About two weeks later.Samantha was busy in her office working on some projects when Alexander came into her office bringing a huge stack of doc.u.ments.
"Sam," he called as he entered the room.
Looking up, her eyes widened when she saw the things in his hands, "Are those new?" Her stomach twisted when she thought about more late nights in the coming days. She had been working so hard lately and burning the night oil as there were more works coming in.
Ever since they have partnered with Cho Corporation, the number of clients spiked up. Of course, it was really good for the company. However, this just means that she was busier than ever. Although she liked working, she would rather be doing something else than going through countless of contracts.
On the other hand, Daniel had been having more business trips after the new year. For the whole week, they call each other mostly when they were about to sleep.
"Yep," Alexander answered as he placed the files on her table. He witnessed that Samantha had been conscientious for weeks and he was feeling bad for her that she had more things on her plate. "What can I do to help?"
She took one folder from the stack and started browsing over it, "Aren"t you working on that project with Mr. Lim?"
With both of his hands in his pockets, Alexander smiled as he looked at the hard working CEO in front of him, "Yes, but I can"t just watch you work like this. And your husband"s going to skin me alive if he knew that you"ve got more workload."
She stopped flipping the file and looked at him, "Why would you tell on me?" She raised a brow but she was clearly amused, "I"m your boss. You work for me, not him."
Alexander laughed at her remark, "While that"s true, I still think that Mr. Cho is scarier than you."
"Why you-!" She slapped the table playfully and chuckled. Shaking her head, she continued, "Okay then. Why don"t you go over… these five for me?" She smiled as she handed the first five folders on the stack, leaving seven more.
Receiving the doc.u.ments, Alexander made a bow, "Yes, ma"am." He said and headed towards the door.
As soon as he left, Samantha once again buried herself with work. She went over all the contracts and proposals until it was already six in the afternoon.
When it was already dark outside, her cellphone rang, interrupting what she was doing. And without even looking at the caller, she picked it up, "h.e.l.lo." Her voice sounded dry.
"Are you still working at this hour?" Daniel"s voice came through the speaker.
Hearing her husband"s voice, Samantha instantly stopped what she was doing and a smile appeared on her face. "Hey, honey… how"s it going?"
"I just got off the plane," he replied.
She looked at her watch and her smile grew bigger, "Am I going to see you soon?" She asked with a hint of longing in her voice.
Daniel breathed a sigh before he answered, "I still have a meeting in thirty minutes. I will see you at home later, okay?" He had been away for a week and he was already missing her but his schedule was very packed.
"That"s okay… I can"t wait to see you," she responded sweetly.
"Me too. But… why are you still in the office?" he questioned, surprising Samantha. Sometimes, she forgets how Daniel knew her so well that she always gets found out with just the tone of her voice or a simple change of expression.
"How do you know that I"m still in the office?"
"I just know it. Be good and go home."
Samantha chuckled at his order, she liked that he was very caring towards her and she could only follow him. "Yes, sir. I"m packing my things now and I"m going home," she said as she stood up and started gathering her things.
"Mhm. Don"t skip dinner. I will see you soon."
She nodded despite knowing that he can"t see her at that moment, "Yes, honey. Take care."
…
At ten in the evening, Samantha was in the study to go over a few of the doc.u.ments that she was working on. After making some notes and polis.h.i.+ng what needs to be done, she was finally ready to call it a night.
She stretched her arms up and smiled at herself for the good job that she had done before she gathered the papers from the desk.
As she stood up, she suddenly felt very dizzy that she had to hold the backrest of the chair to steady herself. She walked a few steps around the desk when she thought that she needed to drink some water. However, she felt a sudden pang of shock before her vision went dark and her body fell on the floor. The papers in her hand flew when she fainted and landed around her limp body.
She was all alone inside the cliffside villa and no one knew what happened to her.
…
At the capital, Daniel had just finished the meeting when Samantha collapsed. Thinking that she might want some food, he decided to call her while he drove.
Samantha"s phone kept ringing and he waited for her to answer. When his call was sent to voicemail, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"She should still be awake at this hour," he muttered to himself.
Daniel also knew that Samantha mostly waits for him to arrive home or sends him a message if she was going to sleep. After contemplating for some time, he decided to call her again when he thought that she might not have heard the first call.
But after still not getting any answer, his heart started to race. For unknown reasons, he was feeling very nervous that night.
Daniel Cho stepped on the gas and he sped through the highway to get home as fast as he could. As soon as he arrived at the villa, he noticed that some lights were on.
"Honey?" he called when he entered the house. He checked the living room and the kitchen before he went to their room upstairs but could not find her there.
Figuring that she may be working in the study, he walked towards the room on the far side of their villa and sure enough, he found the lights on.
As he opened the door, a chill traveled down his spine as soon as he saw Samantha lying unconscious on the floor with papers scattered everywhere.
"Samantha!" he cried out.
Daniel dashed towards her and immediately pulled her up so that she was leaning on him.
Lightly patting on her face, he called, "Baby, wake up! Sam!"
He tried to shake her but she was unresponsive. Her hands were a little cold and she was looking quite pale when Daniel checked her many times. His heart throbbed and his mind was in chaos as he worried about his wife"s unconscious state.