Danielle's POV I sat by the window, brooding at the innate beauty of sunrise. The laughter and chuckles of my kids were the early music of the day. Like every other day, I was glad I had them. " You are at it again, Danielle," Gabriel's voice echoed through the room. Most of their things in my room had been moved to the kids' room. They were grown up now, no need to stick with me all the time. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The sun, the birds, the sky. Everything is so natural and neutral." "Just like you. I have good news." I felt the heat of his body against my back and took a step to the right. We have been doing fine without getting too close. I do not want to dig up feelings that have been buried. "We won a million-dollar deal?" He laughed and stood beside me by the window. " We will be having some visitors soon. And by soon, I mean today. You would enjoy their presence." I turned to him. "Did you invite someone over? Do I need to hide the kids?
Danielle's POV "Danielle, calm down," Aunt's voice called my attention in the room. Her voice boomed my anger. I refused to turn to her. "What do you expect me to say? You came back all of a sudden and you are telling me there's a guy that I have to get married to because of some shitty bargain." Perhaps that took me as an idiot, but I know what I am doing. I stick to my principles no matter the cost. "I told Pa Bruno to let you know. I thought you knew all about it already." "If you thought of it that way, you wouldn't have asked if I wanted to get married. I am not doing this and no one is going to force me to do it." Gramps entered the room, and so did Gabriel and Aunt Rose's husband. Even Gabriel has joined them in begging me to accept it. "Danielle, just a trial. If it doesn't work out, you can back out," Gabriel said. "They have succeeded in poisoning your mind too. What would happen to the family we have built together? I don't even wan
Danielle's POV Mark drove us to a bar that was scanty. I sat there by the counter with him. "Now what?" I asked. Now, I had calmed down and I had regained myself. My temperature was calm and my hands were stable. He gave me a drink which I left on the table. "I know you hate me, Danielle. First impression stuff. I didn't know I was coming to see you also. I had a huge fight with my mom before leaving the house and I have a girlfriend." I nodded. A strand of my hair fell across my face and I tried to blow it off. He reached out his hands and I flinched. "Woah woah. What were you trying to do?" "I was just trying to take off that…strand of hair…right there." He brushed it back and tucked it behind my ear, "And there you go…" "You were saying…you have a girlfriend. I am also not interested. Works for both of us, right?" "I had a girlfriend. Came out wrong the first time. I understand you do not want this marriage but I'll give you a chance. You can d
Danielle's POV I typed the digits on my phone and took a very deep breath before dialing. Beads of sweat rolled down the side of my cheeks. I choked on my breath and started to feel uncomfortable. Why was I this nervous? I hung up before the number could ring. Taking deep breaths, I counted…one…two…three. Then took one last breath to regulate myself. Phew, I can do this. I rested my back and dialed the number again. This time, I left it on the table and closed my eyes. I heard it ring and waited for the owner to pick it up. A common ringtone rang in the office, precisely Mr Smith's table. I didn't know he was using an iPhone. Every time I saw him, he was always with his Samsung fold. I shook my head and focused on what I was doing. The person I was calling wasn't picking up his call. Now I have to go through another process to put a call through again. If only he knew how hard it is to make a call, he'd just pick up at the first trial. I decided I would
Bryan' POV "Are you okay?" I asked her again. She nodded without looking at me and went back to her chamber like I call it. Maybe she's just having a bad day. I saw her walk backward, she had never done that before and she was the only one I allowed to turn her back on me. Now that she's done what I wanted from scratch, I feel a little uncomfortable with it. It's a sign that something was wrong. I closed my eyes and played with my long lashes. I shouldn't think about it if she has a problem, then she can solve it on her own. I don't need to ask her anymore. I went through the magazines she dropped and drooled over the pics that were on the front cover of most of the magazines. I am meant to be the one in these pictures, what was she getting all the game while I was gone? Oh, I was gone. I checked for Bell magazine and they were there. Did she succeed in working with Bell? I glanced at her but she was too focused on whatever she was doing. The owner
Bryan's POV I paced around my house, throwing whatever I could on the wall. My mind wasn't settled, I could barely breathe. Seeing Danielle with Mark…who would have thought? Fiancé? He would be a fool to get married to Danielle. She has no idea what he is capable of, she has no idea what he does and what he has done before. She needs saving and I was the only person that could do that for her. Now I wouldn't be seeing her for the rest of the week and today is just Tuesday. I shouldn't have given her the week off. Jack should have been here. I called him about an hour ago to do some finding for me. Why am I so worked up? Was it because Danielle was with Mark? Or because I hate seeing her with someone else? I do not hate seeing someone else, that wasn't my business. The person I was concerned about was Mark and how he found a way to seduce Danielle. There was no way he seduced her. Certainly no way. Danielle is a strong woman, she deserves someone bett
Danielle's POV For two days, I haven't been myself. No, I doubt I will ever be myself anymore. I have lost my appetite for every type of food. I spent all day with my kids in their room and seldom, I would walk out to the fresh air in the mini garden beside our house. My Aunt and her family were still around and I tried as much as possible to hide how I was feeling from them. No one just knows, I must move over it. I have to. I can never send all my kids to see Bryan. The respect for his name seems to have rotten. It wasn't his fault, that's what I said to myself every day. Even though Clara had made things better between us, she never came back. She was the one person that could help me in times like this. This is a very difficult one and there is no way out of it except I get married to Mark. The other day was a great show for Bryan. Of course, Mark and I didn't talk till I got home that day. I didn't want to talk to anyone at all. A bunch of ungrateful men.
Danielle's POV ”Linda, what are the things you are talking about?" I asked in fury. She walked closer to me and whispered, "Don't listen to him. Stay away from him." She stood upright and took her bag from the ground. "I'll see you some other time. I can't stand the presence of this man beside me. She took her bag and left. "I knew he wasn't a good guy," I heard the kids whisper. " Go to your room, now." They left, sluggishly. Now what was Linda talking about? She could have just waited and told me the full details before leaving. That wouldn't be hard to do. There was an awkward silence in the sitting room. The silence was broken by Gabriel's voice which came from the kitchen. "what happened? What's wrong?" He asked, checking the whole of my body. "I'm fine Gabby, it was just—". "It was nothing. We were just talking here and nothing that could cause any harm." He glanced at me but I couldn't say anything else. Mark had already cut my words. W