Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter Eighty Six

Carmen sat in the dining room the next morning, quietly poking a fork into her breakfast. She was trying hard not to look at anyone at the table, especially the certain someone she might have disappointed the previous night.

God, she felt so embarrassed right now. Her face was flushed, no matter how much she tried to convince herself it didn't mean anything.

Molly was the first one to notice her playing with the food. "You okay?" she asked, gesturing at the plate Carmen had practically not touched. "Want something else? I can ask Ms. Chen to—"

"No, this is fine," Carmen shook her head with a smile. "I'm not hungry, I guess."

"Not hungry? Well, that's weird. You barely ate anything last night. And now this. Carmen, are you sure you're okay? We can call the doctor to see if there's something else—"

"I'm fine, really," Carmen assured, although she could see Molly didn't look much convinced. And neither did Jasper, who sat with them albeit a little away. He didn't say anything during the entire breakfast duration, but from the way she could feel his eyes on her, she knew he was listening to every word being exchanged between the two friends.

Perhaps this whole secret-affair thing wasn't something she could handle. Every time the two of them watched her quietly, she felt as if they knew. But did they? She couldn't tell for the life of her.

To be honest, Carmen wasn't comfortable with the two of them being around while she and Ronin figured out this tension between them. But Ronin was hellbent and practically unreasonable when it came to her safety. He didn't want to take any chances by leaving her alone. And though as much as she appreciated his concern and care for her, she wanted them to be alone and talk about what happened yesterday.

"If you say so..." Molly mumbled, snapping Carmen out of the pool of her thoughts. "So, there's something I need to take care of in the office today. I'll be out for a few hours. Do you think you'll be alright?"

Carmen couldn't see any problem with that. She understood that Molly had her own life and business to take care of. She couldn't be her nanny all the time like Ronin expected of her. In hindsight, she felt terrible for expecting something like that from a working woman like Molly. Running a company, no matter how big or small, wasn't a joke. And now that Carmen had gotten a little taste of it herself, she very well could sympathize with the kind of everyday pressure Molly must go through.

"I'll be fine. Take care of what you need to do, and I'll manage here."

Molly gave her a warm smile. "Great. I won't be long, promise. Jasper and Ronin will be around, and if you need anything, just let them know."

* * *

Turned out Jasper had something to take care of too and left quickly after Molly did. Carmen wanted to think there was something odd going on between the two of them, but then she herself had so much going on, it was a surprise she hadn't lost her own mind.

Carmen had every intention of avoiding Ronin at all costs (what's with what happened last night between the two), but the moment she reached the stairs, ready to head straight to her room, her feet came to a pause, and she felt reluctant to go on with her plan.

She told herself it was purely because Ronin hadn't shown up during breakfast, and it was only understandable if she wanted to see if he was feeling okay.

Curiosity and concern got the better of her and she found herself hesitating outside Ronin's door, knocking softly.

She waited, waited, and waited, but no one answered the door.