Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Daniel impatiently waited in front of the elevator, looking at his phone as he once again attempted to dial Sofia’s number. Earlier,

he had to meet. someone from Southeast Asia and was not checking his phone for any showbusiness news.

However, he was here not because he wanted the scandal to vanish but because he aimed to coax Sofia and spend more time

with her.

Of course, this plan changed when he received a text from Charlotte. Nonetheless, Daniel had already bought some flowers with

him, thinking it would be a waste not to at least give them to his girlfriend.

[DING]

Daniel immediately got inside the elevator; however, his eyes widened just as it was about to close. Josef? Why would Josef

come here?

He opened the elevator doors and tried to call Josef, but the man was gone. Was he... hallucinating?

Shaking his head, chuckling, Daniel considered his lack of rest. Last night, he spent the night with Charlotte and woke up early

for his meeting. It was the weekend, for crying out loud, yet his brother was giving him more and

more work.

While complaining inwardly, a part of him liked it. He wanted to prove himself to the board and thought working hard was the best

way to do it.

Quickly, he pressed the floor where Sofia’s flat was located. Although he had asked her to move in with him, she refused, as this

flat was a cherished gift. She preferred the quiet space for her work — a seemingly stupid reason, yet completely understandable.

Daniel walked out of the elevator and immediately entered the password on Sofia’s door.

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“Huh?” Error?

06 14:24

Her password had always been the combination of his and her birthday. Did she change it? Was it because of the news? Daniel

immediately. frowned as he tried calling her, but again, it went to voicemail. This time, he pressed the doorbell.

When she did not open the door after a few seconds, he pressed the doorbell again... and again.

Was she not home? No. It was the weekend. She would usually spend time in her house or office, and he had already called her

office. She was not in the building. Sofia had always been a homebody, preferring her designs. over talking to people.

Just as he was about to press the doorbell again, the door finally opened.

Daniel looked at Sofia.

“Hey...” Sofia smiled as she removed her large headphones. She wiped the sweat on her forehead using a towel. “Sorry, | was

running.”

“You do not usually exercise in your flat...” he noted, leaning in to kiss her. However, she had already turned around and walked

inside. Realizing he was still standing at the door, she stopped and stared at him. “Did something happen?”

“No-“Daniel said. Sofia’s actions were not a surprise, as she was not a very warm person. “For you...”

“Thank you,” Sofia accepted the flowers and walked ahead of him. Daniel frowned, but he still followed behind her. For some

reason, he could feel something different about her, but he quickly concluded that it must be the stress of the upcoming meeting.

Charlotte had already explained everything to her. Sofia had been

stressing about this meeting, as it would be the first time she would join

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the board of directors. Because of this, Sofia was not able to write songs for Charlotte.

“Breakfast?” Sofia casually placed the flowers on the kitchen island as she opened a bottle of wine and chugged it down.

“| had one with a client...”

That was when Sofia looked at his clothes. “It’s the weekend.”

“That damnable brother of mine decided to overwork me, make me his slave...” Daniel chuckled. He immediately removed his.

coat and loosened his tie. “You haven’t been answering my calls...”

“Oh, sorry. It was dead when | woke up this morning. It’s in my room.”

Daniel nodded. Again, he felt something amiss with Sofia but decided not to ask about it. He approached her, but just before he

could hug her, she moved away.

“lm sweaty...”

“| don’t mind...”

“| do,” Sofia said, her voice cold. For some reason, Daniel thought he saw some disgust in Sofia’s eyes, but it left as quickly as it

came. “I do mind... | smell like alcohol and sweat. | woke up with a terrible headache, and | thought... working out would remove

whatever hangover | have.”

“So, you just-

“Worked out,” Sofia walked towards the living room.

“Have you seen the scandal about Caroline Locke?” Daniel asked.

“It was Charlotte who told me about it,” Sofia said. “She just left.”

“Don’t mind her, she must be stressed because her management had been

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asking about her songs in the past few weeks. | swear, they did not want her to take some rest. She just wrapped up her taping,

and now they wanted her to work with the studio for her songs,” Daniel said.

“How did you know that?” Sofia suddenly asked.

For a short second, Daniel froze. Then he smiled. “She was complaining about it last night. You “he shook his head. “You always

know that your tolerance is low. You should stop drinking too much.”

Sofia stared at Daniel. “Charlotte never told me about that. | assumed she was doing fine.” Sofia said. Now that she thought

about it, Lawrence and Daniel would always seem to pass on news about Charlotte’s ‘sufferings’ while working. Naturally, the

gullible Sofia would immediately do something about it.

How pathetic.

“Well... she has always hated that you always helped her. She knew how stressed you were and did not want you to worry.”

Daniel said. “You truly have a kind sister.”

“| know......” Sofia chuckled. “I— | am going to take a bath— “ She tried to walk past him, but he was quick to block her way. Her

body immediately tensed, and her heartbeat quickened.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asked, his voice deeper than usual.

“What?” she tried to maintain a calm voice as memories of what she saw in that hotel room resurfaced in her mind. She balled

her trembling hands. into two tight fists as she smiled at him. “What are you talking about?*.

He tilted his head and observed her expression. “Was it because of the annual shareholders’ meeting?”

ye

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OOFRN 14:24

“How about | help you relax a bit?” his lips lifted into a rather coquettish smile.

Four

“What?” Sofia shivered inwardly as she thought of ways to escape this man, the only thing that she could come up with was

kicking his... crotch. However, that would ruin everything that she had so far.

“| need a bath too...” Daniel declared. “Are you not going to ask me to join, you?”

Sofia’s lower lip dropped. She- she did not know what to say. However, just before she could answer his question, Daniel’s

phone rang.

Seeing the caller, Daniel immediately sighed. “That damnable brother of mine wanted me to work myself to death...” he

immediately took a step back as he answered his phone. Seeing his back, it was as if a huge weight. was lifted from Sofia’s

shoulders.