After Lauren left, the crowd had slowly dispersed and went back to partying. Music filled the air and it was just like nothing happened a few minutes ago.
"Did you really have to do that?" Samantha asked as she led Daniel to sit down at the nearest chair.
"Do what?" he answered with another question.
"Did you really have to ban her from coming to your resort? Was that necessary?" even after allowing her husband to do what he wanted to do, she could not see the need for it. Wasn't it a bit too much?
Shaking his head, he brought his hand up and cupped her cheek. Rubbing his thumb on her smooth fair skin, he replied, "She had insulted you and the managers here. That's enough reason for me."
She held that hand and brought it down while holding it tightly as she tried to reason, "But honey-"
"If I had not done that, everyone in here will still think that you are a pushover. They have to know that you cannot be bullied whether I am around or not — and especially while I am not around." He explained kindly.
"Look at the two of them. They are such a power couple. Both CEOs, both good-looking..." one woman sighed as she and her friends watched Samantha and Daniel from across the room.
They have been looking at the two, just like the other people in the party who were still hung up from the event that just happened.
Samantha bit her lip and she sighed at her husband being resolute. Unconsciously, she was fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist.
"You don't like it?" He held her wrist up and examined the bracelet on her. It suited perfectly well on her thin wrist and Daniel thought that the platinum was a better choice than gold for this kind of bracelet. While Lauren thought that it was a cheap bracelet, she was actually just not aware that platinum was more expensive than gold because it is rarer and mined less.
Daniel had it designed to look just like an ordinary everyday bracelet to make it inconspicuous to not draw much attention compared to having it very shiny and eye-catching. After all, the purpose of it was far more important.
"I do. It's unique," she said, and a smile appeared on her face. "But it would be nice for you to have one too," she said as she lifted her gaze and met his.
His brows knitted, unsure of what she actually meant. "You wanted me to wear a tracker?"
"Well, it does not have to be necessarily a tracker. Just a simple bracelet is enough. I just want us to pair," she admitted, showing her pearly whites and it made him chuckle.
"I see. I'll have one made for myself then."
"Eh? I was thinking of getting one for you. It's nearly Christmas already, saves me the time to think of what to get for you."
Daniel tossed his head back as he laughed at her statement, "So you're announcing what your gift for me is? Aren't gifts supposed to be a secret?"
"You already have almost everything and you can also buy anything that you want. It's so hard to think for gifts, you know?" she stated.
Just then, a male's voice sounded not far from them. "Samantha," Eli called her name.
The couple turned their heads to the direction of the voice and saw him approaching them.
"Oh, Daniel… this is our class president back in high school. Eli-"
"Elijah Yoo," Daniel interrupted making Samantha snap her head to him. He stood up and extended his hand to shake Eli's.
"Brother," replied Elijah.
Confusion loomed over Samantha's face as she looked back and forth, "You two know each other? How?" she asked as she stood up with them.
"Your husband is… was… um, my brother's friend," Elijah answered hesitantly, he did not know if his brother and Daniel have patched things up.
"Your brother? Who-" she looked at Daniel when the realization hit her and her mouth hung open.
Nodding his head, Daniel confirmed Samantha's suspicions, "Elijah is Stefan's half brother."
Samantha observed her friend's features and blinked, "Now that you mentioned it. You do resemble a little."
Eli laughed at her remark whilst handing a glass of wine to Daniel, in which he gladly accepted. "You look different, brother. It's been too long since I have last seen you."
"Well, we were still teenagers since we have last seen each other, that's over a decade. You have grown quite well too," raising his hand, Daniel ruffled Eli's hair.
The three of them talked to catch up on their own lives while Hannah was in another corner of the room talking to her other female classmates that she was also friends with in high school.
The party continued until it was past ten in the evening. Everyone was already exhausted and they all wanted to rest as they needed to have enough energy for the activities that they will have the next morning.
Reaching the floor of their rooms – Samantha, Hannah, Daniel, and Logan walked towards the suite.
"Hannah, you can stay in the same room. I have already arranged another room for us," Daniel said.
Hannah smiled and nodded her head, "Okay."
"I still have my things in the room. I'll go and pack up really quickly and move it," Samantha responded as she started to walk towards the door. However, Daniel caught her wrist to stop her, "You don't need to. I have already had your things moved to our room."
"Oh… when did you do that?" she tilted her head.
"While we were in the party," he answered before he looked towards Hannah, "Good night, Hannah." He spoke before dragging Samantha to their room at the end of the hall.
"Wait! Honey! Why are you in a hurry?" Samantha struggled.
Hannah shook her head, chuckling as she opened her own room. Turning the knob, she pushed the door open.
A hand suddenly grabbed her wrist as soon as she did, pulling her inside the room — simultaneously closing the door and locking it.
She yelped in surprise, "Aah-" but her mouth was covered by something soft and her voice became muffled. "Mmm! Mmm!", she whimpered.
Samantha who was still within earshot snapped her head to it, "Did you hear that?" she asked but Daniel was still dragging her away.
"No," he firmly answered as they reached their own door. Taking a keycard out from his pocket, he opened the door swiftly and let her in.
Confused, she could have sworn that she heard Hannah, "But I heard-"
"It was probably a cat," he deadpanned.
Samantha showed an even more perplexed expression on her face and Daniel bit his tongue to hold back his laughter.
"What cat?" There's no cat in here!" she mused.
.
Inside Hannah's room.
"Mmm! Mmm!" she mumbled as her heartbeat raced. 'Am I going to be kidnapped?' she thought.
"Stop struggling, Han!" he said, trying to keep her steady while she panicked.
Noticing the familiar voice, she stopped moving. "Hmm?" she sounded in question.
"I'm going to remove my hand so just stop screaming, okay?" the man said.
Hannah's racing heart slowly calmed down as she inhaled the musky scent that the man was emitting and without making another sound, she nodded her head.
Slowly, the man removed his hand from her mouth. He lowered it and held her hand, making Hannah's heart flutter at the contact.
Interlacing their fingers together, a smile appeared on his handsome face in the dimly lit room.
"Joon," she whispered under her breath. Her voice was low but he still heard it clearly.
"Hey," he replied as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.
She instantly closed her eyes when their lips pressed. A moan escaped from her, bringing her back to reality. She gasped and pulled back from their embrace, surprising him for the interruption.
Raising her hand, she slapped his arm in anger.
"Aw!!" He immediately retracted away and rubbed his sore upper arm. "What did you do that for?"