"Make haste, Mister." Belle frowned as she urged the driver to speed up.She was especially scared of thunder. She just wanted to hurry up and hide herself under the blanket back on her bed.The driver replied, "This is as fast as I can go without breaking the law, Miss. Besides, it's dangerous to go fast in the rain."The driver glanced at Belle through the rearview mirror, only to find her seemingly distraught by the rain."Relax, Miss. You're safe and sound inside the car! I'll send you directly into your garage later so that you won't get wet, alright?"Belle was upset and scared of the thunderous weather despite the driver's reassurance.The sky was completely blocked by the clouds, as if welcoming the arrival of the final boss in video games.She took a glance out the window and averted her eyes out of fear.Everyone had their own phobias. They could range from an extreme fear of rats, snakes, and even insects. And for Belle, her phobia was the terrible sound of thunder.
Meanwhile, inside the hotel, Belle was rolled up in the blankets on top of the bed. She wrapped herself tightly in an attempt to ease her fears.Prior to this, she was overstimulated by the weather and had the taxi driver bring her to the nearest hotel.She felt safer in the hotel than in the taxi.But it still was not enough to calm her nerves. The thunderous roars could still be heard from inside her room. It sounded as if the gates of hell had opened up to swallow her whole.The streaks of lightning that lit up the darkened sky seemed like the eyes of the devil. They were constantly gazing at the weak and defeated Belle.She was completely swept up by her fear of thunder and could no longer function as a human being.Thunderous booms rang out once more, scaring Belle into losing her mind.Before she could catch her breath, several more bolts of lightning joined in the fun. It was as if the weather itself was displaying absolute power and toying with her.As Belle continued t
Belle choked on her tears and spoke like a frightened child, "I'm scared. I… I just saw ghosts… There are ghosts here!""There are no ghosts! You're just frightened.""I saw them! They were in the room with me! They came in from the windows. They were about to drag me down to hell with them … There was also a woman crying … My heart hurts. It hurts so much."Grayson continued consoling her, "Open your eyes. It's safe here. There are no ghosts anymore.""I'm scared.""It's alright. I'm here with you. They won't dare to approach us with me around. Look around, you're safe."Belle carefully opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. She saw nothing."What did I say?""I wasn't making things up.""You just mistook something to look human."Grayson was an atheist and did not believe in ghosts and gods. He felt that the ghosts Belle claimed to have seen were simply overstimulation from fear.And that was indeed the case."Let's get out of here." Grayson picked up Belle and he
Grayson said gently, "Don't worry about it. Robert will be able to handle it.""How is he going to deal with it?""I don't know, but it's his job to do so. If he can't manage to do it, then he would've failed at his job."Belle decided not to probe further into details.Noticing that her emotions had stabilized, he caressed her hair gently."What about you? What happened?"Belle could still hear the woman's wailing echoing in her ears, which made her heart throb with pain.Noticing her current position, Belle immediately sat up straight on the bed. "I don't know. I'm just … afraid of thunder.""Have you been scared of it ever since you were young?""Yeah, I would always have nightmares whenever the weather turned for the worst. My grandpa was always with me to make sure I was okay. But I've never been as scared as today.""What made you so afraid today?""I think it's because I found out that I'm from the Aspen family."Grayson was shocked. She turned to face him. "I'm a
Grayson's tone was gentle and warm. His protective gaze on Belle was mixed with various emotions.Belle felt her heartbeat speeding up, but she could not understand why.She subconsciously averted her eyes to avoid looking at Grayson. She even tried to struggle and break free from his embrace.Her efforts were in vain as thunder strikes caused her to retreat back into his arms.He smiled as he lovingly held onto her. It was as if he was consoling a crying child.Knocks came from the door before Sam spoke up, "Mr. Page, the hot stew has been prepared, along with the toiletries that you requested."Grayson whispered to Belle, "Have it while it's hot. It'll help ease your nerves and keep you warm. Don't worry about the ghosts. They won't try anything funny as long as I'm here."He then called Sam into the room.Together with Sam came Simon into the room.When Sam left the hotel, he decided to give a call to Simon and tell him about Belle's abnormal behavior. He was worried that s
Simon replied, "It depends … But there have been cases where patients died from similar overstimulation."Grayson's expression immediately sank at the news. He wanted to light a cigarette but remembered that Belle hated the smell. He ended up opening the fridge for a cold beverage.He took a big sip to calm himself before looking over at the bathroom."She would wake up crying in the middle of the night due to thunder. Today, she claimed to be seeing ghosts within the room. Maybe it was hallucinations out of fear."Simon looked serious. "She was hallucinating?""Yeah.""This sounds grave … Do you know why she would hallucinate?""Because she was scared.""No, no … I mean, why is she afraid of thunder?""No idea.""Maybe you should visit a neurologist. Belle may be a doctor herself, but she doesn't seem to be able to help herself. We should hurry up and acquire help for her condition now that she's hallucinating."Grayson nodded and said no more.By the time Belle came out o
Grayson abandoned his rational thoughts and immediately reciprocated Belle's gestures. He held onto her face and kissed her lovingly.Although he was not an experienced kisser, he was, at the very least, better than Belle at making the shot.After a while, the couple started gasping for air.The atmosphere within the room started to heat up. The couple warmed each other up against the cold winter.After kissing for a while, Grayson felt that he could no longer contain his desires and wanted to take it a step further.He pushed Belle under himself, burrowed his hand into her clothes, and felt the softness of her body that he had been longing to touch but hadn't dared to.The sudden overstimulation left the couple stunned.After a few seconds of silence, however, Belle raised her hand and smacked it clean right onto Grayson's cheek before booting him off the bed.Grayson was utterly confused by her actions.Belle's face was bright red as she pulled the blanket over her head.Gr
"W-What are you trying to do?" Belle sounded a little impatient.Grayson held her tightly, gazing at her without a sound …"Grayson, you—""I like you. Don't you know that?"The two spoke at the same time.Belle's eyes turned as wide as saucers as she looked at Grayson in shock.Grayson was calm. After what had happened yesterday, he felt that he had to confess his feelings for her. If not, he wouldn't be able to live with himself."The words I said to you on Patrick's birthday were real. I meant them."Belle was confused."I said those words on purpose. I didn't say those words for them to hear; I spoke for your ears only."I like you! I want you to be my real wife and the young lady of the Page family. I hope that when people talk about us, they'll all know that my wife's name is Belle and that your husband's name is Grayson."Belle didn't say a word.She stared at Grayson with widened eyes, her heart racing."W-We … We signed a marriage contract.""We didn't.""Huh?"