CHAPTER 7

"Sorry, Mr. Philips. We can't access Mr. Camelia Shannon's bank card," said the woman who was a bank worker putting Camelia's bank card back.

"Why, I'm her husband, and I have the right to know everything that belonged to my late wife," Samuel retorted unhappily.

"Sorry again."

Samuel clenched his knuckles tightly until they turned white. He grabbed Camelia's files, annoyed that all of Camelia's possessions were still inaccessible to Samuel. He tried to guess Camelia's safe and bank passwords, but everything needed to be fixed.

Samuel gripped the steering wheel of his car tightly. His breathing was rough; his eyes kept staring at the red light that forced his car to stop. His hand impatiently beating the horn repeatedly, he drove the vehicle again at high speed, defending the streets of São Paulo. Samuel swerved onto the shoulder of the road, getting out of his car. Combing his mane up, he took out a cigarette from his pocket. Quickly burn the tobacco and then smoke it in a high exhale of smoke.

"Damn it! You're so sly, and damn Camelia. Already dead, you're still giving me a hard time! Argh fuck! Even the million-dollar death insurance hasn't come through yet," Samuel said frustratedly and continued cursing while kicking the tires of his car.

His pocket vibrated, and he grabbed his cell phone with a grunt, staring at the screen that displayed the name of my love; who else but Simona? The woman was undergoing psychological treatment after the incident a few weeks ago. Every night, Simona screamed his name with a frightened look, making Samuel fed up and asked Simona to undergo treatment before their marriage - because Samuel didn't want to marry a crazy woman.

Samuel is also trying to settle Felix's lawsuit. The man seemed to have a grudge against Samuel, and several times, Samuel's lawyer tried to take the reconciliatory route. But Felix refused and would still take the matter to court because of a slight slap. Samuel was fed up with the current situation.

In another situation, Felix, who was in the room, was staring at some photos of the person he had sent to watch his wife, and his hands kept shifting the images taken from several sides. The first photo was taken some time ago; Elisa was chatting with Samuel at a restaurant near his company. The second photo was taken today because Felix remembered the clothes Elisa wore before she left the mansion very well.

Felix's jaw clenched into a tight fist when he saw Samuel's photo of Elisa being hugged tightly. I don't know what the man meant by hugging his wife; it felt like Felix was about to explode, and now he was trying hard not to go up to Samuel and crush the man. Felix closed his eyes briefly, and he took a deep breath. No, it was doubtful that Elisa was having an affair behind his back. Felix knew Elisa more than anything; if Elisa wanted to, she would have done this to him a long time ago.

"Then where is Elisa now?"

"Mrs. Taylor has returned to the mansion, sir."

No wonder, from the beginning, Felix had been suspicious of Samuel, who had glanced silently at his wife Elisa when they attended the man's engagement ceremony.

Not wanting to be prejudiced, Felix put all the photos into the nightstand drawer. Putting them behind a pile of files and locking them tightly, Felix remained silent and didn't want to discuss this with Elisa anymore.

He massaged his temples, staring at his phone screen. Felix began to think about contacting Elisa but was at a loss as to what to say; it still felt awkward to contact the woman he had lived with for almost four years.

"What should I say?"

"What should I ask her?"

Felix kept staring deep into the screen of his cell phone, which had their wedding photo as wallpaper. He had no intention of changing it, as he had initially used the wedding photo to make his parents believe he had accepted the arranged marriage without coercion.

The door sounded like it was being knocked on again. Felix placed his cell phone on his left side, linking his ten fingers on the table to invite whoever was behind the door to enter. Felix's eyes met those of a young woman dressed in work clothes. With a shirt that was so tight, it couldn't even keep the two buttons of the sweater perfectly buttoned. With her cleavage puffed out at him, who knows who this woman was?

"Sorry, Mr. Taylor, I wanted to"

Felix frowned at the woman before him, who walked hesitantly over and placed the black box on his desk. "Tell me," Felix said firmly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Taylor took up your time. It's my birthday today, and I'm giving you a cake as a thank you for accepting me to work here for almost three months," Nora replied, slowly daring herself to look at Felix. The man who made Nora's whole leg tremble, especially her sensitive area that was throbbing restlessly.

"Three months? What's your name?" Felix added, glancing at the cake box before him; then, he focused on the woman who looked strange to him. More like a bad girl!

"Nora Sawyer."

"Thank you for the cake you gave me. You appreciate it, but I'm sorry I have to reprimand you for how you dress, not only you but all the workers in this company. I need them to do great work, and dress restrictions exist. Please dress more modestly for the sake of comfort, Nora. Even the clothes you're wearing right now aren't enough to contain your breasts," reprimanded Felix, who felt uncomfortable with Nora's outfit.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor. But don't be a hypocrite; if you need me someday, I will be ready to serve you," Nora retorted boldly, challenging Felix's sharp gaze.

"Serve? What do you mean by that?"

Nora boldly took a comprehensive step. She stopped before the glass table between her and Felix; there was no chance of backing down. Nora had gone too far, and her fingers pressed hard against the table. Making her body look down and further exposing her enormous, firm breasts. It was confirmed that the buttons on her shirt were about to come off, but Nora wished Felix's fingers were there. Squeezing her breasts tightly, Felix is the perfect man who becomes her wild fantasy every night before bed.

"Serving your lust in bed. I'm pretty sure you like women like me," Nora whispers before Felix's face.

"Nora Sawyer. You're not my type, I don't like bitches who easily throw their bodies at men. Do you recognize my wife? She's Elisabelt Catherine Taylor, a top model who's so beautiful that she's often the target of many wealthy men, and I'm the lucky wealthy man who married her. Elisa is a woman of equal value to me; even my lust can only be satisfied by Elisa. Only Elisa!" said Felix, looking deeply into Nora's eyes, staring at him unblinkingly. "Get rid of your dirty thoughts about me; stop fantasizing wildly," he continued.

Nora's face turned sour. Her fingers wanted to tug on Felix's tie, but he quickly blocked them, and the door opened again. The face of a young man came running and grabbed Nora's hand, pulling her away from Felix.

"Rex. Take this woman away; from tomorrow onwards, don't let her set foot in this company again!" Felix ordered his secretary to drag Nora's body, who was still trying to rebel.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor," Rex replied, pulling Nora's hand tightly and closing the door to Felix's room.

****

8:00 PM.

A car could be heard coming through the mansion's gate. Elisa, who was in the front garden, turned around; she could see from a distance that Felix was still neat back in the same suit. Opposing the briefcase, she handed it to the maid, wanting to avoid being caught watching Felix. Elisa turned her face to stare in the other direction, putting her cell phone in her pocket.

"Are you texting someone? Did my arrival disturb you so much that you were in a hurry to hide your cell phone?" Felix said, standing before Elisa, taking off his coat and throwing it on a chair. Sitting in the chair opposite Elisa, he pulled his tie off. Unfastening the top two buttons, Felix rolled up the shirt sleeves to the length of his arms.

"I didn't send a message to anyone. Just replying to an email from the bank," Elisa replied honestly, daring herself to look Felix in the eye. "You look exhausted. Should I prepare something?" she continued, seeing Felix's eyes widen as he looked exhausted.

"A hug. Hug me, Elisa. Can I get one from you?"

Elisa was surprised to hear Felix's request. But she nodded back, daring herself to stand up and approach Felix. Elisa opened her arms wide, bringing Felix's large body into her arms. She gave Felix's mane of hair a minor stroke and a small pat on the back. Elisa's heart was beating fast; Camelia didn't know if it was because she was nervous or if it was her body's reaction. But she was afraid Felix had heard her; Camelia felt even more embarrassed until a blush filled Elisa's cheeks. Felix had too bluntly said he wanted a hug from her; it was confirmed that the owner of this body was Felix's wife. But the soul inside was just a foreign woman trapped beyond return.

Felix looked up slightly to look deeply into Elisa's eyes. Felix's brown bead looked into her eyes, watching from both eyes to Elisa's small pointed nose and ending at Elisa's lips. "Elisa, have you started to love me?" Felix said softly.

Camelia was silent. She didn't know Elisa's feelings for Felix before, but it seemed that Elisa and Felix had a loveless marriage that closed them off. "Uhm? Felix, I-"

"Never mind, Elisa. There's no need to answer now; I won't force you to give me an answer," Felix snapped back. He felt sensitive after seeing the photo of Elisa with Samuel; at first, Felix tried not to burn with jealousy. But after seeing Elisa's face, Felix could not hide his jealousy.

"I don't want to give you an answer. But because I'm not Elisa, Felix." Elisa couldn't answer other than nodding.

The house Felix was referring to was Elisa's and not Camelia's. Even if Felix fell in love, the man in front of him would fall in love with Elisa's face and not Camelia Shannon. So with this, Camelia always emphasized to herself that she could not fall in love with Felix. She had promised to restore Elisa's soul.

"Felix. One day, one day, I will give you the answer. You'll wait for me, right?"

Felix nodded, then closed his eyes briefly and buried his face in Elisa's warm embrace. Little by little, Felix began to feel at peace even though Elisa's love was still unclear to him; Felix was also trying to clarify his feelings of love.

I don't know how long they spent in the front yard garden hugging each other like they hadn't seen each other for years. Felix broke the embrace first and stood up, grabbing Elisa's fingers and holding them tightly. Hand in hand, the two of them stepped inside the mansion; without a word, Elisa followed where Felix's footsteps would take her.

"Elisa."

"Felix."

Simultaneously, the two called each other's names. Once inside Felix's room, Elisa realized that Felix had brought her body into his room.

"Do you want us to sleep separately again?"

"No. I don't want to."

Elisa had yet to finish speaking. Her voice was cut short when Felix's hand pulled her by the scruff of the neck and then crushed his lips to her gently. Elisa's knees felt weak; she clung tightly to Felix's burly arm, squeezing it firmly. Camelia's mind drifted back to the heated events of the previous night.

"No, no, no, Camelia! Wake up, Felix belongs to Elisa!" she thought to Camelia, who was about to be seduced by Felix's hot kiss.

"Felix. Stop," Elisa said between kisses. She turned her face away so that Felix could only kiss her cheek.

"Sorry," Felix replied, moving his body away.

Before Elisa could say anything, Felix had disappeared. At that moment, Camelia felt so sorry that the look on Felix's face had turned into disappointment.