Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion >>
“Zack, what do you want to eat? I’ll prepare more food, and we can have a drink together later,” Eustace suggested. He was supposed to be Danika’s acquaintance, yet he behaved like he was the man of the house.
Although Zack had already accepted Eustace, he was still not used to him calling him by his first name. “I’m fine with anything. Don’t put yourself through too much trouble.”
“Alright, why don’t you guys take a seat first? The food will be ready soon.” With that, Eustace returned to the kitchen, resuming his cooking.
Seeing Eustace alone in the kitchen, Danika felt a little sorry. “Please take a seat while I help him out in the kitchen,” she told her brothers
“Go, go” Zack waved her away. “We’re all family. There’s no need to be so polite.”
With that, Danika left the living room and headed to the kitchen. However, Gilbert’s face darkened because of what Zack had just said. “What do you mean? When did Eustace become part of our family?”
“Isn’t it a matter of time? Look at them; they’re bound to get married again.” With a smile, Zack intentionally took a jab at Gilbert’s sore spot. He wanted Gilbert to understand that it was impossible for him to be with Danika
“Don’t you know how Eustace treated Danika? How can you support him, Zack? Do you really treat Danika as your sister? Gilbert scolded. He was already angry the moment he saw Eustace in Danika’s house, and Zack’s words only added fuel to the fire.
Zack shrugged, saying, “She’s my sister, so I wish nothing but happiness for her.”
“Eustace can’t give her happiness!” Gilbert spat.
“He can’t give it to her, but can you?” Zack stopped smiling and turned to look coldly at his brother. “I’ve told you so many times, and I thought you would take at least a little bit of my advice, but I guess I was wrong Well, I think it doesn’t matter who Danika ends up with. All that matters is her happiness. As her brother, I will always support her What about you? Will you support her?”
Gilbert gritted his teeth, his expression was ugly “Since it doesn’t matter who she is with, can’t she be with me?”
“She can’t!” Zack was frustrated. “Danika won’t accept you. She won’t ever be with you.”
“How do you know that? I never tried to pursue her, Gilbert retorted
“Wasn’t her reaction obvious enough? Do you really want her to become a stranger to you?” Zack spat, fuming and wondering why Gilbert couldn’t understand the situation.
Gilbert was silent. Zack was right, Danika’s reaction said it all. Nonetheless, his heart would not rest.
The brothers fell quiet, and neither attempted to break the silence. When Danika and Eustace came out of the kitchen, they realized something was amiss.
“What’s wrong? Danika asked, a little baffled
Zack shook his head. “Nothing” He walked to the dining table to look at all the food they had prepared, exclaiming. “Eustace made all of this?”
“Yeah” Danika nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. “Zack, you already know I don’t know how to cook.” “That’s right. I’ve never seen you cook once.” Zack had no doubt that Eustace made all the food. He looked at the dishes on the table before turning to Eustace in disbelief. “I never imagined the mighty Mr. Quincey would be such a good chef.”
*Coine on Take a seat and try my food. If it tastes good, come back again next time.” Eustace grinned as he poured Zack a glass of wine.
Glancing at him, Danika wondered why he was acting like it was his house. However, she decided to let it go Given that he had cooked so many dishes, Danika decided not to argue
Everyone took a seat except Gilbert Danika turned to him and called, “Gilbert, come and eat.”
“Okay.” Although he didn’t want to eat Eustace’s food, he didn’t want to leave just like that. If he left, who knew what would happen between Danika and Eustace?
Even though he was reluctant to linger any longer, he decided to stay, refusing to give them the slightest chance.
Eustace couldn’t be bothered with Gilbert. In the past, he considered Gilbert as a potential threat. However, after the way Danika reacted to her brother, he was completely at ease. However, since Danika was around, he couldn’t make his dislike of Gilbert too obvious. Hence, he poured Gilbert a glass of wine. “Would you like a drink?”
“Yeah.” Gilbert didn’t think that Eustace could hold alcohol better than him.
The three men downed their glasses while Danika ate her food. Danika thought how cozy the moment would’ve been if Gilbert hadn’t done what he did. The three men continued drinking, till the point that they were becoming a little tipsy.
Seeing that, she was a little worried. “Stop drinking and have some food,” she said, feeling helpless at the sight of them downing glass after glass. However, they insisted on drinking. One might even think that they were in a drinking competition. Danika then ignored them and headed to the sofa to sketch her designs.
An hour later, Eustace and Zack blacked out from drinking. Gilbert, on the other hand, was still awake. “Danika, *he called, getting up and approaching her.
“Gilbert?” Danika noticed that Zack and Eustace were sprawled on the table. “Why did you drink so much?”
“Danika,” Gilbert called her again, which brought Danika an ominous feeling.
She turned around and met Gilbert’s gaze. As she had expected, Gilbert was not looking at her the way a brother would. However, it was a deep, tantalizing gaze that begged for love.
Danika wasn’t moved. Instead, she felt a chill. “You’re drunk. Go and sleep in the room.” She had two guest rooms in her apartment, so both Gilbert and Zack could stay over.
Instead of leaving, Gilbert approached Danika, asking, “Danika, do you hate me that much?”
“I don’t hate you.” Danika shook her head.
“Then why can’t you give me a chance? I can do everything Eustace can do, and I can even do it better than him.” Perhaps because he was drunk, Gilbert didn’t stop himself from speaking his mind.
Danika frowned in response, displeased. “But you’re my brother.”
“I don’t want to be your big brother. At least I don’t want to be your brother for the rest of my life.” Staring at her, Gilbert couldn’t hold himself back anymore. “Danika, I like you. I have liked you since the first time I saw you. You don’t know how difficult it was for me to hide my feelings all these years.”
Danika stood there, frozen. “Since you hid your feelings for so many years, why didn’t you continue to hide them? Why do you want me to know?” She wished she had never found out about his feelings, as he stopped being her elder brother the moment it happened.
“I wanted to hide them for the rest of my life, but I couldn’t do it anymore,” Gilbert said with a wry smile.” You don’t know how it pained me to see you and Eustace getting closer. He hurt you so much, yet you still want to get close to him. How could I bear to watch? I wondered why couldn’t you accept me when you could accept him. Unlike him, I never hurt you.” He just wanted a chance to pursue Danika openly. Unfortunately, Danika refused to give him the opportunity.
“Aren’t you hurting me right now?” Danika asked, her eyes tearing up as she looked at him. Wasn’t he hurting her by destroying the siblingship they had shared for so many years? In Danika’s opinion, Gilbert had hurt her a hundred times more than Eustace ever did.