CHAPTER 107: MY HERO

One thing was quite clear, he was even more irritated with me than before and I was certain that my words must have rubbed him the wrong way.

"You really have no idea what is going on, do you?" he asked, and I could feel that he wasn’t referring to the current situation between us.

"What...are you saying?" I asked, sounding too clueless than I would like to.

"I wonder if your mother is a fool as well, or are you the only clueless one," Daniel whispered as his eyes seemed to search my face.

"I have no idea what on earth you’re talking about," I muttered darkly, but I couldn’t help but feel curious about what he was talking about.

I wondered for a split of a second if it was true that my mother and the others were keeping a secret from me. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach even though I tried to remind myself that my mother would never do anything of the sort.

"I guess you truly are in the dark about it all. Then I guess you really have no idea about the kind of business I was referring to when I was asking for your help," Daniel surmised before grinning at me.

"Let me go..." I demanded, but his hold on me wouldn’t loosen in the slightest.

"No..." I said in a breathless whisper as his lips approached mine.

I closed my eyes tightly as I braced myself for the worst. Suddenly, I heard my name being called loud and clear from the other side of the door.

"Abigail!"

The familiar voice, filled with urgency, felt like a sign from heaven. However, before I could reply, Daniel quickly covered my mouth with his hand. I could see his face transform into a look of panic as his eyes darted from side to side, as if wondering what he should do.

The door unlocked and then opened with a loud slam. Although Raphael’s voice was so far from sweet, it felt like I was hearing someone call my name up from heaven. I looked up into the face that I wanted to see the most at that moment, to see a very displeased Raphael staring down at me. At first, I honestly thought that I might have been dreaming.

"Get your hands off her."

Raphael’s voice pierced through the tense atmosphere like thunder. That was when I realized that perhaps he was really here-he was here to save me. I stared up at his face, but our eyes only met momentarily before his gaze shifted to stare at Daniel. Daniel completely froze, and it was apparent that he was shocked at Raphael’s unexpected appearance. It felt like he didn’t know what to do, but then his panicked expression transformed into a lazy smile.

"Hey, Raphael," he said as he slowly let go of me as if nothing had happened. Apparently, Daniel had chosen to smooth everything over. "This is just a misunderstanding, there’s nothing for you to worry about. Abigail and I, we were just talking. You see, I won this painting for her from the auction, and we were just discussing how beautiful it is after seeing the real thing up close," Daniel readily explained before smiling brightly.

I shook my head from side to side to deny his words. I couldn’t believe that after all he had done, this bastard was lying through his teeth right in front of Raphael. The cold look that Raphael gave Daniel brought relief to all cells in my body as it became clear that Raphael did not believe a word that Daniel had just said.

"Just talking?" Raphael asked, his eyes flickering towards me briefly as if checking if I was okay, before returning to Daniel. "You had to pin her against the wall to get her to talk to you?" Raphael asked sarcastically.

"I think you’re misunderstanding, and you’re just blowing everything out of proportion. As I was saying, we were just talking, and because we’re on a date and all that, things progressed a little bit, but Abigail didn’t mind," Daniel continued explaining in such a casual fashion, as if dismissing all the harassment that he had just put me through.

I opened my mouth to protest because I needed Raphael to know the truth. My safety was definitely important, but I felt safe enough now that Raphael was here. However, that wasn’t enough for me; it felt unbearable that Raphael would misunderstand the relationship that I had with Daniel and exactly what went down between us. I wanted Raphael to understand without an ounce of doubt that I wasn’t willingly going along with Daniel. However, before I could say anything, a loud cracking sound echoed in the room. I gasped in shock as Raphael’s fist connected with Daniel’s face and produced that loud sound. I flinched as Daniel staggered backwards, clutching at his jaw with his eyes wide with shock.

"What the hell! Why did you hit me?" Daniel spat, blood beginning to trickle from the corner of his mouth.

"I hate liars, and that is the least that you deserve for putting your hands where it doesn’t belong," Raphael replied sternly.

"You’re not going to get away with this," Daniel said with clear malice in his tone. Raphael grabbed the front of Daniel’s shirt and pulled him up to his feet before he began shaking him in earnest.

"I get away with everything," Raphael stated matter-of-factly. Daniel’s expression shifted from anger into something more smug.

"You think that you can just waltz in here and start throwing punches and doing whatever you want? You’re not the only one with backing, Raphael," Daniel said with unfazed confidence.

"I don’t care who you are or who you think you are. No one gets away with putting their hands on her," Raphael replied slowly and clearly.

Daniel’s expression shifted again, and this time it seemed that Raphael’s message got through to him. The smug look on his face evaporated, and in its place was a look of fear.

–To be continued...