It had already been a month since Samantha's birthday, however, until now, she still had no clue about the mystery man's identity. She returned to Crown hotel a few days later to see if she could get any information, but to her dismay, they couldn't give her the answers that she wanted. How could they not give her even just a name? All she wanted was to thank the guy and move on.
Left with no choice, she tried to take matters into her own hands. She contacted a friend who could help her hack into the hotel's database to check the records on their guest list—more specifically, Suite 1808 on the day of her birthday. In the end, they found no records of it. Even the security cameras had also been tampered with—from the time that Andrew brought her towards the room until the next day when she woke up. Nothing. It was as if what happened that night never happened at all.
At first, she thought that it was her brother Seo Joon, but she realized that it didn't make sense since he had no idea about the incident that night. Because if he did, he surely would have already done something to Andrew once he knew.
So whoever that mysterious man was from that night, it was pretty obvious that he did not want to be found.
...
Several days later at the gala...
The event took place in The Jefferson Hotel. Originally, Samantha didn't want to attend this social function but because of her family's persuasion, she eventually agreed.
When her family entered the event hall, along with Hannah's family—the Chus—the guests looked in their direction. The Kims and the Chus have been family friends for a long time, thus on many occasions, they would arrive together. Samantha and Hannah stood beside each other and a lot of men were checking them out.
Samantha wore a whimsical gold gown, looking like a soulful muse who came down to earth, making every man in the room notice her as she walked in.
Across the room, a tall, gorgeous man in a black tailored suit looked very dapper. Daniel Cho stood beside his brother Liam as they chatted casually.
All the female socialites drooled over Daniel, the hottest bachelor of Mayne City as they thought of how it was possible for a man like him—who was oozing with sex appeal—to exist. But none of them had the courage to walk up to him as he was known for not having any interest in socializing with the ladies. Afraid to be embarrassed, they could only watch him from afar.
"Woah, who is that goddess in gold?! I don't think I have seen her before!" Liam exclaimed as he looked at Samantha.
Daniel followed his brother's gaze and saw her. He subconsciously touched his neck—the part where her lips touched his skin as he carried her towards the suite that night. He felt a tinge of shock and he cleared his throat as he thought, 'We meet again.'
The program showed a variety of performances from national treasures. The guests engaged and conversed with each other throughout the evening. Everyone seemed to be entertained, except for one young woman who was sitting in one of the tables in a secluded area, away from people's attention.
Samantha had her hand supporting her head on the table while the other lazily picked dessert pieces with a fork and bringing them to her mouth. From time to time she sighs, feeling very bored and cursing herself that she got convinced to go there. While she was in a trance, she brought the cake to her mouth but accidentally smeared the icing on her cheek and made a mess.
She realized what she had done, and so she quickly wiped it off with a napkin while looking around to see if someone saw her clumsiness. Little did she know that a certain someone saw everything.
Daniel had actually been stealing glances from Samantha ever since he laid eyes on her over an hour ago. And he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight that he had just seen. Although he tried to conceal his amusement, the corners of his mouth couldn't stop lifting upwards. It was more entertaining to look at her than the shows on stage.
...
A little while later, Samantha found a gazebo in the garden outside. She leaned on the frame and stared at the beautiful lights and landscape in front of her.
"Looks like someone is also not fond of parties."
Samantha turned to where she heard the voice and saw a dashing man in a black suit who came to the gazebo.
Without thinking much, she answered, "Yeah, I don't like pretentious people and this gala is swarming with their kind."
"Hmmm. Very honest. We have the same sentiments," said Daniel Cho as he looked towards the bushes decorated with fairy lights in front of them—the twinkling lights made it look like fireflies.
"And yet, here you are... attending the party."
"I could say the same to you." He smirked.
The wind blew and Daniel caught the familiar peachy scent that drew his attention to her as if he wanted to smell more of that sweet fragrance.
Samantha studied the man's facial features and her head tilted to the side when she realized something, "Wait... I remember you..."
'Oh? So she remembered me from that night when I saved her from Andrew Park?' he thought.
"Really? You know me?"
"Yes. It was you from the elevator!" She raised a brow at him.
Daniel's expression changed with the way she looked at him. "What?"
"Yes, how could I forget? You were checking me out!"
"Woah there! I wasn't checking you out!" Daniel retorted, becoming defensive. 'This woman remembered me from the elevator where she basically called me a pervert, but not from that night when I saved her. I'm your hero, you know! You should be praising me!' he silently scoffed.
"Yeah, right. You were staring at me." She chuckled. "You're already caught red-handed yet you still deny it... So shameless." She wasn't agitated at all. In fact, she enjoyed teasing the man. A mischievous smile appeared on her face, which only irritated Daniel.
He shook his head as he tried to suppress his annoyance. Crossing his arms, he calmly said, "Fine, you can think what you want but I honestly wasn't checking you out. I was looking at your necklace. It looked familiar, that's why it caught my eye."
"Hmmm... Who knows what's true or not. Also, I don't think the necklace I wore was something common. My grandfather designed it for my grandmother. There's only one of it in the world."
Daniel pondered and thought that it was possible that he made a mistake. It was just a necklace anyway so he decided to let it go.
Glancing at Samantha, he saw her rubbing her arms and he knew that she was cold. At first, he wanted to give her his coat but he decided against it. So instead, he took his scarf and handed it to her. "Here. It's getting cold out here, use this to cover up. I'm heading back inside. You shouldn't stay too long or you'll catch a cold."
Daniel walked away but before he could take a few steps further, he added. "Oh... and you didn't have to worry if I was checking you out." With a devilish smirk, he added, "There wasn't much to see anyways." He glanced at her chest and back at Samantha's face. Giving her a playful wink before he turned around and left.
Samantha was dumbfounded at his remark. "Hey!" She scoffed, very much annoyed at what he just said. Looking at her precious boobies, she pouted.
She was actually doing quite all right in that area. They weren't too small and they weren't too big either. Her body curves were just in the right places. Daniel just couldn't help but tease her.
Samantha held the soft scarf and a silly smile formed on her face, she looked like a little girl who had just received candy from her crush. Draping the scarf over her shoulder, she went back towards the party. Her mood instantly improved.
...
A week after the gala, Samantha's mother urged her to go shopping with her and meet one of her friends. The three of them sat in a café and enjoyed talking to each other while having their afternoon tea.
"Alice, your daughter is really beautiful! And she's well mannered. You've done a great job raising her," said Mrs. Kim's friend.
"You flatter me Christina, thank you. She's a bit reserved but she has a good heart."
"Mom, Auntie... Stop with the praises. It's embarrassing," Samantha said shyly.
The elders laughed at her reaction as she looked so innocent. Not long after, a man in casual clothes arrived.
"Mother, you called me?"
"You're finally here… Come join us." Mrs. Kim's friend gestured for her son to sit with them.
Daniel scanned the table and saw the other women. His gaze stopped on Samantha and was stunned to see her there. "You... What are you doing here?"
Samantha, who was also confused, asked, "I could ask you the same question, what are YOU doing here?"
Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Cho looked at each other, surprised that their son and daughter had already met. "You two know each other?" asked Mrs. Kim.
"No," Daniel answered.
"Not really," Samantha added.
"I guess you got acquainted? That's good then! Let me formally introduce you.
"Son, this is Mrs. Alice Kim of Kimsun Electronics. She's the high school classmate that I told you about. And this is her daughter, Samantha Bella."
Mrs. Kim smiled at Daniel while Samantha was still stunned.
"And this is my son, Daniel," Mrs. Cho continued.
"Hi, I'm Daniel Cho. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kim." He shook hands with Samantha's mom.
"It's a pleasure meeting you as well, President Cho."
"Please, call me Daniel. My mother told me that you two are good friends," he replied politely.
Daniel then turned to Samantha whose eyes narrowed at him. "It's nice to see you again... Samantha Bella Kim," he spoke with a smirk, making Samantha feel things she was not supposed to feel.