a glance, "It's just her showing off a bag."
His assistant shook her head, "Sir I've tracked the bag and it's an exclusive design from a famous designer with only ten in existence. The bag is worth over seventy thousand dollars..."
"What?!" Ethan banged his fist. He knew that Cassie's father could never afford something of the sort. "Who did she say gifted it to her?!" He angrily demanded.
But his assistant just like everyone else had no idea. "She claimed it was a friend, but the public is in a stir, trying to find out this mystery figure."
Just then, Ethan remembered the invitation Cassie received to see the Grayson heir. The one he had strictly forbidden her from accepting.
"That gold digging bitch!" He yelled, throwing his assistant's phone to the ground, smashing it's screen.
"How dare those sisters mess with me?!" Ethan angrily got out of his chair and dashed to go see Cassie.
Author's Note: I will be locking chapters soon guys. Thanks a lot for the votes and the reads guys!
Special thanks to Amanda_cross for the first golden ticket!!
Special thanks to Glorious_7 for all the votes and support.