She was young to begin with but she was so thin that she looked like a skeleton. Her strict work clothes and old-fashioned hair did not suit her well. She looked more beautiful and delicate in casual clothes, like a scenery in spring.When Arabella drank the second mouthful of water, she felt warmth flowing down her lower abdomen. She counted the days in her heart and patted her head in frustration.Daniel looked at her actions and stared at her pale face with his deep eyes. “What’s wrong?”She twisted the bottle cap back onto her drink and placed her hand on the balcony. With an unnatural expression, she said, “I’m going to the supermarket.”Daniel grabbed her wrist and frowned slightly. “What happened?”Her fair little face had turned so red that it was about to drip blood. She stammered as she said, “I’m going to buy some daily necessities.”Daniel noticed that she was finding it difficult to speak up so, with his warm and calm deep voice, he said, “I’ll go with you. I want to buy
“I didn’t ask for this.” Arabella was confused.The waiter smiled as he explained that the guest in room 8866 ordered it for her.Arabella took the brown sugar water from the waiter and felt the strings in her heart strummed again, causing ripples to spread in her heart.Once she drank the brown sugar water, her stomach felt warm. She looked at the phone on the bedside table and hesitated for a while before giving Daniel a call. It had been a long time since someone had shown such concern for her.Daniel had just finished tying his tie when his phone rang beside him. Her name was displayed on the screen so he took the phone and put it to his ear. When he heard her words of thanks, he smiled. “There’s a welcome banquet tonight. 1 just don’t want to see you sick when I need you.”His calm explanation made Arabella’s surging emotions fall to the bottom of the lake.So that was the case.Arabella hung up in disappointment and laughed at herself. He only said that he had different feelings
Caleb never returned after leaving the private room – he waited in the hallway for the event to be over.Out of everyone who had been present that night, Arabella was the only one sober since she only drank milk.Although Daniel had quite a few sips of alcohol, he was not as drunk as the others. Other than his slightly flushed face, he was no different from an ordinary person.Since the event had ended, Caleb called a car for everyone while Serenity sent them off. Once the others had left, Caleb headed over to the parking lot to get a car for the trio.Arabella went back to the private room to escort Daniel out but was slightly stunned when she opened the door.Daniel had released the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing his honey-colored chest. One of his arms was stretched out on the back of the chair beside him. The laziness of his posture made him look sexy and charming as the light softened his usually cold demeanor.Perhaps it was because he was drunk, but his deep eyes were
Arabella usually had insomnia the first night she arrived at any foreign place. So on this very night in Konan City, she found herself half awake.Despite getting only a little sleep, Arabella woke up early the next morning. After washing up, she looked at the river from the balcony for a while. With the morning light reflecting off the wavy surface, the view sparkled with the sun’s rays.At seven o’clock, she took the elevator to the presidential suite and knocked on the door. Daniel was brushing his teeth when he opened the door upon hearing the knock.Arabella did not expect to be greeted by a Daniel still with foam in his mouth. Daniel, on the other hand, simply took a glance at her before turning back into the washroom.Dumbfounded, Arabella stood at the door for a few seconds before entering the room and following Daniel who was rinsing his mouth by now, wearing a black shirt, matching trousers, and custom-made Italian leather shoes.When he spat out the mouthwash, he was half-b
“President Garcia, Miss Rivera, are you hurt anywhere? Shall we go to the hospital?”Arabella looked at the place where the steel had fallen, shaken. Blood drained from her face and she quickly turned pale.Daniel grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the rest area with Willliam and the rest following behind. Then, he turned around and looked sternly at Arabella. “Are you hurt anywhere?”But Arabella was still in a daze as she looked back at him blankly, her red lips as pale as her face, almost transparent.Their clothes were stained with dust and they looked a little disheveled. Even their hair was covered in dust.Daniel’s deep eyes were filled with anger when he did not get a reply from Arabella. “Arabella, I’m asking you a question: Are you hurt anywhere?”Arabella’s gaze finally focused on his face and the lingering fear finally dawned on her as tears welled up in her eyes.Daniel was confused as his brows furrowed even more tightly. “Where are you hurt? Say something!”His low ro
The woman, on the other hand, looked bright and beautiful in a V-neck red dress. Her chestnut hair was styled and draped on one side while her makeup was exquisite, especially her gorgeous red lips.Arabella’s pupils constricted and her face turned pale as her long black eyelashes trembled slightly. She almost crushed the remote control in her hand.She rummaged for her phone from the bag beside her anxiously, but couldn’t find what she was looking for. Frustrated, she emptied her bag on the sofa and grabbed the phone to call a certain someone.After the phone rang for a minute, a sweet voice came from the other end. “The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.”Arabella glared at the couple shining so dazzlingly on the television, her hand still gripping her phone tightly. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to call another number.Serenity had just come out of the meeting room when her phone rang. She saw that it was Arabella so she picked up
Arabella woke up to the sound of television and sat up the moment she opened her eyes. But her mind still felt a little cloudy.An entertainment program just ended, followed by the most popular Korean drama, playing on the loudest volume.Daniel was taking his time with the meal at the dining table with his broad back facing her.She removed the hairband on her wrist, tied up her hand, slipped into the bedroom slippers, and walked to the dining room. “When did you come back?”Daniel looked up at her and casually said, “Do I have to tell you when I come back?”She let out a light cough and rubbed her flat stomach. As she watched him finish up the dishes, she pursed her lips and said, “I haven’t eaten yet…”Daniel was extremely hungry because he only had two scoops of his lunch earlier. His dark eyes were almost devoid of light as he coldly said, “I didn’t ask you to wait for me.”It must have been wishful thinking on her part, based on his indifference and coldness.Arabella was shocke
The atmosphere in the bar was high and exciting as the gorgeous lights flickered non-stop and the music played on deafeningly.In a booth, William and the rest were already slightly tipsy. Only Daniel was still sober. His shrewd and deep eyes seemed a little lost under the flickering lights.In the past few days, even Caleb had noticed Daniel’s restlessness which only appeared when the latter was greeted by a dark room every time he returned to the hotel.After four or five days, the restlessness turned into disappointment as if a piece of his heart had been hollowed out.He finished the wine in his glass in frustration and got up to take his coat. ’’You guys have fun. I’ll be leaving first.”He turned a deaf ear to the shouts of William and the others behind him and walked out of the bar. Caleb quickly followed him out. When Daniel returned to the hotel, he swiped open the door of the suite and saw that the lights in the living room were still on.Upon entering, he automatically star
“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