C9 Another Secret

Chapter-9: Another Secret

Aria Anastasia

I was quietly eating with Zaiden after our food arrived.

Apparently, he had booked for us at a restaurant before even asking me whether I had lunch or not. No wonder why he dragged me here to eat—in this fancy restaurant.

"Honestly speaking," I started to talk and broke the silence, "I don't like eating at fancy restaurants during the day."

Zaiden was cutting his steak with a knife as he asked, "Why?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I prefer eating at these places during dinner only. For lunch, I prefer to eat in the cafeteria if I don't have a busy schedule. But if I have a busy schedule, I make Yana bring food from the office cafeteria for me."

"But you seem to enjoy eating at these places when we meet with clients," he pointed out.

I chuckled. "You taught me to always stay positive and happy around the clients. In that way, it will benefit us, so that's what I do. I can't just sulk in front of the clients for not having lunch at the cafeteria."

Zaiden rolled up his sleeves since it was being a bother while eating. "I shall keep in mind. You like eating lunch made from the people you know."

"Nice observation," I told him and continued eating my pasta.

"By the way," Zaiden said, grabbing my attention, "You told me that your father left your mother before you were born, but you never told me your mother was young. How old was she when she got pregnant with you?"

I kept my spoon on the table and inhaled a deep breath. "Here is the truth. My mom is a teen mom."

"I guessed so," he uttered, not sounding surprised or shocked. This was the best trait of Zaiden. He wouldn't give a pitiful reaction or shocked reaction to this stuff, and he would react normally which would keep me at ease. "What was her age?"

"Sixteen," I replied curtly.

"Wow, Amora is very strong," he commented, his voice sounded like he was appreciating my mom.

"Everyone left her alone when they learned she was pregnant with me. So she decided to raise me on her own, that too at the age of sixteen. Only Freja's mom supported her, that's why after Freja's mother died, Mom was nineteen by then so she took the responsibility of Freja too," I explained to him.

"What about your father? Did Amora tell you anything about your father?"

"No, she never mentioned anything about my dad and I never dared to ask her. I didn't want to upset her after all that she went through," I mumbled.

"Well if you ever find out something about your dad, let me know and I will try my best to trace him," he informed me, giving me an assuring smile.

"Thanks, I will let you know." All of a sudden, a question got into my mind. "Zaiden, can I ask you a question about your personal life?"

"I am single," he responded and winked at me which made him look the cutest of all.

My heart fluttered at his wink, but I managed to roll my eyes, and deadpanned, "This is not my question, though I know about it, still it is not my question." I continued to ask, "Who is your right-hand man and all? From the novels, I have read, most of the Mafia Leader's trusted men are their best friends."

We had finished eating by then.

Zaiden crossed his arms against his chest and said looking impressed, "You sure do read a lot of Mafia novels. Did you love reading about Mafia leaders?"

"I do love reading about it, but I never expected to know one in real life. Now I know how all those poor women felt," I whispered the last part, which he failed to hear.

"To answer your question, yes, I have my two best friends working with me. They mostly stay busy though. Actually, they handle it all and I step in the base when an issue arises. They come to meet me when a major problem appears, otherwise, they update me on everything over the phone. The other times, I prefer focusing on the Storm Fashion Industry," he continued, "But Lance is dedicated to the Mafia work mostly. We are the same, yet polar opposites."

I chortled after hearing him. "So those two best friends only come to meet you when a problem arises and—" I stopped talking when I saw Zaiden wasn't looking at me, rather he was looking at the window next to us. I followed his gaze and found two men, who looked smart, entering the restaurant.

"The blond one is Jace Quentin, and the one with blue highlights on his hair is Ash Deven," Zaiden spoke up, "Those two are my best friends."

"Oh, okay," I uttered and gasped when the realization struck me hard. "These are your best friends and they only come to meet you personally when there is a major problem which means..."

"Yes, there is a problem. A major one," he cleared out my confusion.

I watched Jace and Ash come to our table.

"Hey, Aria, right?" Ash asked, and when I nodded, he extended a hand to shake. "I am Ash and I heard a lot about you from Zaiden."

I gave a look of amusement to Zaiden and then glanced at Ash. "He talked about me?"

"You have no idea," Jace chimed in. "By the way, I am Jace."

"Nice to meet the both of you," I said with a smile.

"If you don't mind can we take Zaiden to the base? It's an emergency," Ash said and Jace slapped the back of his head. "Hey, what was that for?"

"At first, we have to apologize for ruining their date," Jace informed Ash and turned to me. "Sorry for ruining your date."

"Date?" I was confused. It wasn't supposed to be a date.

Zaiden cleared his throat and said, "I will talk to you guys. Just wait outside."

They nodded and walked out of the restaurant.

"Well, don't worry about the office, I will handle the work," I assured Zaiden.

He gave a warm smile at me. "I know. I just wanted to tell you to drive safely and give me a text once you get home." When I opened my mouth to question why he answered without me even asking, "I promised to keep you safe, remember? For that, I need you to cooperate with me, so, please."

I gave a curt nod.

He got up and left the place after paying for the lunch.

I headed back to the office and decided to handle some of the important tasks of Zaiden. He already had some problems in the gang and I didn't want this work stress to be more for him. So I thought of lessening his workload.

I went to Zaiden's cabin since I knew the passcode of it. I had to collect a flash drive for the next presentation. I took the drive from the drawer and while closing it, I noticed a green file.

Zaiden kept all of the important stuff in this drawer, then why didn't I know about this green file? If it was related to his gang, he wouldn't have kept it in the office. He wouldn't be this careless as far as I knew him.

Hesitantly, I took the green file and opened it to see whether it was important or not. But the next thing I saw made me speechless.

There were donation papers from first to last. Zaiden had donated to orphanages and old-aged homes every month. He even built hospitals in different places where free treatment was being provided to the poor people. And the most impressive thing was, he was doing all of this under a pen name. Usually, authors would publish under a pen name, but here, Zaiden was doing charity under a pen name, 'Den.' He was the most famous and the most generous unknown Den, who would help in social works.

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