Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
He stared down at her for a long moment, and the way his chest tightened as he continued to look at her only made him more implacable in his resolve.
Slowly, he pulled the covers on top of her. After, he stretched himself next to Daria, careful not to have any parts of their bodies touching. He closed his eyes and was unsurprised when sleep eluded him in spite of his intoxicated state.
One last day, Nik decided grimly. He would give himself one last day to be with Daria, and then he would get rid of her, with or without claiming his revenge. Daria Everest was poison, and one couldn’t ever have vengeance against poison. Poison didn’t feel. It only killed, and it was time he remembered that.
The sun had risen prominently in the sky by the time Nik woke up, and the first thing he realized was that the space next to him was empty.
Daria! She was gone!
He sat up immediately and had to swallow back a groan as his hangover threatened to crush his skull into pieces. Fuck. Forcing himself to concentrate despite the bone-splitting headache, Nik let his gaze roam around the room, but there was no sign of Daria anywhere.
Fuck. Had she left him for the other man? Had seeing the bastard made Daria realize she couldn’t stand another day being with a supposedly poor man like him? Or maybe this was all part of the plan? Had she left to make him jealous and admit the truth about his wealth?
Nik had no fucking idea, and at this point he didn’t really give a damn. All he knew was that Daria was gone and he was going to get her back.
Getting up, he stalked immediately towards the door, not bothering to change. He had barely taken one step outside his room when Nik found himself almost tripping—-
He looked down.
“Daria?”
He managed to regain his balance without trampling all over her.
Dressed in a cropped top and denim shorts, she was crouched on the sand, butt up, elbows down, and peering through the lenses of her SLR. She lifted her head up at his voice. “Good morning.” Her smile was sunny, but her gaze was uncertain.
Nik couldn’t answer right away. He needed a moment or two, the relief he felt at finding Daria right outside his doorstep making him feel disgustingly heady.
One day.
Last night’s promise echoed inside his head, reminding Nik that he only had today before he turned his back on Daria for good.
He was silent again, she thought. It was stupid, but she found herself wishing he would be his usual cranky self instead. At least she knew what he was thinking then. At least she knew what she did or said still mattered to him.
But when he was silent like this...
She rose to her feet, nervousness making her clumsy, and she almost dropped her SLR twice. The third time, it completely fell from her fingers, but Nik caught it handily before the expensive equipment could crash on the ground.
He handed it back to her without a word, and she accepted it with trembling hands. “T-thanks.”
Nik shrugged, his mood becoming edgy at the way Daria stared at him with too-bright eyes and an even brighter smile. He hated seeing her like that, but he hated it even more that he was affected by something so damn simple.
Even so, he heard himself say gruffly, “What were you doing?”
It took a moment for Daria to answer, her mind still whirling at the realization that Nik had somehow decided they weren’t going to talk about last night. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but in the end, she decided to follow his lead. She couldn’t afford not to. She just wanted them to be together, and if this was how he wanted to play it...
She pointed at the flowery bushes lined up in front of the row of hotel rooms. “I spotted a ladybug.” She was proud of the way she managed to sound cheerful even though her voice still shook a little in the end. “It looked so cute I had to take a photo so I wouldn’t forget.”
Nik frowned, wondering if he was missing something. “Forget what?”
“How it looked,” she explained. “When I find something I want to draw, I take photos of it so I can study them afterwards.”
“I see.”
More silence fell, and she didn’t like it, prompting her to blurt out, “I’m an artist. I told you that, remember?”
Had she? Nik shook his head. “I can’t recall.”
“Well, I am. But not the real kind,” she clarified quickly. “I mean, I draw, but kawaii stuff.”
The term was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, causing a faint frown to mar his forehead. “Kawaii?”
She nodded. “Basically, cute stuff.” There was a pause, her hesitation evident, before Daria bent down, and that was when he saw the sketchpad propped against the wall. She handed it to him.