His Secret Baby: Six Months After Divorce (Mia and Ethan) novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

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“You’re losing your touch, Ethan.”

Jaxon shrugged, walking toward him with a smug grin. “Your secretary looks like she’s dying to ditch you.”

Ethan leaned his tall frame against the wall, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers.

He gave Mia a dismissive glance before turning his eyes toward the gloomy sky outside the floor–to–ceiling windows.

“Get lost.”

The sine word hissed through his thin lips.

Jaxon’s smirk didn’t waver. He pulled his hand back from Ethan’s shoulder and raised both palms in a mock surrender.

“Alright, alright. Mr. Hale sure is acting imposing. I’ll leave you two to it.”

He turned to Mia and flashed her a dazzling grin. “Don’t be scared, Mia. If the world ends, I’ve got your back.”

Jaxon was clearly just there to stir the pot.

Ethan looked composed, but his dark eyes were like a brewing storm. He was beyond pissed.

The hallway went dead quiet. Mia Carter stood about ten feet away from Ethan Hale.

She watched him finish his cigarette, the smoke swirling around his sharp features.

“Mr. Hale,” Mia finally said. “I only took his card to get him to leave me alone.”

Ethan took one last deep drag, then dropped the butt into the trash.

He arched an eyebrow, his voice cold. “Is that so?”

Mia’s eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t expected him to be this dismissive.

Did he not believe her?

“Yes.” She nodded, not bothering to explain any further.

“Mr. Hale!” a voice called from the ballroom. “Chloe is looking for you.”

Ethan straightened up. He stomped his feet slightly to let his crisp suit settle perfectly against his frame.

He turned and walked back toward the party.

Mia followed him for a few steps, wanting to say something else.

But then Chloe Bennett appeared. She hurried over, clutching her gown, and threw herself into Ethan’s arms.

“Ethan, they’re all making fun of me. They’re calling me your little ‘child bride‘ again.”

They meant the group of trust fund heirs the inner circle that Ethan and Chloe both belonged to.

Ethan’s gaze darkened, his voice dripping with coldness. “Come on. I’ll put them in their place for you.”

Mia’s heart sank. The light in her eyes died instantly.

She took a few steps back, turned, and headed for the parking lot.

Halfway through the gala, Chloe was done with the networking. She sat off to the side, gossiping with a group of trust fund kids.

Ethan, though, couldn’t catch a break. A steady stream of people kept coming up to toast him.

Meanwhile, Jaxon was just as busy, surrounded by his own crowd.

Unlike Ethan’s quiet, reserved intensity, Jaxon was loud and unapologetic. He worked the room with a smirk, casually dropping Mia’s name into the conversation every chance he got.

Snippets of the talk drifted Ethan’s way. His gaze sharpened, turning cold and dangerous.

“Jaxon has been quite idle lately.” Ethan muttered.

Leo leaned in, his voice barely a whisper. “Word is he’s eyeing a Government Partnership Initiative. It’s pretty much a done deal.”

Ethan’s brow quirked. His eyes darkened with intent.

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“Look into it.”

Leo blinked, catching the drift instantly. He set his glass down. “On it.”

He slipped out of the ballroom and got on the phone to dig into the deal.

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In less than ten minutes, he had everything. Every file, every detail on the initiative was in his hands.

“Partnering with the government gives Riverside a serious ego boost. I heard Jaxon cut his margins to the bone just for the prestige.”

Ethan grabbed the folder and flipped through a few pages before snapping it shut. He shoved it back toward Leo. “If it’s a government deal, we shouldn’t be looking for a profit anyway. We’ll just call it giving back to the community.”

Leo to file, his mind blank for a second. He wasn’t quite sure what Ethan was getting at.

Then Ethan added, “Get a proposal ready tonight. We’re holding a meeting on the Initiative first thing tomorrow morning.”

“You got it!”

Ethan and Jaxon had never seen eye to eye.

But usually, Ethan didn’t care enough to play Jaxon’s games.

To go out of his way and actually hijack a project like this? It was completely unheard of.

Leo didn’t get it, but he didn’t ask questions. He sent the order to the Project Management Department immediately.

11 PM. The gala finally wrapped up.

Mia pulled the car around to the hotel entrance and waited.