CHAPTER 6 - Sly Fox

"WHAT happened?" Xander asks in shock.

He could see her hair on the floor. The clipper was stuck on the corner of her head. It's clear someone tried to cut her hair with his beard trimmers, but her hair was too thick.

Her face was swollen, her lips bloodied, and her chest filled with scratches. Hannah did not speak and only closed her eyes.

Xander did not push her as it is obvious who did it. He removed her bonds and saw the marks they left on her body. The moment he untied her, she slowly got up.

"Where are you going?" Xander asks curiously.

"I need to prepare dinner for you," she replied while trying to remove the stuck clipper on her hair.

He shook his head. "You'll scare Bridget. Have you seen yourself in the mirror?" He replied concernedly, but the choice of words sounded mockery to her.

She smiled bitterly, then sat on the bed. Naked. Tired. Hungry and thirsty.

He witnessed how she stared blankly at the floor.

"Stay here. I'll ask the servants to bring you food and a change of clothes." He mumbles as he enters the bathroom.

She could only nod in agreement.

Once more, Xander took out the first aid kit, cleaned her wounds, and applied topical pain relief. Shortly, he starts cutting the hair stuck in the clippers and fixing her hair.

In the end, the only haircut passable was a pixie cut. "There, that's the best cut I could come up with," he uttered proudly.

Hannah stared at herself and kept on brushing what was left of her hair. “I can’t be here anymore. I don’t want to be here. Let’s go our separate ways.” She exclaimed.

“I said no more talk about divorce again,” he muttered.

“Why? Isn’t that what you want? Why bring it up, then change your mind? The news had died down long ago, and I think…” She paused then heaved profoundly, “NO... I know Bridget would be better off without the Millers.”

He smirked then held her shoulder. “I’m tired Hannah.” He clamored. “Stop talking nonsense and tell that boyfriend of yours to back away.” He accused.

She frowned. "What?" She uttered. She is tired of explaining who Zane is. 

Xander took her silence as accepting defeat. 

"As I said, stay here. I don't want anyone seeing you like that. They might say I'm abusing you." He clamored.

She scoffed, "Of course, all he thinks of is himself and what others would think about him." She mumbled under her breath.

His audacity shook her and left a pit in her stomach. 

In the kitchen, Xander ordered the maid to prepare dinner and advised Mrs. Copperfield to take care of Bridget.

"Is young Mrs. Miller okay, young master?" She asks in concern.

He ignored her question and soon left.

The old woman felt pity for Hannah as it was not a secret that the Miller family was hard to please and easy to offend. Mrs. Copperfield could only lower her head and take good care of Bridget in Hannah's absence.

CONCURRENTLY, Katarina is in Lani's room. She's pacing back and forth while she's biting her nails. She was scared of what Xander might do to her.

Lani sighed in annoyance, "Would you stop panicking?" She mumbled as she sat comfortably in front of her vanity mirror, fixing her hair and removing Hannah's dark hair that clung to her.

Katarina's hands were sweating. She swallowed slowly and then uttered, "I think we overdid it." She could still remember the fear on Hannah's face when her mother moved the clipper near her. At that moment, she felt impulsive and helped her mother, but soon she felt a wave of guilt.

Lani mocked, "Overdid? That sly fox had it coming. Have you seen how she was tied up on the bed? She probably tried to seduce Xander, but your brother is not that stupid, and he tied her up there as punishment. How shameless." She remarks in disgust.

Lani then held her hand and assured her, "Everything we did to that bitch, she deserves it. Have you forgotten that if not for her, you would have had a grand celebration for your 18th birthday?" She says.

The remorse Katarina felt earlier dissipated instantly.

She could vividly remember how Hannah's arrival in the Miller mansion changed everything. She's been planning her 18th birthday since she was a child. All of a sudden, Xander forbids her from celebrating extravagantly. With the scandal he is in and the unplanned wedding, he doesn't want to be on the news as it might affect the fragile state of the company. Being Xander's sister, everything she does reflects on her brother.

Her hands clench in a fist. She couldn't forget the humiliation she had been put through. She had already given out her invitation and bragged to everyone that her birthday would be the biggest celebration the city had ever seen, that it would be put in the newspapers and various online sites and would go down in history. None of that happened, and she shamefully called off the event a month before her birthday. She was mocked by other rich kids who usually wouldn't go out of her way.

It was the most embarrassing thing that happened to her. As she remembers it now, she felt that she could have hurt Hannah more.

A knock on the door jerked her back to her senses.

Without any hesitation, she opened the door and saw Xander's cold gaze.

The fear she had earlier was now gone, and she stared at her brother's head held high. "What do you want, brother? Did your good-for-nothing wife ask you to avenge her?" She commented as she crossed her arms.

Xander ignored her remarks and entered the room.

Lani gestured for Katarina to leave them alone and she did.

"Mother." He muttered perfunctory.

Lani narrowed her gaze, "What? Are you going to take her side?" She stated in annoyance.

He shook his head, "That's not important. What's important is Denise has returned, and I can't leave Hannah looking like that. What do you think people will say?" he exclaimed.

Lani's eyes widened in glee. "Denise is back? That means..."

"Yes!" He confirmed hastily.

She stood up and marched to her son, "You should have told me that. If I knew, I wouldn't have let Katarina hit her in the face." She commented while patting his back as she smiled merrily.

Her words surprised him but he brushed them off.

"Finally, the rightful wife has returned. We could get rid of the sly fox." She added as she hummed in happiness.