Double update ❤❤ Enjoy.

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The person was Claire.

"H..Hi, Daniel. Hello, Eloise." Claire waved her hand, stuttering.

"Hello, Claire," Daniel said.

"Umm... Can I talk to you, Eloise? In private?" She dared to say. "Please?" She added.

I looked at her. Her face was showing guilt and her eyes were puffy indicating that she had cried. It was time to ask her why he did all that to me so I asked Daniel to go to the reception desk to ask for the discharge papers.

"Are you sure? I mean, I can go afterward." He said carefully, looking between Claire and me.

"Please, Daniel, I need to talk to her."

He nodded his head in hesitation but left us alone.

"Why Claire? Why you did all that to me? What have I ever done to you? I know you blame me for snatching work from you, snatching... Daniel from you while he was never yours. But you didn't have to stoop so low. You pushed me into danger." I couldn't help but snap at her.

"I'm sorry, Eloise. I was blinded in revenge but I swear I had no idea that Michael will do this to you. I thought he wanted to talk to you and I took it as a chance to take my revenge on you but I never knew his real intentions." A lone tear slipped from her eye.

"You remember I received a call in between our talk? It was him, he called me out. When I went out he wasn't there, I even searched for him but when I didn't find him I came back and found that you were gone too. I tried to call you but your phone was turned off. I thought you left after listening to what I said so, I drove back home."

"And when I was going through the Internet, I saw the news of Michael and Rick being arrested and Daniel bringing a girl out of the hotel in his arms. Though the face of the girl was covered, I knew it was you. I'm sorry, Eloise, hurting you like this wasn't my intention." She cried as she approached me.

"I cried the whole night, thinking about what I had done but I needed to apologize as it all happened because of me. So, here I am to apologize. I'm sorry, Eloise. I'm sorry for asking you to leave Daniel. You're right, he was never mine, and he could never be mine. He is all yours. I'm sorry for pushing you in danger. Please forgive me for everything. I'm not a bad person." She cried harder.

I studied her face that was now a mess because of crying. She was really regretting what she did. One thing I've learned after working with her for so long is that she never cries before anyone. She never lowers her head before anyone. She was genuinely feeling sorry.

I hugged and patted her back. "Hey, shhh, don't cry. I understand you, Claire. And, yes, you are not a bad person. You didn't do anything intentionally."

Though she wanted her revenge on me, she was also a victim of Rick's dirty plans.

I pulled away and gave her tissues to wipe her face. "You know, Claire, I salute your courage. You could have left everything like the way it was but you came out to apologize when you knew you could have been blamed too. Trust me, Claire it needs a lot of courage." I squeezed her shoulder.

"So, Claire, I forgive you, and let's put our past aside and start anew, what say?" I asked, smiling.

She smiled through her tears and hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much, Eloise. I'm such a fool for considering you as my enemy."

I patted her back in a soothing manner. Everyone deserves a second chance. After talking to Claire, I thought I was too hard on my mother, she too apologized and she too deserved a second chance. I made up my mind to talk to her soon.

"Eloise, can I make a request from you? Actually, I need a favor." She asked hesitantly. I nodded my head telling her to continue.

"I know you haven't told this to Daniel because if you had, he wouldn't have greeted me nicely. Umm... So, please don't tell him about this otherwise he would hate me for life and I'll lose a friend too. Please, Eloise, I'm begging you."

"No need to beg me, Claire. I don't intend to break your friendship, so, rest assured, I'll not tell him about your involvement."

"Thank you again, Eloise. I owe you for this." She hugged me again and I embraced her tightly.

"Whoa! Am I hallucinating or are you two really hugging each other?" It was Daniel who spoke in astonishment. He came in with a paper in his hand.

"No, you aren't hallucinating." I chuckled, letting go of Claire. She wiped her face and approaching him she hugged him.

And for the first time, I didn't feel jealous of her close proximity to Daniel.

He was taken off guard with her sudden action and looked at me in horror. I chuckled and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, Daniel." I hear Claire say.

"What for?" He asked her.

"Nothing, just accept my apology," Claire said.

"Uh, okay? Hey, Eloise said you needed help with something. Is everything alright? Do you still need help?" He asked as he detached himself from her.

"No, not anymore. Everything is settled." She replied softly. "Okay then, I'll take your leave. Take care, Eloise." She then left the room.

"What was that and why was she crying?" He asked me.

"It's a secret between us." I smiled softly, still looking at the door from where Claire left.

"Uh...okay, Let's get going then."

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Three days!

It had been three days since I was back from the hospital and I hadn't stepped out of the home not even for once. I had fully recovered and the bandage from my head was taken off.

Cops had come to me to take my statement. I told them everything about Rick, about him threatening me and how Michael was involved in all this. I excluded Claire from all the matters. I didn't want to play with her carrier and I did forgive her so taking her name was out of context.

Daniel disclosed everything about Rick's dirty businesses and the media turned into a maniac. It became the biggest controversy of all time. Women came out to speak against him, his shares went down in a jiffy, his illegal clubs were raided by the police and he was in jail. Michael was charged for helping him in his dirty works.

The media was incorporating my name in between as it all started when I had gone against Rick. They still didn't know who was the girl in Daniel's arms while coming out of Rick's hotel but everyone was speculating that it was me. And Daniel made sure my name doesn't come out.

Being my manager, Evan was bombarded with questions. He was giving answers to the media and clearing them that I wasn't involved but everyone was asking where I was and why I wasn't coming out. I had been receiving numerous phone calls from work colleagues, producers, brand owners for which I was working, and other peoples but I was ignoring every call. I hadn't talked to anyone since that incident.

To be honest, I was scared. I was scared to go out and face the media. I knew shouldn't be doing that but I couldn't bring myself to answer their questions because everything was still haunting me. Rick's filthy touch and his disgusting stares, his dirty words, everything. I was frustrated, angry, and scared. I didn't know what to do. Peace is all I wanted. Peace of mind and soul. I had worked in the industry for long without complaining, without tiring but this time I felt tired, tired of everything.

Though the people close to me were with me every time to take care of me, I wasn't happy. The reason was Daniel. He was with me every time, taking care of me but he was distant. We did sleep together, cuddling each other but the warmth was missing. It's not that he wasn't talking to me, no, he was but something was missing. He still was upset with me and it was affecting me a lot. His distance from me was bothering me.

I needed him back. I needed my cheerful, playful, and smiling Daniel back.

It was half-past eight at night and I waiting for him to come back from the meeting. I had prepared dinner for him; the chef helped me with it. I had been learning to cook for the past three days. In a while, the door of the house opened, indicating the arrival of Daniel. Rushing to him, I hugged him.

"Hey, Eloi." He kissed the side of my head. Though he was upset, he never forgot to show his affection.

"Come on, freshen up. I've prepared dinner for us." I said, detaching myself from him.

"You've prepared dinner?" He asked in surprise.

"Why, can't I?" I playfully narrowed my eyes at him.

"Oh, you surely can. Let me freshen up then we'll eat together." He said and went to the room. I sighed; no smile in return, no teasing remark.

He came back after taking a shower and we sat at the table to eat. I served him veggie and chicken pasta and waited for him to taste.

"I hope this is edible." He mumbled, looking at the dish.

"Hey, I'm not that bad at cooking and you've already tasted my cooking, remember the day we cooked together?" I said, crossing my arms.

My eyes bulged out when I saw him smiling. He smiled! After so long he smiled! Finally, we were making progress.

"Yeah, I remember, you had added extra salt in the food. Hope you haven't added extra salt this time." He teased.

I couldn't hide my grin. "This time, it's good. Now, eat."

"Mmm... You're making progress. It's delicious." He praised and then we ate in silence.

After dinner, he thanked me went into our room to do official work. I balled my hands into fists and stomped my foot. He again avoided having a conversation with me. That's it I had had enough of his behavior.

I sprinted into the room and found him sitting on the bed with his laptop. I huffed, I was angry but I needed to be calm as my anger has always brought trouble. I sat cross-legged on the bed, facing him.

"For how long are you going to avoid me?"

My question made him dart his eyes towards me. "I'm not!" He simply replied.

"Then what is this?" I asked, pointing a finger between us. "It has been three days Daniel. You still are trying to avoid to have a talk with me."

He let out a breath and shut his laptop. "I'm still trying to figure things out. I'm giving us space for a while."

"Space? Did you ask me for it? Did I ask for space? No! I did not. Do you have any idea how much your ignorance is affecting me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Eloi—" He tried to come near me but I stopped him.

"No, stop. I have enough of this lack of communication between us, now you listen to me." I couldn't help but raise my voice.

"I know I committed a mistake and I am suffering because of it. Your distance from me is the biggest punishment I could ever get. I've many things to talk to you but you don't listen to me like you used to do. And this is breaking me from inside." A lone tear roll down my eyes.

"Eloise, don't cry please."

"Don't cry? You saw my tears now but do you have any idea how much I cry when you're not around? Do you have any idea how stressing everything is? No, you don't. All the phone calls, news, media questions are affecting me. Those memories are still fresh and they are haunting me." I cried.

"All I needed was your support. You always give me the strength to fight against the world but this time you aren't with me. You left me alone. Your smile could have been enough to give me strength but you aren't smiling for the past three days. I know you too are hurt but you should understand me too. Just a simple conversation is all we need to make everything better but you're avoiding that too."

This time my tears started to flow like a waterfall.

"Oh, Eloise." He pulled me on his lap and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry. I thought I was making things better by giving us space but I had no idea that I was hurting you. I'm so sorry, my love." He mumbled, holding me in a tight grip.

This is all I needed. I knew he understands me, just this conversation was missing. But there was something I had been thinking non-stop and it was stressing me a lot.

"Daniel, I want to ask you something," I mumbled. He would surely help me.

"Yes, my love."

"Will I be called a coward if I decide to take a break from my work?" I asked, sniffing. "I'm tired, Daniel. Tired of everything. I want to go away, from media and from the publicity. I want a peaceful life at least for some time."

"Hey." He cupped my face. "No one will call you coward. It's your life, you will decide what to do and what not to do. People weren't there when you decided to work as a model, they weren't there to help you when you fell. You stood up alone. They weren't there to help you fight against the odds, you did it on your own. In the same way, they are no one to question your choice but you are. It's you who'll make choices for yourself, get that?"

I nodded my head and again slumped my head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Daniel. I needed this." I whispered.

I was eventually going to take a break from this stressful life but a little motivation was needed.

"I'm always with you, in your every decision. I had no idea I was hurting you. I'm sorry for not asking if you were doing fine, emotionally. Please forgive me for this grave mistake of mine and please tell me what can I do to correct my mistake."

I removed my face from against his shoulder and faced him. "Just promise me you won't do this again."

"I promise you that I'll never do such stupidity again." He said solemnly.

"One more thing," I added.

"Yes?"

"Give me my Daniel back."

"Oh? But I don't know what your Daniel is like. Please give me the specifications." He chuckled, wiping my tears.

"Playful, joyous, and always smiling, this is what my Daniel is. Now give him back to me." I flashed a small smile.

"If this is the case then I give you your Daniel back, madam." He laughed and pulled me in a sweet kiss. "I'm sorry again."

"It's okay. You're forgiven."

"Eloi, I know I'm late for asking this but how are you feeling? Emotionally, I mean." He asked.

"Drained. I'm trying to forget everything but still, the images of the incident still flash before the eyes, hurting me deeply." I replied truthfully.

"No need to worry anymore. I'm here. I'll make everything fine again." He said determinedly.

"I know only you can do it. That's why I'm asking you to bring me out of the misery... now." I whispered, looking into his eyes with need.

"Your Daniel is at your service madam." He said and leaned in to claim my lips.

We then gave ourselves into our desire and needs. To be honest, the atmosphere of the night was different. It wasn't usual, it was more loving, promising, passionate, and sweet. Our skins molded into each other, taking both of us to the land of neverending love. We gave ourselves to each other, completely.

The night was different, it was new. I felt it.

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Only a few more chapters are left...