Chapter 25 Twenty Five


    Isabelle nched at his words. Get this out of the way? If somebody heard him, they would think he


    was talking about something like doing the dishes.


    “I cannot have my wife do something as dangerous as participate in a drug trial,” he said. “Out there,


    everybody knows you are my wife. So if I have to act like a gangster to stop you from doing something


    stupid, I will.”


    A gangster? What did he mean?


    His hand shot out again towards the zip of her dress. She held her hands in front of herself to stop his


    advance. “Okay, fine! I won’t take part in the trial.”


    His eyes dug into hers. “Are you only saying that so I’ll let you go?”


    N?velDrama.Org (C) content.


    Well, yes, she didn’t like how he was acting, and she was going to say anything to get him to back off.


    “You’re right, it was not the best idea,” she told him. “I’ll stop.”


    “If you’re lying, I’ll find out,” he warned her.


    Isabelle red at him silently but said nothing. She exhaled in big relief when he stepped back and


    buttoned up his shirt again.


    What a day!


    ***


    On Monday, Isabelle left for work early, avoiding contact with Jacob. He had been busy on Sunday and


    hadn’t spent much time in the house, which she was d for. Things were still awkward after what had


    transpired on Saturday night, and she wasn’t any happier about being back to square zero in her efforts


    to earn some extra money.


    After going to bed that night, she had put some thought into the drug trial thing and realised that maybe


    Jacob was right. Maybe she was taking too much risk for too little. Two thousand dors was a good


    payment, but it wasn’t nearly enough to cover Ruth’s treatment.


    To earn enough money for Ruth, she would have to take part in many drug trials. That only increased


    her chances of suffering dangerous side effects. Also, if Ruth found out that this was how she had


    earned the money, she might not ept it.


    When she got to work, she went through her emails first. There was one that had been sent that


    morning, and she opened it right away. It was an order from a client who wanted her to design an


    emerald ne for him. Getting an order was enough to lift her spirit, but when she saw the amount


    he was offering for the design, her excitement skyrocketed.


    He was offering to pay fifty thousand dors for the order! That was twenty-five times more than she


    would have earned with the drug trial!


    She did a celebratory dance in her chair, and it took a lot of restraint to not get up and dance around


    the office in happiness. She couldn’t believe it. Fifty dors was a hefty sum to pay for the design,


    something she never could have expected to earn at her level.


    Besides, she was only a new employee at thepany, so why the client had chosen her to design the


    ne was beyond her. But it didn’t matter. She was determined to do the best job she had ever


    done to make it worth his while and money.


    For the rest of the week, Isabelle worked on crafting the design to the client''s preferences. Even when


    she got home from work, her mind remained in work-mode, shifting through ideas. Her frustration about


    looking for money was gone. Now, she was only excited about the ne.


    Finally, on Friday, after making what felt like a hundred changes to the design, Isabelle sent the final


    draft to the client. She kept her fingers crossed, hoping he would like it. Because if he didn’t, all her


    hard work would be in vain.


    While she had been excited throughout the week, on Friday night, she found that she couldn’t sleep


    because of the nerves. There were times when she was convinced that she hadn’t done a good job


    and the client would reject the design, which meant no payment for her.


    She was eventually able to fall asleep in the wee hours of the night. When she woke up on Saturday


    morning, she went to have a shower and put on somefy clothes afterwards. Before heading to the


    kitchen to have breakfast, she took her phone and sat down on the bed.


    A part of her wanted to put off looking at her emails as it only made her anxious, but another part


    couldn’t resist the urge to check whether the client had given any feedback.


    Her heart jolted in her chest when she saw that she had a new email from him. Fingers trembling, she


    clicked on the message.


    ‘Hello Ms Cruz, I loved the design, and would like to work with you on new ones in the long term. I’ve


    already sent the full payment to your ount as agreed. Thank you for a good job, and let’s work


    together in the future.’


    She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but it all hit home when she checked her ount and found


    out that she had indeed received fifty thousand dors.


    Calming herself down–which was hard–she replied to him, letting him know that she was happy he


    loved it, and that she would be more than happy to draft more designs for him. He replied almost


    immediately, letting her know that he would seek her out whenever he needed other designs.


    Not only had she earned fifty thousand dors within a week, but she had also bagged a well-paying


    client who would give her more jobs. It was surreal.


    With the deal done, Isabelle got to her feet on the bed and jumped, finally letting her joy out. “Yes, yes,


    yes!” she yelled, feeling like going outside and running in the street while screaming in happiness.


    As she continued whooping in joy, her door opened and Jacob appeared, a frown on his face. “What


    is–”


    She didn’t let him finish his sentence as she jumped out of the bed and threw herself at him, hugging


    him happily. He barely managed to spread his arms in time to catch her safely. “I made money! Lots of


    it!” She pulled back so that she could look into his face. “You were right, when you said I would make


    money soon.” Sheughed gaily. “Are you a fortune teller?”


    Jacob gazed down at her, his expression morphing from perplexed to amused. She was about to tell


    him more when she suddenly realised what she had done. Their bodies were pressed together in an


    intimate position. Her face flushing, she quickly let go of him and took a step back.


    “Sorry,” she said, feeling like hiding her face in mortification. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I was just so


    happy…I didn’t mean to do that.”


    As she exined herself, Jacob watched her, his expression tender. He didn’t look offended at all, so


    she supposed it was all good.


    “I heard you screaming,” Jacob told her, “so I came to check.”


    Isabelle let out an awkwardugh. “Yeah, uh, I got too excited, sorry.”


    “Don’t apologise,” he told her. “It’s good to see you happy like this.”


    As Isabelle spewed her apologies and tried to calm down, Jacob’s mind was stuck in the past–a minute


    ago. He never would have expected her to jump into his arms the way she did, but when she did, his


    body sure paid attention.


    He could still sense the warmth of her body, and the scent of her hair lingered in his nose. He wanted


    more of that, but unfortunately, that moment was gone.