Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Seo Joon took his time and remembered how his sister told him about what happened in the hospital that afternoon. When Daniel left, Samantha still cried but not as much as she cried in the car.

However, Seo Joon knew that she had already exhausted herself from crying with the way she looked when she arrived. Her hair was a bit messy, her eyes were puffy, and her lips were swollen.

He knew her so well to know that she had already been crying so much before she came to see him. And although she cried less while she talked to him, he was aware of how she was hurting really bad.

Seo Joon stared at the wall as he thought about what to say until he asked, "How are you holding up?" He was obviously aware that Daniel was also bothered with the way he appeared in front of him.

"I"m okay," Daniel lied even though it was pretty apparent but he could not tell Seo Joon everything.

"Samantha experienced losing someone close to her a couple of times then. The first one was our grandmother when we were still kids and the second one was Mia when she was thirteen. You already know the story about that and you also understood how greatly affected she was."

Daniel listened to what his brother-in-law had to say. After all, both of them cared about her.

"I understand that the two of you are going through this trial though I trust that you won"t give up on her. I will trust that you will remain as her pillar just like you always have. She… she"s really hurting right now.

"Some people may say that this… early pregnancy loss is not such a big deal but a miscarriage is still a miscarriage. And she will go through with her grief because that"s how she is."

Nodding his head, Daniel placed the cup of tea on the table. He breathed out deeply and ran a hand on his hair, "I know… Don"t worry. I won"t leave her side."

Seo Joon already believed in him even before he asked him but he felt that he still needed to say it as Samantha"s brother. After an hour of staying, Daniel carried Samanth to his car so that they could go home.

…

Later that evening at the Cliffside Villa

Daniel allowed Samantha to continue sleeping on their bed and after tucking her in, he received a call from Logan.

He quietly left the room and went to his study to take the call. "Logan," he said as soon as he answered.

"Boss, I have checked and rechecked everything from two months ago and I found one suspicious activity that was overlooked before. It was the day that you went to the city hall to register your marriage and she went for a TV program guesting afterward."

Daniel looked at the calendar from last year until he found the date of their marriage and it was indeed around that time. "What about it?"

Shuffling of paper and tapping of the keyboard sounds were heard from the other side before Logan replied, "Since she did not know about having a bodyguard yet at that time, I could only watch from afar. And there were only two people who went inside her makeup room. One person from the production staff and the other one was a makeup artist."

"That staff has been working for the TV station for years. But the makeup artist had only worked there for a couple of weeks and then he disappeared after leaving her makeup room."

Daniel"s hand formed into a fist when he ordered, "I need you to find that man."

"I"m already looking into it. It appears that he submitted false doc.u.ments as none of his papers can be traced. I will get back to you as soon as I have more information."

When the call ended, Daniel Cho remained seated on his chair, ma.s.saging his temple in a circular motion. Ever since the news from their hospital visit in the afternoon, he had been having a throbbing headache and he felt like he aged ten years that day. How long was this torture going to last?

He had racked his brain trying to think about who was responsible yet he found none of his business rivals fit the profile. "Just who is this person?"

After burning the midnight oil in his study, Daniel decided to finally go to bed at almost three in the morning. The stress that he was in did not allow him to sleep very well so he woke up at six a.m just like everyday.

Wanting to release all the tension, he went to their home gym and started working out while Samantha was still asleep.

With Skillet"s "Feel Invincible" motivating him through his headphones, he pushed himself so hard on the treadmill, lifting weights and the punching bag yet none of them relieved his frustration.

Receiving a notification on his smart.w.a.tch, he looked at it and saw that there was an incoming call from an unknown number. Tentatively, he pressed a b.u.t.ton on his headphones to accept the call.

"Daniel," an old man from the other line spoke.

With his brows furrowed, Daniel did not recognize his voice. "Who is this?"

The old man let out a frightening laugh, making Daniel stand on his guard immediately. "I am hurt that you don"t recognize me. Although it is understandable for it has been many years since you have last seen me, Swift."

Daniel knew right away that whoever that man was, he was someone from his past. Tapping a b.u.t.ton on his smart.w.a.tch, the call recording was activated. "I"m going to ask you again. Who is this? And what do you want?"

"Swift… swift… swift… You don"t have control over me. I am the master in this game and you are just a puppet. Tell me, how did you like my gift so far? Is your wife dying yet?" The old man spoke very slowly, making him sound crazier than he already was.

The instant that he asked the last question, Daniel"s protective instincts kicked in. However, before he could even respond, the old man spoke once more. "My condolences to your wife"s miscarriage."

"You son of a b-! You did this!!!"

"Bingo!"

Daniel"s expression darkened and his range shot up sky high. "Why?!"

"Why? You killed my precious son. He was the only one that mattered to me and yet you killed him."

His brows furrowed in confusion, "Who-" his voice trailed off and images of his past flashed before him. Reminding him of the darkness that he never wanted to remember, making him feel helpless and angered at the same time. "Yanovich," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, so you do remember. After you tortured my son before killing him, you at least have to remember who he was, right?" Lavro Yanovich questioned as he sat leisurely on his huge armchair. "It was so much fun playing with you for the past months. You deserve all of these. And did you know how easy it was to poison your wife?"

Daniel was so disgusted by Lavro"s words that he was left speechless and only the level of his fury had risen.

"I only wanted for you to experience losing a loved one but Christmas came very early for me this year when I learned that your little wife had a miscarriage. But alas! It still cannot compare to how much pain you caused me so you shall continue to suffer. Until then, be very afraid." Lavro ended the call leaving Daniel struck with madness.

His chest heaved up and down as he lost his cool and his heart rate increased. Looking for a target, the first thing that he saw was the punching bag on his left.

Daniel launched forward and his strong grip landed on the heavy punching bag.

*bam*

He kept on throwing punches with his left and right fists until his skin tore open and blood tainted on the thick material yet he did not stop until he was satisfied.

*bam* *bam* *bam*

His fury pushed him to embrace the unwanted madness; the side of him that he wanted to contain.

Invincible? Who said he was invincible? He was so mad at Yanovich and at himself that he kept on attacking the swaying bag in front of him with all his might.

Pulling his right arm back, he delivered another heavy blow on the suspended bag.

*BAM!*

His punch was so hard that it broke the thick material of the punching bag open that sand poured out of it until it was almost empty. It was only then that Daniel stopped when he felt the loose granules on his feet.

He stopped yet his blood was still boiling in rage. "I"ll make you pay for this," he snarled.