Annabella’s Point of View:
My crazy mind cried out, hoping that my wealthy CEO would catch me, but then, reality is different from fairy tales, and life is not a K-drama series.
“Ouch!” I cried out in pain as my butt hit the hard marble floor. I held my waist with one of my hands like a baby, and used the other hand to cover my face in shame.
“Are you alright?” Logan asked, concern tinged in his voice. He bent down and cupped my cheeks. I felt the warmth of his hand, but suddenly our moment was ruined by an older woman’s voice.
“What is the meaning of this?” I heard the melancholic voice of a woman, and I quickly stood up from the ground. The woman, although middle-aged, looked young and beautiful, she was dressed in an expensive gown, and a deep frown was on her face. She looked familiar, and I couldn’t help but wonder where I’d seen her.
“Mother, it’s nothing.” Logan interrupted my thoughts and held the woman. Then, it clicked in my head, she was the woman who stopped Logan from running after me earlier today.
The woman looked at me with fierce eyes for a while, but suddenly she smiled at me. I arched my brows, wondering if I was supposed to smile back at her.
“My name is Rose Rollo.” She introduced herself with a broad smile on her face, and I looked at her suspiciously.
‘Why is she suddenly acting nice to me? Is that a genuine smile or a death sentence one?” I thought, looking at her with squinted eyes.
On seeing the look on my face, Rose laughed awkwardly. “I’m sorry for my earlier behavior, I thought you were one of those girls who wanted to date my son because of his money.” She explained, looking remorseful.
“Huh, then what changed? I mean why did you change your mind?” I asked with furrowed brows.
“I recognized you!” She announced, blushing like a baby. “You are Annabella Kashin, right?” She asked, and without waiting for my response she continued with her sentence, “I am a big fan of you, and I love your movies and music.”
“Oh, thank you very much, ma’am.” I replied politely and bowed.
“You see, my son is a handsome bachelor. He is also connected to Lu-” before Rose could complete her sentence, Logan excused himself and dragged her away from my presence. I pouted my lips, wondering what that was about. I took a deep breath and turned to face Adriel Lupa, and surprisingly, I caught him smiling at me. It wasn’t a normal smile, it was filled with threats, as though he was warning me about something.
I clutched my dress, and bit my lower lip nervously. I looked at the door, wondering if I should run away or face my fear. I was so occupied in my thoughts that I failed to hear Adriel’s approaching footsteps.
“Evening, Miss Kiss Me?” He greeted me with a mischievous smirk on his face. I looked at him in shock, and instantly caught cold feet.
“Mr. Adriel, I was drunk, I apologize for taking advantage of you,” I stuttered, my head bowed in embarrassment.
“Taking advantage of me?” Adriel burst into hysterical laughter. “You must be kidding me, little pest. So you think a skinny lady like you can take advantage of a mighty warrior like me?” He asked when he stopped laughing.
“What do you want then?” I raised my head up, and looked him in the eyes. I can’t explain where I got the courage from, but I knew that I had to stop running away from my fear. I decided to take the bull by the horns and accept the outcome.
“Umm, about that,” he paused and scratched his chin thoughtfully. “How about we hook up again, tonight?” He asked and I nearly burst into laughter.
“You are joking,” I replied, forcing myself to control my laughter. “I should hook up with you tonight? Do I look like a shameless woman?” I asked, my tone filled with anger and bitterness.
“Well, somehow you do,” he said as his sharp eyes lustfully roamed over my body. “By the way, did you receive my gift?” He changed the topic with a grin on his face, and I shook my head.
“No, I didn’t receive any gifts.” I replied, shaking my head. My voice nearly gave me out, but the bold look on my face saved the day.
“That’s hard to believe because I dropped the gift in front of your house myself,” he reasoned, looking at me with a wary look.
“Look, I don’t know what you are talking about. Please excuse me, I have something to do!” I replied with a hostile voice, and turned to leave.
“I can’t force a woman to do what she doesn’t want to do, nor can I blackmail her to heed to my calling. But I must inform you, I know something which you are unaware of.” Adriel confessed with a cunning smirk on his face, and I immediately became interested.
“What do you mean?” I asked in alarm, and quickly ran to his side.
He looked at me like I was some sort of rotten apple. “By the way, who taught you those funny bed styles?” He changed the topic, a taunting look on his face. “At first I thought you were different from normal girls, but I was wrong. I’m grateful that you are not a virgin, because in my family, we have a culture. Whenever we sleep with a virgin, we can decide to get married to them.” He confessed, and without waiting for my response, walked away from my side, a menacing smile on his face.
I stood like a statue, my lips and hands shaking. I felt a kind of cold I had never felt before, and my stomach kept twisting as though it was bent on killing me.
“Virgin-” I murmured, and a teardrop escaped my eyes. I’m not one of those girls who believe in keeping their virginity for a man, because the man is definitely not keeping his virginity for me, but I couldn’t believe that I lost mine to a jerk like him.
“My life is in a mess.” I muttered as I kept thinking about my virginity. I closed my eyes in shame, suddenly Logan’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Hey sweetie, are you alright?” Logan asked with a worried look on his face.
“I’m fine,” I replied with a broken voice and quickly cleaned my eyes.
“Are you crying? What happened?” He asked, looking at my face. I quickly turned my back at him.
“I’m alright,” I replied with a sad voice, and turned back to face him. “You aren’t one of those shameless men who would take advantage of a drunk lady, right?” I asked and arched my brows at him.
“Yes, of course. I will never take advantage of you. I’ll protect you,” he assured me, and I nodded my head at him before sliding into his warm embrace. I couldn’t believe that l found warmth in the arms of a stranger.
“Thanks,” I murmured. My heart itched, I actually thought I had feelings for Adriel, but the fact that he might have taken my videos and was threatening me with them, was enough to destroy the love I had for him.
“Umm, well, I’d like to ask if you’re free next month,” Logan said, and I looked at him in surprise.
“Is anything the matter?” I asked curiously, wondering if he was going to ask me for something difficult.
“No, not really. My family is having a banquet to celebrate my stepmother’s birthday this weekend, and I’ll be grateful if you come with me.” He confessed with a cute smile on his lips, and I nodded my head slowly.
“Your family seems like an interesting one. I guess you come from Rollo’s family?” I asked rhetorically and looked at him with a skeptical expression. I’d never heard of the Rollo’s family before, but I knew it would be rude to ask about their family’s business. Moreover, it was none of my concern.
“I’ll look at my schedule and inform you later,” I replied, although doubting if I would be able to attend the banquet.
“Thank you very much.” He appreciated me, and carefully shifted some of the hair covering his face, revealing his cute eyes.
“But, I’m not a member of your family, won’t that be a problem?” I asked, wanting to make sure that I didn’t get humiliated.
“Oh no, my mother is fine with it. Also, I don’t want to attend the party alone, because my step-siblings are something else.” He confessed, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his words.
“Believe me, I understand what you mean. My sisters can also be a handful sometimes, always quarreling and fighting over meaningless things.” I replied, and we both laughed at our words.
“Then, I guess we both need this. A day away from your family,” he announced, and I couldn’t disagree because he was right.
“Okay. Thank you very much, Logan. I’ll get going now,” I replied and smiled at him. Logan smiled back, and we both shook hands. Luckily, that weird feeling from before didn’t return.
“Goodbye.” I said and waved at him.
“Goodbye, beautiful.” He replied with a sweet voice, and I couldn’t help but shine my teeth as my cheeks burned red.
As I was about to leave the VIP section, I noticed that Adriel was staring at me, a frown on his face. There was something else, it looked like jealousy.
“No, I’m just overthinking things. Adriel Lupa would never be jealous because of me.” I assured myself as I left the room.