Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
Danika nodded, seeing Melissa’s smarts at play. She knew she’d lose if the fight continued, so she might as well stop now to save her pride.
But Alicia disapproved of that decision. “Why are you surrendering, Ms. Collins? You’re still standing, aren’t you?’
To her, winning meant beating up your opponent to the extent that they could no longer get up or at least land several killing blows. So the fight meant nothing to her at all.
Melissa’s face immediately fell. Did Alicia expect her to suffer from mortal injury before calling it quits? “Miss Zellweger and I are only challenging one another’s skill and strength, not fighting to the death. I surrendered because I was unable to best her.
There’s no issue with that when it comes to trial by combat.”
“But why couldn’t you defeat her…* Alicia whined.
She’d heard from her brother about how powerful those practicing martial arts with him were, so why was this happening? First, her brother dies at Danika’s hand, then
Melissa fails to overpower her. Was Danika really that powerful?
“I wouldn’t have taken on your request if it weren’t for your brother,” Melissa said without sugarcoating it. *A loss is a loss. I pray you don’t seek to harm Danika from now on, as you won’t be her match whatsoever.”
As solid as that advice might be, Melissa didn’t know if Alicia actually took it to heart.
Meanwhile, Danika was finding Melissa quite a virtuous character. At least better than Alicia. That was why she didn’t include Melissa in her to-watch- out-for list.
After some conversation with Melissa, Danika turned to leave, but not before telling Alicia, “I’m truly sorry about your brother’s death, Alicia, but he was without a doubt liable for the crimes he committed. I don’t think anything was wrong with my sending him to prison.
“As for his suicide…l never anticipated that. I cant do anything to change your mind if you insist on attaching my fault on that.’
Danika wouldn’t apologize, however, because she didn’t feel she’d done anything wrong.
A pity Alicia stopped listening to reason whenever she thought about her brother.
“You’re sorry? You were the one responsible for all this!” To that, Danika remained silent.
I Don’t Have Enough
Danika stopped and sighed in exasperation. “Yes? Is it your turn to fight me now?”
Alicia stepped back as Danika began cracking her fists. “I-I’m no match for you.”
“Smart. Now leave me alone, or you won’t get a warning next time,” Danika snapped.
This time, Alicia stayed behind while Danika went to her car because she knew just how dangerous that threat was.
Danika was about to drive home when someone approached her car door.
“Melissa? You’re still here,’ she exclaimed in surprise.
Melissa smiled awkwardly. ‘I uh.Jt’s not as easy getting a taxi out here in the country as it was in the city.”
Translation: Would you mind giving me a ride back?
“Yeah. Taxis don’t get their fair share of customers around these parts.” Danika opened the passenger seat door. “Get in then.”
Melissa gladly went in, tossing Alicia into the back of her mind. Danika soon reached the freeway.
“Where to?” she asked Melissa, though there came no response. When Danika turned to look, she spotted Melissa dozed off against the window.
Danika bit back an amused laugh. Was this woman brave or just trusting enough?
They’d just been fighting one another in that field back there, yet Melissa wasn’t at all concerned if Danika would hurt her.
Danika shook her head and drove back to Zellweger Castle.
Half an hour later, Melissa woke up from her nap to find the car had stopped moving.
“Hm? Are we there yet?”
“Yup. Where are you headed? I’ll drive you.” The car was parked outside Zellweger
Castle while Danika waited for Melissa to wake up.
“Um, any motel will do,” Melissa responded, to which Danika cocked her head in confusion. “I don’t have much on me, so simple will suffice,” she explained.
Danika was starting to wonder if all of Madam Olanna’s disciples were this impoverished. “Do you have a job?”
Melissa mumbled, “It’s not…consistent, so the pay isn’t either.”
“What kind of job is it?”
“Oh, you know, debt collection,” she mumbled again in a voice so soft Danika had to strain her ears.
Debt collection? “That’s all you use your skills for?”
“It’s not like I want to either, but everyone wants mental and logic skills nowadays, not physical ones. They wouldn’t even hire me as a bodyguard.” Most people doubted her skills just because she was a woman.
The one time someone hired her to be such, it turned out to be a farce for her employer to take advantage of her. After a merciless beating by her, the man never sought her out again.
Danika really didn’t know what to say to that. Melissa seemed to be younger than her, and already she was struggling. ‘Ah, never mind that for now. Let’s have dinner.”
Her stomach had been yowling since that fight. All she wanted now was a good hot meal.
Melissa perked up at the mention of dinner. “Dinner? What’re we having?”
“What are you in the mood for?” One look and Danika could tell Melissa hadn’t eaten either.
Melissa was about to reply when she suddenly remembered how little she had on her.
Her shoulders slumped over instantly. “I…I don’t have enough for a meal right now.”
All she had on her right now would only suffice for her one-night stay at a motel, nothing else.
Yeah, I Guess
Danika really didn’t have the words. “You came to the city on Alicia’s behalf? Empty-handed?’ “I didn’t plan to either, but when she called me and started crying about her brother, I figured, ‘Hey, this might be a good chance to try out the city life,’ plus, I couldn’t just refuse to help her. Jonathan and I trained together,” Melissa explained.
“You’re not from the city?” Danika asked in surprise.
“Yeah. I couldn’t stand the small-town life anymore, so I decided, might as well come here.” She had thought her chances of getting hired as a bodyguard would be higher in the city. That was one of the reasons she took on Alicia’s request as well.
Danika nodded in understanding.
“I’ll buy you dinner then.”
Melissa’s eyes widened like saucer plates. “Really? You’re not messing with me, are you?’
“Don’t worry, I’m not.” Danika started the car and drove them to a nearby restaurant. She had plans for Melissa that she couldn’t risk Rowena knowing, so she couldn’t bring Melissa home for their meal.
They sat at a table inside the restaurant, where Danika then gave Melissa the menu.
‘Order whatever you like.”
Melissa was salivating as she flipped through the menu. The food all looked so good.
“You’re really paying for dinner, right?” she asked again, worried Danika might leave after their meal without paying and throw Melissa under the bus.
“Really. You don’t have to worry, Melissa. What can I benefit from you when you have nothing to your name?’ Danika shrugged. Where was the lack of awareness earlier in the car? She thought to herself.
Melissa nodded and then ordered several dishes unabashedly. She hadn’t told Danika how it had been days since she had a proper meal. In fact, she only had cup noodles for lunch.
Gosh, what happened to her? It hadn’t always been like this.
Still, the truth of the matter was the only skill she had that could land her a career was martial arts and combat. It’s not like she had a college degree. Yet she couldn’t even land a proper job as a guard.
The waiter soon served them dinner. Melissa instantly picked up her fork and knife, smacking her lips. “Let’s eat!’
Danika smiled and joined her. The two women quickly finished everything, though in truth, Melissa ate most of it. Her appetite was drastically bigger than Danika’s.
“Oh, that was amazing.” Melissa sighed afterward, muffling a burp. Danika set down her silverware and propped her chin on her knuckles.” Good. Let’s get down to business then.”
Melissa instantly stiffened up, suddenly feeling like Danika might eat her alive. “You’re not going back on your word, are you? You promised to pay for dinner.”
Danika shook her head. ‘No, no, this isn’t about that.”
“Oh, good then.” Melissa relaxed again. Anything was fine save for paying out of pocket. She really didn’t have much to spare right now.
“What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to keep on drifting about like this?’ Danika asked.
Melissa gave those questions some serious thought before finally saying,” Yeah, I guess.”
Come with Me if You’re Willing
“You plan to continue living aimlessly like this without a penny to your name?” Danika asked.
Realizing how bad that sounded, Melissa gave an awkward smile. “I can’t exactly do anything else, can I?’
“You have good martial arts skills,” Danika suggested, to which Melissa gave a weak shrug.
“So what? People still won’t hire me.”
“You could come work for me.” That was the point of all this, really.
