Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
On their way home, after they made the necessary arrangements for Joey, Danika was suddenly reminded of Justin and Lilian. “Do you have any updates on the adoptive family?” she blurted out to Eustace.
“Yeah, I found one, but we haven’t gotten in touch with them,” Eustace answered. He would always fulfill Danika’s request to the best of his ability.
She sighed in relief after learning that. She had been busy with work and had no time to care for two children. Therefore, she sent them to Orchid Village and entrusted them to the villagers’ care. Still, she couldn’t leave them in the village for the long term and planned to find them an adoptive family so that they could resume their daily lives.
“Share their information with me. I’ll look into their background.” Speaking of investigation, Danika was proud of her skills.
Eustace agreed to let her take over because he knew that Danika was blessed with detective skills. “Sure.” Soon, they arrived at Perry Residence. As it was late, they wished each other good night and returned home to rest. When they fell asleep that night, someone was losing sleep elsewhere.
At the Wagner Manor, sounds of items crashing were heard from an eastside villa. The maids scurried away to hide when they witnessed Marigold’s outburst.
“Damn it!” While throwing and breaking stuff, she cursed, “Danika Zellweger, you drove Gilbert away! I won’t let this slide!”
At the height of her fury, she was interrupted by her phone ringing. Her expression darkened when she saw the caller ID. “Why are you calling me?”
“Why the hostility? I’m here to help.” Yvonne’s sympathetic voice didn’t convince her.
“Help me? What help can you offer me?” she spat in disdain and refused to engage further with Yvonne. Yvonne chuckled calmly in the face of her anger. “Aren’t you upset because Gilbert left? You knew that Danika was the reason behind it. Don’t you want to teach her a lesson?”
Yvonne’s words resonated strongly with Marigold, who had always wanted to find an opportunity to teach Danika a lesson but had no idea how to go about it, which contributed to her anger.
“Let’s meet up and have some drinks.” With that, Yvonne hung up and sent Marigold the address of a bar. Marigold gritted her teeth and hesitated as she stared at the address. She was not naive and knew that Yvonne was using her to get back at Danika. After some deliberation, she concluded that since she and Yvonne shared a mutual goal of exacting revenge on Danika, what difference would it make if she met with her? Perhaps, Yvonne would have a better idea for dealing with Danika.
After making a decision, she quickly changed and left the Wagner Manor.
Danika woke up early on Monday morning, ready for a busy day ahead. As usual, Eustace rang her doorbell and delivered breakfast.
She joked, “You’re making me wonder if the Quincey Group is faring well. You don’t look busy at all.”
“Well, if the Quincey Group goes down, could you take me in and look after me?” He beamed at her and waited eagerly for her answer.
She rolled her eyes at him and took the food. “No!”
“That can’t be. Dr. Zellweger, you’re a kind soul. Are you going to watch as I die of hunger on the streets?” He walked up to her and put on a pitiful face.
She dug into the breakfast and casually remarked, “Don’t worry. With your looks, you’ll have sugar mommies lining up to pay your bills if you go bankrupt. You won’t die of hunger.”
Eustace’s expression fell when he heard that, and he gave her a disgruntled look. “You can be one of them.”
“I’m not rich enough to pay for you.” She shook her head as she tried to hold back laughter. Eustace shut up after trying hard to squeeze a word of affection out of her. Sometimes, she could be more simple- minded than a man.
After breakfast, she went to work at the hospital. Eustace had offered to take her there but was turned down. According to her, their relationship was not at that level yet. It was one thing to deliver breakfast every day. If he started sending her to and from work, others might gossip.
Eustace protested at the injustice, “Why won’t you acknowledge me then?” As Danika looked puzzled, he had to lay it out, “Just make me your boyfriend, and I’ll have a good reason to send you to work.”
Without hesitation, she shook her head, coughed, and replied gravely, “I don’t dislike you as much as before, but…I can’t make you my boyfriend.”
“Why? Are you disappointed with me in any way?” he prodded with a determination to get to the bottom of it. His question made her speechless, for he was a perfect man that any woman would feel lucky to call her own.
She begged to differ. Eustace was remarkable, but she was a respectable self-made woman too. She wouldn’t prioritize him just because he was the CEO of Quincey Group. Although they got along well, Eustace didn’t feel like a boyfriend to her for some reason she couldn’t quite explain.
Under his intense gaze, she felt a little sorry for him. “I’m running late. Let’s talk about it next time.” She soon escaped, leaving him standing there alone with a bitter smile. He was always helpless around
Danika.
“Alright. I’ll keep working hard to win you over. Your heart will open up one day,” he mumbled, determined not to give up even after hearing her words.
On Danika’s way to work, she had a call with Stephanie Zelliot in the cab. Stephanie opined, “I think Eustace Quincey is a decent man. Look at how much effort he’s put in to win your heart! No other man will have such patience.”
Stephanie was not a fan of Eustace in the past, but she was quite touched by his actions lately. Moreover, he was a better man compared to Paul Wagner.
The thought of Paul dampened her mood.
Danika understood Stephanie’s sentiment but still didn’t feel like taking her relationship with Eustace to the next level. “Well, I feel like something’s missing. Yes, I agree that he treats me very well, but I don’t really feel like dating him.”
“Oh, I guess you don’t love him then. You don’t have romantic feelings for him,” Stephanie analyzed and concluded. There would be a stark difference in one’s behavior, depending on whether one was in love or not. If Danika was in love with him, she’d be rushing to go official with their relationship and announce it to the world. However, she must be ambivalent because she didn’t mind his advances but didn’t feel like getting into a relationship.
“Do I not love him?” Danika struggled with the definition of love. She had had one relationship in her college years that ended with a whimper. She wasn’t in love with Eustace, but her heart did flutter for him, especially…
She was reminded of his kiss, and her heart suddenly raced.
“Eustace Quincey is handsome, and he’s good to you. I’m surprised that you haven’t fallen for him. Danika, don’t you think your standards are too high?” At first, Stephanie thought that Danika had a grudge against Eustace because of the divorce, but it turned out that Danika truly didn’t have feelings for him.
That sounded almost impossible. Even though Stephanie didn’t like Eustace, she figured she would have been moved by Eustace’s daily acts of service and surrendered her heart to him over time. Anyway, that was a hypothetical scenario that would never happen to her.
She fell silent, wondering if she had impossible standards. During the conversation, she got off the cab and crossed the road to the hospital.
Walking across the pedestrian crossing, she was distracted by Stephanie’s chatter on the phone and was unaware of the incoming danger. A black car that had been waiting long at the intersection started moving and accelerating when Danika showed up, and it seemed to be headed in her direction.