Married with the Broken Hearted CEO novel Chapter 88

“I am sorry, ma’am,” Hansel suddenly apologized while standing in front of me. 
I forged a cough, put the spoon down and replied, “It’s okay. There are also times when I accidentally put too much salt in the food.” 
Hansel’s eyes widened. “The soup is too salty?” 
I blinked swiftly.  ‘Didn’t she apologize because of the salty soup?’ 
“If it is not because of the soup, then why are you apologizing?” I inquired. 
“I am apologizing because I haven’t cleaned yet. Not because of the soup,” she answered then soon panicked. “B-But if the soup is salty, let me fix it, ma’am!” 
I cleared my dry throat again, then said, “No. It’s natural. The place is dusty, and the dust made the soup salty, I guess.” 
“Yeah?” she uttered in disbelief. 
‘What am I doing? Why am I being so considerate? I am the CEO of the Crimson Meadow so there’s no need for me to be this considerate to my secretary.’ 
I guess my heart is softening as the days pass by. 
“Ahhh, really?” Hansel let out a shy chuckle. 
“And what are you there? Standing? Go and sit down. My nape is hurting,” I said. 
Hansel hurriedly pulled the chair backward and filled the empty space across my side. “Sorry, ma’am.” 
“You are saying sorry too much. I am losing my appetite,” I said then crossed my arms. 
‘Finally. I have a valid excuse not to eat this hellish soup.’
“Ma’am, you are pretending mad so that you cannot eat the soup, right?” Hansel suddenly said that widened my eyes. 
‘How did she know?’ 
“It’s alright. You don’t need to finish that,” Hansel said with a chuckle. “But don’t worry, ma’am. I already ordered from a soup restaurant in advance. They will deliver it as soon as possible.” 
I praised her for placing the delivery in advance. But if she has a plan of ordering, she should not have to cook in the beginning. 
“Then, I will eat the soup before going,” I said then leaned my back on the chair. 
Keeping my eyes downward, I listened to the music of silence around the dining room.  Seconds later, Hansel’s voice returned. 
“Where are you planning to go ma’am?” 
The place I will go. 
Let’s see. 
I decided to live with Chadwick for five more months so that we can hide our divorce until the project ends. It is necessary for me to go back home right now. It is odd, however, that I cannot bring this up with my own lips. 
“Hansel,” I called while looking in free space. 
“Yes, ma’am?” 
“In exchange of feeding me this salty soup, I wanted to ask something.” 
“What is it, ma’am?” 
“Did you regret it? Divorcing your husband?” 
Another silence settled after I dropped the question. 
Seeing her keeping her wedding picture with her husband means that despite all the things Daniel did to her, she still has feelings for him. So, I wanted to know if she is keeping it because she has regrets. 
“It is because of the photo?” Hansel responded which made me look straight into her eyes. “Actually,” she continued, sighing. “To be honest, there is still a part of me that loves Daniel.” 
Love. 
I clenched my hands into curling missiles at the word. 
It is the emotion that everyone is longing for. Yet for me, it is something I cannot dare to receive. Because I am scared. 
I am scared to lose my grip. Just how my mother left me and how my father’s affection turned into despair. 
“But I am planning to let it go slowly,” Hansel continued. 
My hands loosened as I stared back at her smiling face. 
“Loving the wrong person is indeed painful. But I don’t think I need to trap myself in the past and decline from moving on.”
“...” 
“I deserve to be happy.” 
When Hansel said that she deserved to be happy despite being cheated, there is this great pang that gripped in my heart. 
I thought I was strong. 
I thought it is better to ignore everything and just go with the flow. 
But I am not. 
Surely, this woman in front of me is much stronger. 
“I also wish happiness for madam too,” she added.
“Me?” I pointed to myself.
“Yes. I hope for ma’am Adira to be happy.” 
Once again, I fell into deep thoughts. 
What are things that make me happy? 
My life is like a cycle. Working hard, meeting deadlines, succeeding a project, eating, sleeping, drinking… 
If there is one exciting part in my life, then it is when I got married and when I had to seduce the grumpy husband. Then, after getting a divorce, two men confessed at me at the same day. One is my ex-husband, and the other is my ex-husband’s friend. 
What if the answer to my question is already among the things that happened to me so far? 
“Two men confessed at me at the same time.” 
At my words, Hansel’s eyes widened just like characters in cartoon. It is good thing that she’s not drinking something or else, she’ll spit it out in my face. 
“Did Sir Chadwick confess to you after the divorce?” she asked, still in bewilderment. 
My brows twitched. 
“How did you know?” 
Hansel gasped and covered her mouth as if she realized that she had a slip of tongue. She did not answer my question and just avoided my eyes. 
Now I got it. 
The reason why Hansel and Neil put me and Chadwick together in the cave is because they are aware that Chadwick has feelings for me. 
I feel like an idiot. 
Well, it’s not like I am really dense or dumb. 
Chadwick has been liking Isa for a long time and it did not hit me the possibility that he’ll like me back. If it is my body that he wants, I’ll believe it then. 
“Sorry for not telling you that,” Hansel apologized. 
“No need to apologize.” 
“But ma’am, you said that two men confessed at you. Then who is the other person? Is he… the man who saved you in the pool?” 
Oh, how quick witted. There’s really a reason why Hansel stayed as my secretary for a long time. 
“Yes,” I answered then heaved a sigh. 
“Then, what happened? Did you accept any of their confession?” 
“I don’t know,” I said, putting my eyes back on the salty warm soup. “To be honest, I wanted to reject both of the confession.” 
First, it does not make sense that I’ll accept the confession of my ex-husband who recently divorced me. 
Second, can I imagine myself dating that bartender, A.K.A, Isa’s stepbrother? 
Nevertheless, I found it weird that I couldn’t say anything yesterday and became a drunken mad woman. 
“I just don’t know,” I added. “I think I am too old to think about this.” 
“Age?” Hansel asked. “Age has nothing to do with this, ma’am.” 
I looked at my secretary who’s uttering something that I know made sense. 
“It’s not about the situation, age, or responsibilities. If someone truly wishing to be happy, then she will prioritize her feelings above else.” 
“...” 
“So, what do you feel ma’am? You should know that to get the answer.” 
Will it be possible for someone like me to fall in love with either Geoffrey or Chadwick? 
The challenge is so tempting that my heart suddenly beats so fast.