“Darling… wake up,” Nichs whispered as he gently kissed Kimberly’s cheek.


    It was countless times now that Nichs had tried to wake Kimberly. Since locking her in his room, their activities had consisted of nothing more than longing embraces and sharing stories. Nichs himself didn’t know what time they had gone to sleep the previous night. All he remembered was Kimberly suddenly dozing off while holding onto him. That might be the reason why she was finding it hard to wake up now, even though they had to go to work as usual today.


    Feeling at a loss, Nichs kissed Kimberly’s lips, savoring them before giving them a gentle nip. He had to do this deliberately to make her wake up.


    Kimberly squirmed irritably. “You cheater! You had the audacity to wake me up like that,” she grumbled while sitting up and stretching her stiff muscles. A momentter, she scooted down from the bed.


    “Where are you going?” Nichs pulled Kimberly back to the edge of the bed.


    “I’m going to take a shower, Mr. Alistair. You told me to wake up so I could get ready quickly, right?”


    Nichs shook his head.


    “”Don’t even think about leaving without hugging me first, Mrs. Alistair. From now on, every time you wake up or go to sleep, you must do that. Or if necessary, starting tonight, you can move to my room,” Nichs ordered.


    Kimberly’s cheeks turned red upon hearing Nichs’s request. She didn’t really need to be surprised; the man was known for his whims. But asking her to hug him regrly made Kimberly feel both embarrassed and happy. She believed that Nichs truly loved her now.


    “Are you sure you’re not trying to tease me? You’re not ying with me, are you? I’m just afraid you won’t be able to control yourselfter,” Kimberly teased.


    Nichs lifted his chin high. “Are you the one challenging me now? If I wanted to, I could have done it a long time ago. No need to wait all this time.” They bothughed.


    After getting ready and having breakfast, Kimberly and Nichs finally left for work together. Kimberly was surprised once again when the CEO, unashamedly, held her hand as they exited the car and entered the Alpha Beta building.


    Embarrassed, Kimberly tried to release their interlocked hands. However, the more she struggled to let go, the tighter Nichs held her hand. She had no choice but to resign herself to being the center of attention for all the employees passing by.


    Meanwhile, Nichs couldn’t help but keep smiling as he noticed Kimberly’s frustration clearly disyed on her face. Along the hallway, Kimberly didn’t stop voicing her protests until they reached Nichs’s office.N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    “You shouldn’t have to hold my hand like this, Nick. I’m not that old!” Kimberly eximed, her lips pouting in irritation.


    “You’re not old, Kimmy. You’re my future wife,” Nichs confidently replied, unfazed by Kimberly’s apparent annoyance.


    “Tsk! You’re going overboard,” Kimberly protested again.


    Nichs squinted his eyes at Kimberly. “Why? Don’t you want to be my wife?”


    “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just-”


    “Enough! The point is, you want to, right?” Nichs cut her off, leaving Kimberly momentarily dumbfounded.


    “Why do you always act so whimsically with me?” Kimberly grumbled.


    Nichs chuckled again, observing Kimberly bing even more exasperated with him. For the umpteenth time, he pulled Kimberly into his embrace.


    “So, when can I marry you?” Before Kimberly could respond, Nichs captured her lips once more, kissing her deeply. He pushed his future bride’s body against the edge of his desk. However, their intimate moment was abruptly interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat.


    “Ahem!” A loud cough sounded as a man stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest.


    “This is the office; if you want to be intimate, you should just go home,” teased the man, who happened to be Edward. He had entered without knocking. When the door swung open, he discovered the two lovers in their intimate embrace.


    “Don’t even ask about Nichs’s reaction; if Kimberly hadn’t restrained him, he might have kicked Edward right then and there,”


    “Edward Martin, how dare you barge into my office without permission? Where’s your aristocratic manners?” Nichs said sarcastically.


    Edwardughed in his position. “Oh,e on, I’m just stating the truth. If you want to be intimate, you should do it at home. It’s like you’re running out of ces,” he retorted, not willing to back down.


    Not wanting the two men to argue any longer, Kimberly tried to mediate. She then pulled Nichs’s arm and urged him to sit down. She knew there must be something important that made Edward suddenlye to Nichs’s office.


    “It seems like there’s something you both need to work on. Instead of arguing, please finish it quickly. I’ll prepare coffee for both of you.”


    Edward nodded. “Of course, I wouldn’t havee here if it wasn’t important. I need you to check and review the business proposal between Alpha Beta and Omega Group. They’re facing a potential failure right now. It’s very risky to continue the partnership.”


    After saying that, Kimberly prepared two cups of coffee for her two friends and then left them to focus on their work.


    ***


    Kimberly was getting ready for lunch. Seeing that Nichs’s office door was still closed, she assumed he was still busy. Not wanting to disturb him, Kimberly decided to go join Alex and Keyra in their office.


    Just as she stood up, her phone began to ring. When she checked it, she saw Mario’s name on the screen. Without hesitation, she picked up the call.


    “Kimmy,e to the hospital immediately. Grandpa has lost consciousness.”


    Without a second thought, Kimberly grabbed her work bag and hurried to the hospital. When she arrived, she found Arthur in a weakened state. His heart condition had red up again. The doctor rmended immediate heart bypass surgery to save his life.


    “Grandpa, please hold on. Kimmy is here. I beg you, wake up,” Kimberly couldn’t hold back her tears as she looked at him through the ss. The elderly man was being fitted with various medical devices before the surgery.


    Mario, who was always there, could only providefort. He hugged Kimberly tightly to help her stay strong in the face of the ordeal.


    “Kimberly, please don’t cry like this. Let’s just pray that Grandpa’s surgery will be sessful,” Mario said, never letting go of his embrace.


    Elsewhere, after working with Edward for about four hours, Nichs decided to invite Kimberly to have lunch together. However, when he stepped out of the office, he couldn’t find her at her desk. Puzzled, he tried calling her, but her phone was off.


    Nichs thought that Kimberly might have already gone to lunch with her friends. He decided to return to his office. Just as he sat down, there was a knock on the door. Someone entered and handed him a folder to review.


    Without hesitation, he epted it. However, the atmosphere turned tense as he began to open and flip through the pages of photos inside the brown folder.


    ***


    “Where have you been, Kimberly?” Nichs asked as Kimberly had just entered the apartment unit. He had been waiting in the living room.


    After sessfully undergoing a four-hour surgery, Arthur was immediately moved to the ICCU room. ording to the doctor, his condition would gradually improve, and they were just waiting for him to regain consciousness.


    Seeing Kimberly looking exhausted, Mario suggested that she should go home and assured her that he would take care of everything and provide updates as usual. However, when she arrived home, she was surprised to find Nichs waiting for her with a difficult-to-read expression on his face.


    “I-I’m sorry I didn’t inform you. There was something important I had to take care of,” Kimberly replied hesitantly.


    Nichs smiled sarcastically, his gaze sharp. “What kind of business kept you away without giving me any notice?”


    Kimberly lowered her head, feeling guilty for not notifying him and not realizing her phone had been off all day. It was clear that Nichs was angry now.


    “I apologize, Nick. I genuinely didn’t realize that my phone’s battery had run out. I-”


    “Just answer me, Kimberly. What were you doing out there that made you forget to contact me?”


    Nichs interrupted her, and his voice was starting to rise. He even got up from his seat.


    “This afternoon, I suddenly had to meet-”


    “Meet who? Your lover? Your secret boyfriend? Who?”


    His jaw visibly clenched, and his fists were ready to strike. Kimberly was taken aback, not expecting Nichs to use her like this. She shook her head repeatedly, denying what he had just used her of.


    “It’s not like that, Nick. How could I-”


    Before Kimberly could finish her sentence, Nichs abruptly threw a stack of photos directly at her face, and they scattered on the floor.


    Kimberly gasped, surprised when she picked up the photos that Nichs had thrown at her. The pictures showed her holding hands and even tightly embracing another man, clearly not Nichs.


    “Is this what you were doing out there? Even when I wasn’t here?” Nichsughed bitterly.


    Kimberly shook her head repeatedly. “Nick, it’s not what you think. I can exin everything.”


    Nichs stared nkly, uninterested in what Kimberly had to say.


    “There’s no need for exnations, Kimberly. I’ve warned you multiple times. Never go anywhere with another man without my permission. Is my request that difficult for you?”


    Kimberly bit her lower lip, trying to hold back tears and taking deep breaths to respond to Nichs’s question.


    “Please, listen to me,” Kimberly bravely approached Nichs, trying to reach for his wrist. But Nichs quickly pulled away.


    “No need.” Nichs’s voice softened, but disappointment was evident on his face. “Those pictures exin everything. I thought you were different, Kimmy. But apparently, you’re the same.”


    Next, Nichs immediately left, leaving Kimberly behind. He mmed the door, and soon, from inside the room, the sound of objects crashing to the floor could be heard.


    Kimberly could only sit down. She struggled to hold back tears, but eventually, they flowed freely down her cheeks. She med herself for not revealing the problem earlier, which led to this misunderstanding. She also regretted breaking Nichs’s request not to get close to any other man, including Mario.


    Now, what should she do? Everything had happened. Was there still a chance for her to fix this? Or the worst-case scenario: would Nichs refuse to forgive her?