"What do you mean we are going to lose everything? Dad is innocent, so we won't lose everything," Starley stubbornly exclaimed.
"I may be innocent, but the investigation and proving my innocence will take time, so there is a possibility that my assets will be frozen first," Harold explained.
"Just frozen, not losing everything," Starley corrected her father's statement.
Suddenly, the police officer who had escorted Starley and Raul returned and said, "Time is up. Mr. Bellamy needs to be interrogated first."
Starley glared at the innocent-looking officer.
"It hasn't even been ten minutes," Starley protested. The officer frowned at Starley's complaint. Harold quickly said,
"Starley, go home. You shouldn't be here."
Starley sighed and said, "I will come back here." Harold nodded and then looked at Raul seriously.
"Please take care of my daughter, Blackwell," Harold urged.
"Of course, Mr. Bellamy," Raul replied. After that, the officer escorted Starley and Raul out. Once outside, they immediately ran into Nathan.
"Starley," Nathan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Starley.
"Nathan, where have you been? I sent you a message earlier, but you didn't reply," Starley said.
"I went home first because a lot of police came to search the mansion," Nathan replied.
"Is Mom at home?" Starley asked.
"Yes, she didn't want to go anywhere while the police were searching the mansion," Nathan answered with a sigh. Of course, that stubborn mother didn't want to leave the Bellamy residence while it was being searched.
"Just go home, Starley," Nathan said. Starley raised an eyebrow.
"Go home, where?" Starley asked. Their house was being searched, and she had no place to go.
"To Raul's mansion. You don't mind that, do you, Raul?" Nathan asked Raul. Raul and Starley answered the question simultaneously.
"I don't mind," Raul replied.
"I do mind," Starley said. Starley looked at Raul as if to say, "Why did you answer that?" with her eyes while Raul raised his perfect eyebrow.
"Thank you, Raul. I owe you one," Nathan exclaimed. Starley immediately glared at Nathan.
"Hey, I just said I have a problem with this," Starley protested.
"I asked Raul," Nathan replied. Starley was taken a back by Nathan's response as if her opinion didn't matter.
Oh, I'm starting to get fed up with all of this. It's as if this world revolves around men, while women are just seen as weak beings who only need to entertain a man, Starley thought.
They are living in modern times, for goodness' sake.
"I'm going home. And I'm going home not because of you but because of my own will," Starley told Nathan. Without waiting for a reply, Starley walked away. Nathan sighed at his stubborn sister. When Raul wanted to follow Starley, Nathan held Raul's shoulder, making Raul turn to face Nathan.
"You know, Raul. I wouldn't let my sister stay at your house if you were another man. But I trust you; you wouldn't touch my sister," Nathan exclaimed.
After hearing that, Raul's body went stiff. If only Nathan knew what Raul had done to Starley three years ago. Nathan would surely throw a punch at Raul. Raul finally just said, "You don't need to worry."
Because Raul had no intention of returning to his relationship with Starley in the past.
Nathan nodded and then released his hand from Raul's shoulder, allowing Raul to catch up with Starley, who had already walked ahead toward the parking lot. But after saying that to Nathan, Raul felt that he was the worried one. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to control himself.
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Raul and Starley had arrived at the garage of Raul's mansion. They walked toward the elevator, and Raul pressed the elevator button. When the elevator doors opened, Raul and Starley entered the lift.
"I have some work to do for a bit. If you want to go somewhere, let me know," Raul suddenly said.
"So you're going to the office?" Starley asked. Raul glanced at Starley for a moment.
"No, I can work from home," Raul replied. Starley furrowed her brow.
"What if the employees need you?" Starley asked.
"They can come here; the distance from the B.I.A. office to my mansion only takes fifteen minutes at the fastest," Raul replied casually. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Raul stepped out first, followed by Starley.
"Why are you working from home?" Starley asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Because I can work from home," Raul answered. Starley scoffed; she knew Raul was working from home to fulfill his promise of doing a free trial as Starley's bodyguard. Even though the man had a mountain of work that couldn't be left for days, Starley ultimately chose not to respond further.
Raul turned to Starley and said, "Don't try to escape without telling me. There are CCTV cameras in every corner of this mansion, and the security uses motion sensors, so your movements will be detected wherever you go. The guards are also on duty twenty-four hours."
Starley blinked after hearing Raul's explanation. Raul knew her tendency to run away. But Starley knew trying to escape from Raul's mansion would be futile.
"I won't run away," Starley finally exclaimed.
"Just relax for a bit. My mansion is quite complete; there's a library, a cinema, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a gym, and a sauna," Raul explained. Starley held back a smile; Raul was acting like a salesman again.
"Didn't you just say you had work?" Starley asked, slightly amused. Raul squinted his eyes.
"Are you trying to kick me out?" Raul asked. But just then, his phone rang, and he immediately answered.
"Yes, Carlos, hold on, let's talk in my office; I've just arrived at the mansion," Raul said. Then he ended the call.
"If you need anything, just tell the staff here or contact me," Raul said. After Starley replied with an okay, Raul walked confidently toward his office, looking like the master of the place.
Then, a voice emerged in Starley's mind. Indeed, he was the master of this place, and she was under his power.
She couldn't look at him freely when Raul was next to her. But now Starley could gaze as she pleased at Raul's broad, beautiful, and strong shoulders and his long legs. Raul's dark hair was so sexy. Oh my, even from behind, that man was genuinely captivating. By the Time Raul was out of sight, Starley could no longer observe him discreetly.
Starley took a deep breath. Raul told her to relax, but she couldn't when her father was in prison, her brother was stressed managing everything, and her mother was holding firm even though her husband had just been detained. It felt unfair for Starley to be the only one relaxing without a care.
Starley entered the elevator again to go to the second floor. Then she headed straight to Raul's room. When she arrived, Starley searched for Raul's unused laptop in the room. Her laptop was still at Selene's mansion; she needed one now.
But Starley couldn't find Raul's laptop anywhere, so she called him. To her surprise, Raul picked up on the first ring. Then Starley could hear Raul talking to someone else on the other end of the line.
"Hold the meeting for a moment," Raul seemed to be in a meeting.
"Oh, are you in a meeting? Sorry to interrupt, I'll call back later," Starley exclaimed immediately.
"It's fine, what's up?" Raul asked.
"Never mind, just continue your meeting, Raul." Starley could hear Raul chuckling softly, sounding so sexy.
"Don't worry, cupcake. They can wait," Raul said. Starley was shocked when Raul called her cupcake in front of his employees.
"Raul, they can hear you calling me a cupcake," Starley whispered in a panic.
"That's their problem for eavesdropping. So, do you need something, cupcake?" Raul asked as if he could read Starley's mind.
Starley sighed. "I want to borrow your laptop, but I can't find where you keep it in your room."
"It's on the bookshelf next to the desk; take whichever one you want. Or do you need a new laptop?" Raul asked. Starley immediately headed to the place Raul described. And indeed, there were three laptops there.
"Oh no, I still have Raul's laptop, but it's at Selene's mansion. I don't need that many," Starley exclaimed. She picked up one of Raul's laptops and placed it on the desk in Raul's bedroom.
"Coincidentally, before you called, I had already sent someone to get your things from Selene's mansion," Raul said. Raul seemed to be able to read her mind. Starley paused for a moment.
"Thank you, Raul," Starley exclaimed.
"My pleasure, cupcake."
"Just continue your meeting," Starley said.
"Aren't you going to ask for my laptop password?" Raul asked.
"I can hack your laptop password, don't worry," Starley replied. Raul paused for a moment before laughing quite loudly. Starley was surprised to hear Raul suddenly laugh; she could imagine his employees being confused by their intimidating boss's laughter.
"You could just ask me directly, why go through the trouble of hacking?"
"If there's a harder way, why look for an easy one?" Starley answered.
"You're the only one who chooses that way," Raul exclaimed.
"Because I think ahead. Your employees are there; if you tell me, you also tell them. So have your meeting, Raul. I won't bother you again," Starley said.
Raul chuckled softly. "Alright, good luck hacking my laptop."
After that, they ended the call. Before Starley hacked, she wanted to change her clothes first. Starley went to Raul's walk-in closet, took one of his white shirts, and then put it on. Raul's shirt was huge; it could serve as a dress for Starley. Ultimately, she decided not to wear Raul's shorts this time.
After that, she sat in the chair and opened Raul's laptop. Starley began to hack into Raul's laptop, and it only took a few minutes for her to get the password. The password was 020312; what kind of number was that? It didn't seem like Raul's birthday.
But Starley didn't pay much attention to that; she immediately focused on her search. She looked for several names and remembered having issues with her father. Starley was trying to find possible suspects who might be trying to frame her father.
Unbeknownst to her, hours had passed; she tried to check her phone, which strangely hadn't rung since she focused on the laptop. The battery was dead, so she quickly charged her phone.
Her back felt stiff from sitting at the desk. Finally, Starley moved to the soft sofa while bringing Raul's laptop. Her head ached; it turned out that searching for suspects with minimal information was difficult.
Starley needed something to help her relax and focus on finding information. Then she remembered that Raul kept wine in his room. Starley got up from the sofa and walked to the mini bar. She took a glass of wine and a bottle of wine.
Then she took both to the sofa. Once Starley was seated on the couch, she poured wine into a glass and immediately drank it.
But drinking the wine brought back memories of her first night with Raul in this room. Starley's face flushed; she remembered this feeling very well. This was the wine Raul had served Starley the night they first slept together.
This wine felt like Raul. When they kissed, Starley could taste this wine in Raul's mouth. Starley suddenly felt nostalgic for that kiss. She took a deep breath. Oh my, what was she thinking? Starley quickly shook her head; this wine was bringing back memories.
After finishing one glass, she poured more wine into her glass until it was complete. Then she drank while savoring the taste, and her whole body relaxed. Maybe she needed to take a break while enjoying the wine that felt like Raul. After that, Starley lost track of how many glasses she had drunk. Eventually, she dozed off on the sofa.
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Starley was awakened by the incessant sound of messages coming into her phone. She groaned in annoyance but picked up her phone to see why it was so noisy.
Fifty messages were received. Before Starley opened the messages, she checked the time. It turned out to be midnight. After that, Starley looked around the room. Raul had not returned to the room yet. The man was indeed very busy.
Then Starley looked back at the incoming messages and opened them. There were messages from Nathan, her mother, Selene, and Lia. But Starley decided to open the message from her mother first.
Mother: Starley, the police found cocaine again at our residence. I don't understand how the cocaine could get into my storage. But someone must be doing this. Tonight, I am sleeping at Selene's mansion, Lucian. Tomorrow, I might also be detained like your father. Earlier, when the police found the cocaine, I took quick action by pretending to faint; luckily, Selene and Lucian were also there. That saved me from being detained right then. Tomorrow will be even more complicated, Starley. I am sure my daughter will not just sit back, but I ask you not to do all this alone. You need an ally, someone on your side to help you. That's all, call me tomorrow when you wake up.
After reading her mother's message, Starley's mouth felt dry, so she sipped the remaining wine in her glass. Then she stood up from the sofa and walked out of the room.
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.
Raul was still reading work reports in his office. He was swamped today; how could he not be? He had hardly taken any time off, and just yesterday, he had only left work for one day, and his workload had already doubled.
Usually, Raul didn't mind reading until two in the morning to finish everything. But this time was different; Raul was eager to finish reading all this quickly because Starley was in his room. Even though Starley was unlikely to wait for him until midnight, Raul still felt the urge to return to his room as soon as possible.
But his work wouldn't be done until two or three in the morning. Raul sighed heavily.
Just then, there was a sudden knock on his office door. Raul stared at the door, wondering if his coffee had arrived. Just two minutes ago, he had ordered coffee from the waiter. Why was it so quick?
Then there was another knock. At that moment, Raul was sure it wasn't the waiter.
"Come in," Raul replied.
The door to Raul's office opened slowly, and Starley appeared, wearing only an oversized white shirt belonging to Raul. She wasn't wearing anything on the bottom, so her thighs were visible. The top button of Starley's shirt was also undone. Her hair fell loosely down her back.
Raul took a deep breath. His eyes, which had felt tired, became very refreshed upon seeing Starley enter. Moreover, Starley looked incredibly tempting and so damn beautiful.
"Raul? Sorry to disturb you again, but I want to talk about something," Starley said, still at the door. Starley's face looked a bit flushed, as if she had been drinking alcohol.
Was this woman intentionally torturing him?
Raul cleared his throat and said, "Come in." Starley finally entered and stood in front of Raul.
"What do you want to talk about?" Raul asked.
"I agree about helping your company," Starley replied. Raul didn't expect it to happen this quickly.
"I'm glad you finally agreed, Miss Bellamy. If I may ask, what made you change your mind?" Raul suddenly became formal.
I'm desperate and need an ally. I want to collaborate with you, but you must help me catch the person who has done all this to my family," Starley replied.
Raul smiled with satisfaction. "Alright, is there any other request you want to make?"
Starley blinked. "Request? What request?" she asked, looking confused.
"Anything," Raul answered.
Raul observed Starley. Her gaze was different from the usual coldness—it was influenced by alcohol—a sensual gaze. Starley's pink lips also appeared more sensual than usual. Raul stared at Starley's face intensely and openly.
"Then kiss me," Starley suddenly exclaimed.
Starley's words initially shocked Raul. He wasn't even sure if he had heard correctly. At that moment, he felt his entire body awaken. A hunger began to emerge. Not a hunger for food but a hunger for the woman in front of him.
"You're playing with the wrong person, cupcake," Raul said in a low tone.
…