Joseph climbed the stone steps and returned to the study on the top floor. He sat down in front of the computer and turned it on.
A photo of a smiling woman appeared on the screen. Joseph stared at it, then smiled darkly.
"Chantelle, we’ll meet soon."
At Western Hill Villa.
After the heavy rain, the night was calm.
Chantelle finished her pancake and then made sure Daniel got some rest.
Daniel lay down on the bed quietly, listening to her.
Daniel was surprised by Chantelle’s sudden concern. At the same time, he started to suspect that Philip might have told her about his injury while treating her.
Otherwise, why was she being so kind now?
She had said she never wanted to see him again when they were in the pit. But now, she watched him shower, made sure he went to bed, and even covered him with a blanket.
Her gentle actions made Daniel restless. He wondered, Is this just the calm before the storm? Is she planning to run away with the kids tonight?
But when Ashton, who was on night watch, told him that Chantelle and the children were asleep, Daniel realized he might have overthought it.
Still unsure, he picked up his phone and sent a message to Philip.
"Philip, are you asleep?"
Philip read the message but ignored it. He was too busy enjoying his game.
Daniel typed again, "I saw you’re online in the game. Are you ignoring me on purpose?"
Philip replied, "I’m not Philip."
Daniel sent another message, "Okay, that’s fine. I just want to ask Philip to help me bandage my wound again."
Philip quickly replied, "What?! What happened? I just bandaged it this afternoon. What did you do? I—"
Philip was shocked when he saw Daniel’s third message. Without thinking, he replied with a voice message.
Right after sending it, he realized he had exposed himself.
Daniel then sent, "So... you’re Philip now?"
Philip was speechless. Daniel wasn’t this sneaky before. Who taught him how to lie?
Great, he thought. I almost got five kills just now!
With no choice, Philip explained to his teammates. He quit the game and got ready to log off.
He picked up his phone, turned on the voice changer, and said, "Sorry guys, my wife’s about to give birth. I have to be with her. Bye!"
Before anyone could respond, Philip exited the game and opened his Instagram.
He messaged, "Daniel, it’s the middle of the night. You’re a patient. Why aren’t you sleeping? What do you want from me?"
Philip pulled the blanket over himself and got ready for a serious chat.
Daniel replied, "You didn’t sleep either."
Philip answered, "That’s normal. I’m not injured. You, on the other hand, need to be careful. If you don’t rest, your waist could get worse."
"My waist is fine," Daniel replied seriously.
Philip couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Daniel’s reply. This guy really cares about his waist. He’s very funny!
"I don’t care if your waist is fine, but Chantie probably does. So take care of yourself and stop moving around," Philip tried to use the opportunity to persuade Daniel and made him follow the healing process obediently.
Daniel had a fever but still made pancakes for her, he thought. I was a bit annoyed he didn’t make one for me after I treated him, but it’s clear he cares about her. If I tell him Chantelle is worried, maybe he’ll follow the treatment properly.
"Did you tell Chantelle about my injury? Did she only care because she was worried about my waist?" Daniel asked.
"Huh?" Philip blinked, confused. He didn’t get what Daniel was trying to say.
"Daniel, I didn’t say anything to Chantie. It was obvious you were hurt. You can’t blame me! Daniel? Are you still there? Are you mad? You’re getting so stingy these days. You weren’t before!"
Philip kept sending messages, but Daniel only read them without replying.
Half an hour later, Philip was half-asleep, still holding his phone.
Suddenly, he heard a message notification. He quickly checked the screen.
Daniel wrote, "Chantelle came to sleep with me. Don’t message me again. You might wake her up."
Philip replied, "Please stop showing off."
But Daniel didn’t answer. He had already turned on Do Not Disturb mode.
At that moment, in Daniel’s bedroom.
He turned off his phone when he saw Chantelle hugging her pillow and leaning toward him. He held his breath, nervous.
"Chantelle?" he whispered. But she didn’t respond.
She placed her pillow on his bed, lifted the quilt, and quietly got in.
Daniel tried to move aside to make space. But before he could, Chantelle wrapped her arms around him.
She snuggled into his chest and fell asleep in a comfortable position.
Daniel froze. Her warmth and scent made his heart race.
But Chantelle was already sound asleep, so he stayed still.
He felt restless and wanted to hit the wall to calm down.
Just then, she moved again and placed her leg across his waist.
She tightened her arms and pulled herself even closer.
Daniel felt like Chantelle had completely scrambled his thoughts.
Damn it! You hugged me on purpose!
Daniel leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then, he tried to move away from her.
But Chantelle seemed to notice he was pulling back. She frowned and pouted.
With her injured hand, she reached out to hug him again.
By accident, she touched his wound.
"Ouch!" Daniel felt a sharp pain but forced himself to stay silent.
When he noticed her small hand still reaching out, he gave in and moved closer, letting her hug him tightly.
After a moment, she calmly lay in his arms.
Daniel sighed and gently wrapped his arms around her.
"I’m here. Just sleep well."
Chantelle was his wife. All Daniel could do was love her and put up all his worries for a while.
At the Bently apartment.
Since Roman showed his true colors during the livestream, Leon Network canceled all his future appearances.
Roman felt like he was going to explode. He lost his chance to make money.
He had been calling Leon Network since yesterday, but they blocked him.
"Those bastards! They dropped me just like that!" Roman yelled in frustration.
He hadn’t slept all night. His eyes were swollen, and he looked completely drained.