Treating Mr. Billionaire

~ 55 ~

His brows drooped even lower at that statement, although he didn't react outwardly. But his eyes showed a certain amount of emotions that made her know whatever he was feeling wasn't positive. "Is that the reason why?" he asked in return, his expression growing even more troubled.

She let out a sharp sigh before dropping her hand from her long strands, bringing both arms crossed over her chest defensively as she stared at him with clear disbelief. "And what if that is?" She challenged, raising her chin to direct a pointing look at his face.

"Then I will fix it," he answered, his tone determined but the way her lips broke into another dry chuckle at his comment made it clear she wasn't convinced by his reply.

"Fix it? How will you do that when everything about you is like that?"  She asked with an air of exasperation coating her voice.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before saying, "What do you mean--?"

"You do realize you treated me like a piece of trash in the morning right?" she cut off his sentence, her tone cracking slightly as she realized how much hurt she got from his actions. "Like a junk item you could easily discard and pick up whenever you like. Just like the way you could easily ignore me and then show up at my place late at night without giving a damn care whether I was sleeping or not." she continued, her fury increasing with each syllable that passed through her lips.

"Junk item?" he muttered quietly, his expression now becoming pained as her words managed to penetrate through his greatest shield of indifference.

"Yeah." Her hands fell to her sides at this point, and she knew she had been waiting for a moment like this to pour out her annoyance at him. "You literally behaved coldly toward
me because of a possible argument with your mother and only pretend to care about my reasons now that your mood is all better." She continued, letting her words slip out harshly as she spoke them.

It was apparent he was not used to people being blunt enough to call him out on his behavior with the way his features tightened slightly and his lashes lowered ever so slightly as if she had just stabbed him. Nonetheless, he couldn't keep himself from listening quietly to everything that she had to say.

"You treat people according to your moods. When you feel shitty, you lash your emotions out at the people around you. And when you feel great, you expect those same people you have treated like crap, to just go along with you as if nothing ever happened." Her words came with heavy breaths, every word punctuated by intense intakes of air, and her gaze never faltered from his face.

Maria knew even the most painful grief in his dark orbs couldn't stop her from expressing her sentiments at that moment. The way he had treated her earlier had completely shattered any form of self-confidence she possessed about what he might have felt toward her. She hated to admit it but a few confessions of his true feelings were enough to comfort her emotions, at least somewhat.

She watched him in silence, taking in his appearance, with the occasional twitching of his eyebrows, as though she was a puzzle he would have liked to solve.

His lips parted to finally say something after being quiet for a full five minutes, and it was obvious he was struggling with what he wanted to say next. "You must hate me right now, don't you?" His voice sounded hoarse and strained, yet she was able to hear the vulnerability in it.

His question made her feel conflicted. On one hand, she did feel offended toward him, but at the same time, the sting beneath his golden molten eyes caused her heart to ache with the guilt for being so harsh with him.

It made her realize she had been too occupied with settling her growing attractions to remember she was supposed to be his doctor who ought to be the most understanding concerning his attitude.