Ariel’s office
Staring at the screen of the desktop with a deep frown on her face, a drop of tears slid down her cheeks, but she quickly wipes it off and tries to focus on work.
She glances over to Max’s office, and she can’t help the sting she feels in her heart. Seeing the sad expression on his face, she can’t help the pain that fills her from within. She feels like everything is her fault. Maybe he wouldn’t be having issues with his beloved wife if she wasn’t brought into the family in the first place, but then, this was never her fault on second thought. Not that she came willingly, she was forced here.
Taking a deep breath, she stands up from her seat and glances at him again, contemplating her decision to talk to him. After giving it a few seconds thought, she finally ambles to the glass door and places a soft knock on it.
“I want to be alone, Ariel,” His cold voice sounds from inside, and it feels as though her heart was stabbed with a knife. Wow! He didn’t even want to hear what she has to say. What if she wanted to talk about work?
“May I have a word with you, please?” She further asks in a pleading tone, and he sighs briefly before he finally ushers her in.
Pushing the door open, she walks in with her gaze held low. She finally stops in front of his desk.
“Uhm… Excuse me, Sir…”
“Stop with the formality, we’re alone here,” He interrupts her as he reclines on the chair, whilst rubbing his forehead frustratingly.
“Hmm,” She nods her head and bites her bottom lip. She has so much to say to him, but is he ready to listen to her? Where will she start and end?
“I’m sorry about what happened earlier…” She pauses and bites her lip again.
“It’s not your fault, OK? If that’s what you want to talk about, then I’d want to be left alone. I am not in a good mood,” To think that he hasn’t looked at her ever since she walked into his office, breaks her heart, but does she have any right to complain?
She stares at him, wishing that this man was hers, she can’t help but wish that she had met her when he was still single, but would he have ever looked her way even if they met earlier? He’s way older than her, and maybe he may never have liked her if they had met earlier. Maybe he would never have looked at her if she wasn’t brought into the family as their breeder. They wouldn’t have known each other, let alone gotten entangled in this messy life with no escape route.
Standing up to her feet, she glances at him one more time before she turns and ambles out of the office, closing the door gently behind her.
“You’ll be fine, Ariel. Just cheer up,” She assures herself as she finally sits on her chair and resumes her work.
Hours later…
Max left the office a few minutes ago. He left before Ariel as always, so she would have to sort herself out from here.
Finally done for the day, she stands up and picks up her phone from the desk before she strides out of the office, not after switching her desktop off.
There are still very few people left in the company, which means that she’s not so late here today.
Stepping out of the company, she strides to the gate and steps out of the compound. Standing at the roadside minutes later and waiting for a cab endlessly, she suddenly feels her head spins and she staggers back as she touches her forehead. She shakes her head for seconds, hoping that the pain would go away, but it only becomes worsen.
“What’s wrong with me?” She asks herself. Seeing a cab speeding down the road she tries to flag it down, but that is all she remembers as she suddenly feels her eyes blackout and she slumps. Thinking she was going to land on the bare ground, she lands on two strong arms instead. She tries to open her eyes to check out who caught her, but her eyes are too heavy to move, so she gives up trying.
Thirty minutes later…
“Doctor, is she OK?” Alex asks worriedly as he stares at the doctor curiously.
“Yes, she’s out of danger now. Who are you to her? Her husband?” The doctor asks, but the door suddenly bursts open before he can reply to the doctor, and Max rushes in. He had gotten a call from one of the staffs in his company a few minutes ago that Ariel collapsed, and he left even as he was in the middle of a discussion with his wife. He has never been so worried and scared all his life. When he got the call, he tried to reach out to her, but she never answered her call, until five minutes ago when Alex finally answered the call and gave him the address of the hospital reluctantly after he pleaded with him endlessly.
Max’s eyes almost pop out of their sockets as he spots her lying on the bed with her eyes closed. Forgetting that his brother is around, he rushes over to the bed and quickly takes her hand with a terrified look on his face.
“Ariel… Are you OK?” He asks as if she can reply to him.
Shocked, Alex stares at him many questions run through his mind. Seeing how his brother is suddenly so worried about this girl, he can’t help but conclude that there’s more to their boss-secretary relationship. ‘Could it be that he’s cheating on his wife with her?’ Alex asks himself as he stares at his brother, but realizing that Max loves his wife so much, he can’t help but conclude that he’s just overthinking things, but then this scenario is not convincing enough.
“Are you her boyfriend or husband?” The doctor’s voice suddenly pulls Max from his emotional session, and he raises his gaze to look at the doctor but meets Alex’s gaze instead. He has forgotten that his annoying brother is inside the ward with them. Thank goodness that he didn’t tell the doctor that he’s her boyfriend. Not that he is anyway.
“No, doc. But I can stand in for her. She’s my secretary,” He quickly replies to the doctor, turning to face him.
“Alright, meet me in my office,” And with that, the doctor turns and walks out of the ward, leaving the two inside.
He glances over at her for the last time before he proceeds to the door and twists the doorknob.
“You see, I’m suspecting the two of you, Max. Is she just your secretary or your girlfriend?” Alex asks out of the blue, bringing him to an abrupt halt.
“Why not mind your business, Alex? What will it take you to do it?” He turns to face him after he scoffs.
“I think I like her, and I’m going to shoot my shot at her as time goes by. Don’t feel betrayed then, brother,” With a smirk dancing at the corner of his lips, Alex says to him and he slowly clenches his fists.
He glares hard at Alex before he finally pulls the door open and storms out of the ward, heading to the doctor’s office immediately…