Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
Max smirked. “Why would I help him? He’s my enemy. But, even though I hate him and want to destroy the Quinceys, I have to be honest. He really is head over heels for Danika.” He didn’t want to praise Eustace, but he had to tell the truth when it came to it.
“Head over heels? Would he have divorced her if that’s true?” Jade didn’t buy it.
Max laughed loudly. “That was just a misunderstanding.” Then, he told her everything in detail, especially the time when Eustace had no idea who Danika was and made a fool of himself. He laughed while talking about it.
He thought it’d be something he’d use to laugh at Eustace for the rest of his life.
Jade was speechless. “So when he began to have feelings for Danika, he had no idea at all that she was his ex-wife?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that hilarious?”
It was. Jade laughed, too. “Well, even so, I still have to keep an eye on him. Who knows if this is all just an act?” Jade said, still having some reservations about Eustace.
Max pursed his lips and said nonchalantly, “Do you need to? I thought you were giving him a chance when you let him take her home.”
“How could that be?” Jade retorted at once, but she felt a little guilty since that was exactly what she thought.
It was eerily quiet in Eustace’s car.
“Don’t take Jade’s words to heart,” Danika finally said after a long while.
Eustace glanced at Danika. “What she says is the truth. I didn’t cherish you back then.”
Most importantly, he didn’t know that Danika was his ex-wife. Neither did he know that he would fall in love. Now that he looked back, he thought that he was crazy back then. Why didn’t he visit her when they were married?
“That doesn’t matter. We’ve missed our chance; we just aren’t meant to be. There must be a reason that destiny has kept us apart, so I don’t think you should be wasting your time on me.” She thought it was better to reject him. With Eustace’s frequent appearances, she felt her emotions growing complicated. She didn’t like how it felt and wanted to cut him off completely.
It was a shame that Eustace wasn’t the type to easily give up. He didn’t agree with what she said. “If it weren’t meant to be, we wouldn’t have met after the divorce, and I wouldn’t have fallen for you. I think it’s just how destiny is challenging us.” Eustace stepped on the break, and his gaze trailed toward Danika. “Don’t keep rejecting me, Danika. Give me a chance. No, give yourself a chance.”
They locked eyes with each other. Danika felt her heartbeat quicken. Eustace was leaning in, and she couldn’t quite catch her breath.
The sudden ringing of a phone startled the both of them. Danika came back to her senses and pulled away from Eustace’s lips.
“What’s wrong, Gilbert?” she said, answering the call.
“Where are you? Are you alright?” Gilbert’s voice sounded from the other end. He sounded anxious, worried.
Danika frowned. She sensed that something was wrong with him. “What’s wrong, Gilbert? What happened?” “Nothing…nothing.” Gilbert was tripping over his words. He didn’t know how to explain himself.
“What on earth happened?” Danika was not a fool. She could tell from Gilbert’s tone that something had happened.
Gilbert was quiet. Then, he said, “It’s really nothing much. I just fought with Marigold, and she might have gotten the wrong idea. I was worried that she would go for you.”
“A fight?” Danika thought that was weird. Would Gilbert fight with someone? She’d never seen anything like that.
“It’s just a misunderstanding. Well, if she goes to you, ignore her. Don’t believe anything she says,” Gilbert said. However, the worry in his heart had not dissipated.
“Okay.” Danika wasn’t sure what went on between them, so she couldn’t offer an opinion. She hung up and put the phone away before noticing Eustace was looking at her.
“Was that Gilbert?”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“He sure picked a good time to call,” Eustace said sarcastically. He hated him with all his heart.
Danika ignored him and acted as usual. “Send me home.”
“Danika, I-”
“Send me home!” Danika cut him off, raising her voice. She looked angry, but the blush on her face gave away how she truly felt.
Eustace said nothing else and began driving toward Perry Residence.
Not long after, the car stopped at the entrance. Danika was about to get out of the car, but Eustace called out to her. “Danika, I’m sorry for what happened to Stephanie. I’m not asking you to forgive me, just that you don’t push me away.”
“Right.” There was no way to tell if Danika was pleased or upset. She got down the car and went into the apartment, disappearing from his sight.
Danika was still thinking about what Eustace had said in the elevator. Should she believe him, she wondered.
The elevator stopped at her floor, and she got out. She made the short walk home and saw someone there, which surprised her. The visitor looked to have been waiting for a long time. When the visitor saw her, she widened her eyes and glared at Danika as if she were her enemy.
Danika was bewildered. “Marigold?” she said, puzzled. Gilbert had called to say that Marigold might come looking for her, and here she was.
“Hmph. I was beginning to think you were too scared to come home,” Marigold scoffed coldly, her arms. crossed. She shot daggers at Danika.
Danika was even more confused. “Why would I be afraid to come home? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Really?” Marigold smiled and walked toward her. “It’s just the two of us here. What’s the point of keeping up the act?”
“What act?” Danika was getting irritated. She was nice to Marigold when they met. Why was she treating her like she was the bane of her existence now?
Marigold grew angrier. “What’s going on between you and Gilbert? He’s your brother. Don’t you think it’s disgusting?”
Marigold said a lot of things, but Danika didn’t understand a single word. She stared at Marigold, who was on the brink of turning crazy, and thought of Gilbert’s phone call. Could she be going crazy because of a rejection?
“Go to the hospital if you’re sick. Don’t scream around here.” She was not a psychiatrist. She was helpless against something like this.
“You!” Marigold was infuriated and pointed at Danika. “You’re the one who’s sick! You call him your brother, but you’re stringing him along while getting close to Eustace. You’re fucking sick!”
Danika’s eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn’t right with Marigold’s words. “What do you mean?”
“Do you dare say you haven’t been stringing Gilbert along? If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t be so fucking infatuated with you!” Marigold was determined to expose Danika’s pretense.
Infatuated? Danika thought that was an odd phrase to use.
But Marigold didn’t care and blazed on, as if she wanted to vent her anger in one go. “If you don’t like him, why are you giving him hope? Do you want him to be your third wheel forever? I thought you were a nice person, and since you’re Gilbert’s sister, I figured I should consider you my own in case Gilbert and I ever got together. Now looking back, I think it was foolish of me. You’re siblings! You’re family! How could you do this?” She said a lot at once, but even then, her anger was still ablaze. She glared at Danika, wishing she could just tear her apart.
Danika was in a daze, but in her confusion, she somehow seemed to understand something. She just wasn’t sure if it was true.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but to me, Gilbert will always be my brother.” Danika’s expression was cold. She no longer looked at Marigold kindly. “I don’t know what conflicts have happened between you two, but that’s between Gilbert and you. I will not be involved in this. I respect all of his decisions.”
Danika was about to open the door, not wanting to waste her breath on Marigold anymore, but then Marigold grabbed her arm. “Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know Gilbert likes you!” She laughed while she said it. How could Danika not know?
When Danika heard her, she was indeed dumbstruck. She nearly dropped the keys in her hand. It was as if she’d heard a joke and laughed out loud. “You’re sick. Gilbert is my brother. Even if he likes me, it’s brotherly love. It’s not as complicated as you think.”