Grandma always saved the big pomegranates for Arabella Rivera. And Arabella was unlike other children – she would chew the seeds and flesh together instead of spitting out the seeds like others.Once, she ate too much, and her stomach hurt badly. So she ran into John’s arms and cried loudly. ‘Am I going to die?”John Grant was only twelve years old then, so when he heard ‘die’, he was flustered.To him, the only association with death is that he would never be able to see her again. Panicking, he carried her on his back, about to run to the clinic.Grandma heard her crying, too, and walked into the room. After understanding the situation, her loose hand touched Arabella’s stomach.“It’s fine. She just ate too many pomegranate seeds and can’t digest them.”On rainy days, it was not easy to walk on the road in Willow Town, but Arabella liked jumping over potholes and walking across the bluestone bridge.John would carry her schoolbag and shout after her from behind, “Slow down. Be caref
Of course, he couldn’t possibly be alone. Caleb was right behind him. She walked out of the elevator and nodded slightly. “President Garcia.”Daniel’s gaze swept across her body to her feet. Seeing that she was walking steadily, he said, “Better?”“Almost. I’ll go to work tomorrow.” Today was the last day of her leave period. Even if she did not meet him today, she was going to tomorrow anyway.“It’s good that you remember.” Daniel walked past her and entered the elevator.”The low and magnetic voice did not reveal much emotion. It was like a cello, slow and mellow.The moment he walked past her, she could feel the slight breeze brush past her, accompanied by the scent of his body. It was clear and mixed with the smell of tobacco. How pleasant.Arabella arrived at Benjamin Rivera’s office. She had already informed Mr. Charlie of her arrival earlier so he was waiting for her. She handed the document to Mr. Charlie and said, “Mr. Charlie, is this the right one?”Mr. Charlie took it and
However, no matter how good her tea skills were, Master Samson still did not like her. That was why she never brewed tea again.It had been three years so she wondered if her skills had deteriorated. All she hoped right now was that she would not embarrass herself today.When Master Hoffman heard that she was going to burn incense and clean her hands, he couldn’t help but look at her a few more times. Although she was very young, she knew how to make tea.He turned to the girl in the dress standing next to him. She understood his gesture and left the room. After a few minutes, two women in the same red dress came in with incense and water in their hands.After Arabella cleaned her hands and burned the incense, she took the boiling water and heated the teapot. She then took a suitable amount of tea leaves and placed them into the teapot. The tea leaves were of the highest quality.She poured a small amount of boiling water into the teapot and then covered it. The teapot was transparent
Arabella was a little confused by his words. As she wished? Her mind was still scrambling to figure out what he meant when the car stopped outside the international shopping mall.She looked at the crowd through the car window and turned back to look at him blankly. “What are we doing here?”Daniel got out of the car and opened the car door for her like a gentleman. But his face still looked cold and indifferent. “Get out of the car.”Arabella was feeling a little overwhelmed as she looked at him in surprise. Nevertheless, she got out of the car.When the two entered the mall, a saleswoman immediately greeted them with eyes glued to Daniel. “Welcome, may I ask-”Before she could finish, she was pushed away by another salesperson behind her who smiled obsequiously and said, “Sir, Miss, do you need any help?”Daniel’s gaze did not pause on either of them for even a second as his gaze swept across the row of clothes in front of him before he pointed at a lake-green dress. “Take that one
A waiter walked over with a glass of champagne and Daneil and Arabella each took a glass. Daniel looked back at President William with his dark eyes and calmly said, “President William, you’re quite the jokester. It’s already nighttime, so why would the sun be rising now?”President William studied Arabella from the corner of his eyes and smiled. “President Garcia, aren’t you going to introduce your companion?”Daniel frankly said, “This is Arabella, my female companion tonight.”Most in the world of business had a shrewd mind, and President William was no different. Curiosity got the better of him as he started to wonder about the relationship between the two as he politely greeted Arabella.“Miss Arabella, President Garcia never brings a female companion to a banquet. To be the first one to get his attention, you must count your lucky stars.”Arabella still had her arm in Daniel’s so she raised her glass of champagne in one hand and said with a smile, “It is indeed my honor.”Since
The scent of John’s perfume entered her nose and Arabella felt as if she had just woken up from a dream and pushed him away.Her reaction was so intense that he was caught off guard. He staggered a few steps back. After he steadied himself, he looked at her with a sad gaze. “Ara…”“Don’t say my name like that!” Her sharp voice was unusually clear under the silent night sky. She glared at him coldly and spat out more harsh and cold words. “You don’t have the right to do so anymore.”His eyes dimmed, and his voice became unusually hoarse, seemingly suppressing something. “I didn’t think you’d hate me.”She had loved him for so many years, and yet he had to marry her sister without a word of explanation. The heart-wrenching pain was still vivid in her mind.The corners of her lips curled into a cold smile, and her eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of ice. “Shouldn’t I?”Her cruel words were like a sharp blade that mercilessly pierced his heart. It hurt so much that his breathing sud
“Your way of thanking people is really special.” She smiled coldly, too lazy to guess whether he was telling the truth or not. Then, she suddenly raised her voice. “Stop the car!”Caleb glanced at Daniel through the rearview mirror and stopped the car by the roadside.Arabella opened the car door and got out of the car. Daniel got out too and grabbed her by the wrist. His cold and tough side profile looked especially prominent under the dim yellow street lights. “What’s wrong?”She glanced at him indifferently and revealed a sarcastic smile. “What does my madness have to do with you?!”Daniel knew that she was in a bad mood, so he softened his tone. “Get in the car. I’ll send you home.”She broke free from his grip and took a deep breath. Her violently heaving chest gradually calmed down. “I’ll take a taxi back myself.”Daniel grew angry at her ungrateful attitude. He raised his left hand and tapped his right index finger on the expensive watch. “Look at the time. Have you had enough?
“Thank you.” She had already thanked him many times tonight.Daniel turned around and walked out. Just as he placed his hand on the door handle, he stopped in his tracks and turned back to look at her. “I’ll get Francesca to call home. Sleep peacefully.”Just as she was about to thank him again, he closed the door. She could not help but laugh at how pretentious she had been tonight.After Daniel left, she walked to the window and pulled open the curtains. South Bay was the only villa in the area. There were no lights outside the window, but a lawn and a flower garden.She stood by the window and enjoyed the breeze for a while. Her muddled mind gradually cleared up. Seeing that it was almost midnight, she went into the bathroom to take a shower.After coming out of the bathroom, she dried her hair and lay down on the bed. Perhaps it was because too many things had happened tonight or because she was in an unfamiliar environment, but she could not fall asleep no matter what she did. I
“Yeah, it was quite entertaining,” said Jack, stretching out his hand, with two 500 bank notes that Daniel had earned with ten minutes of work.He had to walk up to Jack to pull them out of his hand, which was the pinnacle of this experience. “Did you pull up here just for this?” he groaned and pushed the money into his pocket.“No, I still want my car washed,” said Jack, putting his hands into his pockets, on both sides of the bulge in his pants. He smelled of arousal, and all of a sudden, handsome Daniel could tell.“Sure, why not. Why not watch how badly I did, huh?” Daniel walked back to the buckets, trying to ignore the burning shame. “‘Look at me, I used to be the school loser and now I’ve got a Jag’,” he muttered and dipped the large sponge in the soapy water.Jack sighed. “You must really hate it, don’t you?”Daniel’s pulse sped up, and he could feel the vein bulging out on his neck. Even the orgasm he’d just had couldn’t soothe his nerves when Jack rubbed his success into Dan
Jack Ramirez POV “Daniel Garcia, am I right? The basketball star?”Daniel gave him a crooked smile. Daniel Garcia, the basketball star. That did sound nice. Too bad it wasn’t school anymore, and you couldn’t live off being a mediocre basketball player. He’d been good in school, just not good enough for a scholarship.But Daniel had to focus on the problem at hand. He couldn’t link those tantalizing eyes to a name at all. “Yeah, long time ago,” he said and held out his hand to the guy, hoping the driver would save him from his misery and introduce himself. He didn’t even take the hand Daniel Garcia offered.“Do you know who I am?” he asked with a small smile.Daniel crooked his head to the side and rubbed his hand against his sweaty stomach as if he’d never held it out. This was getting truly annoying. “Not really, no.” He shrugged, trying to keep his cool even though goosebumps of shame were crawling up his back. A motherfucker he was supposed to know from school pulled up in a sport
Daniel Garcia POVThe heat made Daniel Garcia boil in his uniform, so even though his boss had told him not to, he pushed the top of his coveralls down to his hips. Daniel was pretty sure the old pig was just jealous that his employee looked so much hotter than him. Not to mention both Manny’s wife and their daughter, Kiara Ramos, were making eyes at Daniel Garcia, which couldn’t be going down all that well with the guy. Manny Ramos probably only kept Daniel on because he couldn’t find anyone else who’d do the job for the slave wages he was willing to offer and live in the ancient motel by the gas station as well.Daniel carried a crate of beer into the small convenience store where Manny Ramos sat behind the counter, sweating, farting, watching TV, and fanning himself with a newspaper. Without a word, Daniel made his way toward the fridge to stack it full of beer. When he left home three years ago, he never thought he’d end up working at a shabby gas station in a deserted place, in a
Xander Reyes POVXander looked at this Daniel, so gorgeous, pretty, hard, and needy. It was one of the easiest assignments he’d ever had. His bright hazel eyes were heavy with lust, and then sooty black lashes swept Daniel's face as he shut his eyes tight. Xander didn’t kiss on jobs like this, ever, nor did any of his clients ever get to know his real name. But right now, seeing Daniel’s lips parted in a moan, his name repeated over and over, it was all he could do not to bite down on Daniel’s plump lower lip and then lick his way into that appealing open mouth. Groaning, he pulled himself back, he needed to get his head back in the game, and he wasn’t going to expose his vulnerability like that. He focused back on what he was doing, turning Daniel into a pile of sobbing need in his arms. "Want to suck me?" Xander asked, low and insistent. "Want me to force you to your knees, and make you suck me until I come all over your skin, rub it in… make you beg for me?"Xander felt Daniel push
Daniel Garcia Past LifeDaniel Garcia lived his own life far from his brother after they separated from their parents. He tried so damn hard to be a good straight husband. The life he chose meant so much to him. He experienced the ultimate sin which made him aware of the remnants of his past. Together with his brother, he approached the only sparkling desire that he thought to be the answer to his dream. Daniel wanted a family of his own, but, fate was unkind to him.It may have been the alcohol or the high of knowing tomorrow he’d be closer to changing his life, but tonight, worse the wear for the beers he had downed in quick succession on an empty stomach, meant that for once, he wanted to be himself. So he stood here, in a gay bar on what the cab driver said was the wrong side of town. The bar had shadowed corners and the smell of sex in the air—he watched.He watched the man at the bar; saw him leaning back, veiled eyes scanning the heaving late-night crowd. He stood in sinfully
Arabella put her cutlery down too and indifferently said, “He just doesn’t want to see me. So no matter how much you cook, you won’t persuade him otherwise.”‘Didn’t you say that you didn’t want to see me? Why did you come back then?’She remembered every single word he said yesterday which lingered like thorns in her heart.Daniel’s expression turned colder when he heard her words. He walked away to pick up the car keys on the coffee table and grabbed his coat at the entrance.He must have used too much force because the hanger shook twice and almost fell to the ground.Daniel walked out and not long after, the sound of a car engine came from outside.Mrs. Winstead walked to the living room and saw Daniel driving away. She returned to the dining room with a gloomy expression. “Young Madam…”After Daniel left, Arabella lost her appetite so she stood up and walked towards the stairs.Mrs. Winstead looked on and sighed heavily. When Young Master had not been coming back over the past fe
He got up and walked towards the stairs. She followed closely behind him and the two headed up to the second floor one after another. When they reached the bedroom door, Daniel did not stop, continuing to walk towards the study room.Arabella grabbed his sleeve again and Daniel stopped in his tracks. He turned around to look at her expressionlessly.“What are you angry about?” She looked up and met his dark eyes.He looked back at her innocent eyes and the words that he wanted to ask became stuck in his throat. “Nothing,” said he calmly.“How can it be ‘nothing’? You haven’t been home for half a month.” Afraid he would shake her off, she tightened her grip on his sleeve which started to wrinkle.“It was a business trip,” said he curtly.“What about before the business trip? Furthermore, Caleb told me that it has been a few days since you returned from your business trip.”Well, the part about Caleb telling her so was a lie. But she felt no guilt implicating Daniel’s assistant since Ca
Arabella had been waiting in the parking lot of Zephyr Group since 4 p.m.Afraid that she would be seen by her colleagues, she chose to hide in an inconspicuous corner while keeping her eyes on Daniel’s car.One hour, two hours, three hours passed, but Daniel still did not appear.The sky gradually darkened and the lights in the parking lot were a little dim, making the place gloomy and cold.She wrapped her coat tightly around her body and crouched as if to curl herself into a ball. Since she stayed in that position for quite some time, her legs started to feel a little numb. She decided to stand and walk a few steps to return blood flow to her legs. After stretching for a while, she resumed her crouched position.With the night approaching, the cold in the dim parking lot grew heavier – Arabella started to shiver. She wanted to go home in a huff, but she was also unwilling to do so without having confronted Daniel.What right did he have to treat her like this?Even if he was angry,
When it was the day of the pregnancy checkup, Daniel had not returned from the business trip. She was already expecting to go to the hospital alone only to find someone else in the living room when she came downstairs.“Why are you here?” She looked at Francesca in surprise.“Young Madam, President Garcia asked me to accompany you to the hospital,” said Francesca gently.It seemed that he still remembered the date. Arabella nodded. “Let’s go.”Mrs. Winstead noticed how thin the clothes Arabella was wearing so the former handed the latter a red coat on the hanger at the entrance.How could Arabella refuse Mrs. Winstead’s kind intentions? The former took off her jacket and put on the coat. Then, Arabella grabbed her bag and left the living room with Francesca following behind her.Because Francesca had made an appointment in advance, they went straight to the hospital for the checkup. After a series of examinations, the doctor said, “The child is very healthy. It’s just that you must ha