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CHAPTER 31

EVEN though Cross was busy doing his job, his mind was full of what happened in Chloe's office earlier. He didn't want to leave her like that, sad and down, but he had no choice.

He already expected this to happen the moment their relationship got exposed but he didn't expect her father to be this serious that he even came all the way here to Tallahassee from Tennessee.

The corner of Cross' lips twitched knowing what would happen next.

"Cross?" Whatever he was thinking was interrupted by that voice. He turned his head to see who it was. Melanie. He stood up from repairing the doorknob.

"Oh, Hey, Melanie. It's been a while."

"Oh, Cross! It's really you! You're really back!" What she did next actually surprised him. She rushed towards him and threw her arms around him.

He chuckled. "I was only gone for two weeks but you're acting like we haven't seen each other for two years." She let go of him.

"Sorry for hugging you so suddenly. I was just happy to see you again."

"Really? I thought, you wouldn't say that because you were tired of my face already." She rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say anything of the sort. To be honest, I really missed you. I mean, you're the only guy friend I have here in Larsen Corp. and when you were on vacation for two weeks, I felt like something wasn't right with my day."

He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at her from head to toe. "Hmmm...You know what's wrong with you?" Her forehead crinkled.

"What?"

"You need a boyfriend so that you wouldn't feel like that whenever I'm not around. Maybe, you should give chance to that suitor of yours. I heard that he's been courting you for almost a year already." He said jokingly, referring to one of the company guards.

That guy had his eyes on Melanie and ever since he started working at Larsen Corp., he witnessed his efforts to pursue her even though the latter was always hot headed whenever she spots him.

"Dylan? For goodness' sake! It's better for me to stay single!" She even rolled her eyes which made him laugh.

"You know what? You're going to end up a spinster because of how picky you are. Nowadays, guys like Dylan are very rare. If he was another guy, he would've given up on you long time ago."

"Well, I've been asking him to find another woman to court but he never listened to me. Argh! He's really persistent!"

"So, you're choosing to be spinster instead of giving him a chance? If you don't really want him, why don't you try to find the right guy for you?"

"Well, it's better for me to be a spinster instead of trying to find the one for me instead of waiting for him to arrive because you usually find the wrong one when you're rushing things and I don't want that to happen to me. I can't live a life of regret because of poor choices." That made Cross smile and gently touched the top of her head like a kid.

"That's a very good kind of thinking. You're right. You shouldn't rush things and just enjoy your life being single because when the time comes that you're already married and have kids, you won't be able to experience the kind of freedom you're enjoying right now." Melanie laughed.

"Why do you sound like you already have a family or something?" It was his turn to laugh.

"I wish I have but I don't have it yet. Maybe, sooner than I expected?" Her eyes widened.

"You mean, you have someone right now?" He beamed at her.

"Secret. Anyway, I'm done repairing the doorknob here. I need to go get my things so that I could start my second job."

"You're really serious about replacing Albert for the meantime as a janitor?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I already started before leaving for my vacation and you know that."

"Yeah, but I thought you were going to eventually get tired of it."

"Of course, I won't. I'm not playing games here. Anyway, I need to go. You should go back to work too before your boss sees you here." He ruffled her hair and even though she tried to avoid his touch so that her hair wouldn't get messy, he still managed to do so.

"Hey, my hair!" Cross laughed and gathered his things.

"See you around, Melanie. Be a good girl." She sneered at him and his laugh became louder. Somehow, that made him feel better. While talking towards the elevator, the smile on his face faded when he saw someone exited the elevator and their gazes met.

Cross nodded his head at him, planning to just walk past him and then enter the elevator without saying anything but he spoke to get his attention.

"I heard that you've been on vacation for two weeks. Where did you go?" Cross looked at him and saw that he was looking at him as if he was trying to read his mind.

"Since when did you start caring about where I go on my vacation?" There was a tinge of sarcasm in Cross' voice and his eyes turned into slits.

"Isn't it a little too much of an incident that you have the same vacation leave dates with Chloe? Why do I feel like something is happening just under my nose yet I'm not aware about it?" Cross could tell what was going through his mind right now judging by his fiery gaze and it almost made him smirk tauntingly at him.

"Well, I had a great timing, I guess." His nostrils flared upon hearing Cross' answer.

"Get your dirty hands off her! I'm warning you. Whatever you're planning right now, stop it." Instead of getting intimated, Cross stared back at him with a sly smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what your problem is right now but I'll just pretend that I didn't have this conversation with you. Anyway, I need to go. I still have a lot of work to do." Cross walked past him and entered the elevator without looking back.

"I'm not done talking to you yet!"

"Well, I'm already done talking to you. Have a nice day, bror." He answered and then pressed the floor number that he was going to and the elevator door closed.

Everything has to change now. If he let him just have his way to everything in the past, not this time. He already gave up everything just for him. There wouldn't be any next time.

CROSS' forehead wrinkled when he entered the office of Chloe but she just looked at him coldly before continuing on with her work.

"Cariño?" He called her sweetly but didn't receive any response. She just continued on typing as if she didn't hear him. Instead of approaching her to ask if everything was okay, he decided to do his job first. By that time, she might be finished already, he thought to himself. Maybe, she was doing something important and didn't want to get interrupted.

Of course, he knew better than to act lovey-dovey with her at work. He knew that Chloe was a professional and serious with her work so he shouldn't take her time whenever he wants to.

He quickly did his work so that he would have enough time to talk to her. While vacuuming until mopping the floor, she didn't say anything as if he was nothing but air.

She didn't even look at him, not even once and that was when he realized that something was wrong.

When he finally finished, he took off his hand gloves and washed his hands thoroughly before finally approaching Chloe.

She wasn't done yet but he didn't care this time. He knew that there was something wrong so they should talk about it.

"Cariño..." He called for her but she ignored him as if he wasn't there just like earlier.

"Are you mad?" She just continued on doing what she was doing and he heaved a sigh. He walked towards the door and locked it, making sure that no one would disturb them.

When he went back to her table, she was already glaring at him.

"Let's talk."

"Can't you see how busy I am?" That was when his eyebrows knitted together. She really sounded mad. The way she was glaring at him says it all.

"I don't care. You've been ignoring me since a while ago and I will not leave this room without us talking."

"How dare you say that after not answering my calls and flirting with another woman?! Really, Cross?! I am just here in the same building but you dared flirting with another woman while here I was, trying to get a hold of you over and over again and yet, you've been ignoring me because you were busy with someone else!" She looked so mad while chiding at him like a tigress. His jaw dropped.

"What? Me? Flirting with another woman? When?" He even pointed at himself full of confusion. He was so excited to come up here to see her again but he didn't expect this turns of events.

"Stop acting clueless because I saw you with my own two eyes!" She stood up and was about to walk out of her office but he didn't let that happen.

He stopped her by the hand and pulled her to his waiting embrace.

"Let go of me! You—" Before she could finish, he already sealed her lips with a passionate kiss. She initially tried to push him away but he deepened the kiss until she finally stopped resisting. He didn't force her. He just wanted to calm her down so that they could talk.

When he finally let go of her lips, he was stunned when he saw her tears falling from her eyes. She quickly wiped them but it was already too late. He already saw it.

"Oh, God, cariño. Please, stop crying. You were wrong. I never flirted with any other women. I'm sure, this is just a misunderstand. C'mon, explain how you suddenly thought that I was cheating on you. Where did you see me flirting with someone else?"

"I saw you after you finished repairing the door in the Finance department. I saw you because I went to the conference room to attend a meeting. When the meeting was over, I tried calling you a couple of times because I wanted to ask if we would be having lunch together but you weren't picking up your phone.

"Then, unluckily, I saw you with one of the employees there in the Finance department! You were having fun flirting with her that you didn't even see me watching you two nearby."

"You were there?" Her face hardened.

"Yes, so don't you dare lie to me! I saw what I saw!" Cross remained looking at her in disbelief. She looked so angry and obviously jealous. This was his first time seeing her like this and he didn't know whether to get amused or to be nervous.

Then, he couldn't suppress his laugh and she glared at him and pushed him away.

"And you have the nerve to laugh at me?! Get out! Go on, cheat on me for all I care!"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, cariño, but I will not go out of this office without fixing this first."

"Yes, you will and don't bother coming back! Out!" She was really fuming now and that was when Cross turned serious.

"Cariño, I'm sorry, okay? But you're being unfair here. I guess, you're referring to Melanie but I'm telling you now. She's just a friend. She was the one who hugged me and I didn't expect it. Even though I was kinda surprised of what she did, I couldn't just push her away especially that she's not doing anything inappropriate.

"Melanie was just happy seeing me again after two weeks of being gone and that's just it. There's nothing going on between us. I'm sorry if missed your calls. My phone was on silent mode because it's not allowed for us to use our phones during work unless it's for emergency and work-related purposes. I'm sorry for making you cry like this. I didn't mean it, I swear. Please, forgive me?" She looked at him, obviously debating inside of her if she would believe him or not.

"Don't you trust me, cariño? You concluded right away and honestly, I'm hurt. I love you too much to cheat on you. God! I am not crazy to look for someone else because the woman of my dreams is already mine. My heart is already full and there's no place for someone else in it aside from you." She didn't respond. He heaved a sigh and slowly let go of her.

"Okay. I guess, we better discuss this tomorrow because your emotion is too high right now. I don't want to force you to talk about this if you're not ready yet. I still have to go to my next work. I'll call you tonight." He kissed her forehead before turning his back on her, was about to get his things and get out of there when she hugged him from behind.

"Don't go. Stay." He suppressed the urge to chuckle.

"I thought you wanted me to get out and leave you alone, hmmm?"

"No, I don't want you to."

"So, you're not mad anymore?" He felt her shake her head.

"No. I am not mad. I was just..." She paused.

"You were just what?" She didn't answer.

"Cariño, I'm waiting."

"I was so madly jealous, okay? I'm sorry if I concluded right away. Maybe because I already got traumatized of my past relationship that when I saw you being hugged by another woman like that, I got so scared not to mention jealous. Gosh! I've never thought that I was capable of getting jealous like this. I thought, I was confident with myself knowing that I'm enough for you but when I saw that scene, my vision darkened and my senses got covered with nothing but anger and jealousy." She admitted and Cross sighed. He unwrapped her arms around him and faced her.

"Do you really think that I would cheat on you just like your ex did to you? Do you see me like that?" She shook her head right away.

"Of course, not! You're nothing like him!"

His eyebrows arched. "If so, why did you conclude right away? You should've approached us and demand an explanation."

"I wanted to, but in the end, I couldn't because I hated it what I saw. Seeing you being hugged by another woman broke my heart and I so wanted to pull her away from you but my pride prevented me from doing so. I had to leave right away before I embarrassed myself in front of anyone." He pulled her by the waist until their bodies pressed together.

"Listen to me carefully, cariño. I'm not like him and will never be. Imagine, I've been praying you to be mine for years just to cheat on you now that you're finally mine? I'm not stupid. I love you too much to do that to you." He enveloped her in a tight embrace and she buried her face on his hard chest.

"Are you still mad?" He then asked sweetly after a couple of minutes. She shook her head. He chuckled.

"I can't believe how scary you are when you're jealous. I thought, you were going to pick up the vase and throw it at me just now."

"I was about to but I love you too much to hurt you like that." She tilted her head to look at him and cupped his face. "It would be such a waste if I hit your handsome face with a vase."

"Really? I'm handsome?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know that you are." He smiled.

"How handsome?"

"Hmmm...A little bit handsome?"

His eyebrows arched. "Oh, really, huh? I don't believe you and because of that, I'm going to make tell me the truth."

"By what?"

"By tickling you like." Before he could even start tickling her, she already squealed and ran away from him. He chased after her until they both fell in the couch. He was now on top of her and was about to tickle her but she surrendered.

"Okay, okay. I give up. Please, don't tickle me." She said while laughing.

"Sure. But I believe you have something to tell me." She sneered at him playfully.

"You know my answer to that. For me, you're the most handsome man on this planet."

"Hmmm. Really?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"

"Of course, I believe you, especially whenever I look at myself in the mirror."

"Oh, my god! The air around here is getting stronger! I think, it might blow me away!" He laughed heartily because of what she said. Eventually, she laughed with him.

Then, he turned serious as he caressed her cheek lovingly.

"I love you." A smile automatically appeared on her face upon hearing that. Her eyes were twinkling with total happiness.

"I love you too, cariño." Then they shared a sweet and gentle kiss.

"Cariño, I have something to ask you." Chloe said when their lips parted.

"What is it?"

"Can we please keep our relationship a secret for now? At least for a little while? I am afraid what dad would do to you the moment he discovers that you're my boyfriend." Cross wasn't even surprised because he already expected it.

"I told you; I can handle myself."

"I know that but you don't know my father, and you don't want to provoke him. Please, this is just temporary while I'm thinking of what to do next." She then chewed on her lower lip while waiting for his answer. She really looked problematic and worried of their situation.

Cross sighed in defeat. "Fine. If that's what you want, I'll respect it." Her face brightened.

"Oh, thank you for being so understanding, cariño!" She cupped his face and kissed him on the lips.

"Hmmm...I think, I should make you happy more often so that I could get a kiss like that whenever." She laughed and gently smacked his arm which made him laugh too.

At least, even though their situation was like that, they still managed to laugh and smile at each other and that was the most important thing.

CHLOE thought that her father would come back later that day but he didn't. He received a message from him that he needed to go back to Tennessee because of an emergency meeting. Because of that, she felt relieved. But even so, she and Cross were still careful.

The next days after that were so busy that she only saw Cross a couple of times and it was frustrating for her. Even though she wanted to eat lunch with him or go home together with him, they couldn't do it because she was afraid that her father's men were watching them.

Then, Friday came and she was excited for the weekend because she would be spending it with Cross. After her work, she quickly went out of her office and went straight to where she parked her car. She was about to open the passenger door to put her things inside when someone spoke behind her.

"Ms. Chloe." With furrowed eyebrows, she turned around and saw three men in black and she didn't need to ask who they were.

"What do you want?"

"Your father wants you to go home to Tennessee for the weekend because of an important matter." Her eyes squinted in anger.

"No! I don't want to go home! I already have plans!" She couldn't control her anger from bursting.

"I'm sorry, Miss. But you need to come with us. Please, come voluntarily because we don't want to force you." Desperately, she looked around, hoping for Cross to be there but she didn't see him. Of course, he wouldn't be there because he already left for his next work.

She knew his father. If she refused, these guys would surely force her to come with them and to make it worst, he might not let her to go back to Tallahassee anymore.

Because she was afraid to anger her father, she didn't have a choice but to go with them. As they drove out of there, she wanted to cry. Her most awaited weekend with Cross got cancelled and worst, of all, she would be leaving Florida without his knowledge. Cariño...

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Do you think Chloe could still go back to Florida after this?

What do you think is the reason why Chloe's father want her to go home for the weekend?

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