Steve said that the servant he invited hasn’t arrived yet, so Ranita cooked herself a bowl of egg and vegetable noodles. Before she could even start eating, the doorbell rang.
As she opened the door, Ranita saw a man standing there and blinked her eyes. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
She was like a kite and Brendon was the string; he always held the direction. Now that they had cut this bond, she felt a bit uncomfortable but knew that it would take some getting used to.
It had only been two or three days since they last saw each other, but it felt like an eternity to her.
“What’s up?” Brendon approached her with his shadow looming over her, making her feel slightly oppressed. She took a few steps back but accidentally stepped on his shoes.
“Careful!” Brendon quickly reached out to help her up.
His hand was hot as he held onto hers tightly. Ranita’s heart skipped a beat as everything inside of her became chaotic and disordered.
“I’m fine,” Ranita pushed his hand away and bent down to put his men’s slippers in the shoe cabinet before asking him with lowered eyesight, “What brings you here?”
Brendon stared at her for a while before answering, “Haven’t been eating well? Your complexion doesn’t look too good.”
Ranita’s heart twisted painfully inside of her chest as tears threatened to fall from beneath closed eyelids. She forced out a smile towards him, “Is that why you came?”
As she spoke those words, Ranita noticed Brendon’s white shirt sleeves were rolled up revealing part of his arm where buttons weren’t fastened all the way up. That exposed just enough neck for it to be sexy, which made Ranita envious beyond belief causing another step backwards from him again.
“I’m not going to eat you, so no need to keep moving away,” Brendon said with a stern and colder tone than before. “Caleb called you, and you were on the call, so I had to come in person.”
“And then?” Ranita asked.
“Rashid is here and wants to invite us to have a meal together,” Brendon said, supporting himself on the door frame with one hand, continuously looking at her. Ranita felt her spine tense, and her heart was uneasy.
Just talk about the matter at hand. Why keep staring at her!
Ranita felt a wave of irritation in her heart.
“There’s still some business with Nemotube that needs wrapping up. You were in charge before, and it was handled more efficiently with your involvement. Can you help out?” Brendon continued.
Ranita didn’t want to go.
“Vincent can handle it perfectly fine.”
“But he’s not as proficient in Arabic as you are. You know Rashid likes to nitpick,” Brendon added after a pause.
Brendon pressed his lips together, his voice low and husky. “Ranita, Nemotube’s project can’t go on without you.”
Ranita’s emotions were complicated.
“I don’t have the time.”
“Ranita…” Brendon didn’t finish his sentence before Ranita pushed him out of the way. But with Brendon being so tall and having long legs, she couldn’t push him very far.
Finally, she glared at him in frustration and said, “Do whatever you want. I’m going to eat lunch!”
What else could she do when he wouldn’t leave?
Ranita ate her noodles in silence while Brendon sat across from her watching her eat.
“Is this all you’re eating?” He paused for a moment before gritting his teeth. “I’ll arrange for a caretaker to take care of you.”
“No need,” Ranita refused flatly. “Once I take care of my child, I won’t be living here anymore anyway.”
Brendon felt a pang in his heart at those words.
“Brendon, don’t waste your time here anymore. Go where you need to go,” Ranita said without any hope left in her heart.
She looked up at Brendon with eyes that started to sting for no reason at all as she smiled softly at him; her eyes curved like a bridge as she spoke again, “Brendon, I exchanged three years of my youth for so much money. It seems like I’m the one who came out ahead after all.”