Chapter 42 - Angel Is Smart (2/2)

Forgetting all about her facade of cold persona, she was actually comfortable being her real self before him. And it wasn't the first time she said something to him, she normally wouldn't say to anyone. He always managed to make her act the way she was. Without even trying.

A peal of laughter made Xiu again lift her eyes to stare at him. With his head thrown back, Darren was laughing heartily. Once again, her reply was really out of his imagination. But he didn't find it childish at all. The reasoning was quite acceptable.

”That angel is smart,” he spoke in between his laughter while wiping the tears that escaped through the side of his eyes due to laughing so much. His gray eyes looked glossier and somehow, that made Xiu smile as well along with him. ”That reminder of security cameras was timely.”

”It sure was,” Xiu grumbled before recalling something. ”Hey, by the way, are you really alright?”

Darren was surprised by the sudden change in her demeanor and replied uncertainly, ”Yeah. What can possibly be wrong?”

”I don't know. When I checked up on you earlier, your whole body was shaking, it was cold and you're sweating profusely and your eyes looked dazed. You didn't even hear my voice. It seemed like... You're living through a painful memory or something. Weird observation, right?” Hearing Xiu elaborate like this, Darren's hands had clenched into tight fists as his nails dug into his skin.

His face looked solemn at the reminder. But he found it even more surprising that her observation was correct. ”You're thinking too much. I hit my head at the dashboard. Probably, because of that, I was out of sort for a moment.”

Xiu observed his expression intently before shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. ”If you say so.”

Darren's phone again rang and he went to find it in the car. Xiu also boarded her car and tried her best to park it at its rightful parking space without any mishap. Fortunately, she succeeded in doing so.

She couldn't hear Darren's conversation but she could see that he didn't look happy at all with whatever the other person on the phone was saying. As her eyes fell on the box of cupcakes that Nora handed her before she left, she fell into deep thought.

Chocolate cupcakes had a very sacred place in her baking repertoire. And the ones with chocolate buttercream frosting with chunks of chocolate in it were even more sacred. She had never shared these with anyone aside from Nora's family. But now that Darren had let her off the hook so easily, she was having second thoughts.

She had to express her gratitude. 3 million wasn't a joke but he still didn't ask for it from her.

With this thought in mind, Xiu took the box of cupcakes and went to Darren's side. She waved her hand before his eyes to get his attention while he was still on the phone call. And when he looked at her, she smiled at him and stuffed the cupcakes in his hands. ”Thank you.” She mouthed before flashing her grin to him and turning on her heels to leave.

Darren was left staring at her back as she went to the electronic glass door in the parking lot and punched in her code before entering the building. 'She lives in the same building? Interesting.' He mused to himself before sighing and speaking to the person on the call, ”If you're done, I'm hanging up. Stop calling me already.” He disconnected the call without giving any chance to the other person to talk.

Then he opened the box that Xiu stuffed in his hands and opened its lid. His brows hooked up slightly as he saw the neatly arranged four cupcakes inside.