로그인I think I'm coming down with malaria guys😅. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Daniil finally lowered his gaze when he realized no one was responding. His eyes swept over the group. Every single one of them was staring past him. "Huh?" He turned slowly. "Oh." His expression immediately fell. It was him. Axel. The man didn't look bothered in the slightest. If anything, he simply stepped back and gave a small bow. "Afternoon, Boss." Then he leaned toward Andrew and lowered his voice. "How much did he hear?" Andrew didn't even hesitate. "Pretty much all of it." "Perfect." Andrew stared at him. Perfect? There was something seriously wrong with this man. Axel stood still, one hand holding his luggage while the other rested in the pocket of the spare coat he’d retrieved from his office closet. And his eyes... They were on Daniil. A little longer than usual. Longer than they ever had before. Daniil shifted awkwardly. What? His eyes dropped to himself, checking for some invisible problem. Nothing. When he looked back
Somehow, it was already time to leave for the airport. The hours had slipped by far quicker than Mia expected, and before she knew it, she was standing outside by the entrance, waiting for Axel after saying goodbye to the security guard Her luggage was already tucked away in the boot, courtesy of the driver, who was currently resting against the car as they both waited for the final boss to make his grand appearance. The sound of footsteps made Mia turn immediately. Her hope lasted all of two seconds. It wasn't Axel. It was Anastasia? Oh? Until Andrew stepped out right behind her. Mia's eyes flicked from him back to Anastasia before she gave the woman a quick once-over. Maybe she did measure up today. Anna looked a little pale, but she still looked beautiful. Just... duller somehow. "I love your hair." Mia immediately noticed how stuffed Anastasia's nose sounded. The tip of it was slightly red too. Was she sick? And, well... Mia was fairly used to that compliment by now.
Mia kept smiling to herself long after Axel had walked away. She only snapped out of it when an employee walked past and gave her a curious look. Heat crept up her neck. Clearing her throat, she returned to the counter and busied herself with making another cup. "Hey," she said. The man looked up, clearly surprised she was addressing him. "Good morning." "Good morning," he replied after a brief pause before returning to his drink. ... Just as she finished Axel's new one, Mia didn't quite know what to do with the first cup she'd made, so she picked it up. It was still hot. She took a sip. Immediately regretted it. A cough escaped her throat. The man beside her shot her one final look before walking away with his drink. Okay, ignore the coughing. That wasn't the issue. The issue was that it was actually good. Too good. So good it stopped tasting like coffee with a creamy edge and started tasting like milk with coffee somewhere in the background. Yeah
The next morning, Mia wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to be feeling. Excited? Probably. She was going on a trip. But thanks to a certain message she'd received last night, her emotions had become a tangled mess. Thankfully, she woke up as soon as her alarm rang. No snoozing. No rolling over. No begging for five more minutes. She got up immediately and started packing the last few things into her luggage. Daniil's jacket, however, was another matter. There was no way it was fitting inside her handbag, and even if she somehow managed it, the bag would look suspiciously stuffed. So she folded it neatly and carried it in a disposable bag instead. Today, she made sure to wear her own jacket. She had learned her lesson. Preparation was important. And, unsurprisingly, it fit perfectly. It didn't hang off her shoulders or make her look like she'd borrowed it from a giant. Maybe that was what Axel had meant when he'd said Daniil's jacket didn't
During the drive to dinner, Mia hardly said a word. Daniil noticed the moment she fell into one of her thoughtful silences... the kind where she looked physically present but mentally miles away. In short, she looked completely lost in thought. "Hey," Daniil called gently, glancing between her and the road. "What’s going on in that head of yours?" Mia blinked at him, her brows pulling together slightly as she tilted her head. "It’s just…" "Just what?" Her eyes lowered to the jacket she hadn’t taken off. "Do you think this jacket looks bad on me?" He blinked. "What?" She lifted her gaze to him. "I need you to be honest." A sigh, then a lazy glance at her. "No," he said simply. "It’s fine. It’s my jacket anyway." Mia frowned. "So why does it feel like it doesn’t?" He didn’t look away from the road. "Because someone said something unnecessary." A pause. "Boss?" he guessed. Mia fell silent. A small sigh left him. "Yeah. That explains it. You d
Axel returned to the reports afterward, and only a few minutes passed before a knock came at the door. He didn’t stop reading. He only listened to the slow opening of the door, followed by the soft sound of it shutting again. Then her scent reached him. It had become familiar without his permission, settling somewhere in his mind far more deeply than it ever should have. And he hated it. He hated how naturally he noticed her now, how his senses reacted to her before his thoughts even could. It was becoming a problem. "Hey—I mean… good evening." He heard her cringe at herself the second the words left her mouth. His only response was another turn of paper. But Mia didn’t seem discouraged. She moved to stand in front of him, hands folded neatly together, smiling far too brightly for someone receiving almost nothing in return. And those eyes… They looked at him as though simply being near him was enough. And Axel? He refused to acknowledge the shift he felt t
As if she had expected it, Mia felt her heart split in two, but she hid it behind a faint smile. "You know I wouldn’t," she said softly. "It’s been years. I’d never leave you alone. I just want us to talk. Where did you go? What happened all those years? Please… tell me." There was genuine c
"Angela, right?" Brenda asked. Angela nodded. "Yes, ma’am." "Mia never mentioned you," Brenda said mildly. "Not that I expected her to. But do tell, how close are you to my daughter?" That was when David finally looked up. His gaze landed on Angela, and the instant she felt it, she stiff
"What was that all about, Luis?" Brenda asked as they made their way home. Luis, meanwhile, was lost in thought. He replayed the encounter with Axel over and over, painfully aware of how foolish he'd been. "I thought we were going to ask about his whereabouts all those years," Brenda continued.
Mia was still crushed by the fact that Axel had claimed he didn’t know her. *I don’t know you. Move aside.* Those words kept echoing in her mind, again and again. And the way he had said them, like she was nothing but dirt he needed to shake off, like she was some stranger, cut even deeper becau







