Chapter 41

41 41. Forgive Me, Please!

Quickly, Paula came out of her room to meet Samuel who was sitting at one of the customers’ tables. She was very busy, but she felt it was worth it if she had to waste ten minutes dealing with Samuel.

Hearing Samuel’s name made Paula’s ears burn with anger. Moreover, seeing the man’s face made Paula feel annoyed that she wanted to throw a punch. However, no matter how much Paula hated him, she was not going to do it right away. She restrained herself as best as she could.

“How are you?” Samuel greeted warmly. He gave a bouquet of red roses to Paula as if nothing had happened. However, Paula asked Monica to take the flower and asked her assistant to leave immediately.

A look of disappointment crossed Samuel’s face. But, he tried to ignore Paula’s rude behavior, blaming her hormone. He remembered his mom’s change in attitude when she was pregnant with his siblings.

The man rose from his seat and intended to pull out another chair for Paula. But, Paula gave a hand signal to him as a sign to stop him from doing anything for her.

“Thank you. But you don’t have to do a nice thing for me-at all. This is my shop in case you forgot,” Paula answered flatly. Then she pulled up her chair.

“How’s your leg?” asked Samuel again, a worried look flashed his face. He looked at Paula’s legs which were wrapped in pantsuits. She had been wearing the pantsuits on purpose to cover her wounded knees so she wouldn’t be the center of attention.

“Well. William wasn’t a great nurse, but he took very good care of me,” Paula replied flatly, almost curtly. She looked at Samuel without the slightest bit of a smile.

“Have you been to the doctor?” asked Samuel again. “If not, I’ll take you now. I have acquaintances-”

.....

“Thank you. But in this city, there are so many doctors that I have absolutely no doubts about their ability to just treat wounds. I don’t need your recommendation,” Paula cut in fiercely. Her eyes stared intently at Samuel.

“What’s the matter with you, Paula? Why did your attitude change like this?” Samuel felt he was wronged. What happened to Paula to make her so curt?

“Why? Do you not know the reason behind my rude treatment?” Paula asked sarcastically. “Try to remember, have you ever wronged me before?”

“What do you mean?” Samuel’s face stiffened.

“What did you do to me when I passed out in the hospital?” asked Paula.

Samuel’s body felt as if it had been struck by lightning when he heard Paula’s question. He was tongue-tied, unable to answer.

How did she know? Who told her?

However, Samuel remembered well, at that time, no one witnessed his actions. He also knew that there was no CCTV in the room for the sake of the patient’s privacy.

Quickly, Samuel defended himself, as if Paula had only heard fake news. “Am I wrong if I help people in need? You’re sick, and I was helping you. What was the problem?”

Paula smiled sarcastically. She couldn’t believe that Samuel would argue. “Maybe you think that no one knows what you did. However, when your rotten manner is exposed, it looks even more disgusting when you’re arguing.”

“Paula, who fed you this lie?” Samuel snapped.

“William saw you kiss me while I was unconscious in the hospital,” Paula argued confidently.

“Do you buy this bullshit?” Samuel laughed at Paula. “You believed the person who betrayed you and refused to believe me? Trust me. He doesn’t like how close I am to you so he made up this story!”

“What for?”

“So he could touch you again!”

“There’s no way William would lie!” Paula whispered, shaking her head slowly. “Why did he do it? Without even trying hard, I will be glad if he touches me. I will gladly kiss him even if he turns fat and ugly.”

“Paula!” Samuel wide-eyed.

“Don’t show your face to me again!” Paula snapped.

“Paula! I can explain!”

“I need no explanation! You assaulted me and you must be lucky because I am not filing a lawsuit.”

“Seriously? Paula, I’m sorry!”

“No.”

“Paula! I regret it. I promise you, I will never do that again!” Samuel reached for Paula’s hand.

“I don’t give a fuck, Sam!” Paula cursed, forgetting that she was pregnant and trying to only say good and positive words. She massaged her head, regretting that she couldn’t control her emotions.

“You betrayed my trust, Samuel!” Paula said in a whisper. “I forgive you but we can not be friends ever again!”

Honestly, Paula liked Samuel’s presence in her life. He was a good friend with no benefits. It was different from her relationship with William. However, if Samuel continued to act like that, touching her intimately without her consent, she had to end their friendship soon. She didn’t want a friend like that.

Paula rose from her seat, wanting to leave Samuel. However, unexpectedly, Samuel stopped her and knelt, begging for her forgiveness.

“I am sorry, Paula! I know I was wrong. It was ... you know ... just a spur of time.”

“Why can you say it was just a spur of the moment? Do you seriously think that I will forgive you for that reason?”

“Paula, please forgive me. I promise to do anything as long as you forgive me,” Samuel insisted to beg for Paula’s kindness.

Right now he deeply regretted his impulsive action because he didn’t think about the consequences. If he knew Paula would hate him of course he would think twice before he did it. After all, who knew there was William who witnessed what he was doing?

Paula was stunned as she weighed whether Samuel deserved to be forgiven. But she remembered that it was Samuel who helped her, bringing her to the hospital. She owed Samuel a favor. “Well, I’ll forgive you. We can pretend it never happened. But, if you do it again, I will never forgive you for good.”

Kissing a cousin-in-law was a sin that Samuel should never do. He needed to learn his lesson.

“You said, you will do anything for me, no?” Paula asked, lifting her eyebrows.

“Yes, I will.” Samuel nodded enthusiastically. “Anything for sure.”