The room was dark except for the faint yellow glow of the lamp from the nightstand. The sinking of the mattress next to Alianna caused her to flutter her eyes open and she saw Caleb looking at her with eyes full of concern. It made her feel weak and embarrassed, she never wanted for him to see her in that state. And it was too late to hide now.
"Hey How are you feeling?" Caleb placed a warm hand on her arm, stroking it gently as he waited for her to say sothing.
Alianna breathed out deeply before she pushed herself up and faced him. She felt nervous as she gathered her thoughts, forcing herself to sound normal. "I'm okay now. How did you know? Did Damien call you? I told him not to"
He was quick to shake his head and recounted how he found out. He was glad that the General Manager inford him as soon as a complaint was made he would have hated himself if he had not known about what happened.
Carefully, he cupped her chin with his fingers and lifted it up, her cheek showing early bruising. "Why didn't you co to ?"
"Are you kidding? Why would I?" She softly waved his hand away and sighed. "I couldn't show up in front of you looking like this, Cay First, it's embarrassing. Second, I just don't want you to think my relationship was a failure."
"We've known each other since we were kids, Li How could you still be embarrassed? Around of all people?"
Alianna softly chuckled. She and Caleb called each other differently compared to other people around them. Calling each other by their pet nas when they were still together should be nostalgic. However, at that mont, it was bittersweet. It was a warm kind of feeling mixed with an unknown source of ache.
"It's different and you know it. We weren't just friends... We were together. I don't think telling your ex that you have a problem with your current lover is sothing you would do so casually." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Most recent ex"
"Has he abused you the entire ti you were together?" Caleb wondered. He didn't want to believe that Alianna was the martyr type.
"God, no! For the seven months that we've been together, he never hit and the only argunts we had before now were very petty. So I never suspected him Seeing him like that was a shock for too."
Caleb clenched his jaw. He had learned from Damien about what exactly happened that night and a part of him felt guilty. But after what happened, he was also relieved that she didn't end up with that guy. Who was to say that it wouldn't happen in the future?
Seeing the expression on his face, Alianna knew that he was blaming himself for the incident. She grabbed his hand and held it in hers as she told him, "It's not your fault. Please don't think that it is." No one else was at fault Only Craig. "It's getting late. You still have a long drive"
Caleb pulled the corners of his mouth up into a small smile. She always thought of others before herself and that was one of the things that made him fall in love with her before. Because under that straightforward personality of hers, she had a big heart. Nodding, he answered, "You should rest so more."
She leaned in and hugged him, smiling at the feeling of the familiar warmth radiating from the arms that were now encircled around her. "Thank you for checking up on , Cay..."
When they pulled apart, Caleb cupped the side of her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Feel better, Li I'll see you."
He tucked her in and left the Pearl Gardens soon after.
In the Master Bedroom, Katherine grimaced as she pressed a cold compress over Damien's knuckles. He didn't have any cuts but his knuckles were a little bruised.
"What's with the frown?" he asked, quirking a brow as he looked at her. He recalled the mont Katherine saw him when he entered the house. She frantically searched his body for any wounds.
"Your hand is hurt," she huffed as she carefully lifted and pressed the cold compress on him.
Damien chuckled upon hearing her words. It was sweet that she was worried about him but he couldn't help a smirk from forming on his face. Craig didn't even bother defending himself nor did he return any hits Damien almost felt sorry. "Well, you should've seen his face."
Katherine glared at Damien and pressed the ice pack harshly on his hand, earning a yelp from him. "Aw!" He retracted his hand but she was quick to hold it in place, slightly feeling bad for her impulsive action.
"Then good! For what he did to Ali, he better be limping too! But I hope you won't get into too much trouble... I know you can handle yourself just fine, Damien. But it doesn't take away the worry that I would feel knowing what you were about to do. It's just how I feel I can't help that."
Not hearing any response to what she just said, she looked up and saw him smiling, his gaze sweeping over her face. "What are you smiling at?" She raised an eyebrow.
Damien ran his finger down her cheek and along her jawline, admiring the face of the woman that made his heartbeat calm. "It's just nice to have soone to worry about ."
"Of course I worry about you," she muttered under her breath. 'I love you!'
"Well, you don't have to worry about now. I'm ho and I'm okay" He grabbed the ice pack and set it on the nightstand, pulling her closer to him and kissing her temple. "Thanks for taking care of Ali."
"She's your family, of course, I will take care of her." Katherine checked the ti on the clock and turned to him. "I feel sorry that sothing like this happened on your birthday"
He shrugged. What happened was sothing that was not within his control. He was just glad that Craig was going to pay for what he did. Brushing those thoughts away, he nuzzled on her cheek.
"Well, I still have thirty minutes before my birthday ends I say, we should make use of it wisely." Damien trailed small kisses from her jawline down to her neck.
She slapped his arm and playfully pushed him away. "What are you doing? Your cousin is just down the hall!"
"I guess I forgot to tell you that this bedroom is soundproof." He grabbed her waist and flipped her onto the bed, his full length hovering over her completely. "Do you wanna test it?"
Katherine could only giggle. She wondered if Damien will ever run out of surprises. She played with the strands of his hair that fell towards her, combing it back to place. "If you're so sure that it is soundproof, why test it?"
He eagerly removed her top off her, chuckling as he heard her question. Slightly pulling back, he took off his shirt and grinned, diving in to kiss her neck. "You're right. We don't have to test it. Let's take advantage of it."
It was too late for her to protest not that she even wanted to try. Also, there was no reason to!
Being back in the city after their weekend getaway, Katherine wondered if things would go on just like how they were before they left or... everything would start to change.
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