After a long drive, Leonardo stopped in front of a magnificent building—his house.
Isabella was still asleep, so he gently carried her inside. The guards were all shocked and quickly stepped aside. This was the first time he had ever brought a woman to the house. In fact, it was forbidden. There weren't even any maids allowed.
In the master bedroom, Leonardo laid Isabella down on the bed. Just then, she woke up. She glanced at him with sleepy eyes and slowly muttered,
"Where are we?"
Damn. Leonardo could feel his heart pounding.
Why does she have to have such a cute voice and face?
"You're at my house," he answered, standing up. "I think you should change out of those clothes. Let me get you something new," he said as he turned to leave.
But a slender hand stopped him. She smiled up at him.
"No need for that," she paused, "I'll just wear one of your long sleeves and dry these clothes."
"Will my clothes look good on you?" he teased, watching her walk to the wardrobe. She pulled out a shirt and darted into the bathroom.
Less than ten minutes later, she walked out wearing a white long-sleeved shirt that barely reached her thighs. She tied her slightly brown hair into a ponytail.
For a moment, Leonardo was stunned. Then he rushed to her, dropping to one knee.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
She couldn't help but chuckle. "Stand up," she said, trying to pull him up.
"If you don't answer, I won't," he insisted.
"...Yes," she finally said, smiling.
He lifted her joyfully, spinning in circles.
"Put me down!" she laughed, a little dizzy.
He gently dropped her onto the bed.
"So, you're my girlfriend now?" he raised a brow.
"We just met yesterday," she said seriously, examining him. "I know it sounds crazy, but it feels like I've known you forever. That's why I said yes."
Leonardo smiled.
"But from now on, let's take things slow, okay?" she added with a gentle smile that melted his heart.
"Okay."
"So first things first—let me have my boyfriend's number," she said, reaching for her phone. They exchanged numbers.
After saving the contacts, Leonardo frowned.
"What?" she asked, curious.
He showed her his phone—she had saved his contact as Bella. She checked her own and saw that he saved his as My Hero.
"Silly," she teased, tapping his nose. "You're supposed to save your number as My Heart."
She stuck her tongue out playfully, and he grinned, then changed her contact to Vixen.
"Change that!" she shouted, running after him as he bolted out of the room with his phone held high.
He was taller, so she couldn't reach.
Feeling defeated, Isabella pouted, on the verge of fake tears. Seeing her like that, Leonardo stopped.
"Okay, okay, I'll change it," he said, as they both sat on the couch facing each other.
"So, what should I save it as?" he asked.
She paused for a moment, thinking, then her face lit up.
"What is it?" Leonardo asked, intrigued.
"I'll save your number as My Cream, and you'll save mine as My Sugar," she beamed.
"Sugar and cream, huh?" he smiled. "Sugar and cream make coffee."
"So that means you'll buy me coffee every single day," she grinned.
"Deal," he said, playfully pinching her cheek.
They updated their contact names to Sugar and Cream.
As they sat together, Leonardo suddenly remembered something.
FLASHBACK
That night, when he left the room to answer a call, he returned to find five men opening the door with a recorder in their hands. A fight broke out, and Leonardo came out victorious. The injuries he had weren't from the fight—he was already hurt before it happened.
He'd called a doctor friend and asked for some pills to help Isabella sleep and cool the fire that was burning in her body.
END FLASHBACK
"Leo... Leo..." Isabella called out softly.
"Sorry," he said, snapping out of it.
Just then, her stomach growled. She gave him a sheepish smile.
"Okay, let's make dinner," he announced.
To Isabella, Leonardo was sweet and cute. But to the world, he was known as a heartless, rich CEO.
They headed into the kitchen, threw together some ingredients, and ended up with a surprisingly amazing meal.
They sat at the dining table, enjoying their food. Just then, Isabella's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and smiled.
"Good evening, Mac," she greeted warmly.
"Where are you?" he asked gently.
"Don't worry. I'm somewhere safe," she reassured him.
"How are you?" he continued.
"I'm fine. How's Becky?"
"She's doing well," he said, voice relaxed.
"What's the situation at home?" she asked, her eyes on her food.
"Your father is furious, and Clara is making it worse. Are you coming home tomorrow?"
"Yes," she replied.
As she took another bite, a second call came in. She sighed and put the call on speaker.
"Bella," Justin's voice came through.
She kept eating silently.
"Bella," he repeated.
After a pause, he switched it up, "Lisa."
"What?" she finally responded, still chewing.
"How are you?" he asked.
"What do you want?" Isabella said, clearly impatient.
"I want to apologize," Justin said sincerely.
"For…?" she said with disinterest.
"For everything. Charlie used me to hurt you, and I didn't realize it."
Isabella laughed bitterly. "Used you to get at me? That's funny. She knew I never liked you. She just wanted everything I had. Why did she dump you now?"
"When she saw the guy who carried you out, she got jealous and wanted him too. She admitted she was using me."
Isabella laughed harder.
"So what do you want from me?"
"I want you back," he confessed.
She choked on her juice, coughing hard.
"Sorry! Take some water!" Leonardo panicked.
Hearing a man's voice came through. Justin was furious as he called out."Lisa, Lisa?"
"Sorry, I already have someone," she said coldly.
"Charlie will take him from you. She always gets what she wants," he warned.
"Wrong. I get what I want. I let you go because I never loved you—it was only for Chloe's sake that I even dated you," she snapped and hung up.
She let out a deep breath.
"Have you ever been in a relationship?" she asked Leonardo suddenly.
"Yeah, once."
"You must've really loved her," she chuckled.
"Not really. My parents forced me to date her."
"Oh." She looked at him and smiled.
"You know, this is my first relationship where I truly love the person."
"Really? So you love me that much?" he asked with a grin.
"Hmmm… maybe," she teased.
"But this is the first relationship where I'm happy," she added, snuggling close.
After dinner, they both went to bed—Isabella in the master bedroom, and Leonardo in another room.