Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

When Daniel saw this, he fought with all his might to prevent himself from running towards her and hold her in his arms. But he was feeling too hurt and angry so he stopped himself.

Daniel ran his hands on his face, he didn"t want this to happen but he didn"t think he could handle any more surprises like this in the future. Are they always going to be like this? Samantha keeping something from him and Daniel knowing about it when it has become a huge problem? His heart truly ached. He thought that their relations.h.i.+p progressed, but instead, he only felt that he wasn"t trustworthy enough for Samantha to rely on him.

And with that thought in mind, he said, "I"m not leaving you Samantha, and I"m not walking away from you. I"m just... getting out of your way."

As soon as he finished talking, he turned around and left her office through the elevator. Samantha slumped on her chair as tears escaped her eyes in a steady stream. She was hurt that they had to argue like this and was feeling terrible that unknowingly, she had hurt Daniel.

No matter how smart she was, she thought that she was so stupid when it comes to relations.h.i.+ps. Her thoughts brought her back to the time when Nathan broke up with her.

Back then when Samantha asked him why, he replied, "It"s not that I don"t love you anymore. But I feel like you don"t need me. You"re very independent and I respect that, that"s one of the things I like about you... but I think that, it"s also why we can"t be together."

Nathan Yun loved Samantha but maybe because he was younger back then that he didn"t think he"s able to handle how capable she is. He felt so small even though he already pa.s.sed the board, he felt like Samantha never needed him.

When Samantha thought about her past with Nathan and what"s currently happening to her with Daniel, her heart ached some more. Was she really unlovable? Her thoughts ran wild as she continued to sob.

While Samantha was feeling desolate, her door opened and Hannah entered.

Hannah saw Samantha"s state and she was shocked. Actually, when Daniel left about 20 minutes ago, he called Hannah and told her to go to Samantha and keep her company. He didn"t say anything else and just hung up the call right after he spoke, but there was a hint of misery in his voice despite trying to sound emotionless. And with anything concerning her best friend, she would never think twice. So without delay, Hannah went to Samantha as fast as she could.

"Hey... what"s wrong?"

Samantha probably didn"t know that she had suppressed a lot of emotions within her that when she saw her best friend, she broke down.

Hannah embraced Samantha and let her cry. "It"s okay... Shhh...", she repeatedly said.

Samantha cried for a few more minutes before she told Hannah everything that happened before she came.

Hannah knew very well that this was bound to happen in the future because no matter how much she tried to persuade Samantha, she just wouldn"t listen to her.

Samantha"s quite stubborn like that, once she has decided on something, nothing"s going to shake her. Very rare were they able to influence her decisions.

---

Daniel came back to his company after he went to see Samantha. He rested his head at the back of his chair and closed his eyes. He was getting a headache. "Was I too rough on her?"

After some time, a knock was heard from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a.s.sistant Ahn walked inside his office. "President, these are some doc.u.ments that need your signature."

Daniel nodded and received the folder. After signing the papers, he spoke, "Gather everything about Quantum Solutions."

Ahn already knew what his boss is asking him to dig up. "Yes, President.". He said before leaving the room.

The day was annoyingly long. Before Samantha left the office with Hannah, she had already instructed her a.s.sistant some things that they needed to do to take care of the problem. Alexander Li was busy trying to get everything that he can about Quantum. Although Samantha could just hack into their system, this won"t be possible for now since they"re also facing a software company. She knew they wouldn"t be able to see any digital footprints.

Samantha drove the car with Hannah on the pa.s.senger"s seat. She headed towards her brother"s club, Zero Gravity.

As they were approaching the club, Hannah noticed the big sign outside her window. She was checking her emails and didn"t notice that Samantha was heading towards Seo Joon"s club.

"Uhhh... Why are we here?", she suddenly panicked.

"I feel like drinking."

"We can go to The Fortress!", Hannah spoke faster than she could think. She placed her hand over her mouth.

The Fortress is the name of Liam"s club.

"Sorry, I spoke without thinking."

"Why don"t you like it here?", Samantha found it weird that Hannah would pick other clubs than her brother"s.

"It"s not... that. Nevermind, Let"s go inside."

When they got inside the club, the attendant recognized Samantha right away, thus she led both Hannah and her to a VIP room.

Samantha drank her frozen margarita. She started slow but then after her second gla.s.s, she ordered a couple of extrboozy c.o.c.ktail drinks. Her favorites: Zombie and Hurl Hurl. Hannah, on the other hand, is being responsible, she didn"t drink too much today; she"s determined to take care of her best friend.

Hannah had to go to the restroom so she left the private room for a bit and when she came back, she found Seo Joon sitting beside Samantha. She stopped but then walked towards the other end of the sofa away from him.

"It"s been a while that I see you like this, Dopey. What"s wrong?" he asked.

Samantha just smiled at him, she grabbed his brother"s face and gave him a big smack on the cheek. "MWWAHH!!"

Her brother was surprised by his sister"s weird action, "Eww. What"s up with you!!", he said as he wiped his cheek.

Samantha tapped Seo Joon"s face... "As long as I have you, as long as you don"t leave me and just stay by my side. I"ll be fine."

Seo Joon felt a p.r.i.c.k in his heart, he doesn"t like seeing his sister like this. "Was it Daniel?! Did that b.a.s.t.a.r.d hurt you? I swear!!", he said loudly.

Samantha held him back and shook her head while she smiled, "It"s me. It"s my fault.", she said as she patted her chest.

Seo Joon looked at Hannah and she raised her brows as if to say, "Yup."

After talking for a bit more, "Call me if you need anything. I"ll drive you both home.", Samantha"s brother said before he left.

"Hey han..", Samantha called her best friend after she took a sip from her gla.s.s of zombie.

"Yes?"

"Did something happened between you and Seo Joon?"

Hannah"s eyes grew wide but quickly composed herself. "What?! Hehe.. why would something happen?", she downed her drink like she was very thirsty.

"Since you"re not telling me, I"ll just go and ask my brother then!", Samantha tried to stand up but Hannah held her hand.

"I... I"ll tell you.", she said before she gulped.

----

Cho Corporation CEO office.

It"s 9 in the evening and Daniel is still in his office. A knock on his door was heard and after his command, his a.s.sistant came inside.

"Boss, it"s late. Are you not going to head home?"

Daniel checked his watch and sighed, "Go home. I"ll stay here a bit more."

His brother came in when Ahn left, "Hey, wanna grab some drinks at The Fortress?"

"You go ahead, I still have some stuff to do."

Liam pursed his lips and turned around but decided to tell his brother what he wanted to say, "Bro, go easy on Samantha. She might have kept it from you but I"m sure she didn"t mean to... hurt you or anything."

Even though Daniel didn"t tell Liam what he was feeling, his brother understands the reason for his anger. Seeing that Daniel didn"t respond to what he said, he closed the door and left.

Daniel stood up and walked over to a counter where a crystal decanter is placed. He poured himself a shot of whiskey and drank it in one go.

His phone beeped, it was a message from Seo Joon.

Seo Joon: [ I don"t know what"s going on between you two but you better fix it. ]

Seo Joon: [ She"s at my club with Hannah. ]

Daniel pondered for a moment before he replied.

Daniel: [ Is she okay? ]

Seo Joon: [ She"s drinking. I"ll bring them home if you"re worried about that. ]

Daniel no longer replied. He went back to his desk and started typing on his computer but after just a few seconds in, he stopped and got up from his desk. He grabbed his coat and headed downstairs.

When Daniel got in his Maybach, he drove towards Zero Gravity.