As the sun peeked through the slightly parted curtain, its warm hues illuminated the luxurious room that exuded elegance and comfort.
With a frown, Diego stirred from his sleep, he opened his eyes slowly, he had never slept peacefully for a long time in forever. His frown went deeper as he tried to recall what the hell happened last night. As he made to leave, a fragile hand around him gave him a pause.
His sight caught Candy's head gently placed on his chest, as she slept. The hell?! What is she doing in his room? She was naked, and half of her body was covered with a quilt.
Last night memories flooded in..
'Hey Candy, can I?' His words rang in his head, he also recalled how he had asked her to stay and how gentle he was last night. That was crazy of him!
"Fuck" He cursed, slowly removing her hand from himself. Swinging his feet to the ground, the hangover hit him hard, and groaned.
'Happy birthday, Mr. President!' He recalled how his employees chorused those words. The anger that was supposed to surge in at that moment came in.
____
When he was nine, a group of people whom he called a family chorused the same word to him. They all stared at him with what he believed was love.
He remembered his young self blowing out the candles on the cake. The cheers and wishes made him smile a little, something he had hardly done ever since his mom's death.
While the party was going on, young Diego felt a sense of foreboding. Everything doesn't seem right.
"Take me to the hospital," He said to the old butler of the mansion.
"Why young master?..."
"Just do it!" His young self exclaimed. In the car, Diego felt a strange feeling. His young body was trembling, it felt like he was burning inside, his chest clinching and coursing intense pains into him. He managed to tell the butler not to let anyone know where he was...
The butler panicked as the boy passed out inside the car. He was rushed into the wards and was attended to. The doctor discovered he would have met his demise if he was brought to the hospital a minute late.
___
Diego clenched his fist and jaw hard, he wore a robe to cover his nakedness and stride out of the room.
After a while, Candy woke up from her sleep. Her gaze fell on the empty space beside her. He was up before already? She scolded herself inwardly, as she had planned to wake up before him.
Her mind drifted to the night they had. His gentle touch, words, and stares made her heart flutter again. The feeling of her holding him close and caressing his dark hair made her smile.
'I love you, Diego' She recalled her words and thought she was crazy. Does she really mean them? Or she had said those out of pleasure. Getting down from the bed, she knew Diego must be dealing with a hangover at the moment.
After dressing herself up in casual clothes, she headed downstairs. Her eyes caught the man focusing his gaze on his system. There was a frown on his face, and his aura cold.
Walking towards him, she greeted him with a smile but got no reply from him. Candy saw the way his jaw clenched hard.
Did something happen?
Ignoring his cold attitude she stepped towards the kitchen to prepare ginger tea for his hangover. She dropped it before and sighed when he caressed his forehead.
"Please drink this, it'll help," She said.
He suddenly closes his system creating a loud thud, Candy's breath halts the moment he lifts his cold gaze to her.
"What do you think you're doing Candy?" He grumbled so coldly, she wondered if he was the gentleman last night.
"What do you mean?" She muttered.
"What's with the birthday, the dinner, the gathering, and the fucking wishes? Do you think I need that?" He inquired, his voice cold... So cold.
"I was just trying to make you feel better" Candy spoke, his harsh words were getting on her nerves already.
"I never asked you to. Why can't you just stop wasting your time on me and mind your fucking business?"
His words pierced through her heart like daggers.
"It was your birthday, and I wanted to do something at least..."
"Fuck birthdays" he cursed.
"Why are you so riled up?" She flared up this time. "I didn't mean any harm. I understand you have a dark past but letting it mold you is wrong. You act nice sometimes and then change all of a sudden..."
"Nice?" he scoffed as if mocking her words. His hand reached for the glass of tea and in the next moment, he smashed it against the wall next to him. The clashing sound made Candy jerk.
"Do you still think I'm nice?" He asked as he watched her face contorted into fear. That's what he wanted. Letting her get into her head is not good.. since everyone seems to betray him at the end.
"Maybe those little stupid acts I've been doing lately have been confusing you, little woman"
Candy stood there without uttering any words. Tears threatened to come out of her eyes but she managed to hold it in.
He stood and walked towards her, his hand tucked into his pocket.
"I told you to stop acting nice, it sucks" With this, he walked past her.
Candy's fist clenched beside her, his words crushing her hard. Maybe she was wrong, this man's heart is like a hard stone she couldn't crush. His cold gaze was the same as when they first met. Maybe she had let his actions and words get to her.
She let out a soft chuckle as tears slowly streamed down her face. How pathetic, she had confessed her love for him last night even though he was asleep. Maybe it's better if he didn't hear it.
She stood there, letting her tears out.
Maybe she should have listened to Jameson..
Her action yesterday drove her back to square one.
___
Getting back to work, Candy's response to others was slow. She tried her best to hide her hurt feelings.
"Candy, you alright?" Yazmine asked and Candy snapped back from her deep thoughts.
Jameson, who was passing by, stopped his truck when he saw the look on Candy's face. It better not be what he is thinking.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired. Thanks a lot for yesterday, I really appreciate it, "she said.
"Alright, if you can't handle today's work. You should probably leave" Yazmine said.
"No, it's fine"
"Candy, can I have a moment with you?" Jameson interjected with a serious face. Candy nodded and Jameson took her away from Yazmine.
"I thought she'd be squealing with joy today," Yazmine mumbled. She drew out her phone and saw the anonymous guy's message. Without opening it, her gaze drifted to Aiden.
A frown settled on her face when she found him talking to a slightly short strange girl with a bright smile.
Aiden ruffled the girl's hair while the girl laughed out loud. She punched Aiden's chest playfully when Aiden seemed to tease her.
"What the.." Yazmine muttered and found herself walking towards them.
"Hey!!" She exclaimed, catching both Aiden's and the girl's attention. The girl was really pretty, round face, small nose and round eyes that made her look so adorable.
"This is a working hour and you're busy playing around?!" Yazmine yelled at him, while Aiden stared at her in confusion, wondering why the harsh voice.
"I'm sorry ma'am" Aiden apologized. Yazmine handed a bunch of files to him.
"Go and start working immediately" She ordered and then walked away.
The girl had a worried look on her face. She immediately bowed her head to Yazmine.
"I'm really sorry ma'am. I just wanted to know where my brother works, so I got carried away. I'm really sorry"
"Brother?" Yazmine eyes widened.