Chapter 9: Chapter 9

I winced every time Adrian put ice pack on my foot. He was originally going to take me to the hospital, but for God's sake, I was just slipped. It's not like I had a bad accident and was in a coma.

"You're so reckless," Adrian commented.

"You left me! Don't you think I'd be scared?" I answered angrily. "It's all because of you!"

Adrian didn't respond. He seemed to have realized that he was wrong. Good to know.

"You didn't answer my last question either," I attacked him again with a question after I saw his expression soften. Maybe he felt guilty for almost wanting to leave me. "Did you purposely not pick me up to the party so I could go with Ashton?"

"Why do women talk so much?" Adrian grumbled.

"Hey! I can hear you,"

"I didn't mean to make you go to the party with Ashton. I did have other, more important things to do than pick you up." As Adrian said that, he looked up to me. His eyes fell on my lips, then back to mine. Looking into his eyes was like looking into my own eyes.

I rolled my eyes. What an annoying man.

"You better rest now," Adrian helped me up, then he supported me to walk. I put my arm over his shoulder, but my foot hurt so bad that I almost fell. I looked at my bandaged foot.

Adrian sighed tiredly. He carried me in a bridal style. "You owe me again,"

"I'll treat you to ice cream later,"

Adrian grinned, facing straight ahead. "I don't like strawberry ice cream like your prince,"

"How did you know Ashton liked the strawberry flavor?" Honestly I was surprised.

Adrian was also taken aback, perhaps realizing that he had missed out on that.

"I'm just saying,"

I looked at him suspiciously. "Did you find out about him?"

"Take a rest, and stop being curious." Adrian pushed open the door and went inside. He carefully put me on the bed. I sat on it, and watching him arrange the pillows and bolsters for me to rest my head there.

For a man like Adrian, is this kind of attention on the list? The Moretti family was notorious for being cruel and indiscriminate. I had also heard that they didn't treat women well. Everyone described them so badly.

I leaned back after that. Adrian didn't look at me one last time, he just walked out of the room.

Adrian's previous words echoed in my head. Even a man as ignorant as himself had fallen in love. But sadly, he lost the person he loved to the point of losing himself. What happened? Did they break up?

I yawned and closed my eyes. My lips formed into a smile. For a moment I forgot about my own problem.

The next day, I woke up at ten in the morning. My body felt sore. When I woke up, I saw three servants preparing my breakfast.

"Good morning, Miss." greeted one of them, which I replied with a nod and a smile. "Today Mr. Moretti left to deal with an important business, so we were ordered by him to serve you all day."

"Where did Adrian go?" I asked, almost annoyed that Adrian left me alone at his mansion. Doesn't he know that I'm still having trouble walking steadily?

"We weren't told by him, but it's likely he'll be home in the evening."

I smiled again. "Thanks for the information. The breakfast smells great, what's on the menu this morning?"

"It's Bananas Foster Belgian Waffles,"

"Awesome, banana is my favorite fruit." I was getting ready when they put down a small table to put the plate of breakfast and warm milk. "Thank you,"

They nodded then permission to wait outside. If only I hadn't slipped, surely I could have a closer look at this Moretti's mansion now.

I enjoyed my breakfast alone. Usually I had breakfast with my father, but since yesterday it was not the same anymore. Even without me, my father could laugh at the dinner table with Sarah and Rainy.

I then took a sip of warm milk, savoring every drop that ran down my throat. I was just smiling, enjoying a nice breakfast when my phone rang. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. And the name on the screen took my breath away. Ashton called me. He must had asked why I called him last night.

I felt the urge to pick up the call. But I had no intention of going back to my home. I told Adrian it was only for one night at his mansion, but then I changed my mind. After all, if Ashton knew where I was, he would be absolutely roaring at me.

I put my phone back on the nightstand, letting it keep ringing. But then I felt it wasn't right for Ashton, much less to make him worry about me. So I sent him a short message, saying I'm fine and I just need some time alone.

After that Ashton replied to my message with tons of questions, asking where I was and also asking me to pick up the call. I guessed he was really worried now.

A knock on the door made me almost throw my phone. "Miss, we have prepared a bathtub for you to take a shower. If you wish, we will help you to the bathroom."

"Sure, I just finished eating my breakfast."

Although my father also employed many servants, but not everything was done by them. They were only in charge of cleaning and cooking. Even then, sometimes my father chose to cook himself.

It was still hurt for me to walk, but I tried. I tried to rely on my own strength to descend the stairs to the living room. I didn't want to be helped, but then one of the servants handed me a walking stick to make things easier. At least it was better than having to trouble one of them to keep helping me walk. I could also freely enjoy my own time.

I finished my breakfast, and also done taking a shower. Now I didn't know what to do. What should I do? And then, I had an idea.

I asked one of the servants to accompany me shopping, remembering they said Adrian let me use his black card to buy anything I wanted.

We went to the mall with two bodyguards to protect us. I forgot that the Moretti Family must always be on the alert, maybe because their enemies were a lot out there.

I wanted to buy clothes, but I remembered that I had a bunch of it at home. So I ended up just eating sushi. It was already lunch time. The restaurant was filled with people resting. Every table was full, except for the one at the very end of the room.

The sound of a man clearing his throat made me glance at the table next to me. Ashton was in the same restaurant as me, and he found me! And he was with Rainy. It was a big problem for me.

"Ash?"

"Stop making that innocent face, Mabel. I want you to go home right now!" Ashton stood in front of me who was still sitting. I briefly saw Rainy's expression fell. She was still sitting quietly in her place, not looking at me at all. It made me remembering what I heard last night. Rainy wanted Ashton to pay more attention to her. She didn't want me to get in their way. It was hard for me to stay away from Ashton, but I didn't want her to cry anymore.

"I'm with Adrian," I said to Ashton after gulping.

"What?"

"I don't want to go home. I'm with Adrian," I repeated. And I was sorry because later I saw how hurt Ashton was because of what I said. What's his problem?

"You spent the night at his mansion?" Ashton asked, but his tone was even.

"Yeah," I cleared my throat. "If you're worried about me, don't worry. There are two bodyguards ready to protect me at all times,"

"No," Ashton's expression hardened. "You spent the night with him?"

I saw him confused. In a split second I realized that his question wasn't what I thought it meant.

"You mean-" I got up from my seat and shook my head. "No, I slept in the guest room."

Ashton let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm done eating. I'm leaving," I was about to turn when Ashton grabbed my elbow. I looked up at him then at Rainy. "What?"

"Your foot is bandaged. Did Adrian hurt you?"

"Oh, this one?" I glanced at my feet. "I slipped. And Adrian didn't hurt me, if that's what you want to know."

Ashton was about to take a look of it, but I held him back. "What are you doing?"

"I'll have to check how badly you slipped. Besides, how could you be so clumsy that you slipped?" Ashton gave me a look and shook his head at my carelessness.

I took a step back from him that I almost hit the chair.

"For God's sake, Mabel. What's your problem? Is it just me or have you been avoiding me lately? You disappeared after calling me last night. I was scared to death. Just the thought of you getting hurt makes me break out in a cold sweat. And now you're like this? I just need to check on you," Ashton rubbed one of his temples. His voice was harsh, but his expression was all hurt. "If I made a mistake, just tell me."

If only Ashton knew how hard it was for me to hold myself back from hugging him and whispering to him that there was nothing wrong with him. I was the only one at fault for loving him.

Rainy cleared her throat to make us realize that we were not alone. There was Rainy, and we were also in a public place.

I had to end this as soon as possible. I couldn't linger to see how hard I hurt my best friend.

"It's just your thoughts," I looked at him strangely. "You're thinking too much,"

Ashton's grip tightened on me. We stared at each other, challenging each other to let go first. He looked hard to say what was on his mind. His lips were about to speak, but no words came out. But then he let go of me and nodded. "Have a nice day,"

I froze in my spot when Ashton sat back down. Never had he ever said that to me. That sounded too formal for our friendship.

"Well, you two too." I awkwardly said then quickly left.

I walked out of the dining room at a brisk pace like someone was chasing me, even though no one was chasing me, other than the two bodyguards and one servant of Adrian's messenger. My eyes felt hot. I would cry soon.

"Miss! Slow down, please!"

I didn't listen to them. I let myself to endure the pain until my body staggered. I almost fell. Luckily I wasn't alone, and Adrian's servant was so quick to catch my body.

"Be careful, Miss."

I rubbed my eyes roughly. Tears welled up in my eyes, and now they were running down my cheeks.

"Miss, are you all right?"

I squeezed my eyes closed. "Take me back to Adrian's mansion,"

I thought it wouldn't be this painful to see Ashton suddenly turn cold and turn away from me. But apparently the pain outweighed the pain when Ashton changed girlfriends. Because Ashton had never done this to me before.

Throughout the car ride, I was flooded with tears. It also rained, matched my tears. I imagined if I was honest with Ashton from the start. Maybe my pain wouldn't be so fatal. Maybe he would just stay away from me because he knew my feelings.

I needed someone to talk to, hopefully Adrian would come home soon.