Both men were left dumbfounded after what Belle said. She, on the other hand, strode off toward her room, unbothered by their reactions.
“Did she just say that?” Tristan asked his assistant, still in disbelief.
Jacob nodded subconsciously. He’s as surprised as Tristan. He never expected Belle would tell him something as rude as that. Though it was the truth, it was still rude.
“W-Why is she acting like that?” dejected, Tristan dropped down on the chair closest to him.
“I wanted to say something, I wanted to tell you a lot of things. But I guess it’s best if you recover your memories on your own. Saying something to you when someone else already did will only confuse you and it might affect your recovery,” Jacob explained.
Tristan suddenly wanted to strangle him. Staring at his assistant, he couldn’t figure out the reason why he wanted to go the hard way. ‘Why can’t this idiot just tell me everything?’
Before he could say anything, his phone started ringing. It was Joyce. He answered it but it didn’t even take him longer than five minutes to end the call.
Jacob smiled lazily as Tristan tossed the phone onto the table. “How does it feel talking to Joyce?”
“Nothing!” he exclaimed. He looked at Jacob as he massaged his temple. “I don’t know, but it bores me whenever she opens her mouth. She only knows how to weep and say something bad about Belle.”
His assistant nodded at him, pursing his lips as if thinking of something. “What about Belle? How did you feel when you talked to her?”
Tristan giggled but he, too, was shocked at his reaction. He stole a glance at Jacob and saw the man smiling naughtily at him. “Belle…” he muttered. “I feel anxious, to be honest. Anxious that I might say something that would annoy her.”
“See the difference?” Jacob asked, but Tristan just looked at him with his forehead creased. “From that alone, you can already tell what is true and what is not.”
Still confused, Tristan pushed himself off of the chair he was sitting on. He’d just return to his room to try and figure out the puzzle Jacob laid down on him.
Belle, on the other hand, plopped on the bed as soon as she got inside her assigned room. When her body touched the warm bed, her tears started flowing.
‘Why can’t we just be happy together? Why does our story always have to come with a tragedy? It’s like we’re fated but not destined.’
As she continued to cry, she recalled what Frederick told her. ‘Joyce is up to something,’ she replayed in her head. She couldn’t help but wonder what it could be. Belle wanted to ask Jacob but she knew he wouldn’t say anything either and she didn’t want to put him in a tough spot.
As she feels drained of energy, she forces herself to sleep instead of bothering herself with the unknown. She’s coming to the Empire tomorrow and she needs to be up for the challenge.
The next morning, Tristan went straight to the suite next to his as soon as he woke up. Well, he didn’t really manage to get some sleep and that was all Jacob’s fault.
“Jacob!” he called but didn’t get any response. He opened his assistant’s room but his bed was empty. He thought of something absurd but quickly dismissed it. ‘He’s probably taking a bath,’ he said to himself.
On his way out, he noticed that the door of Belle’s room was slightly open. His heart thumped, ‘Could it be?’ Yet again, he forced himself not to think of anything bad towards his assistant.
Still, as he was curious, he gently pushed the door open. Belle’s bed was empty too. Creasing his forehead, he walked toward the bathroom and noticed that the door was open.
From inside, he can hear someone humming a song he’s not familiar with. He peeked inside and was surprised to see Belle wearing nothing but her underwear.
She’s facing the mirror, busy with her facial routine. Feeling guilty, Tristan wanted to retreat and leave the room, but something caught his eye. ‘Is she wearing Winnie the Pooh underwear?’
Tristan suddenly recalled something and, while lost in thought, he was startled when Jacob suddenly called him. As he didn’t expect his assistant to show up out of nowhere, he accidentally bumped into the door. He was caught red-handed, peeking at his secretary.
“What are you doing there?” Jacob asked, chuckling.
“Yeah, what are you doing here?” Belle seconded, standing next to the door with one hand on the knob and the other on her waist.
She was standing there with nothing but her underwear and heels. Tristan was shocked at the sight of her so she pushed her in and pulled the door close.
“I was looking for you,” he told Jacob, not letting go of the doorknob.
“This isn’t my room though,” stating the obvious, Jacob narrowed his eyes at his boss.
Tristan was about to respond when Belle pulled the door open, causing him to lose his balance and stumble. Now he’s at her feet, looking up.
“I asked you what you’re doing here. Why did you close the door on me?” she sneered.
Tristan quickly stood up. He turned to look at Jacob but his assistant was no longer in the room with them.
“Did you really just come out wearing that? In front of Jacob?” Tristan asked, his blood starting to boil.
“Why do you care?”
“Ha! Are you used to displaying your body in front of him?”
“And in front of you too, so again, why do you care?” Belle repeated.
Right outside her door, Jacob was starting to bathe in sweat. ‘Why do they always have to drag me into their arguments?’ he whispered to himself.
“That’s very bold of you!” Tristan spat. “You’re not even ashamed of displaying your body with your cartoon underwear!” he wanted to take back what he said but it was too late.
He wanted to smack his head as he couldn’t understand why he had to point out her underwear. He’s mad because of her display and not because of what she’s wearing.
But Tristan couldn’t figure out why the woman’s undergarment piqued his curiosity. As if he’d seen something like that before and he actually liked the sight of it.
Busy with his thoughts, he didn’t realize that he’d been staring at Belle’s body for quite a while now. “Aren’t you done looking?” she called him off and he blushed.
Feeling embarrassed, he glared at the woman before turning on his heel to leave her room. He stormed back to his suite, closing the door behind him with a bang.
‘I’ve seen something like that before, but where was it?’