Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

Samantha was still cursing herself why she agreed to even go out and let Gael treat them to a meal. 

They were sitting inside a limousine, all dressed up nicely. Although Samantha only wore a simple powder blue dress, she looked radiant as ever. She dressed up Ashton in a similar color tone and the two of them looked really cute together.

She sat at an arm"s length away from Gael, not wanting to go near him. Noticing that she was uncomfortable, Gael tried to make conversation, "Is there somewhere you"d want to eat?"

Samantha merely shook her head. "No."

Nodding, Gael was already aware of how women can be very indecisive about where to eat most of the time. "I"ve already booked a restaurant."

"Then why did you ask?" Samantha just had to say it, making Gael look at her intently, wondering if she was always on her period to be constantly irritated by having a conversation with him and he found it actually fascinating.

"I"m just making conversation, Ms. Kim." He looked away and stared out of the window. Gael was always alone most of the time and considered Becca as his only serious relations.h.i.+p in the past. Other than that, he did not have many friends but he had a lot of business partners. 

The rest of the trip was quiet until they reached the restaurant. Just as they parked, light rain started to pour. Philip and the driver quickly went to open the door of the limousine with umbrellas in their hands. 

When the door at Gael"s side opened, he got out of the limo and took the umbrella from his driver.

Turning around, he lifted it above the door to cover Samantha and Ashton as they alighted. Samantha noticed what he did and was hesitant to accept his gesture so she paused and looked up in which he returned with a stern gaze, "Hurry up or you"ll both get wet." 

Thinking that it was silly to argue this small thing, Samantha held Ashton tightly and got out of the car. Thankfully, the umbrella was huge enough for the three of them. However, Gael had to move closer to Samantha to avoid the rain, his shoulder touching hers, making her feel uncomfortable.

Philip stood on her left to cover her side from the rain as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant.

Because at the same time, Daniel and Lucas were just about to get in a car that was parked in front of Gael"s limousine.

Daniel"s attention was caught by the movements on the side, making him turn his head and saw the group alighting the vehicle and going inside the restaurant.

His brows knitted when he thought he saw a familiar figure. "Samantha?" He muttered to himself when he caught sight of a woman"s side features.

"What"s that?" Lucas questioned.

Daniel tried to see closely but the woman was already covered by another man because of the rain.

He shook his head and chuckled to himself. Missing Samantha made him see things that were playing a joke on him. "Nothing, I thought I saw something." He said before getting inside the car.

Why would Samantha be with a child and men surrounding her? That"s quite an unlikely situation. Why would she be in Country A? He found himself silly for even having these thoughts. 

Daniel figured that he must really need to work even harder or else he"ll go crazy and start seeing everyone as Samantha. 

Getting inside the car, Lucas ordered his driver, "To the airport. Step on it, our plane"s going to board soon."

Who would have known that coincidences happened two days in a row?

The two fated hearts had been missing each other. 

…

Private Dining Room

"Have you chosen something from the menu?" Gael asked as he watched Samantha fixing Ashton on a high chair.

One of the things that Samantha hated was going out and not having those chairs in some restaurants. It was just so difficult bringing a baby to a restaurant without it that"s why she"d rather eat at home instead. 

"Anything will do." Samantha did not even bother to look at him and continued to tend to her child. 

"I figured you"d say that so I"ve ordered already." He responded casually as if it was something normal to do. 

Samantha"s head snapped towards him and with a fierce look on her face, she bit out, "Then why would you ask every time?" She scoffed and muttered lowly, "Such a control freak."

Gael caught on to what she said but he only chuckled softly, ignoring her remark. "I just want everything to be perfect."

"And why is that?"

"Perfect is always good. Which means there"s no room for mistakes. And mistakes are what people dislike, am I not right?" Gael said with a smile on his face. The handsome man looked so pristine; he had an aura of a leader.

"That"s where you"re wrong. Perfection isn"t always appreciated; for me at least. I"ve come to like and love people with their flaws and that"s okay." Samantha answered softly as she thought about Daniel. The man she truly loves, flaws and all.

"Then if that"s the case, why are you so hostile against me?" Gael asked with a straight face.

"I don"t remember hurting you in any way. I understand what I did before was not right and I already apologized for it but apart from that, I don"t see any reason for you to hate me so much. Why is that? If I did not know any better, I would think that you actually like me." He teased, the corner of his mouth curling up in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Samantha choked on the water that she was drinking and was sent into a coughing fit. Gael smirked at her reaction and readily handed her a napkin in which Samantha accepted hesitantly. "What?! Ha! You are being ridiculous, Mr. De Luca. What"s there to like?"

"What"s there not to?" He leaned back and enjoyed a gla.s.s of wine. "There"s a thin line between hate and love. Who knows? You might have just mistaken your feelings towards me." He added, making Samantha glower at him.

"Are you having fun?" 

"Frankly, I am actually." Placing the gla.s.s back on the table, Gael"s stare burned into Samantha, "I know a little about Daniel"s past with the Olsens." 

Hearing Daniel"s name from him, Samantha"s heart skipped a beat. She looked away, afraid that her emotions were going to betray her when she felt her heart clench.

"And you seem to know about it too. I"m wondering why you two have a son together… but… I don"t think he knows about this child. Am I right?" He saw the change in her expression.

"I don"t owe you any explanation," she defended herself. She didn"t want to talk about Daniel"s dark past with this man.

"True. But I"m curious… because I think you still love him. So, what happened between you two?"

Samantha remained quiet. She did not want to tell him about it. It wasn"t as if there was something he could do anyway.

"So… you can accept Daniel Cho"s past but hate mine?" His stare bore into her. He was jealous that someone like Daniel was accepted by someone like Samantha. 

Gael"s question made Samantha wonder why she was also very rude to him. But the more she thought about it, the more that she was confused.

Maybe because… she wanted to have met Daniel instead of him; she wanted to be with Daniel at that moment, not him.

The waiters arrived with their food and thus they started to eat quietly.

Halfway through their meal, the door opened in a loud bang and in came a few men in suits; one man wearing all white, leading them. Their number was greater than Gael"s men at the moment.

Samantha got startled and she immediately took Ashton in her arms, covering him as much as she could. Glancing at Gael, she was baffled how he remained so calm as if what happened was something normal, casually wiping his mouth with the napkin.

"Mr. De Luca, it"s nice to see you again," said the man in white with a thick accent.

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Gael asked.

"I see that you"re enjoying your sweet time here. It"s as if nothing happened at all." The strange man sat on the chair beside Gael.

Looking at Samantha, he offered a smile and told her, "Why don"t you go and see the garden outside? I"ll follow soon." Gael gestured two of his men to escort Samantha out but she became hesitant. Despite her ill feelings towards him, she worried that something might happen.

When they reached outside, the door was shut.

The uninvited guests drew their guns and pointed at Gael"s men. The man in white pointed his revolver to Gael"s head. "How dare you ambush the Yanovich clan?" 

Hearing the surname of the man that caused their separation, Samantha"s brows knitted as she abruptly turned her head towards the gla.s.s door. It was covered with a curtain yet she could faintly hear their conversation.

"Have you forgotten where you are? This is our territory." Zevrick moved his gun down until it was right where Gael"s wound was and pressed it; he was the one who shot him there. Gael immediately caught Zevrick"s hand and shoved it away calmly.

"How ignorant." Gael stood up and his men pointed all their guns to Zevrick. "I did not know Yanovich had such people. I"m a businessman and we had a fair trade, so why would I ambush you? Wouldn"t that ruin my reputation?"

A crease formed on Zevrick"s head, "If it wasn"t you, then who was it?"

Gael casually turned towards the gla.s.s door, he worried that Samantha might be feeling uncomfortable about the situation.

"Isn"t that what you"re supposed to be looking for? Your boss has a lot of enemies, surely he can narrow it down." He turned around and saw the uneasiness in Zevrick"s face. "Ah. It seems that Lavro Yanovich doesn"t even know what happened."

Zevrick got up from the chair and glared at Gael.

"I need my container," Gael spoke in a low and threatening voice.

Without a word, Zevrick left the private room, his men following him from behind.

Soon after, the gla.s.s door opened and Gael came out looking pale, beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "I"m sorry about that," he smiled.

Samantha"s eyes widened when she noticed his s.h.i.+rt was now stained with blood.