Chapter 25


    Apology I ran out of the Lan Diamond Tower, wondering what the hell had just happened. I hit Aren, I


    threatened him, and I expected that he would be infuriated by that, but when his body was an inch away


    from mine, it wasn‘t anger that I felt from him. He seemed frustrated, as if he suddenly felt the need to


    exin himself and didn‘t know how to do it. He also said that he couldn‘t predict his own reactions to


    me, as if not all of that had happened during our date had been a part of his n... What did he mean by


    that?


    I was confused and flustered. I wanted to tell him that I would not let him mislead my feelings any


    longer. I thought that he was going to keep acting cold and indifferent, just like when he told me that our


    rtionship would never involve emotions. Why did he change his tone so suddenly? It sounded like he


    wanted to coax me as if he cared... Did he care or was I imagining things?


    I went back to the penthouse to change, and then Benjamin drove me to the workshop. I needed to keep


    my mind busy and prevent myself from wondering if Aren wanted to continue our conversation once he


    came back home. Anticipation made me feel excited and anxious. I didn‘t want us to fight, and I didn‘t


    want a silent war between us, but I had to tell him how I felt about what had happened before I started to


    believe the illusion he created. I hoped that he would respect my point of view and learn to trust me


    more.


    “Do you go on a date tonight?” n‘s voice pulled me out of a daze.


    “W–what?” I turned to him, trying to focus my slightly clouded stare. He pushed himself from his desk


    and slid across the room in his office chair, stopping next to me. “You keep checking the time,” he


    exined, smirking.


    “No.” I sighed and then let the sour chuckle escape my throat. “It‘s quite the opposite. My... so –called


    boyfriend and I fought today over something he did...”


    “He‘ll apologize,” n said, with the confidence that I wished to have.


    “How can you know that? You don‘t even know him.” Iughed.


    “But you know him, and you let him pass through all those walls you have built around you over the


    years. That means he has to be worth it,” he imed, a faint smile painting his face.


    I forced myself to smile at him. If only I could tell him the truth... Nheless, n was right about one


    thing: I let Aren get closer than anyone else. For thest three years, I had rejected every man who tried


    to approach me. I would have pped those who tried to even touch my hand. Of course, it was all due


    to my previous rtionship, which traumatized my sex life. None of the rules I set applied to Aren. He


    could break every singlew I established around my personal space and get away with it. I kept


    wondering what made him different... except for the obvious fact that he was the sexiest man that I


    had ever gotten close to.


    Even if n didn‘t know the whole truth, his words helped me cool down and focus on my job. I got


    through the day relentlessly tapping theputer keyboard. I was so consumed with my tasks that I


    barely noticed when the evening came. Benjamin drove me to the penthouse just before nine. Aren


    wasn‘t home yet. I took a quick shower to look more refreshed and waited


    him in the inain hall, watch


    TV on his two hundredi inch screen


    Arendtidn‘te back for another hour A little after ten o‘clock, I opened a bottle of wine to Case IV


    NITO Drinking a RenPROHIN NCCond ss gave me the courage to write him a text message, asking if


    he was finallying home lle didn‘t reply I gave up on waiting for him after midnight Mad and


    disappointed, I finished the bottle and went to bed,


    The next morning. I woke up with a hangover, but my slight headache was nothingpared to the


    stabbing pain in my chest. As I walked out of my bedroom, 1 quickly realized that I was still alone. I was


    more than aware of how busy a man like him could be, but couldn‘t he at least reply to the damn text I


    sent ! I was angry. I was pissed at myself for trusting that he would actually want to clear the air between


    us


    “What did you expect? You signed the contract. He is paying you. What made you think that he would


    treat you better than his receable employees?” I scolded my reflection in the mirror,


    I drank coffee for breakfast and left for work, wishing to leave the ce where everything smelled like


    Aren as soon as possible. At 7 AM, I was already in my full working mode, taking out my frustration on


    mereputer problems. As my anger doubled my efficiency, I had finished everything in the day’s


    schedule before n and Norton joined me around nine.


    “I guess that he didn‘t apologize?” nmented on my state with a lopsided smirk.


    I stretched my lips into a thin smile. “He didn‘t reply to my message either.”


    “Ouch.” n patted my back, his lips forming a sympathetic grimace. “Yeah...” I sighed and nervously


    rubbed the center of my chest


    “Maybe you should dump him.” Norton‘s sudden statement caught n and me by surprise. We stared


    at him, raising our brows, but as he quickly turned back to his usual self, he shrugged and sat by his


    laptop. At that moment, I wished that I could just “dump” him and move out of his penthouse, but I


    painfully realized howplicated my life became the moment I signed that freaking contract. Since I


    had nothing left to do that could upy my brain, I decided to take a walk and fill my growling stomach


    with some sandwiches on the way. I opened the door and almost bumped into the delivery man as he


    was just about to knock.


    Property ? 2024 N0(v)elDrama.Org.


    “Ms. Cora Bell?” he asked, ncing at me from beneath his peaked cap. “Yes?” I smiled nervously, trying


    to remember if I had ordered anything online and forgotten about it


    “Sing here.” The man put away everything he was carrying, pulled out a signature monitor, and pushed


    the pen into my hand.


    “But I didn‘t order any–“. “As you can see, someone sent you flowers and a package,” he exined


    curtly, urging me to put my signature.


    I exhaled and ced my name on the screen. He nodded, satisfied, grabbed the bouquet and a


    medium–sized box, and handed them to me.


    “Have a nice day,” he tossed on his way out.


    I stayed on the threshold for a minute, before I started to process what I was holding. The box wasn‘t too


    heavy, but it was carefully packed as if it contained something valuable. I put it on the table and looked at


    the flowers. It was a bouquet of the most beautiful red roses.


    “Now that‘s a fine way to say I‘m sorry.” n grinned mischievously. “Who said it was from him?” I said,


    instantly blushing as I hoped that the roses were from Aren.


    Even Norton leaned out from behind hisputer to look at me curiously, as he had immediately chosen


    me and my private life as the most entertaining aspect of the day. After I acknowledged that they


    wouldn‘t leave me alone unless I told them who the flowers and the package were from, I sighed and dug


    my hand into the bouquet, hoping to find a note. As soon as I reached between the roses, I noticed a


    piece of thin cardboard with engraved ornaments. There was a handwritten message on it.


    “What does it say?” n leaned over my shoulder, trying to read it. I put the roses away and hid the


    card from him until I read it myself.


    The message said, “23 red roses. Each for every published photo. A.”


    I couldn‘t help but smile. His indirect apology was romantic in a way. That made me even more curious


    about what was inside that box.


    “Help me open it,” I told the boys. “Tell us what the note says first.” n pouted. “Not a chance.” I


    snorted. There was no way that I could exin to them the meaning of Aren‘s message anyway. “Then


    tell us if it‘s from HIM?” n raised his eyebrows, awaiting my response. I nodded and grabbed the


    scissors to open the box. In the middle of cutting the tape around the package, all three of us swallowed,


    as the specific protection betrayed that there was aputer inside. I lifted the box lid and gasped. n


    was more literal... “Oh, fuck me...” he breathed out, gaping at my wonderful gift. I barely registered when


    myptop left the box andnded in Norton‘s hands, and then in n‘s hands.


    “Jeez... this is like customized NASA equipment!” n eximed. “If these parameters are for real, then


    this baby should work at the speed of fucking light!” I gulped and looked at Norton, who, for the first time,


    was as agitated as n was. They ced my newptop on the table and began to stare at it in pure


    admiration before their eyes


    shifted to me. “If this is this guy‘s way of apologizing, then you should not only forgive him... you should


    give him a nice blowjob as a thank you,” n stated.


    Iughed nervously. “I don‘t think that‘s—”


    “Yeah,” Norton cut in. “I would say a few mind–blowing blowjobs, to say the least.”


    I cocked my head to one side and blinked my eyes. I had never thought that there were such words in


    Norton‘s dictionary. n was a seriously bad influence on him.


    “Listen, guys... Thatptop is surely amazing, but our rtionship is not on this level of physical —”


    “Bullshit, Cora.” n frowned and pointed at my gift. “This isn‘t something you go buy in a shop. It takes


    time to create such wonders. Your boyfriend must have ordered thisptop a week or two weeks ago.


    The guy cares and hell, for the gift he‘s given you, I would have given him that blowjob myself.”


    As I erased the image of that final part of n‘s sentence, his words started to swirl inside my head...


    Never, in a million years, would I take my boys‘ advice. Nheless, if I were to ept Aren‘s gift, I


    would truly have to find my way to thank him...