The gentle stroke on the cheek made Camellia’s eyelids tremble. She moved slightly and searches around for the source of the touch. Camellia muttered in satisfaction and let out a soft sigh when the warm hand stroked her head and back.However, her forehead formed a subtle frown as the hand touched her bruise.Suddenly Camellia tried to keep her body away, followed by a flurry of pain that instantly stopped the touch of the warm hand in midair.And not long after, she heard a soft, soothing whisper.“Shhh...” which made Camellia turn her face to the source of the sound.With a blurred vision and heavy eyelids, she saw a faint shadow of a male figure.She was about to touch that face, but the man’s hand stopped her by clasping her fingers tightly.“Go to sleep, Princess,” whispered a baritone-heavy voice that made Camellia’s eyelids close again, yet she could still hear the melodious voice of the man singing a lullaby.“On a beautiful hill, there is a magnificent castle of radiant ligh
Camellia looked at the toe of her shoe nervously. With both hands squeezing the side of her blue knee-length skirt, she raised her head as soon as she heard a familiar voice.“Miss Duncan,” said a middle-aged man in a white coat who came out of a treatment room.Instantly, Camellia stood up. She gave a faint smile and greeted the doctor kindly.“Good afternoon, Doctor Hans,” she replied back.The doctor stared at Camellia’s face, which was still looking battered and blue. It made her stand uneasy, and she consciously lowered her head.Realizing that, Doctor Hans cleared his throat and motioned for Camellia to walk side by side with him.“Mr. Duncan’s condition has stabilized. You don’t have to worry about his condition,” the doctor said as he greeted several nurses as they passed by.Camellia just nodded and was relieved by her father’s improved state post-first surgery.“But we have to do the second surgical procedure, and we are optimistic that this will improve his health, Miss Dun
Camellia’s body jumped out instantly, and she quickly turned around only to find Hagen standing directly in front of her face.“Gosh! You surprised me!” Camellia squealed as she clutched her chest, while her eyes cast a sharp gaze.Hagen, who was very calm at the time, just gave her a flat expression. Unlike before, the man seemed to exude a cold aura that made Camellia’s steps retreat involuntarily.“You haven’t answered my question,” Hagen said as he observed Camellia’s bruised face.His eyes watched intently, making her feel uneasy.She cleared her throat and said, “You don’t need to know and stop bothering me.”Her head was slightly raised, trying to be arrogant, but she failed very miserably, because she simply froze as the corner of Hagen’s lips twitched and created a faint smile.“Hmm... Hmm,” Hagen muttered as he swept Camellia’s hair away from her face, which was about to cover her eyes. “Your hair grows so fast,” he said quietly, barely audible to Camellia, who was standing
Camellia looked around the room she found herself in with confusion. She could tell that she was in Hagen’s room by the furniture and the wall.Instantly, her hand squeezed the white sheet that was under her body.Camellia was about to move when suddenly she heard the sound of the door opening.Her head quickly turned to the source of the sound, and she found a beautiful woman walking into the room with a quiet bearing.When the beautiful woman saw her sitting on the bed, she gave a smile that seemed very well-trained.“Miss Duncan,” the woman said as she walked closer to the bed. “Sorry, I didn’t knock first. I thought you were still asleep.”Camellia chose silence and just looked at the woman before her in question. She wondered who the woman was because it was obvious that the beautiful woman was not the heartless jerk lover.Getting Camellia’s gaze that clearly describes her confusion, finally, Athen introduces herself.“Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Athena.
The tip of Hagen’s fingers touched the corners of Camellia’s lips, which still left scars, but again she shook off his arm. And no matter how much he tried to treat her with tenderness, she would refuse vehemently.Now, the two sat facing each other on the bed that Camellia had been sleeping on. Without once looking at the man who was applying ointment to the scar on her porcelain face, Camellia chose to look straight ahead with a blank stare.“In a week, your scars will become faint,” Hagen said as he touched Camellia’s cheeks and the tips of Camellia’s eyes full of caution.They were silent for too long, making the atmosphere around them no longer as light as feathers.He also blew lightly on the surface of her skin when a whimper came from her mouth. Instantly, Hagen’s heart seemed to be pinched, because her porcelain face was now full of wounds that still left pain.With all his might, Hagen restrained himself from clenching his hands into fists.The expression that was usually st
Immediately, Hagen endured the pain that radiated along his arm because suddenly Camellia bit his hand that was about to stroke her cheek.“Argh, damn!” Hagen grimaced as he stared at Camellia, who was still sinking her teeth into his skin.With his hardened jaws and teeth clashing in pain, Hagen attempted to calm down as he called out to Camellia.“Princess.”He deliberately softened his voice, hoping that she would let him go, but it turned out that he didn’t think Camellia’s grudge was so deep. It is evident from the strongness of the bite that it does not also come off.“If you think I’m going to slap you, it’s best to throw away such thoughts,” Hagen said between tightening jaws. “I know you deliberately provoked my anger.”He closed his eyes while exhaling heavily, enduring the pain that was slowly numbing his arms. One by one, beads of sweat were present on his temples due to the strong bite of the girl who intended to break off his burly arm.“I won’t beg, but you won’t get an
Camellia’s eyes stared intently at the burnt pot in front of her. She bit the corners of her lip as her hands stroked her belly, while her face clearly showed that she was starving.The beautiful girl also exhaled a long breath, and then she rubbed her temples while holding herself from crying.“Stupid,” she whispered, slowly moving away from the electric stove.She turned around when she saw a man standing in the doorway, which startled her.Instantly, the sound of a scream of surprise mixed with fear escaped from her lips.“What are you doing there? Quietly watching like a strange man,” Camellia growled as she inched into the corner of the kitchen.The tips of the man’s lips twitched, holding him back from smiling.“I’m just interested in your activities about to burn down my kitchen,” retorted Hagen, who instantly got a toss of disarray.He walked closer to the source of the burnt smell in the room.“I’m not that bad at cooking, to the point of burning your kitchen,” Camellia said
“Who hit you?”Suddenly, Camellia asked after swallowing a bite of the warm soup that Hagen ordered from a nearby restaurant.Both of them were sitting opposite each other at the dining table. There was no sign of the chaos in the kitchen. The entire room looked shiny, which made Camellia wonder how Hagen did it all in such a short time.Looking at Camellia’s direction of sight sweeping the entire kitchen room, Hagen just smiled softly.“I asked someone to clean it up.”His answer made Camellia glance at him.“Do you think I’ll do all this myself? Which is, sure enough, Princess, I’ve never even held a broom in my life.”The look she gave made Hagen amused.“And to answer your question, this injury comes from the defense of my pride. And I retaliated against that guy even harder. I guess he’s currently having surgery somewhere.”The spoon that Camellia was holding was subconsciously dropped until it hit the tiled floor, which made a sound like echoing in the room.Hagen locked their g
Camellia’s head dropped as she stepped off the bus that was taking her to the bus stop on the way home. She didn’t look around because she had been thinking so much about the woman earlier.She didn’t even look up when she accidentally bumped into someone in front of her. She just said sorry without even turning her head. Then she walked past the burly body in front of her.However, her steps stopped as she heard a masculine voice call for her.“What’s in your beautiful head, Princess?” asked the man who instantly made Camellia freeze before she finally turned to the source of the voice, which was now standing right behind her.Camellia just stared sadly at that handsome face that seemed to be looking for an answer for a moment. But, of course, she surely wouldn’t say anything after everything happened.After all, it wasn’t his business if she felt dumped.The truth, Camellia felt saved by the incident with the woman earlier, because she could be more aware of the intentions of the ma
Camellia opened the door of her house, where Frank was already standing at the front with both hands full of gifts. The man’s straight face showed that he didn’t agree with being given such an unreasonable task, but his loyalty kept him from saying anything.With a passive gaze, he greeted Camellia with no enthusiasm.“Mr. Hagen asked me to deliver all of these.”Camellia, who was stunned by the man’s many belongings, could only freeze at the doorway. She just stood there for a moment, glancing at all the gifts.“He said... that party is in two days,” she whispers in a confused tone.It seemed that Hagen had predicted that she would ‘agree’, so he was so confident that he sent all of the gifts and deliver all the clothes and other items for the party even before Camellia answer his called.Camellia took a deep breath after realizing his intentions with all the things delivered to her house. She just exhaled slowly; don’t know what to do with the situations.“He’s too confident,” she m
Camellia looked reluctant when Hagen opened the car door for her. She looked around, looking for a way home other than the ride Hagen had offered, but knowing that the money in her purse would not get her home, Camellia sighed and looked witheringly at the man’s car.“Going home alone is not a good solution right now. It’s too late, Princess, and I can’t leave you alone,” said Hagen, who opened the car door wider again.With a head gesture, he told Camellia to come inside. She thought for a long time before finally letting her inner voice overcome her logic.“I’m not going in until you promise me something.”Seeing Camellia’s serious gaze, Hagen waits patiently with one hand in his trouser pocket. His eyebrows seemed to invite Camellia to continue.While swallowing and looking straight at his obsidian eyes, Camellia said, “Don’t follow me into the house. You just walk me to the front door.”Hagen paused to think about her request. He was going to say something but finally pursed his l
The men in the room all grunted at the same time, which made Camellia jump in surprise and make her shoulders tense. Meanwhile, Hagen, who kept his eyes on her, seemed deaf to the subtle insinuations of his friends.“Yes, he can throw us out, Miss Duncan.” A blonde-haired man named Gavin threw his joke, causing laughter from all the men there. “Isn’t that so, Jax? Mr. Hagen can expel me, you, Rey, and every Red Cage in this room!”The man who had greeted them, Rey Fredrick, only glanced briefly at his friend, Gavin.Meanwhile, Jax, also known as Jaxon Bradwood, the owner of the white chair that Camellia almost sat in earlier, didn’t respond at all. And the man with a friendly smile who was sipping his drink in the corner of the room, Connor Black, seemed to laugh softly.“He’s a man with a great sense of humor,” replied a man who had been sitting quietly on the opposite sofa, Nicko Anderson.Hagen just glanced lazily at the man who had spoken. Meanwhile, Camellia, who didn’t know the
When their kiss broke, Camellia’s body shook slightly until she almost lost her balance, but Hagen quickly held her waist, which felt right in his grip to support her body. She tried her best to hold onto Hagen’s arm as he hugged her from the front.The red hue on her cheeks now seemed to spread to her ears, making Hagen bite inside of his lip and hold her between his palms.For some reason, he wanted to brush her long hair back, then play with it a little and admire the slight change in color on her sensitive skin.When Camellia saw that Hagen was looking at her, she quickly turned away to hide the shame that was starting to take over her.“I-I want to go to the toilet,” she muttered while lowering her head and trying to look away.Camellia was about to turn around and walk the other way to avoid touching him. However, Hagen, who knew that Camellia would not find a nearby toilet without someone helping to point the way, finally followed her from behind.“The toilet isn’t over there,
Camellia held Hagen’s arm tightly as her head spun around, especially at the crowd of people around them who were about to enter Magnolia building.When a big man was about to bump into her from behind, Hagen reflexively hugged her feminine body. He directed a burning gaze at the half-drunk man, who began to realize his mistake.“I-I’m sorry,” the stranger muttered as he walked backward and away in a hurry.Meanwhile, Camellia, who was still in Hagen’s arms, seemed to be squeezing his shirt to keep her balance, which made her almost fallen.“Stay by my side,” Hagen said in a low voice, right in her ear. The noises around them made it difficult for them to communicate. Then Hagen pulled Camellia to his side, one arm around her waist.“I don’t want you to get lost, Princess,” Hagen said lightly, but Camellia didn’t respond at all. She resigned herself to being led by Hagen past the two doormen in front of Magnolia.“Boss,” said one of the bouncers on the left side, so that his friend a
Both Camellia and Hagen ate in silence. However, not long after, Hagen grabbed Camellia’s hand as soon as they finished eating their burgers about ten minutes ago.Hagen was eager to take Camellia somewhere, but Camellia looked confused at him.“Let go of my hand first, then I’ll follow you,” she said, but Hagen didn’t even listen, making Camellia throw a glare, which he didn’t respond to.“What about watching a show?” asked him suddenly, which made Camellia silent immediately.She glanced at the deserted street of Magnolia. It seemed that everyone was already there, making her curious.Knowing Camellia’s gaze, Hagen gently tugged her hand in his grasp, cueing her to follow him.With a doubtful gaze and a bit of confusion to decide, Camellia looked as if she were at war with her own mind, but Hagen immediately encouraged her.“As long as you’re with me, you’ll be safe. No one will dare bothering you.”Camellia was only eighteen, so she was forbidden from entering places like Magnolia,
Camellia’s eyes rounded when she saw Hagen walking towards the café where she was. With her head turned around, the girl was also looking for a way to get out of there.However, she still didn’t find a way, so Camellia felt trapped as soon as she heard the sound of the bells on the door starting to ring, and Hagen’s figure was already in the doorway with his attention focused on the table she was occupying.With an uneasy gaze, Camellia watched Hagen, who was walking slowly towards her.Now, she felt deja vu because she remembered her mother, who had also passed through the same door and path when approaching the table.And when the man arrived, the first thing Blake Hagen said was, “The woman you saw with me earlier is nothing.”Instantly, Camellia’s lips thinned. She didn’t think the man in front of her was so confident.Without being told, Camellia was also not interested in asking about or snooping into his personal life.“There’s no need to tell me anything about your private lif
Camellia sipped her milk shake very lazily. The girl even looked pensive, with blank eyes looking towards the wall.Every now and then she took a breath, and then exhaled slowly, like a tired person.She leaned back in her chair after a long time, her gaze shifting to the visitors around her.It seems that Lancester is very crowded with visitors from different cities. That’s because of an underground boxing match that will be held later tonight by the Red Cage organization at one of their clubs, Magnolia.Unfortunately, Camellia didn’t have access to it, though she also wanted to see the most-awaited event by half the Lancester residents.“What a pity,” she grumbled.She changed the position of her legs before finally returning to exhale heavily.“Hhhh...” the girl said with a slightly sullen face.Camellia glanced at her phone a few times, just to make sure Brandon was replaying her message.“Why should he send me to this place?” She whined, annoyed with her boss’s attitude of asking