Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
Their dinner was most likely more special to him than Danika thought.
Danika rolled her eyes.
“Are you eating or not? I can put these back in the fridge if you’re not.”
“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I?”
No way would he stand lower than Evan! With that in mind, Eustace went to sit down at the table, digging into the food.
“Slow down,” Danika said after seeing Eustace nearly wolfing down every bite.
“No one else is eating but you.”
“O-hay,” Eustace replied through a mouthful of food, never really slowing his pace down.
Danika shook her head and went down to sit in front of him.
“Don’t just chow it down.Unchewed food isn’t good for your digestion.”
“Really? It’s all the same to me.” Eustace mumbled.
“Really. Are you a doctor?”
Danika cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Stubborn man,” she thought.
Eustace scrunched his nose up, not having anything to retaliate with. So, he slowed down his eating, making sure to chew his food.
Danika waited until he finished eating before getting him a glass of water.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
“Wow. Polite,” Danika teased. She rarely heard the man give thanks.
Eustace nearly choked on his mouthful of water.
“Am I not?”
“Hm…I don’t think you know what it means, actually.”
Men like Eustace, who grew up in the upper class, would never know what it means to be polite to others.
Rather, they’d be used to others being polite to them.
But it wasn’t his fault, really.He didn’t ask to be born into that family.
“You’re wrong.I know what it means, and I know how to be so.I just don’t think there are many people who deserve it from me,” Eustace said proudly.
Well, that was basically what Danika had in mind. Being polite and respectful had nothing to do with differences in people.
“I don’t wanna argue about this with you. It’s kinda pointless.”
It wasn’t like a few words could break the behaviors he’d developed from childhood. But Eustace insisted, “Do you think I should be respectful to everyone, then?”
You Worry Too Much
Danika sighed.
“Of course, I do.Everyone deserves respect no matter who or what kind of person they are.You can’t just look down on someone because they’re not as rich as you, right?”
She didn’t intend to convince Eustace otherwise from his point of view.It was pretty expected for them to have different worldviews.
After all, they grew up differently.
Plus, it wasn’t as if he was ever a bully to everyone.
At most, he ignored certain people, choosing not to interact with them instead.
Just as Danika was ready to change the topic, Eustace said, “Alright.I’ll learn to be respectful to everyone from now on.”
Danika shot him a curious look.
“What? You don’t need to—“
“Anything else I can improve on? Just let me know.” Eustace said, gazing at Danika with a serious expression.
Now Danika really didn’t know what to say.
After a long period of silence, she finally said, “You don’t need to change anything about yourself just because I say so, you know.”
If Eustace changed everything about himself, he’d no longer be the man Danika knew.
“Shouldn’t I improve on my flaws, though? I’m grateful you even care enough to tell me all this.”
Danika pursed her lips, not knowing what else to respond with.
Instead, she said, “It’s late.You should go back and get some rest.”
“Alright.”
Eustace nodded.
Before he left, he couldn’t help but ask, “You don’t actually have feelings for Evan Clarke, do you?”
“Why the sudden question? I’ve made my intentions very clear to you before.”
“I know.I just needed to hear it again.”
He was worried Danika’s feelings might change the more she spent time with Evan.
Danika groaned, annoyed, and pushed Eustace out the door.
“You worry too much.”
The door then shut in his face while he stared at it longingly.He didn’t feel too terrible.
Danika didn’t seem to be into Evan for the time being, though he wasn’t sure what might transpire in the future…
No way would Eustace let Evan have that chance, however.He turned and went back home, turning in soon enough, just as he promised Danika.
The next morning, Eustace came by with breakfast.
The two then ate together before he left for work while Danika stayed home to rest.It was Sunday, after all.
Thinking about how long it had been since she’d hung out with Stephanie, Danika called her.
They could use a girls’ day out.But Stephanie never answered her call even once.
It worried Danika, who hadn’t contacted her for some time due to being busy.She wouldn’t be overworking herself trying to make her family stronger than Paul, would she? Danika sighed.She’d call Stephanie later in the day.
Unbeknownst to her, Stephanie had met up with Paul earlier, though it didn’t end very happily like last time.
Seconds before Danika’s call came through, Stephanie had been abducted by several men; she was dragged into a van before it drove off.Her phone was now sitting by the roadside after falling out from the commotion.
Are You Sure?
It was nearly noon when Danika called Stephanie again.
This time someone answered, though, to her surprise, it wasn’t Stephanie, but a stranger.
“Is this your phone? You can have it back for five hundy, or I’ll toss it into the river.”
A man’s voice came from the other end of the call.
Danika blinked in surprise but swiftly recovered.
“Did you find the phone somewhere?”
“What’d you think? You’re not gonna say I stole it, are you? I’m telling you, I didn’t steal it.I just found it by the road.”
The man sounded worried as if he really might get in trouble.
Now Danika was worried.
How did Stephanie’s phone end up by the roadside? “Do you want it back or not?”
“Yes.Send me a location.I’ll come to meet you.”
“Nope.Just send me the money, and I’ll have it posted back to you by courier.”
Danika scoffed.
“What difference would that make? If I wanted to report you to the police, I could track you down just from your bank account records.”
“You—‘”
