CHAPTER 35: RUTHLESS SAVIOR

Getting involved in Raphael’s family business was the last thing on my mind; if anything, I believed that it would further complicate our relationship. Job hunting was going to be difficult, but I didn’t want to rely on my ties with Bennett to land my new job.

"My mother and I are not involved in any way with their business. There’s nothing that I can do to help you, and you can tell Emily and her father that I said exactly that. In fact, even if I could help you, why would I help you guys out after all that you’ve done? You can tell Emily that too," I said before rolling my eyes.

"You don’t have to get so defensive. I was just asking out of curiosity," Sam replied dismissively.

It felt like I was seeing him for the greedy and manipulative man that he truly was, and that disgusted me more than anything.

"Don’t ever approach me again," I said before turning to walk away.

I felt a tremor of anger run through my body when I felt his grip on my arm, preventing my escape. By that time, I was no longer worried about causing a scene considering that I would no longer be working there anyways. Just when I turned around with the intention to yell at him to let me go, a cold voice spoke me up from close behind me.

"Is this why it’s taking you so long, Gail?"

I gasped in shock at the familiar voice and the unfamiliar use of my new nickname. As far as I was aware, there was only one person who called me Gail instead of Abby.

"Raphael..."

I turned around to see Raphael standing right behind me before I felt the pressure of his hand on my other arm.

"Is he the one keeping you?" Raphael asked, and he did not sound impressed. Sam was evidently as stunned as I was at Raphael’s sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here?" I asked blankly.

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask him, but that was the first one that escaped from my lips. Timing was clearly not on my side, and just when I thought the situation couldn’t get any worse, Raphael had to turn up when I was with Sam.

"I figured that you should be done by now, so I came to pick you up," Raphael replied as if what he was doing was absolutely expected.

I had no idea why he came to pick me up and then I was at a complete loss for words. Before I could say anything, Rafael turned to pay attention to Sam who was still standing there with a confused look on his face.

"Who is he?" Raphael asked me while keeping his eyes on Sam.

That’s a very good question...

Am I supposed to give Raphael a formal introduction of who Sam is or was to me?

“He’s a colleague, he works in a different department, but since I just quit my job I guess I may say that he’s my ex-colleague now," I replied with a straightforward answer while conveniently not mentioning the fact that he also happens to be my treacherous ex-fiancé.

"Excuse me, Abby and I are still talking," Sam said hesitantly as his eyes darted back and forth between Raphael and me.

"It doesn’t look like she wants to keep on talking to you," Raphael replied coldly.

He pulled me by the arm away from Sam until I was standing behind him. It felt like Raphael was using his large frame as a shield to protect me from Sam and whatever he had in mind. Although I was quite shocked at Raphael’s intervention, I felt quite thankful that he had stepped in right at that moment when I wasn’t sure how to handle Sam. He was also right that I no longer wished to continue my conversation with Sam, and I never wanted to talk to him in the first place.

"We should go," I told Raphael as I tugged softly on the sleeve of his suit.

"Wait, Abby," Sam called after me.

"I don’t want to talk to you anymore. There’s no point in us talking," I said with a slow shake of my head.

"Let’s go," Raphael said as he took my hand in his.

“Who is this guy, Abby?” Sam asked the question that I wanted to avoid the most.

He’s...

“He’s...Umm...” I murmured as I wondered how I should introduce Raphael.

For some reason, I found it difficult to spit out that he is my stepbrother.

"Wait a second. Are you Raphael Hale?" Sam asked as his eyes widened in recognition.

At that point, I felt like I had just fallen down a cliff and that I just kept on rolling and rolling rapidly downhill while gathering even more speed. That was how bad the situation seemed to me, and every passing second only made it worse. It wasn’t that surprising that Sam would recognize Raphael. Now that I thought of it, I must have been too tipsy or too desperate for a man that night to not even recognize that the person that had struck up a conversation with me was actually Raphael Hale. I wished that I had paid more attention to the news and media, that way I would have realized that his face was basically present everywhere.

"I want to leave now. Let’s go, Raphael," I said as I pulled on his arm.

After recalling what we had just been talking about, it didn’t take me long to figure out what Sam was about to say to Raphael. It was bad enough the three of us had to run into each other without having Sam inquire Raphael about his next business move.

"I’ve heard that Hale Corporation is looking into expanding its business into various fields. Actually, I’m the son-in-law of the owner of this company, so if you’re interested..." Sam proposed shamelessly as he kept talking faster and faster. Raphael held up a hand to halt Sam from going any further.

"I’m not here to discuss any business with you. All I want is to pick up my sister and escort her back home," Raphael replied emotionlessly.

–To be continued...