Benjamin Rivera had wanted John to be the guarantor, but when he called his son-in-law, Alfred answered instead, saying that John was on a business trip for at least half a month. The following calls to John immediately went to voicemail.If the bank refused to lend them money, then Arabella would have to marry someone through a business marriage. That was why she came to look for Yanis Linde but did not expect to be rejected twice.The lobby manager came out of the private room and saw that Arabella was still there. He remembered what President Linde had told him earlier and walked up to her. “Miss, please leave. President Linde doesn’t have time to see you.”But Arabella was not going to go down easily. In all seriousness, she said, “If he’s not free, I shall wait until he is.”The lobby manager still had a smile on as he said, “Miss, this is a restaurant. If you’re waiting for someone, please wait elsewhere.”“This is the hotel lounge. Besides, I am not obstructing your business. T
A large room with floor-to-ceiling windows was relatively empty except for a few messy paint easels.A woman dressed in home clothes was sitting in front of an easel. She held a color palette in one hand and a paintbrush in the other with her back toward a window looking out into the blue sky with white clouds.In the corner of the studio was a resting area with a dark purple leather sofa. A man in a white shirt sat with his legs crossed. His well-tailored black suit pants wrapped around his smooth legs. He was holding a cup of coffee and slowly sipping it.He knew Wendy Garcia didn’t like to be disturbed while she was painting, so he waited patiently.As she dipped her brush into the paint, Wendy suddenly said, “Are you that free to be able to leisurely sip coffee on my couch?”Daniel’s black eyes narrowed as he slowly put down the coffee spoon he was using to stir the coffee. He picked up the folder by his side and placed it on the coffee table. “There’s something that needs your sig
Outside the police station, a black Maybach was by the roadside. The man in the backseat stared at the entrance of the police station with a deep gaze, his lips pursed into a thin line, his dark eyes emotionless. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.Caleb was sitting in the driver’s seat and kept looking back through the rearview mirror. Daniel had not moved an inch nor given any instructions – Caleb was getting curious.Sitting next to Daniel was another man wearing a standard three-piece suit. Although his facial features were not as outstanding, he would still stand out in the crowd.Xeno Zaccardi was looking at the man next to him with confusion. They had been sitting here for almost an hour in silence. What was happening?In the end, Xeno’s patience was running out as he asked, “President Garcia, shall we go in?”Daniel flipped his phone in his lap and said, ‘Til wait for you here.”Xeno and Caleb got out of the car and entered the police station.In the interrogation room,
Arabella had already mentally prepared herself to go to court. But this matter was surprisingly resolved so easily. After leaving the police station, she thanked Xeno and Michael again and again.Xeno raised his chin in a certain direction and said, “If there’s anyone to thank, it should be him.”Arabella turned around and followed his line of sight to see a familiar car parked in a hidden spot across the road. She had thought Caleb was the only one who came tonight with Xeno. So she was surprised to see ‘him’ here as well.Michael drove over and wound down his window. “Miss Arabella, where do you live? Do you need me to give you a ride?”The corners of Arabella’s lips slowly curled up as she smiled and said, “No, thanks.”Michael didn’t ask further and turned to Xeno to exchange a few pleasantries before driving away.Daniel was looking across the road through the car window of his Maybach, his gaze fixated on Arabella. She was wearing Caleb’s coat, making her thin body look even mor
Arabella returned home. Before she stepped into the living room, she heard Benjamin Rivera’s furious voice. Although she did not know what was going on, the rage was undeniable.She hesitated for a moment and prepared to sit on the steps of the garden, thinking of returning to her room later so that she would not be implicated. But as soon as she turned around, a maid came out of nowhere and said, “Miss Arabella, you’re back.”The voices in the living room stopped abruptly, followed by another roar. “Arabella, come in!”She could not help but shiver. In the past, no matter how much Benjamin Rivera did not like her, he had at least only been lukewarm towards her and never lost his temper. It wasn’t hard to tell that he was furious right now.She entered the living room and slowly changed into her bedroom shoes at the entrance. She walked towards Benjamin Rivera and saw Helena sitting on the sofa, looking at her worriedly.“Did you hurt President Linde?” asked Benjamin Rivera furiously.
Daniel’s brows furrowed slightly. He unbuttoned his other cufflink and sat on the executive chair. The transparent lunch box was brightly colored and looked very good. He could even smell a faint fragrance.Caleb looked at the breakfast, trying to figure out where and why Francesca bought it. But he could tell it was made well and felt a little greedy.Daniel put the lunch box aside and turned on his computer. Caleb began to report his schedule for the day. When he mentioned that President Linde had invited him for afternoon tea, he interrupted him. “Refuse it.”“Alright.” Caleb continued his report. After he was done, he said, “President Garcia, you have to eat breakfast while it’s hot.”Daniel took the important documents that needed to be signed every morning. Then, he reached into the pen holder for a pen. Just as he placed the pen cap on the table, it rolled down the table and fell into the trash can.He bent down to pick up the pen cap from the trash can and saw a small ball of
Arabella deliberately lowered her presence. When she realized that she had drunk the entire cup of tea, she picked up the teapot to pour more, only to inadvertently meet Daniel’s gaze and her heart skipped a beat.She put down her teacup and braced herself to greet him. “President Garcia.”Before Jacob arrived, his father had told him about the general situation of the blind date, so he knew that Arabella was working at Zephyr Group. At this moment, he was not surprised to hear her call Daniel ‘President Garcia’, but Jocelyn White was slightly stunned.Jacob looked at Arabella and stiffly said, “Miss Arabella, I can see that you were forced to go on this blind date. In that case, we don’t have to waste each other’s time. I have a woman I like.” He had been holding Jocelyn White’s wrist. Although he didn’t say the woman’s name, everyone knew.When he said the last sentence, he used a domineering tone and glanced at Daniel intentionally with a hint of warning.But Daniel’s brows did not
Arabella was dumbfounded as her small face scrunched up like a crumpled piece of paper. With a slightly aggrieved tone that was mixed with some regret, she said, “Unfortunately, the woman you brought ruined everything.”Daniel’s handsome eyes turned cold, his lips turning into a shallow arc. “Not everyone is blessed with such a good life.”But Arabella was not angry. Instead, she chuckled softly and relaxedly said, “You might be right.”When they were done with dinner, Arabella went to pay the bill while Daniel walked out with his suit jacket in one hand. His phone rang, and he saw that it was Jocelyn White. He frowned slightly and put his phone back into his pocket.Arabella walked out after she had settled the bill and noticed that Daniel’s phone kept ringing. She looked at him suspiciously, but his face maintained the same indifferent stone cold look he had on when he walked out earlier.She hesitated for a moment before joining him. They loitered around near the restaurant for a w
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
The phone in his pocket rang. He took it out and saw that it was her calling. He threw the phone on the seat next to him. After a few seconds, the phone stopped ringing.He took out a cigarette and put it into his mouth. His phone rang again. He took a glimpse at it from the corner of his eye and saw that it was still from her.He let it ring and took out a lighter to light the cigarette. He rolled down the window and blew out smoke rings that were carried away by the night wind.When it rang for the third time, he pressed the reject button in frustration and turned off his phone. The night was quiet again.Arabella paced around the room in her pajamas, holding her phone in her hand. She had called Daniel many times, but his phone was eventually switched off.It was already two o’clock in the morning but she was also hesitant to call Caleb since it was too late in the night.She walked to the bed and sat waiting. Her phone was always in her hand, ready to pick up a call the moment it
Master Samson took a single look at her before turning the other way, turning a deaf ear to her words.The pale yellow liquid in the medicine bag flowed down the white tube drop by drop into his bloodstream through the needle on the back of his hand.Arabella didn’t care about Master Samson’s attitude as she silently retreated to the side and stood there. Helena Turner patted her hand lightly, indicating to the former not to take it to heart.The attending doctor listened to Master Samson’s heartbeat with a stethoscope and wrote down a string of numbers in a folder. Then, Benjamin Rivera followed him out of the ward.Master Samson looked at Serenity who was sitting by the bed and holding his hand. “For the sake of your future with Eva, you should remarry John.”The old man had been trying to get Serenity and John back together after returning from Oakland, but his granddaughter had been avoiding him. Because of this, Master Samson had gotten so angry that he was hospitalized.“We won’
While Arabella was stunned for a moment, John took the tissue from her and carefully wiped the water off her sleeves. Then, he pulled out a small part of her inner sleeve over the sleeves of her windbreaker a little so that the wet parts would not stick to her skin.“Are you feeling better?” His clear voice was low and gentle.She pulled her hand back, still feeling the warmth of his fingertips on the skin of her wrist. “Much better.” After a pause, she said, “Thank you, President Grant.”The immediate distance she put between them simply from her words felt as if she had just stabbed John. He pursed his pale lips and difficultly said, “Arabella, we shouldn’t be like this.”“From the moment you decided to marry my Sis, we were already destined to end up like this.” She was unfazed.John held her shoulders and seriously said, “But you know-”“That won’t change the truth!” She interrupted him, though rather calmly which scared John a little.He could see the prideful stubbornness in her
She took a sip from the glass of water. Since they were already married, there would always be a chance for her to meet the aunt in the future.Still, since she was angry at him for acting on his own and Daniel was not someone who would admit his mistake or apologize first, the couple did not speak to each other for the rest of the day – they simply minded their own business and nonchalantly ignored each other.Daniel rested at home for a week before going back to work. Once he did, only Arabella and Mrs. Winstead were left at home.XXXOne day after lunch, Arabella drove to the cafe at which she had agreed to meet Sam.It had been a week since they last met and Sam seemed to have become a lot more dispirited. But when he saw her, his usual cheeky smile returned. “A rich lady is indeed different. I would never dare dream of driving a car like this in my entire life.”Indeed, Arabella was driving a luxury car worth millions. He hadn’t even saved enough money to wed a wife yet. Such was
Julia Silver Garcia looked around the room at the others present before her eyes finally landed on her son in bed. “Such a big thing happened and yet you did not think to tell me and your father?”“Even if I didn’t call you, someone would have informed you.” The corners of Daniel’s lips curled into a mocking smile.Julia didn’t care about his tone. “I heard about what happened this time. You were too impulsive. No matter what, you shouldn’t have risked your own life-”“If you’re here to teach me a lesson, you might as well not come,” said Daniel, interrupting her in a tone devoid of respect.Julia’s expression changed slightly. There were outsiders present, yet he didn’t seem to care.Arabella decided to step in as she said, “Mom, don’t misunderstand. I’m very happy that you came to see him. You know his temper very well. It’s just that he can be a bit cold sometimes.”Unfortunately, Julia didn’t ease up. Mrs. Winstead had called the main residence to inform the Master and Madam of th
A Blatant InvitationHis deep yet bright eyes watched Arabella quietly, reflecting her silhouette. He had spoken with such seriousness that her eyes started to heat up and she had to do her best to suppress the layers of mist forming.Arabella gently held his right hand, her slender fingertips hooked the bandage wrapped around it, and her eyes turned sour.If he had not found her in time, she would probably have lost her life.Daniel used his left hand to caress her pale face. “You must be hungry. Mrs. Winstead sent over black chicken soup this morning. I’ll go get it for you.”He pushed the wheelchair to the table, opened the thermos flask, and poured some chicken soup into a bowl. He held the bowl with his bandaged left hand and pushed the wheelchair back to the bed with his other hand.” It’s still hot.”Arabella received the bowl of soup and took a few sips but did not touch a single piece of chicken.Daniel knew she must not have much of an appetite yet, so he did not force her. I
The Child Is Very HealthyHowever, he now knew that John and Serenity had put on a wedding ring for a fake marriage, so Daniel knew Arabella was referring to them, the young master and young madam of the Rivera family.He untied the wish on the branch, came down from the bamboo ladder, and put it into his suit pocket.The little monk complained, saying, “Why did you take down her wish? It won’t come true like this.”“I will be the one to fulfill all her wishes.” Daniel left this sentence with the monk and entered the temple. He took off his raincoat and threw it to Caleb, who had been following behind him.Caleb and Xeno were stunned by the appearance of the man before them. He was drenched, his black hair was messy, and his trousers below his knees had been soaked in mud and water. His walk was not as strong as usual and the movement of his legs was a little stiff.When they arrived at the guest room, Daniel was already sitting by Arabella’s bedside, his large palm placed on her abdo