Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
How Many Times?!
Danika was getting really fed up with the two men. “If an argument is what you want, then I’m leaving.”
She couldn’t stop them, nor could she bear another second of their testosterone-filled contest. Leaving was the best option.
Hearing that, both men immediately shut up
Only then did Danika sigh, glad to see they hadn’t lost their mind.
The food Evan ordered arrived, making Danika wait an hour or so before she could finally be driven back to the hospital.
Even before she could go back to work, the two men got into another argument about who should send her back. It took a good ten minutes before either of them realized
Danika was gone, having long taken a cab.
Eustace laughed to himself, imagining how impatient Danika must’ve looked.
Evan didn’t understand the man now. “Can’t you see how Danika has no interest in you? I’d stop bothering her if I were you?
“Really? I don’t see it.” Eustace shrugged. He actually felt like Evan was the object of
Danika’s dislike. Otherwise, she’d have insisted on Evan sending her back just now.
“Eustace Quincey!” Evan yelled, angry now. “How many goddamned times do you plan to hurt Danika’s feelings?!’
Eustace instantly grew solemn. He said seriously, “I have been serious about her since before you returned to the country, so what right do you have to accuse me? If you wanted what’s best for Danika, Clarke, you’d let her make her own decision instead of wasting your time arguing with me.”
He didn’t want his time wasted on Evan anyway. He wasn’t the one interrupting his lunch with Danika. Eustace firmly believed that people fated to be together would eventually cross paths again.
Evan’s sore spot had been prodded. In truth, he didn’t have enough faith in himself to win Danika over, and that was why he was worried to see her spending so much time with Eustace. He knew Danika didn’t have those feelings for him. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be so polite with one another. Nor was he on par with her adoptive brothers or even Eustace. So, of course, Evan panicked.
Eustace didn’t waste another minute on the man. He left with his own car by the restaurant, leaving Evan with his thoughts.
From that day on, Danika turned down every single lunch and dinner date from both Eustace and Evan, opting to dine alone rather than risk the two men going head to head again.
She never expected to find James in a cafe she chose for lunch, seemingly on a date…
James hadn’t spotted her. He was focused on the woman in front of him instead.
“What do you think of this place, Mr. Windsor?” she cooed. She appeared modest but charming, looking quite compatible with James.
The man merely huffed. “It’s meh.”
Clearly not expecting such a response, the woman’s expression fell. She had chosen that place for their date, so was James criticizing the restaurant itself or her taste?
What Do You Think?
“It seems you’re not too inclined to continue this lunch date, Mr. Windsor.’ Her family was incomparable to the Windsors, sure, but that didn’t mean she was undeserving of basic respect.
James eyed her curiously, thinking the woman might act like the others before her appealing to his good graces as if nothing had happened. He set his glass down.
“You’re right. I don’t think we’re a good match.”
“Very well.” The woman nodded. “Thank you for being direct and for not wasting my time, Mr. Windsor. But if you don’t mind me asking, I’m sure you’ve been on countless blind dates. Has no woman ever caught your fancy?’
James frowned, not wishing to answer.
But the woman went on, “I heard you liked the Zellwegers’ eldest daughter. Sadly, she didn’t feel the same way. Then you got into a mess with the younger daughter. I heard she’s still living with you. So tell me, are you rejecting me now because of the elder one or the younger one?”
Her circle held onto gossip like a starving man with food. She had personally been curious about it since the words first spread.
James’ face had long turned stormy. “I’m rejecting you because I don’t find you attractive.”
Upset by his words, the woman scoffed, “Rude!”
She then marched away, storming out of the cafe. There was not much else she could do. He was James Windsor, after all.
While James was still processing his anger, the seat across him was quickly taken up again.
“Fuck off!” he roared without looking at who it was.
“Ooh. Looks like someone’s angry,” Danika teased. It had been a while since she properly talked to James. She didn’t even know he was going on blind dates again.
She’d heard the topic of engagement dissolution between James and Jolene, but since James never really suggested it, she hadn’t replied in kind.
James stared at Danika in shock. “Danika? What are you doing here?”
“To eat, duh. I didn’t expect to see you here, though.”
“Did you come alone?” James eyed their surroundings briefly. He’d heard that Evan was getting closer to Danika, nearly spending every day together, so it was quite a surprise to see Danika by herself.
Danika sighed and thought, “Can’t I have lunch alone?”
James smiled. “How’ve you been? What’s it feel like being President of Zellweger Inc.”
“It’s nothing special. You know I don’t care about these sorts of things.” She neither felt proud nor accomplished when it came to the business world.
James nodded. “Good on you then. I’m sure you’re really at ease now, especially with people managing things on your behalf.”
“You could do so too, you know. You just don’t want to take the chance,’ Danika said.
All James had to do was trust lower management to bring his business vision to life.
Still, Danika didn’t mind. As long as she didn’t make the company go bankrupt while under her leadership, she was every step closer to her goal.
Lucky Him
Danika was spotted by Evan the moment she walked into the restaurant. He waved her over. “Here, sit. Food’s almost ready.” “Sorry for making you wait.” Danika went to sit opposite Evan across the table.
Evan waved her off but didn’t ask her how she got there. He’d seen Eustace drop her off from the restaurant windows.
Evan respected Eustace for being generous enough to drive Danika over for their dinner, knowing it was with his love rival. He wouldn’t have been kind enough to do that himself.
The food was soon served, most of it Danika’s favorite. “Eat up while it’s hot. II
“Don’t mind if I do.” Danika had been starving since the afternoon, so she quickly helped herself to dinner.
“This is really good, Evan. Where’d you find this place?”
“I drove by a couple of times and saw they had a lot of customers, so I figured they must be doing something right. I wanted you to try it out, so here we are,” Evan happily answered, passing some mashed yams to Danika.
“Wow,” Danika thought. “I wouldn’t have been able to find a place with such good cooking just by driving through Bardoff City.”
“What’d the police say?” Evan asked. “Glass is going to get the noose, right?
Danika shook her head. “Turns out the guests killed by the bomb are still alive, just heavily injured. My guess is he’ll just get a life sentence.” Of course, the details remained in the court’s jurisdiction.
Something dark flared in Evan’s eyes when he heard “life sentence,” but it quickly vanished. “Lucky him.”
“Yeah. The lawyers his family hired are trying to argue that he never intended to kill anyone, given how weak the bombs he planted are.”
“He mustn’t have known shit to have bought such low-quality weapons,” Danika thought to herself, amused.
Evan smiled. “We’ll leave it up to the coppers then.”
“Yeah. There’s nothing else I can do now.” Nothing illegal, anyway.
Their conversation continued merrily throughout dinner. Afterward, when Danika thought she could finally go home, Evan pulled out two tickets from his pocket.
“I got some tickets for a concert nearby. Wanna join me? It could help our digestion,” he asked, all smiles.
Danika giggled. “Only you would think of something like that.”
“So, are you coming?” Evan grinned, eyes full of adoration for Danika.
The woman eyed the tickets and nodded. “Sure. We’ll see how well music helps with my metabolism.”
“Let’s walk over then. It’s not far.” Evan went up to Danika holding her hand.
The warm feeling in and around her palm made her stiffen. She gently pulled her hand away even as she nodded at what he’d said.
Their atmosphere suddenly grew awkward, with Danika instantly regretting agreeing to the concert after dinner. She should’ve gone straight home.
Evan, meanwhile, was unbothered. His smile remained as he quietly walked to the concert with Danika beside him.
Big Problem
Danika glanced at him and didn’t ask further. Since he said so, she would take his word for it.
“Don’t worry. You’ll know it when you meet the right person. Someone will come along someday and have a place in your heart.” Danika smiled at him and comforted him.
James nodded, feeling the same way. He believed he would meet the right person, but it would take time.
Afterward, Danika and James had dinner together, and James sent her back to Zellweger Castle. The next day, it was all over the news. Multiple news sites published headlines about Danika and James getting together.
Danika had just finished performing surgery and noticed everyone at the hospital looking at her in a weird way. She instinctively knew that something was off and took out her phone to check the news immediately. As expected, it was indeed related to her.
She was speechless. It was just a simple meal together, and James was being a gentleman in escorting her home. How could such a simple thing cause a big misunderstanding?
