Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

"Do you honestly think that I will just do whatever you tell me to do?" Daniel scoffed, obviously amused by her. His voice was clear and threatening. Moreover, there was no ounce of fear present in it.

He could hear Devyn sigh and a sound gla.s.s being set down. She clicked her tongue and answered, "Obviously, I know that you will not do it that easily but it"s just a matter of time when you will.

"You see… You really have no choice, my dear Daniel. Samantha needs another dose and the next one should be administered before the eighth day. So tell me, how many days has it been since she took the first one? Two days? Three?" She chuckled and the sound of her voice just aggravated him.

"And why should I believe you? Why should I believe all of this?!" He bit out.

"Why not? I already gave you an antidote. I"m basically your only hope right now and you"re not going to take it? Are you really willing to see your wife rot in front of you?"

Daniel felt the urge to hurt someone — if only Devyn was in front of him right then. He clenched his hand into a fist so hard that it turned white. "Why the fûck are you doing this?"

"Why? Hmmm… I don"t really have a concrete answer to that. Maybe because it"s fun? You know how much I like you, Daniel… but since I can"t have you, I figured no one else should."

"What makes you think that I will agree to this nonsense?" Daniel seethed. His voice sounding more dangerous by the minute.

"Because I know for a fact that you can"t bear to watch your wife die because of you. This all started because of you, Daniel Cho. And if I want to… I can even do the same to every single one of your family members. So... do you really want to bet her life? Well... it doesn"t really matter to me because whether or not you"re going to follow what I say, you will still lose her anyway. It"s just a matter of separation… or death. "

Daniel did not respond. He was so furious that he wanted to strangle Devyn.

"You still have at least a week to decide or maybe even less. Are you going to wait until you see her get weak again? Think about it, Daniel. All you have to do is divorce and leave her, that"s the only way that she can live." Without waiting for Daniel"s response, Devyn had already ended the call.

As soon as the call ended, Daniel phoned Logan"s number and ordered him to capture Devyn Nam. He knew that Devyn was protected by Yanovich"s men so it wasn"t that easy for them to get to her. So apart from Logan, Sharp Sean also helped Daniel after receiving his call.

Daniel lowered his hand and closed his eyes in an attempt to contain his anger but the rage that he felt within him was almost impossible to die out.

"Honey? Is everything okay at the company?" Samantha asked from behind him. Her soft voice brought him back to reality.

The instant that he heard her voice, Daniel"s eyes shot up and his rage started to dissipate slowly. He could not afford to stress Samantha as she was still in a vulnerable state. And so before he turned to face her, he had already composed himself.

With a smile plastered on his face, he nodded to her. "Yes, Ahn just had to confirm something with me. Are you feeling tired? Do you want to go home already?"

Samantha smiled back at him and went in for a hug. She shook her head and replied, "Not really… Your mother was looking for you though."

"Hmmm. I think I know what she"s going to say this time." He said as he kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes and embracing her tightly in his arms. How could he leave her? How could he leave the love of his life? His thoughts were muddled with questions about what his life would turn into without his wife.

They stayed in the same position for a few minutes before Samantha thought about something. "Did you tell your mom about what happened? About… the pregnancy thing?" Samantha wondered when she raised her head.

"No, it"s better not to tell her. She"s actually also sensitive about things like this."

Samantha could understand Mother Cho. "I see… Yeah, I guess let"s just not tell her about it. But I"m sure that she"s going to nag us again though."

"We can skip her nagging and excuse ourselves to go home if you want?"

Samantha chuckled and playfully hit his chest, "I can handle your mom, honey. I"m okay with it. Plus, I actually don"t want to leave Becca here too, she"s still pretty uneasy about this whole meet the parents thing."

"All right then. Let"s go and join them."

…

Samantha and Daniel arrived at the garden"s gazebo where everybody was.

"Mom, can we not talk about this? It"s too early for that." Liam complained in a soft voice, his face was a little red of embarra.s.sment.

"What"s too early? It"s never too early! Becca, dear… I"m not very traditional and I"m fine even if the baby comes first before marriage. I"m totally okay with it." Mother Cho said in a very cheery tone.

Becca chuckled tentatively, she did not know whether to laugh or cry Liam"s mother was telling her — rather, urging her. For the past fifteen minutes, Becca felt quite pressured when Mother Cho started asking about babies and weddings.

"I-I… think that… is…" She stumbled upon her words. It was the first time that the free-spirited Becca looked fl.u.s.tered because of the attention that she was getting from the overly excited mother of her boyfriend. She had never experienced anything like this before and so she did not know how to react.

Samantha and Daniel chuckled as they joined them. They were all too familiar with the scene as they also have experienced it a lot of times before already.

"Bro! Help me out here, mother"s being ridiculous!" Liam asked help from his brother in which Daniel only glanced at him before he sat down on the armchair and made Samantha sit on his lap. He did not bother helping Liam out because for him, it was Liam"s turn this time to be nagged at. Also, it was Daniel"s way of avoiding the attention to be drawn to him.

On the other hand, Becca had also looked at Samantha as though she was asking to be saved. She pursed her lips and a crease formed on her forehead, indicating that she was stressed.

Samantha knew how overwhelming it feels when one is in the hot seat so she decided to help her friend out, "Mom, they have just started dating. We should let them enjoy themselves first as a couple before they take care of another human being."

Mother Cho considered what Samantha said and realized that her daughter-in-law was right. She sighed and continued, "I guess I can"t ask you to hurry then. But don"t make me wait too long!"

Liam and Becca both sighed in relief and when Mother Cho wasn"t looking, they thanked Samantha profusely for taking the weight off their shoulders.

"And you two!" She turned to Daniel and Samantha. "Don"t think that I won"t nag you about this. It"s been two months since you have gotten married. When are you going to grant me grandchildren?"

Samantha swallowed upon hearing the question. She tried not to think about what happened to her but it hit her in the gut. Although she no longer felt very sad about it as she had already come into terms with the fact that her chemical pregnancy was common and it just so happened that she found out about it. She was still sad but she did not let it bother her anymore as she would rather focus on becoming stronger.

"Maybe… maybe when I"m healthier we"re going to start trying." Samantha responded with a clear and calm voice.

Daniel felt a p.r.i.c.k in his heart when he heard his wife. He wanted her to get better and he will do everything just to make her live. He did not want to believe that the only way to save her was to get separated from her.

Daniel"s thoughts turned bleak, "If that happens, it won"t only be the end of our marriage. But it will also be the death of me."