A lady sat at a table by the corner window on the eighth floor of Grand View Restaurant. She wore an off-shoulder, spaghetti strap dress, and she looked quite plain yet elegant, as she had always been. When Aryan walked toward her, he could not help but glance at her a couple of times until she finally noticed him and turned to look at him.
“I didn’t expect that it was you, RaphaelRaphael.”
Nina waved her hand and beckoned him to take the seat across from her. She curved her lips and smiled faintly. Her smile was gorgeous.
“When I saw you today, I almost couldn’t recognize you. I didn’t expect that my former teammate is now my opponent.”
Aryan did not say anything. His slightly long hair blocked most of his face. He had a lot of beard stubble on his face, and it made him look a bit under the weather. However, it also made him look like an artist.
He looked much cleaner than most of the other ordinary artists, though. Nina stared at his face as the smile on her lips gradually disappeared.
She softly asked, “Why did you leave?”
Aryan still did not say anything. Nina was very patient with him, and she even poured him a cup of tea.
“Since you don’t want to talk about the past, let’s eat first.”
She signaled at the waiter so that they would serve the dishes. Very quickly, the waiter delivered their order that she had placed in advance.
“These are all your favorite dishes. Eat up.” She was very gentle for the entire night.
Aryan looked at the dishes that were placed in front of him, and his heart soured.
“You like to drink wine at night, right? I brought this bottle, especially from my home. Do try it.”
Nina poured him half a glass and pushed the wine glass toward him. “Try it. I’m sure that you’ll like it.”
Perhaps he did not know what he should do or say, so he picked up the wine glass and emptied the wine in one gulp.
“Who else drinks wine like you? You’ve ruined my palate.”
Nina smiled politely. She did not mind his words and picked up her chopsticks to put some food on his plate. Aryan did not say anything throughout the dinner. He ate quietly. He also finished the entire bottle of wine. As he was a poor drinker, he got tipsy after he downed the whole bottle. He even thought the girl in front of him looked particularly beautiful. Her red lips and white teeth appealed to him, and her smile was so gentle that it touched his heart. Her images perfectly blended with the person buried deep in his heart.
He rubbed between his eyebrows to clear his mind. Even though he had a bit too much to drink, he was not drunk. Aryan finished the last sip of red wine and put down the glass, and that also indicated that the dinner was officially over. Just as he was about to leave, Nina suddenly reached out for his hand on the table.
“Raphael, come back and help me. You are one of mine. Why would you help others to compete against me?”
Aryan subconsciously squeezed his palm; her hands felt warm and soft. He felt like he was in a warm embrace when she held her hand. His lonely heart immediately softened. It had been so difficult to hold her hand once upon a time ago as she would reject him so ruthlessly. There were so many outstanding men around her, but he was never one of them.
Aryan wanted to withdraw his hand, but Nina suddenly tightened her grip.
“After you left, my life was in bad shape. None of my projects was successful this year.”
Nina was overwhelmed with emotions, and tears welled in her eyes.
“You know that I can’t live without you. You are the backbone of my successes over the years.”
She moved toward him as she held his hand tightly and placed it over her heart.
“Raphael, come back to me, please.”
A drop of tear trickled down from her cheek, and like a perfect plan, it dripped onto the back of his hand. It felt cold, and the coldness seeped right into his heart. Aryan was still in a daze when he left the restaurant and went into a room with her. He stared at the perfect woman in front of him—his goddess—as she undressed in front of him. His eyes slowly moved over her exposed skin as his breathing labored. He did not even realize that he had stretched his hand forward.
“Raphael, I give myself to you, and I will be yours forever. Will you come back to me?”
Aryan tensed, and even his arms went stiff. He was a little stunned, but he held her tightly. Hers was a body that he had dreamed of for a very long time. He felt like he was in a dream. How he wished he would never wake up and that the dream would go on forever.
However, there was a thorn in his heart. A long and sharp thorn that brought all the painful memories back in his mind. Those recollections struck his numb heart like a knife that cut deep.
“Why… were you with him?” He finally asked in a hoarse voice.
That was the only sentence that Aryan said that night. Nina was dumbfounded. She did not expect that he would still remember the incident that happened so long ago. She finally realized that it was the reason he left their team and went entirely out of her sight.
“Raphael, it’s all my fault. I am so sorry. I will never do that to you again.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and exhaled into his ears.
“He had threatened me then. If I did not date him, he would harass my team. He even threatened to ruin your hand.”
Nina pouted, and as her thin lips brushed against his ears, his muscles tightened.
“You are the soul of our team, and I cannot be without you. What should I do if he were to destroy your hand?”
“You… did it for me?” Aryan clenched his fists tightly. His breathing was still rapid and heavy.
“Of course, I did all that to protect you. Don’t you believe me?”
Nina leaned in and suddenly shoved him down as she pressed herself down on him.
“Raphael, it doesn’t make any sense to talk about this now. There is no one around me. I have always been waiting for you to fill this emptiness in me.”
Her hand glided on his cheek. It felt so soft and gentle on his skin, and it made him dizzy
She lowered her head and kissed him on the cheek. “Raphael, I am yours and will always be yours!”
” Nina…””You are willing to call my name again?”
She smiled. The smile that bloomed on her face looked inexplicably enchanting.
“Raphael, shall we start over again? Leave that ugly monster, Elena, and return to my side. We… can start all over again.”
…
A vague feeling of uneasiness overcame Elena. That night, she could not calm down enough to focus on her script.
“Aryan went back on his own. Do you think there’ll be any problem?”
Layla was still uneasy. He was nearly hit by a car that night, yet he insisted on leaving on his own. They were not sure what was in his mind, but they were all worried about him.
“Nothing will happen,” Caleb comforted her. “We are very near to the campus. We would have gotten the news already if something were to happen.”
Layla still felt like something was not right, and she looked helplessly at Elena.
“Elena, Aryan behaved a little weirdly tonight. What do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Elena released the mouse and looked at her. She was just about to say something when a message arrived on her phone.
She picked up the phone and opened the message. She was so shocked when she read its content.
Layla was distraught. “Elena, is it Aryan…”
Elena nodded and looked at them. “Aryan said… he wanted to leave our studio.”