THE HAPPY

Loving you's the antidote,
Golden.

***

CHAPTER XLVII

*****

“YOU WANT TO know something, amor?” Daniel asked, making me halt what I had been doing on my phone to look at him. By now we were on his bed, still cuddled up next to each other because Daniel refused to let go. According to him, I was "soft" which I took to mean fat but it was okay.

“What?”

“I always did want to marry you from the start,” he admitted, making me turn off my phone and look down at the curly mop of hair on his head with my eyebrows raised. “From the very beginning, yeah okay, I'll admit, I just wanted to fuck you but after that... like two days after that, I wanted to marry you.”

“Daniel...” I trailed off, not really wanting to hear the story of our relationship from his point of view.

“No, I need to tell you,” he said, sitting up so he could lie beside me and look me straight in the eye. “I need to make sure you know everything and you forgive me for everything.” I let out a deep breath before nodding my head and letting him continue. “I knew Lucien had an arranged marriage for me but the thing was that if I found someone to marry myself, I wouldn't have to marry Celeste who I didn't like. So I pursued you in hopes that in the future, you'd become my wife.”

“What?” I asked, shock. Daniel did show a weird interest in me despite the fact that he told me that I wasn't special to him but I thought it was only because he wanted to fuck and nothing else. The ulterior motives behind his actions didn't seem as bad as I thought if he truly just wanted to marry me to escape an arranged wife. “But why me though?”

“For a lot of reasons,” he said, letting out a deep troubled breath that let me know this was not going to be the story of our love. “I was fond of you. I knew you. You were Pablo's sister and you saved me when I almost died,” he confessed, but I couldn't be so dumb to think that that was it. Our love could never be so innocent. Not when it was tainted in so much blood. “I studied you and I knew you wouldn't get me into much trouble as my wife. But the main reason why I chose you,” he said, making me gnaw on my bottom lip as I waited for the jaw dropping thing that made him the villian in all of this, “was because I realised that you were stupidly loyal to me. It didn't take me long to notice that you loved me and... I wanted to use that to make sure you stayed...”

“Devoted to you?” I finished for him since it seemed he really couldn't finish it himself. “So I wouldn't rebel against you and would fall to your every beck and call.”

“I never wanted to put you in danger,” he quickly said, wanting to quell my worries. “I mean, I wasn't going to take advantage of you or use you. You were just the most... logical,” he struggled to say, “because then I would be married without having to worry about you backstabbing me or lying to me or cheating. I knew a marriage of convenience would work better with you because you wouldn't give me trouble. I was going to take care of you and give you everything you needed, but I never planned to fall in love with you. That is until I did.”

I let out a breath and turned onto my back to stare up at the ceiling. It wasn't lost on me that Daniel had been using me during the course of our relationship although I didn't know it would've been for this reason, yet it made sense. Daniel didn't trust anyone yet my unwavering and quite frankly naïve loyalty to him made him trust me. Or at least made him trust the fact that I wouldn't ever go against him. I was an asset to him.

“I don't know how I feel, Daniel,” I admitted yet he had said nothing. I wasn't sure why, but in my head, him using me to fill in as his wife for his own personal gain was much worse than him using me as a toy. “But it's in the past and I'm willing to work past that if you are,” I said, finally turning around to look at him. I didn't want to dwell on the past right now and the fact that he was telling me about this, taking me out of the dark and letting me know everything showed that there was a real difference between then and now. Old Daniel would've left it a secret he took to his grave. “I just need to know if you purposely—”

“No,” Daniel said quickly, immediately knowing where I was getting at. “Mateo was completely by accident. I didn't get you pregnant on purpose. I swear. Honest to God, I thought you were on birth control.”

“In our economy?” I asked, surprised that he thought I would have the funds for that. Although, granted I did have quite a pot of money saved up but if I wasn't sexually active, I was hardly going to spend it at the doctor's office. “Do I look like I'm made of money?”

“We should've talked,” Daniel sighed, caressing the side of my face as he thought back on all the things we could've done better back then. “I would've taken care of the bill.” He stayed quiet for a bit before a small smile graced his lips. “But now we have Mateo and I really wouldn't change that.”

“Speaking of the absolute love of my life, I have to go pick him up from daycare soon,” I said, sitting up which prompted him to sit up with me. “You'll come with me?”

“It's about time I find out where this daycare even is,” he said, joining me in putting on his shoes. He kept his sweatpants on and instead threw on a plain white t-shirt before taking my hand in his. As he tried to walk out the bedroom door, I stayed rooted in my spot, remembering something that made made freeze. He turned back around to look at me with his brows furrowed in confusion and with his hand still in mine, he came closer to me.

“What's wrong?” he asked, making me purse me lips as I debated telling him before realising that there was probably no way I would be able to lie myself out of this situation anyway. He knew something was bothering me and he wasn't going to leave me alone until he found out what and eliminated the problem. That was Daniel for you.

“Lucien kissed me,” I finally confessed, remembering the man that had made me so angry, I had almost brought him to a gruesome and painful death. “He came to my house a few days ago and threatened me and then kissed me by force.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at me as I watched him closely and carefully. “He did what?” he asked, coming closer while I took a step back instinctively. Daniel grabbed my waist before I could get very far and pulled me right back into him, bringing our chest together as he asked again. “He did what, Araceli?”

“He threatened and kissed me,” I said with slight hesitation which had made Daniel let out a low humourless chuckle before he finally let go of me and walked around me back to his bed.

I could tell that he was seething and if I was stupid, I would've convinced myself that he was angry at me, but as he made his way to the drawer in his nightstand and took out the loaded gun he kept there, I was made very aware just who it was he was truly angry at and safe to say, that person was not me. He began to make his way out the door, but that was when I had jumped straight into action.

“Wait, Daniel,” I said, stopping him from walking out the door and almost shivering at the look he had given me. “Where are you going?”

“Where does it look like I'm going?” he asked back, trying to make his way past me but I only remained in front of the door, preventing him from walking out. The most he could do to me was pick me up and move me but I would only block him again. “Get out of my way.”

“No, you want to kill him, don't you? You want to shoot him?”

“It's about time, don't you think, amor?” he asked, making me narrow my eyes at him and ignore the way my stomach filled with butterflies. Nothing was going to change; I loved angry Daniel way more than what was probably safe, but I needed to stand my ground.

“Don't call me amor when you're in this kind of a mood,” I warned him, but he only smirked at me, an amused look in his eyes as he slowly approached me.

“But I thought you liked it when I'm like this,” he said, gently running his fingers against my cheek before tracing down to my neck which I had so badly wanted him to grab. As if reading my thoughts, he gently wrapped his fingers around my neck and pulled me closer to him so he could brush his lips delicately against mine. “You don't like it when I kill for you, amor?”

“You think you can seduce me to get past me, don't you?” I asked, immediately catching him out which only made his smirk widen as he suddenly picked me up and tossed me as if I weighed nothing onto the bed. “Daniel!”

I quickly got up and walked to catch up with him as he made his way out of his bedroom and towards the front door. Before he could open it, I maneuvered around him, blocking him access from the door again but instead of just standing there and waiting for him to move me, I locked the door, took the keys and stuffed them in my bra which made Daniel smile and roll his eyes at my efforts.

“You're making this too easy, Lee,” he laughed as one hand grabbed my waist while the other one rested against my stomach. He roughly pulled me to him, but before he could reach for the keys I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him down to my level and placed my lips against his.

Daniel dug his fingers into my skin, not hesitating to kiss me back and ignoring the way I was slowly coercing him away from the door.

“Will you listen to me?” I asked, breaking the kiss and pulling away from him even as he leaned in to try and kiss me again. “Will you listen to me, my love?” I asked, gently prying the gun out of his hold and placing it on the side table away from him.

Daniel let out a sigh and placed his head against my forehead as he closed his eyes but finally he spoke. “I don't want to hear you defend him,” he confessed, but I only shook my head and placed my hand on his cheek.

“I won't defend him. I know he's a horrible person and a completely irredeemable man, but I don't want you to go anywhere near him,” I said, making him open his eyes and frown at me. “He told me to tell you to go talk to him but Daniel, I have such a bad feeling in my heart.”

“You think he'll hurt me?”

“I don't know. I know his request to see you is nothing out of the ordinary,” I confessed, not wanting to sound paranoid even though it was exactly what I was, “but I have a bad feeling and you know me by now. I rarely ever have these kinds of feelings but when I do, it's never wrong. Don't let him get you alone.”

Daniel looked conflicted, seeming like he wanted to do absolutely anything to make me happy but also wanting to go and put his father in his place. I understood that he had a massive bone to pick with Lucien, but that would have to wait until the people who were trying to get me were swiftly taken care of. Not now. We couldn't trust anyone in this time and I especially didn't trust Lucien. Who's to know if he was even the one that ordered for me to be trafficked? The only thing that didn't make me suspect him much was because of the fact that he would have made sure that much worse would've happened to me on that ship.

“Amor,” Daniel sighed, his hands still holding me tightly as he debated with himself.

“Please, Daniel,” I pleaded, forcing him to look into my eyes until he had finally let out a sigh and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Thank you,” I said, kissing his lips. “I love you so much,” I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into me for a hug. He loosely wrapped his arm around me before bringing his lips to my ear and speaking softly to me.

“I'm still seething, Araceli. I want to hurt him.”

“Hurt me,” I said, a smirk coming onto my face as I turned to look at him so our lips were only inches apart. I kissed him again before placing kisses along his jaw and his neck, making him clench his jaw as his hands squeezed my waist. “You have an hour to make me scream as loud as you want me to.”

“Are you sure?” he asked despite me tugging at the hemline of his shirt for him to remove it. I only bit my lip and nodded, making him grab my chin and forcing me to look into his deep, brown eyes. “What's you safe word?” he asked, making me immediately recall the safe word that I had come up with almost six months ago.

“Cloud.”

He let out a satisfied hum but said nothing else before picking me up, wrapping my legs around his waist and walking me back into his bedroom.

I was going to be left sore after this.

***

I sat at the head of the table, looking over Pablo, Emma and Daniel as they all sat in awkward silence. It seemed like I was the only person who wasn't affected by the conversation at hand, but then I figured it was because I wasn't the person just finding out that their ex girlfriend or sister was pregnant and I also wasn't the one who was pregnant. That begged the question, why was I there? As for the answer, I wasn't really sure but I assumed it was to get some sort of perspective on the situation. After all, I was the only young mother present and if Emma was about to be one too, it would make sense to at least have me. That was how I rationalised it, but I would've preferred to be anywhere else than sitting here.

“How far along are you?” Pablo finally spoke up after a long few minutes of silent staring passed us. Emma looked up from her hands to him who was sitting on the opposite side of the table to her. I sat at the head because why wouldn't I? Daniel stood not too far behind me.

“Five months,” she answered quietly before looking back down at her fingers. With the way she dressed, I wouldn't have been able to tell if she was pregnant if I hadn't already known which explained how Pablo had gone so long completely oblivious. She should've told him sooner.

“Have you had a check up?” he asked, making Emma silently shake her head.

“Not yet.”

“Go for one.”

“I can't,” she said, shaking her head as worry shone in her eyes. Clearly she was scared Lucien would find out about it and cause even more issues. “I don't want—”

“I'll take care of it. Just make sure you're both alright,” Pablo cut her off, already knowing what she was getting at. I only sat silently at the table and watched since I had no good advice to give and nobody was asking me anyway. “They don't know yet?”

“Lucien's been too busy to notice and Pierre is visiting his parents. He's not in the country,” she answered, showing that nobody but the people in Daniel's kitchen was aware of her pregnancy yet. At least, that still left her in some realm of safety.

“Sad,” Daniel said in a low voice behind me. “He would've been dead by now.”

“Who's is it?” Pablo asked, making Emma shake her head and look down in what I took to be shame. She seemed like she wanted to cry. Like she wanted to be anywhere else but here with us.

“I don't know.”

Pablo narrowed his eyes at her words and leaned forward, clearly confused but also seeming to be hurt at the possibility that maybe she had been lying to him about something. “What do you mean you don't know?” he asked, sounding like he was teetering on the edge of a steep cliff. “You've been sleeping with him too?”

“He's been making me,” she quickly defended herself making Pablo and Daniel stare at her with an indescribable look on the both of their faces. They seemed confused and angry but mainly confused until realisation slowly dawned on them. After that, it was just anger.

“He's been—” Daniel cut himself off, seemingly finding it difficult to compute the information Emma had just dropped for them before shaking his head and moving on to a more important matter. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“It's embarrassing,” she said, turning to look at him with red eyes, brimming with unshed tears. “I was so happy when I first met him. I thought he was so good and now he's...”

“Emma,” Pablo sighed, making her look to him, “I don't care who the father is. I just want you to know that I'm not planning on abandoning you or the baby,” he said, making my heart break for the both of them but Emma didn't seem to share the same sentiment.

“But you broke up with me though,” she pointed out, just barely concealing the way her voice wobbled. She tried hard to hold Pablo's gaze without bursting into tears, but then a singular one slipped from her eyes down her cheek, making her angrily wipe it away with a small sniffle.

“I did,” he admitted dejectedly, sounding like he deeply regretted his actions. I bet he did. “It was because you wouldn't leave him. I thought that you liked him,” he said, burying his head in his hands with clear anger at himself. “Now that I know you couldn't leave him, I just want to make everything right between us again.”

“I don't care anymore, Pablo,” she said, making my heart physically hurt at the heartbroken look that had quickly taken over Pablo's face at her words. I had never seen him look so hurt. “All I need is for the both of you to get me out of this situation I'm in with Lucien so I can be on my own and raise my baby, okay?” she said as she got up and picked up her hand bag. “I'm tired of these games.”

Without another word said to any of us, she made her way out of Daniel's kitchen and walked out of the apartment, leaving us staring after her. I couldn't help but think of how much of a waste that was. I didn't even say anything at all so what was the point of having me here? The second Pablo turned to me with bloodshot eyes, I knew I was about find out what my role was.

“Ara,” he said, his voice already coming out pleading despite only having said my name. “Ara, please talk to her for me. She looks up to you. She'll listen to what you say,” Pablo begged, making me sigh and look away, but he grabbed my chair and turned it around to face him so I was forced to look at him.

“You told me to stay out of this, Pablo,” I said with my jaw clenched. He nodded his head, accepting that he had been wrong but continued to plead with me anyway.

“I know, but—”

“I warned you.” I said through gritted teeth, narrowing my eyes at him as he hung his head in shame. “I warned you and you told me to stay out. I'm staying out like you asked.”

“Celi, please,” he begged, his desperation as clear as day. “I know, I didn't listen to you. I was wrong and I was stupid, but please just help me talk to her. Please.”

I let out a small breath, closed my eyes and sent a quick prayer up to the Lord before opening them back up again and looking at Pablo. With a dejected sigh, I said. “It's fine. I'll help you.”

“Thank you,” he said, wrapping his arms around my shoulder and pulling me in for a hug that seemed a bit too tight. I didn't complain though. I figured he needed the comfort. “Thank you so much. I owe you my life.”

His words seemed normal, but it only solidified to me just how much Emma meant to him. She was his life. No matter how hard they tried to distance themselves from each other, they always seemed to come right back.

“It's okay,” I sighed, patting his back softly. “You're my brother. If I don't help you, who will I help?”

***

“How did the scan go?” I asked Emma as we walked through the maternity section and browsed through clothes that she could possibly like to wear. It was a couple weeks after the whole fiasco that happened at Daniel's dining table and we all seemed somewhat calmer now. Emma had asked me to help her shop for things for the baby and maternity wear since she had no idea what she was doing. I refrained from telling her that I had no idea what I was doing either and instead used it as an opportunity to help Pablo.

“It was fine,” she said before holding up a cute little pink dress with matching pink shoes that had my heart melting into a puddle at my feet. God, I wanted another baby so bad. “Is this good?”

“It's for a six month old, Emma, but I'd say buy it.”

She gave me a weird look and slowly lowered the dress, making me return the look she was giving. “There probably isn't that much difference between a newborn and six month old,” she tried to say, but I immediately shut her down by shaking my head.

“You'd be surprised,” I said, painfully remembering how I had purchased a months supply of diapers for six month olds when Teo had only been a couple weeks old. Thankfully, they came in handy when he had finally grown into them. “Babies grow rapidly. Here look at this one.” I held up a cute yellow outfit with white flowers printed on it and a cute cream cardigan.

“Oh my God, that's so cute,” she gushed, immediately dropping the dress she was holding and admiring the one I held up. “It's so tiny,” she said before her hand came to her stomach which looked more like she was just really bloated. It would've fooled me if I didn't know but then again, it never really did take much to fool me. Slowly, she met my gaze, her eyes thoughtful. “Am I making a mistake?”

Her question had caught me off guard, leaving me staring at her like a fish pulled out of water before I finally got my bearings about me and let out an exhausted breath. “I can't tell you what to do, Emma, or if you're making a mistake or not. That's up to you,” I said as I turned around to look at the clothes in front of me. “I can only tell you how it had been for me and hope you do what's right for you.”

“How had it been for you?” she asked, walking up to me until she was right beside me, looking into the same basket of baby clothes that I was.

“It was hard,” I said quietly as I recalled how painful everything had been for me when I had Teo. “It was beautiful, but it was hard. I had a large support of people there to help me and it still felt so draining at times.” I looked to her, not sure what else I was supposed to say to make her understand but hoped she could see it in my eyes. “I'm not saying you need to forgive Pablo immediately, Emma, but isolating yourself from your supports is not going to help. Pablo loves you and you love him too, what's stopping you?”

“This is the second time he's broken up with me,” she said, her voice coming out wobbly and tears brimming her eyes as she looked down at the clothes basket. “Every time he's left me, it's hurt so much. If I let him in this time, I don't want to risk him leaving me and hurting me again. It's like doing the same thing every time and expecting a different outcome.”

“I understand that,” I said, truly empathising with her position. I wasn't sure how much I would've trusted Daniel if he kept breaking up with me and then weazling his way back into my life. “I'd say accept his help first. Accept our help,” I said, placing my hand over her hand as she let out an exhausted breath. “Then you can really talk to him because that's what the both of you need to do and be completely honest with each other.”

She turned to me, a small reluctant smile on her face as she gripped my hand tighter. “Thank you, Ara.”

“It's fine,” I said, shaking off her words as I returned her smile. “I'm only being to you the person that I wish I had when I was in your position. It's fine.”

***

Emma moved in with Daniel.

She couldn't move in with me for reasons I did not know but I suspected that it was because they were trying to keep my location as secret as possible. She also couldn't move in with Pablo because of the issues they already had with each other so to keep her away from Lucien and Pierre, she packed her stuff and stayed with Daniel. At least nobody except Pablo and me knew where she was.

She had been living there for two months now and I couldn't help but notice how Daniel seemed to be spending more time at my house. Mateo couldn't be there with him as much as he used to be because Emma needed as calm as an environment as possible, so he spent time with Mateo at my place. As well as that, I supposed he wanted to see me more because there seemed to be no other reason for him to be over almost all the time, including the times when Teo was at daycare. I figured it was because Emma needed space from him. Afterall, when Daniel wasn't with her, Pablo was and that seemed to keep her happy and safe.

This time, Daniel remained in his apartment and I had been the one to come see him. It was late at night, about half nine but it was the time that Daniel had asked me to show up so that's when I showed up. I had barely raised my hand to knock on his door before it swung open, revealing him dressed in a pair of black suit pants and a black shirt which had the first three buttons undone, revealing his tattooed chest and the chain I gifted him that he wore religiously now.

“Somebody is eager to see me,” I joked as I wrapped my arms around him in a small hug, allowing him to press a kiss to my cheek before he pulled away.

“Today is special,” he said as he guided me into his home and closed the door behind me. The door leading into the living area was closed but before I could open it, Daniel took my hand in his and pulled me back to him, leaving us standing in the dark hallway. “I booked a reservation at a restaurant,” he said, making me raise a surprised eyebrow, “and I cooked dinner so you decide where we eat.”

I bit down on my bottom lip and wrapped my arms around his neck, making him place his hand on my waist as he looked down at me. “What's all this for?” I asked, making him roll his eyes at me.

“I knew this would happen,” he said only furthering my confusion. “What day is it today, amor?” he asked, making me shrug. I didn't know what date it was because in all honesty, I only had one date in mind and that was the day my boutique would finally be open to the public. I had been working tirelessly on it and it was beginning to wear me down, but the open date was so soon it motivated me to keep going.

“I don't know. What day is it?” I asked, making him raise his eyebrow at me.

“Twenty-fourth of August,” he said plainly, allowing me to finally make the connections in my head. I took a step back, my eyes wide and my mouth dropped in surprise as I finally realised. “Happy birthday, Lee,” Daniel said, chuckling at the look on my face. “You look absolutely stunning today.”

I looked down at the satin dress I had on before looking back at him and hitting his arm in annoyance.

“What the hell? Why didn't you tell me?” I asked, but he only shrugged, took my hand in his and led me into the sitting room which had it's lights dimmed and large vases of rose placed all around the place. He walked me to the kitchen where he had a candle lit in the middle of the table that was set for two people to eat. “Daniel...” I began, unable to push out what I had to say. “It's beautiful.”

“So I take it you want to stay here then?” he questioned, again drawing me in closer to him as I nodded my head. “I'll push back the reservation then. Another day, I'll take you out for dinner. Whenever you want.”

“Is Emma in?” I asked, but he only shook his head making me feel more comfortable because I had every intention of fucking the living shit out of this man by the end of the night and I would prefer his sister didn't hear.

Daniel disappeared into the kitchen for a bit, presumably to call the restaurant but then he walked out a couple minutes later with two wineglasses in one hand and a bottle of expensive wine in the other. He placed them on the table before pulling a chair out for me to sit down and then sitting down in the chair next to me.

“Are you happy?” he asked as he opened the wine and poured a glass for me and then himself.

I took another look at the intricately decorated room before turning to him, my eyes still wide and my heart still beating rapidly in his chest. “I'm so happy, Daniel. You've outdone yourself,” I said, but it only made him give me a weird look before he shook his head and chuckled.

“I plan only to spoil you, Lee,” he said, the humour in his voice hard to miss. “If you think this is me outdoing myself, you should prepare yourself for the rest of the life you're going to spend with me because this is only the beginning. Now drink your wine, mi reina.”

I did as he said with no objections, allowing myself to savour the strong, but sweet taste of the wine while he went back to the kitchen to bring out the "first course". And he said he hadn't outdone himself.

***

After I had finished my meal, I wasted no time in wrapping my arms around Daniel's neck and pulling him down to my level for a kiss. He chuckled against my lips and placed his hand on my waist, but much to my surprise instead of drawing me closer, he gently pushed me back.

“You don't want to fuck?” I asked, but he only turned me around, wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and began walking me up the stairs to his room.

“I want to fuck you, amor,” he said into my ear, his deep voice doing very bad things to my self respect as I creamed my underwear. “I want to fuck you so bad, believe me, I do. But later.” That was all he said as he continued to lead me up the stairs, his arms still tightly wound around me even as he walked me down the hall until I was right in front of his door. “Open the door,” he told me, making me fold my arms over my chest.

“What if I don't?” I asked haughtily, but then the feel of his hands wrapped tightly around my neck, had made my stomach drop and and my attitude abandon me.

“Open the door, Araceli.”

Without anymore protest, I pulled open the handle and stepped in, switching on the light as I did so only for my mouth to drop at what met me. The room was decorated with roses and pink flower petals and on his bed was an abundance of different gift bags from different high end stores all addressed to me.

“Christ, Daniel, how long did this take for you to do?” I asked as I walked out of his arms and approached the bed, picking up a small bag and looking into it only to find what I was guessing would be the velvet box of a new watch. If I were to guess, the gift bags would be full of different clothes, jewellery, new shoes and perfumes.

“Just a couple hours,” he answered as if it was no big deal, making me turn around to him with a blank expression, ready to tell him how it was not "just" a couple hours, yet what I had seen next had made my heart leap and my breath hitch in my chest.

He was kneeling in front of me with a small velvet box in his hands.

“What are you doing?” I asked cautiously as I took a step back, my heart beating in my chest at the sight of him. I already knew what he was doing.

He laughed at my reaction and shook his head as if he wasn't surprised that I would act like this. “I already told you I would do this. Why are you surprised?” he asked me, to which I could barely produce an answer for. Why wouldn't I be surprised? “Ven a mi, amor.”

“Daniel, I—”

“Come to me,” he said again cutting off whatever excuse I had brewing in my throat. I hesitantly made my way over to him and slipped my hand into his outstretched hands. “You're so beautiful, you know that right?”

“With the way you're always telling me I am, I'd have to believe you I guess,” I said, making him laugh as he held my hand tightly in his.

“I love you so much, amor,” he said, his voice lower and so much more serious as he held my gaze with an intensity I had never knew I needed from him. “If I lost you, I would die. You're such an integral part of my life now.” He let his thumb roam over the back of my hand as he smiled up at me. “I have to see you, talk to you everyday just to feel accomplished. You make me so happy. So so fucking happy and you've given me so much in the couple years that I've none you than I had ever received my whole life. Ara,” he said softly, drawing me back to him as I turned away to hide the way my tears were trailing down my cheeks. “Araceli Constantine Cruz, my love, look at me. Let me see your eyes.” I reluctantly looked at him, trying to hide the way I was sniffling but he only shook his head in amusement. “When you met me, I was rich,” he said as if agreeing, “but you've truly made my a wealthy man and there's nothing I could ever do to repay all you've done for me, but at least let me try. Will you marry?”

I took a deep breath, nodding my head up and down feverishly as I tried to force the words out of my mouth but the ball lodged in my throat made it difficult for me to do about anything. “Yes,” I finally squeezed out, my voice coming out as a squeak as tears continued to run down my cheeks like rivers. “Yes, I'll marry you.”

Daniel, finally letting the nerves take over him, carefully slipped the ring onto my ring finger with shaky hands before letting out a breath. Slowly he rose himself to his feet and pulled me into his chest for a big hug, making me cry into his chest in absolute happiness.

“I love you,” I sobbed, looking at the diamond ring on my finger before looking up at his handsome face. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, amor,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before kissing my lips so gently, “and you don't understand  how happy you've made me just now.” He held my hand in his, interlocking our fingers while he stared deeply into my eyes and smiled, letting his thumb wipe away the tears on my cheek. “Everyday, I'm going to work so hard and do all I can to make you happy. I give you my word.”

And I believed him.

*****

Not the way I said I would be updating twice a week possibly and then I just disappear.

All I do is lie.

Lol but jokes jokes I've just been stuck on writing the chapter after this one so it delayed me publishing thus one. I still don't have the next chapter written but I've got two chapters AFTER it written so that shows you how much of a pain the next chapter is.

I don't really have much else to say so yall stay safe and hopefully I'll be able to post something again this week.

Bye!

Also, wait. Thanks so much for the kind words. I've been seeing them in this book and I truly do appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks also for getting me to 2K followers.