CHAPTER 72: INVITED

"What the hell?!" Elara said as soon as the man pulled away, and Daniel smirked, licking his bottom lip before sitting in the chair beside her bed without an ounce of guilt on his face as if he wasn’t the one who was eating her lips like she was the last meal on earth.

He looked at her casually, his lopsided smile infuriating Elara even more. She grabbed the pillow and threw it at Daniel, which he easily caught before chuckling.

"I would say I have never tasted anything so divine ever. I am afraid I might get addicted to it," Daniel said.

Elara glared at the man helplessly.

"Try something like that again, and I will kick you where the sun doesn’t shine," Elara threatened him, making him smile even more.

"Tut. Tut. My little ifrit. Let’s not kill our future babies," He said with amusement written all over his face.

However, his expression sobered immediately when he remembered what Elara had said before passing out.

"Elara, you said something to me before passing out. Something about you knowing who I was in the past. What did you mean?" Daniel asked, hoping she got a hint of her childhood memories of when they used to play all the time.

But to his disappointment, his words only made her scrunch her nose.

"I said something like that? Why don’t I remember?" She asked.

Daniel’s eyes darkened briefly before he sighed and shook his head.

He had told the doctor about her condition. The doctor said that sometimes a sentence or an action can trigger memories that have been lost or buried in the corner of our minds.

Since no one focused on retrieving her childhood memories, as they were deemed insignificant, remembering something from that time now was like a shock for her brain, and that was what made her pass out.

The thought of reliving those memories made him slightly happy, but when the doctor told him it might affect Elara differently, he no longer considered them so important.

It was good if she remembered their bond, but if she didn’t, he had all intentions of making new, hotter memories with her.

"No? It might just be me then. Tell me what you were doing on Black Street," Daniel asked.

Elara’s pupils dilated when he mentioned that, and she quickly grabbed her phone to look at the time.

It was already 4:30 in the evening. She was yet to pick up her dress from the mall and get ready for the party.

She was so going to be fucking late.

"I need to hurry to the mall to get myself a dress." Elara stepped down from the bed, quickly putting on her shoes, and was about to move past Daniel when the man held her hand to stop her.

Elara turned to look into his eyes impatiently, but something in the way he looked at her made her pause.

"I’ll arrange the dress for you—one of the best in the market. Just stay for a few more minutes," Daniel said.

He didn’t say anything else, didn’t urge her more, or coax her, but his eyes... those eyes...

I will always protect you. His words from the Black street echoed in her head.

She knew she would be late if she stayed. There was just so much she needed to do to ensure everything went accordingly. But... something inside her stopped her from taking another step.

Maybe her brother was right. She should’ve stayed away from the man. Then again, she didn’t try not to do so.

She tried—many times. However, something in his gaze always held her captive in a way no one has ever been able to.

She let out an irritated sigh at her thoughts before sitting at the edge of the bed.

"What were you doing there? And how is your wound?" She asked, unsure of what else to talk about, since she definitely didn’t want to discuss what she was doing there.

Daniel’s lips twitched slightly at her faint attempt to distract him, but he didn’t comment.

"I thought you would never ask," he whispered, his thumbs massaging the back of her hand, rubbing her knuckles.

"And I already told you what I was doing there," Daniel reminded her.

Elara nodded. Right. He told her he was there to teach someone a lesson.

Daniel looked at her fidgeting with her hands and couldn’t contain his smile anymore.

He pushed his chair closer to her so he could hold her hands properly.

"Do I make you nervous, my little ifrit?" He asked.

Elara was about to answer when her phone vibrated with an incoming call.

She looked at the random number and was about to decline it when she reconsidered her plan and the people involved and picked up the call.

"It’s me," Andrew’s impatient voice came from the other side.

There was no doubt that the man had tried to call her from his number but found it unreachable.

"Hmm," Elara hummed vaguely.

"I’ll come to pick you up at 6:30 pm. Send me your current location," Andrew said.

Elara looked at Daniel, who busied himself playing with her ring on the index finger, running his thumb over the design.

"I am at the hospital," she said.

Andrew, who was annoyed with the fact that he had to take a random employee’s phone to contact her, stood from his seat.

"Hospital? What happened?" Andrew asked, his mind going to how he saw her car parked in the black streets.

They said someone got hurt in the Black Market. Could the person be Elara? He wondered.

"Just my old wound is hurting a little. You can pick me up from Castle Mall," Elara said.

Andrew was about to say more when he heard her words.

Castle Mall? So she wasn’t even ready to give him her address?

"Must you act like that, Elara? Okay, I’ll take you seriously from now on. Your drama is already so exaggerated that it’s starting to annoy me. Even if this divorce is your end goal, don’t forget that I can still cancel it and—" Andrew started, but Elara ended the call, not wanting to ruin her mind over his useless, stupid, delusional talk.

"Well. That was quick," Daniel commented.

Elara rolled her eyes before she pulled her hand away from his hands and stood.

"What did you expect to hear? That I love him and—" Elara couldn’t complete her sentence when the man before her stood and snuck his hand around her waist. Pulling her infinitely closer as he stood tall, his figure looming over hers while he looked straight into her eyes, daring her to complete that sentence.

A gasp left her mouth as she took in the intensity of his gaze, more intense than the warmth of his hold.

"It looks like I’ll have to put in a little more effort in making you forget him. They say it’s better to do something sooner rather than postpone it. Should I start now?" Daniel asked.

Though his eyes held a playful glint once he finished speaking, only a fool would believe that humor.

"Let go. I would never fall for that scheme again. I am done falling for men in this lifetime," Elara rolled her eyes.

"What did you say?" Daniel narrowed his eyes.

This time, Elara didn’t flinch from his gaze and looked straight into his eyes before repeating.

"I would be a fool to fall for a man again after everything that life has made me go through," Elara confessed, her expression edgy, a solemn hint crossing her eyes.

"In that case, don’t fall for me, Miss Elara. Instead, let me fall for you. Because I know for sure, you are worth fighting for," Daniel Macros said, his eyes holding nothing but pure obsession, something she had never experienced before.

"What do you know?" Elara scoffed before pushing him away, hinting at how he didn’t even know about her double life.

Daniel didn’t hold her anymore.

I know more than you can imagine, my Ifrit. He thought inwardly as he watched her leave the hospital room.

Once she was gone, it wasn’t long before Alen walked inside the ward.

"Sir, are we ready to leave?" He asked.

Daniel looked at his subordinate before pressing his lips into a thin line.

"Did we receive an invitation from Lloyd’s? It’s the old man’s birthday party," Daniel said.

Alen looked at Daniel’s schedule on the tab before nodding.

"Sir. We had received the invitation a month ago, but you said such useless gatherings don’t interest you. You have a meeting with a Japanese client at the same time," Alen said.

Daniel glared at his subordinate before shaking his head.

"As my assistant, don’t you think it’s your duty to persuade me to go to such gatherings and strengthen my social skills? Cancel that meeting. We are going to the party. In fact, do a few things for me," Daniel narrated everything to Alen before he walked out of the ward.

Alen—"..." What social skills?! Half of the nation fears your mere presence. Just say you are going there to stalk your future wife. Alen scoffed inwardly before following his boss.