CHAPTER 133: I WAS JUST CHECKING

"No, no, no, Anna. Don’t get swayed," she muttered under her breath, tapping her fingers against the small table beside her. "Just because he’s acting different doesn’t change the fact that he married you for a reason."

Her own voice sounded tired, even to her ears — a mix of reason and disbelief.

Anna wasn’t a fool. She knew when something didn’t add up, and lately, Daniel Clafford had been a walking contradiction.

The pieces were scattered, but she was starting to connect them.

The file Kira had hidden under her drawer — the same one Anna had seen once in her father’s study — wasn’t just coincidence. The company name, the signatures, the initials... they all traced back to Daniel.

With Shawn’s help, she’d dug deeper. And what she found confirmed what she feared.

Her father wanted to merge with one of Daniel’s subsidiaries — secretly, without informing anyone — hoping to secure his own position if things ever went wrong with Clafford Enterprises.

It was a desperate move. A foolish one.

And he thought he could hide it from Daniel.

Anna’s lips curved in a faint, bitter smile. "He really forgot who he’s trying to fool."

For once, she wasn’t going to get dragged into his mess.

"Anyway, that’s not my problem," she murmured, brushing the thought aside. "He brought this on himself — he can handle it himself."

All she wanted — all she had ever wanted — was to live differently this time. To stay away from the suffocating expectations, the manipulation, and the loneliness that once devoured her whole.

She had already died once. She had nothing left to lose — except her peace.

A gentle knock on the terrace door broke her thoughts.

"Madam," Mariam’s voice called softly. "Your food."

Anna turned just in time to see the tray being placed on the small round table — a plate of light snacks and a glass of juice.

"Thank you," she said, smiling faintly.

As Mariam left, Anna sank into the chair, letting the night breeze brush against her face. The stars glimmered faintly above, and for the first time that day, the world felt quiet again.

She reached for the juice, but as her eyes wandered, they caught on the terrace railing — and her hand froze mid-air.

A sharp shiver crawled down her spine.

The railing.

The cold metal. The weightless moment before the fall. The faint sound of shoes scraping against marble.

Her heart raced as the flash of that night came rushing back — a hand shoving her from behind. The brief gasp that never turned into a scream.

"I remember being alone," she whispered, her throat dry. "Then who... who could’ve sneaked in?"

The question lingered in the air, heavy and unanswered.

If she had survived that fall in her past life, maybe she would have known who tried to kill her. But now, with fragments of that memory fading in and out, all she could do was wait.

Wait — and watch.

Until the same mistake repeated.

Her grip tightened around the glass, the cold pressing against her skin grounding her back to reality.

"Not this time," she muttered. "If someone tries again, I’ll know."

Then, forcing a small smile, she took a bite from the plate.

"Mariam surely knows what I like," she said softly, the warmth of the food easing her tension bit by bit.

It was just a simple plate of snacks and a glass of juice — but somehow, it made her feel less alone.

Less haunted.

Even if, deep down, she knew... the peace wouldn’t last long.

After spending some quiet time alone, Anna finally decided to return to her room — with one lingering thought circling her mind:

Maybe one day, I’ll move upstairs. It’s peaceful there.

The idea brought a small smile to her lips. But that calm didn’t last long.

The moment she stepped inside, she froze.

A sound — faint but unmistakable — echoed from the bathroom. The sound of running water.

Her brows furrowed. "What the..." she whispered, her steps halting halfway into the room.

The shower.

Someone was in her shower.

Her pulse quickened. Every possible worst-case scenario ran through her mind until the sound stopped — followed by the soft click of the bathroom door.

And then he stepped out.

Daniel.

Fresh from the shower.

Water dripped down the hard planes of his chest, tracing over perfectly sculpted abs before disappearing into the towel wrapped loosely around his waist. His hair, still damp, clung to his forehead in soft, dark strands, and the faint steam rising behind him made him look almost... ethereal.

No, not ethereal. Dangerous.

’And impossibly hot.’ her subconcious screamed.

Anna’s jaw went slack. Her brain short-circuited. Her eyes — traitorous eyes followed a drop of water sliding down from his collarbone to his chest, lower, lower... until her throat went dry.

’Now I understand how he carries me around like I weigh nothing,’she thought helplessly, her gaze flicking over the defined muscles of his arms and shoulders. The man’s basically carved out of marble.

She remembered fragments of that night — the one time they’d been intimate. Everything had been a blur of emotion and desire, their minds too lost to notice anything else.

But this — this was crystal clear.

And she was shamelessly staring.

’Was he always this... manly?’ she wondered, completely losing track of her original indignation.

Her brain screamed at her to look away. Her eyes didn’t listen.

"Like what you see?" Then came the low rumble of his voice — deep, teasing, far too close for her sanity.

Anna’s breath caught. Her head jerked up, eyes wide, but the damage was already done — he’d caught her red-handed.

A slow, knowing smirk curved on his lips as he took a few steps toward her, droplets of water still sliding down his skin.

She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she blinked rapidly, trying to regain control of her voice and failed spectacularly.

Her lips parted, and before she could stop herself... she nodded.

"..."

Daniel froze for half a second — and then, as if savoring her reaction, his smirk deepened into something wickedly amused.

"Well," he murmured, voice smooth like velvet, " Do you want to touch them" this time he walked closer to her while holding into that flustred look on her face.

Despite her gaze never wavering, the moment Daniel spoke, he caught the subtle shift in her eyes — the way they flickered downward before she even realized it.

A low chuckle escaped him, deep and quiet, as he took another step forward.

Now, only a breath of space remained between them.

Anna, still frozen in her trance, didn’t notice the smirk playing on his lips — or the way his eyes softened for a fleeting second as he looked at her.

Her thoughts were a mess. Every nerve in her body screamed for her to move, to say something, but her mind had other plans.

Why does it look so hard... so real?

Before reason could stop her, her hand lifted — slow, hesitant — and her fingertip brushed against his skin.

The air shifted instantly.

Daniel went still, his muscles tightening under her touch, the faint sound of his breath catching in the space between them. His jaw tensed, but he didn’t move away.

If anything, he seemed caught between restraint and something he couldn’t name.

Anna’s touch was light, almost uncertain, yet it sent a ripple through the quiet — a heartbeat neither of them wanted to acknowledge.

She blinked, startled by how warm he felt, how alive. Her finger hovered, trembling slightly, and that was when she finally dared to look up.

Daniel’s eyes were already on her — steady, unreadable, but heavy with something that made her heart stutter.

In that silence, she realized what she had done.

Her hand fell back immediately, and she stumbled a step away, only to be held back with a strong arm circling around her waist and yanking her close.

"You don’t get to step away, Anna. Not after what you just did."

His voice was low, commanding — the kind that sent a shiver straight down her spine.

Anna’s eyes shot up, only to find herself staring into the familiar darkness of his gaze — deep, intense, and far too close for her to think clearly.

She’d seen that look before... right before things had almost gone too far between them.

Her throat tightened. "I—I was just checking—" she stammered, looking anywhere but at him, her hands fidgeting helplessly beneath his grip.

Daniel didn’t move. His fingers held her wrist in place — not rough, but firm enough to make her aware of just how easily he could keep her there if he wanted to.

"Checking?" he repeated, his voice laced with quiet amusement. "Is that what we’re calling it now?"

Her cheeks burned hotter. "I wasn’t—I mean, you—"

Words completely failed her.

Daniel watched her with a look that was part fascination, part mischief. It wasn’t often he saw Anna this flustered. She was usually composed, sharp-tongued, and stubborn to the bone. But right now? She looked like a startled kitten caught in the rain.

He leaned a little closer, his voice dropping to a teasing whisper. "I never thought my wife could actually blush."