Starley continued staring at the ceiling of Raul's bedroom. After replaying all the recent memories, she took a deep breath. She had moved on; all of that was just the past. Raul giving her his room didn't mean anything.
Before long, Starley felt her eyelids grow heavy. She glanced at the clock in Raul's room—it was already two in the morning. A lot had happened tonight, and her body ached as if she had undergone an intense training session. Without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep.
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Raul checked the watch on his wrist. It was now four in the morning. He glanced at the two hostages who still hadn't spoken a word, even after being beaten. It seemed they were trained to keep quiet. What surprised Raul the most was that Kade, the coward, was rather stubborn. Throughout the night, all he did was call for his mother.
"Mama, help me," Kade sobbed.
Meanwhile, the pilot sitting next to Kade endured his pain silently, without uttering a single word.
"So, you won't tell me your boss's name?" Raul asked.
It was clear to Raul that the mastermind behind this wasn't the hacker group Hatstone. Hatstone never carried out flashy operations like this—they always worked in the shadows. This had to be the work of another group.
Neither Kade nor the pilot responded. Raul finally rose from his chair, glaring at them both.
"Don't underestimate me. I only need you to talk. Your hands and feet mean nothing to me. Let's see my mood tomorrow—whether I'll start by cutting off your hands or your feet first," Raul declared sharply. Upon hearing this, both Kade and the pilot turned even paler.
"We'll continue this tomorrow," Raul ordered his men.
Raul's men nodded and bowed slightly as he left the interrogation room. Raul made his way to the elevator and stepped inside. He pressed the button for the second floor.
When he arrived, Raul walked straight to his bedroom. Standing before the door, he considered knocking but decided against it, remembering that Starley might already be asleep.
Raul finally tried to open his bedroom door quietly. But to his surprise, Starley locked the door. Raul blinked in disbelief. Was Starley locking Raul's bedroom door against its owner?
Raul let out a low chuckle. Starley didn't know that Raul's bedroom door was high-tech. The doorknob had a fingerprint scanner, so even if the key was inside, Raul could still unlock the door with his fingerprint. Only Raul's fingerprint was registered in the system. This was one of the products created by his company.
Raul calmly placed his finger on the fingerprint scanner on the door handle, and the door unlocked. He stepped into his room, which was eerily quiet.
Eventually, Raul spotted Starley sound asleep on the bed. He walked over to her. Starley was wearing a bathrobe, so she must have showered before sleeping. Her soft hair spread out on Raul's pillow. As Starley slept peacefully, her face looked innocent and carefree, far from the stubborn persona she usually carried. She looked gorgeous.
Raul inhaled sharply. Seeing Starley asleep on his bed was the most tempting sight he had ever witnessed. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss her sweet, inviting lips. But he forced himself to resist with all his might.
He couldn't kiss Starley. He had to hold back, even though the thought of kissing her now seemed like something he desperately wanted to do. If Starley woke up and found him kissing her, she would surely refuse to cooperate with him.
Raul diverted his gaze from Starley to the minibar in his room. He grabbed a wine glass and poured some wine into it. Then, he walked over to the sofa in the room and sat down.
He sipped the red wine in his hand, then glanced at Starley again. Suddenly, she shifted in her sleep, and now her enticing thighs were visible. At that moment, Raul felt something harden in his body.
He quickly drank the rest of the wine and placed the glass on the table before the sofa. Raul stood up, walked to the bathroom, and turned on the cold water.
This woman is driving me crazy, Raul thought.
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The following day, Starley was awakened by an incoming call to her phone. She searched for her phone on the nightstand but couldn't find it. She slowly opened her eyes and remembered that she had charged it the night before.
Starley got out of bed and walked toward her ringing phone. It was a call from her brother.
"Hello, Nathan?" she answered with a groggy voice.
"I just heard from Lia that you went back into the building that was on fire. Oh my God, what were you thinking, Starley? How did you get out of there? And most importantly, are you hurt?" Nathan asked.
"It's a long story, Nathan, and no, I'm not hurt. Just focus on the Bellamy Corp fire," Starley replied, hearing Nathan's exasperated sigh on the other end.
"Yeah, I'm at the Bellamy Corp building. The police are helping to investigate the fire. Alright then, see you later," Nathan said. After Starley agreed, they ended the call.
Starley glanced at the clock before putting her phone on the table. It was already 9 AM. As she reached for a bottle of water from the minibar, she nearly jumped in surprise when she saw Raul asleep on the sofa in the room.
"Oh my God," Starley muttered softly, startled.
How did he get in here? I remember locking the door last night, Starley thought. Like Starley, Raul was sleeping in a bathrobe, and his hair was still damp.
And why is he sleeping on the sofa? Starley wondered, confused.
Raul seemed to sleep so soundly that he didn't wake up when Starley's phone rang earlier. Starley remembered how Raul had risked running through the fire for her last night, which warmed her heart.
He must be exhausted, so Starley decided not to wake him. She tried to stay as quiet as possible as she moved toward Raul's walk-in closet.
Once inside, she looked for something to wear. She picked out a dark blue shirt and black shorts with a drawstring to adjust her waist. Starley quickly put them on in the walk-in closet.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. The shirt was too big but comfortable, and the shorts were also a bit big but could be adjusted with the drawstring. After checking her appearance in the mirror, she left Raul's room and headed for the kitchen.
Right now, all she was thinking about was finding something to eat.
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Raul woke up to the sound of his phone's alarm next to his head. He groaned lowly, then turned off the alarm while checking the time. It was already 10 AM.
Raul forced himself into a sitting position and glanced at the bed where Starley had been sleeping. But he didn't see her there, which opened his eyes.
Raul immediately stood up from the sofa and looked around the room. Starley wasn't anywhere.
Where did she go? Raul thought.
Raul walked to the bathroom and tried to open the door. Starley wasn't there. Then he went to the walk-in closet, but she wasn't there either.
Did she run away?
Raul quickly left the bedroom and started looking for Starley. When he reached the mansion's ground floor, he ran into the head butler.
"Good morning, Mr. Blackwell," the head butler greeted, bowing politely.
"Did you see Starley?" Damien asked directly.
"Miss Bellamy? She asked for breakfast to be prepared earlier. She's still having breakfast in the dining room, sir," the head butler replied. Raul felt a wave of relief. She didn't run away.
Raul immediately headed to the dining room. When he entered, he saw Starley enjoying a half-eaten pancake.
"I thought you ran away again," Raul exclaimed. His voice startled Starley, and she turned to find Raul entering the dining room.
"Since when do I run away often?" Starley replied. Damien raised an eyebrow, looking at Starley, making her remember that she had often run away. But that was known as the walk of shame.
Starley continued eating her pancake, ignoring Raul. Raul sat down in front of her. Shortly after, the butler entered the room, bringing Raul's breakfast. Raul had breakfast with a cup of coffee, eggs, and bacon.
"By the way, how did you get into my room?" Starley asked, curious. She remembered that the door was still locked.
Raul stared at Starley briefly before saying, "It's a secret."
That answer annoyed Starley, but she let it slide this time because she had other questions she wanted to ask.
"How did the interrogation go?" Starley asked.
"No results. Both of them kept their mouths shut," Raul answered flatly while eating his bacon. Starley sighed upon hearing that.
"So, we still don't know who's behind all this," Starley said. Raul looked at her.
"I will find out who's behind it. You don't need to worry," Raul replied firmly.
Starley cleared her throat and said, "You're not obligated to figure that out."
"Of course I am. Have you forgotten you're still on a free trial? Today is only the second day of the free trial. So, it's my responsibility to find the person who tried to harm you," Raul answered, his tone clear that he didn't want to be contradicted.
"A bodyguard can't do that. A bodyguard's job is to protect," Starley retorted.
"But your bodyguard happens to be the owner and CEO of a private intelligence agency, so of course, I can do that," Raul replied. Starley wanted to argue but couldn't think of a way to refuse. Deep down, she also planned not to extend her cooperation with Raul.
"Make the most of these three free trial days, Starley. I'm usually not the kind of person who gives away something for free like this," Raul said.
"Then why did you give it to me?" Starley asked directly. Now, Raul and Starley were staring at each other.
"Because B.I.A needs you," Raul answered honestly.
Of course, it's because of B.I.A. What did I expect? Starley thought to herself.
Just as Starley was about to respond, her phone suddenly rang. She took the phone out of her pocket and saw Nathan's name on the screen. Starley quickly answered the call.
"Hello," Starley said.
"Starley, Dad is going to be arrested by the police," Nathan said.
Nathan's words made Starley stand up from her seat. "What do you mean Dad is being arrested? Why is Dad being arrested?"
"When the police were investigating the fire from last night, they found two bags with cocaine in them. And now, they're going to arrest Dad," Nathan explained.
Starley couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father couldn't have done that.
I don't want to believe it, Starley thought to herself.
…