-2-

The grin appeared, the  Nicholas moved his body away from Bella and that made Bella’s heart return to normal. Bella’s heart was saved again.

“Don’t ever be weak in front of me, because I hate that.” Nicholas told firmly before he actually got out of the now open elevator. Nicholas glanced at his trusted employee who had been standing still on his right.

“Delete the CCTV footage.”

“Yes sir.”

Nicholas immediately walked away, leaving Bella and Nicholas’s trusted employee there. Bella’s hands tightly squeezed the strap of her bag, she held her breath perfectly. A strange feeling spread through Bella’s heart but she didn’t know what was going on.

“Bella, how long are you going to be like this?” asked the man with glasses. “Be honest with Mr. Malik about your true situation, Bella. So that at least Mr. Malik doesn’t misunderstand you.”

Bella did not respond to those words, she chose to remain silent. Her phone kept ringing in her bag. A call that Bella had been trying to ignore for the past week, a call that every time Bella saw the name of the caller made Bella’s chest tighten.

Bella held her breath perfectly, her eyes felt hot now until finally Bella wiped her tears roughly. No, Bella didn’t want to look fragile in front of everyone.

Throughout working hours, Bella always did her work seriously and professionally. But today, every time there were files and documents that must be examined or signed by Nicholas, Bella preferred to hand everything over to Nicholas’s trusted employee named Bobby, the only Nicholas employee who understood Bella’s life story and Bella’s forbidden relationship with Nicholas. He was also the only employee who wanted to be nice to Bella.

“What is this going on? Usually you would hand this file directly to Mr. Malik?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just trying not to interact too much with Mr. Malik.” Bella answered casually.

Bobby smiled, then he glanced at Bella’s face which looked weary. Of course, there seemed to be a question that made Bobby curious.

“Why? Don’t tell me you’re sad because Mr. Malik is getting engaged?” Bobby asked curiously.

Bella preferred to be busy with the documents in front of her, because she didn’t want anyone to try to touch her personal space. Yes, try to find out what was really in her heart.

“Bobby, who am I? I’m just a secretary. I have no rights over Mr Malik, he is getting engaged, why should I be sad? Shouldn’t I be happy for him?”

“Don’t be silly, Bella. I’ve known you for a long time, and I know that you’re sad.”

“If I’m sad, does it have to have something to do with Mr. Malik?” Bella looked back at Bobby meanwhile Bobby was silent. “You know that my business is not just that unclear relationship, Bobby. There are far more important businesses than that.”

“Is it about… your mother?” Bobby guessed.

Bella was silent for a moment, her chest hurt again. Her phone, which had been on the table, rang, the name ‘mama’ was written there clearly.

“You don’t want to pick it up?”

“I’ve been ignoring those calls for a week.” Bella answered nonchalantly.

“Aren’t you afraid that your mother will come to this company?”

Bella didn’t answer.

“All the employees who already hate you will definitely talk about you even more once they find out who your mother is, Bella. So—”

“Then, can I just make her stay at home and not cause trouble?” Bella immediately cut off Bobby’s words and of course this made Bobby immediately silent for a moment.

“Yes, you are right. So, what steps will you take? Shouldn’t you report your mother to the police? This is an act of blackmail, Bella, and I’m even sure that Mr. Malik will think that you are a money hungry woman because of your mother.”

“I don’t care, even without that he already thinks I’m like that, doesn’t he?”

“Bella, come on, I just want to help you.”

Bobby immediately fell silent just as Nicholas came out of his office. Bella and Bobby could now only look at each other with quite tense expressions on their faces.

Nicholas glanced at Bella, while Bella chose to ignore it. Bella returned to focusing on her work until Nicholas felt angry because he was ignored by Bella. Nicholas immediately grabbed Bella’s hand very roughly. Bella was in so much pain, but she tried to stay calm. In front of Nicholas, she couldn’t look weak, beg, let alone cry, that was a taboo that Bella couldn’t do!

“Can you let go of my hand, sir? It hurts so much.”

“You know, Bella. One of the things I hate the most is when I look at someone but that person looks away from me, and all this time you’re the one who always likes to do that even though I’ve warned you thousands of times.”

Bella swallowed hard, just as Nicholas pulled her hand so that her body was in Nicholas’s arms. Bella didn’t understand what Nicholas wanted at all. He was the one who broke off this relationship, but when Bella tried to stay away from everything, how come Nicholas was still being possessive?

“I just don’t want to seem close to you, Mr. Malik.”

“You are my secretary!” Nicholas snapped.

“So, do this professionally because I don’t want to receive negative rumors just because I’m your secretary.”

Nicholas’s jaw tightened, he then let go of Bella’s hand. There were anger and burning desire that filled his mind whenever he was close to Bella but unable to touch her.

Bella could only groan in her heart when her wrist was red from Nicholas’s hand.

A moment after, someone approached them.

“Miss Harvey, there is a guest for you waiting in the lobby.”

Bella drew one eyebrow perfectly, because she didn’t feel like she was making an appointment with anyone.

“Who is that guest, is he a man?” Nicholas quipped.

Bella didn’t pay no heed to Nicholas’s words.

“Who?” Bella asked.

“A woman, she said she was your mother.”

Shit!

Bella’s heart stopped completely when she heard who her guest was, and without even waiting long, Bella immediately ran as hard as she could to meet her mother. Bella ignored everything, until Nicholas, who saw Bella’s excessive reaction, felt quite curious too.However, Nicholas didn’t want to be too curious, let alone find out anything about Bella’s personal life.

Bella left, meanwhile Nicholas was still standing there. Bobby, who saw that his boss actually wanted to know the figure of Bella’s ‘mother’, immediately asked Nicholas.

“Aren’t you very curious about Bella’s mother, Sir?” said Bobby.

Nicholas didn’t answer, he chose to go back into his office and slam the door hard from the inside.

After Bella arrived at the company lobby, she saw the figure of a woman who was sitting with her legs crossed in really sexy clothes and well-dressed clothes, and she seemed to be enjoying a cup of coffee. Bella was silent for a moment, her hands were shaking so badly then she tried to convince herself that everything would be okay. Yes, everything will be okay. Bella was sure about that.

With hesitant steps, Bella stepped forward towards the figure. Bella tried to smile and put on the friendliest face ever.

“Mother ….” Bella greeted.

The woman who had been sitting relaxed all this time immediately turned around. She stood as she looked at Bella with a quite fierce look, until…

Slap!!!

“You little bitch! Didn’t I tell you to send me money?!”