Chapter 4

Elizabeth's POV

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"Before anything else—"

"Are you for real, Mr. Gallagher?" I cut him off before he could say another word.

He stopped talking. His eyes widened as I stared at him… blankly. I don't think this is okay. I really don't feel like talking to him right now.

"W-wait, I'll tell you why I'm he—"

"No. Get out," I said, my patience finally running out as I pointed my index finger toward the door.

I closed my eyes, and right before I lost complete control and hurled my phone at Mr. Gallagher's head, three sharp knocks sounded on the door. My forehead creased as I looked at the man in front of me; he looked absolutely terrified.

"Ms. Elizabeth? Uh, you have a visitor," Mr. Peter announced from the doorway.

I tapped my nails rhythmically against the desk as I glanced around, trying desperately to calm myself down. And who on earth was this other visitor today?

"Who is it?" I asked.

Mr. Peter peeked his head inside. He looked at me, and I noticed he seemed hesitant to tell me who was standing outside. My head was beginning to throb from everything that was happening.

I glanced back at Mr. Gallagher; I truly couldn't handle talking to him right now. I appreciate that he came here and tried to talk to me after what happened yesterday. But… not today.

"Mr. Gallagher, can we talk some other time? I just can't… I mean, I really can't talk to you right now."

I wanted to be angry with him—that was the first thought that entered my mind and the first thing I felt the moment I saw him sitting in my office.

But as long as I could remain professional in front of a major client like him, I didn't think I could afford to be angry with him today. The memories of yesterday were still painfully fresh in my fucking mind, and I didn't want to relive them while talking to him. I felt like my logical reasoning was going to vanish if I kept replaying it over and over again.

He smiled at me—an apologetic smile—nodded his head, stood up, and handed me his calling card in case I felt ready to talk to him later. Then he left as if nothing bad had happened between us.

I let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against my chair. I stared at the ceiling for a minute or two, wondering what Mr. Gallagher's true reason was for coming here to meet and talk to me. I closed my eyes tightly, trying to control my stress levels this morning. But the stress and frustration only intensified. I sighed deeply, opened my eyes, and turned toward the door—only to find out that a demon was waiting for me.

"Hello, Eliza. Nice to see you again! How are you?"

Fuck. It's Marcus the demon.

"I thought you were going to stay in Italy for two months? It hasn't even been a month since you left, right?" I asked as we ate at the new restaurant he had dragged me to.

So this man was the reason Mr. Peter couldn't tell me who my visitor was? Because this man was a demon. A living, breathing demon right here on earth.

After he entered my office without my permission, he immediately asked if we could eat outside. Like, what the hell? It was only 9:00 in the morning, and he wanted to ask me out to eat? What did he expect me to do? Leave all my work behind just to dine with him?

Was this guy arrogant enough to think I would agree?

I had actually wanted to reject his offer; I had a mountain of work to do and didn't want any distractions like him. I didn't want to leave all this piled-up paperwork for an asshole like him. But then again, who was I to reject his offer when my father had already said yes to him?

Well, how did I know? Mr. Peter had called me on the landline to say that Mr. Buenaventura had agreed to let Marcus Dela Cruz take me out to eat at this goddamn new restaurant he had found.

And so here we were, eating as if I hadn't already killed him a thousand times in my head.

I really, really wanted to refuse because I have so much to do today. I don't want to leave all my work to Mr. Peter and my secretary, Janet. My job is not their job, for fuck's sake.

"I missed you so much, Elizabeth. Why didn't you just agree to come with me to Italy? There are so many beautiful places to visit there, unlike here where everything is just repetitive, right?" he said, raising an eyebrow with a smile that suggested he truly believed every word coming out of his mouth.

Miss? What the hell? Well, you didn't cross my mind even once while you were there. And go with you to Italy? I'd rather take my secretary and Mr. Peter so they could have a vacation with me.

I didn't know where Marcus got his arrogance. I mean, I knew he was popular and rich—a typical casanova. A typical man who begs for attention from fans, whether in magazines or on massive billboards. He was willing to give you everything and anything you wanted, but damn, I didn't fucking like him.

I just ate my steak in silence, ignoring all of his questions. It was a medium steak, and it was served tender and delicious. I didn't even know this restaurant was new here; I was definitely going to order takeout later.

"Eliza?"

I looked up to see him. "Hmm?"

Then my eyes widened in surprise; I quickly wiped my mouth and apologized because I hadn't even been listening to his stories about how beautiful Italy supposedly was.

I knew Italy was beautiful, but it was just so annoying to listen to him talk about it, Marcus. That country was practically about to be erased from the bucket list of places I actually wanted to travel to.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes? Of course! Yes! I'm okay!" I said, forcing my voice to sound completely cheerful and fine.

But the truth was far from it.

As delicious as the food was, my feelings toward Marcus were the exact opposite. I was completely annoyed by his presence. I let out a weak laugh and took another bite of the food on my plate while he stared at me as if I were acting weird. But I refused to let him know that I hadn't been listening to a single word he said.

God knows how much I wanted to ditch him at that table, walk straight out, and never look at his face again.

"Oh. Good. Anyway, do you still have no answer to my question?" he asked, making me freeze just as I was about to take the last piece of meat on my plate.

I wanted to ask him something like, "Are you seriously going to ask me that in front of my delicious steak?"

Of course! I couldn't do that! I don't want Mr. Buenaventura to pour his anger on me again just because of what I said to this guy.

Because the two of them are always in cahoots. We might as well swap fathers—that would probably be better for me, considering this guy didn't even have a real father raising him. He had been abandoned.

Well, he had been asking me repeatedly if he could court me, or if I would just give him a straight "Yes" for an answer so we could start our relationship—or rather, our relationshit.

Yes. A relationshit, because I had zero intention of getting into that kind of setup with him. I am Elizabeth Buenaventura, and I refuse to be subjected to this kind of bullshit.

I forced a smile and said, "You already know my answer—"

"You still don't want to give me a chance?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

Yuck. Who in their right mind would agree to court them with someone like you? I'm not lowering my standards just for someone like you.

"My family's net worth is—"

"Please stop, Marcus," I cut him off, refusing to hear it. "You know my answer already, so please stop asking me for the hundredth time."

"But Mr. Buenaventura already said he agrees. He was so happy when I told him I planned to court you. You know, I am head-over-heels for you, Eliza. Why don't you give us a chance? Maybe it'll work out, right?"

If I wasn't familiar with men like him, maybe I would have believed him. But the Dela Cruz family was just another piece of bullshit trying to hitch a ride on my father's company.

They wanted to expand their businesses by marrying off their children to each other. But no. Tradition or not, I would never let that happen over my dead and gorgeous body.

Hearing him say that made me lose my appetite entirely; I couldn't even bring myself to eat the last piece of steak on my plate. Marcus was simply exhausting to be around. He was completely worthless to talk to.

"My father has nothing to do with this, Mr. Dela Cruz."

His eyes widened in shock as I stood up from my seat. I didn't want to leave that last piece behind, so even though I didn't feel like eating anymore, I forced myself to finish it.

I was just about to say goodbye to Marcus when someone violently bumped into my back and left shoulder. What a fucking piece of shit.

"I'm sorry, Miss. Are you okay?"

It felt like a bomb exploded inside my head the moment I heard that familiar voice. I felt like I was going to throw up the food I had just swallowed at the mere presence of this man. And wow—did we really have to run into each other here, of all places? In this unexpected, or perhaps expected, location?

"Yes, I am," I answered curtly, not turning around to look at the man standing behind me.

I am not in the mood to talk to him or pick a fight like what happened inside the restaurant yesterday. And now? We meet again in another restaurant? Wow. Is this some kind of sick karma?

I sensed Marcus's eyes on me, as well as the man still standing right behind me. I stepped aside to give him space so he could walk past. But damn—minutes passed, and this asshole was still standing right behind me? What was he, a statue?

"I said I'm okay. Could you please leave now?" I couldn't stop the irritation from lacing my voice because the other customers were already staring at us. They probably think another scene is about to unfold, well, it's not!

I'm done with scenes from yesterday, and I don't want to follow it up.

"Are you sure?" he asked all of a sudden, making me frown.

Not because he had bumped into me, but because of something else entirely. I turned slightly and squinted my eyes at him, as if saying, What the hell, man? What do you want?

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"What?! That's disgusting!" And there it is!

I could no longer contain my emotions because of that question! I completely turned to face him, my eyebrows nearly meeting in the middle from sheer irritation at what I had heard!

My blood was boiling with anger!

Where did he even get that idea? No way in hell was this man is my boyfriend! Ew! Yuck!