Cayenne felt an oncoming headache because of him. “You don’t even know what you are talking about. Stop saying nonsense.” Cayenne mumbled. “Let’s just go home. We don’t need to talk about this.”

“No, Ayen. I’m serious about this. We need to fix this here and now.” Stefan insisted and had no intention of letting her hands go.

“Are you really alright? Am I the one who’s sick or you are sick? Do you really know what you’re talking about?” Cayenne was still doubtful. It wasn’t easy for her to take his words seriously.

“Fine. Let’s take this from the start. Don’t think of me as your employer this time.”

“What do you mean?”

Stefan stood up from his seat and stretched his arm out. “Hi! I’m Stefan Domrique. Can we be friends?”

“Are we the type of friends with benefits?” Cayenne questioned, still refusing to reach out her hands. “It’s not normal for friends to sleep together at night.”

“Well, what should our relationship be?”

“Nothing. There should be nothing between us.” Cayenne got up from bed and fixed her clothes. “Let’s go back home.”

Stefan watched her go out of the room. He never felt so hopeless with his business even before. He got this confidence that he will win and get everything that he wanted, as long as he puts his heart and mind to it. This time, he couldn’t even get a single agreement from her. Cayenne was fixed in keeping their employer-employee relationship because of one single mistake he did.

He didn’t mean for that to happen. He was just joking and he never knew that it would turn out that way. He hurt her.

Cayenne walked out first and even though Stefan promised that he would shoulder the medical bill, Cayenne didn’t wait for him to do so. She paid everything with her own money. When Stefan arrived, everything was done.

The two of them went back to his car silently. It was still dark outside since it was still few minutes after four in the morning. “Ayen?” Stefan called out her name once again.

“Yes, sir?”

“Drop the sir.”

“Yes.”

Stefan slowed down the speed of his car to converse with her. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I did. I said something I shouldn’t have said. And lately, I’ve been coming home late which means you’ve been skipping meals because I wasn’t around. I caused you to feel insecure of your status and caused you to have stomach ulcer. It’s all my fault.”

“Me, being poor is not your fault. Having a stomach ache wasn’t your fault as well. I’ve had this illness for a long time already and it would go on and off.” She was still expressionless in front of him.

Stefan kept quiet and continued to drive. He had no idea what else he needed to do to make it up to her. He already gave away the phone which was meant for her. He also broke the trust she gave him. He ruined everything because of his selfishness.

“You will be going to your brother’s awarding ceremony, right?”

“Yes. It’s today.”

“What time will you come home?”

“I should be home before seven in the evening.”

“O-okay.”

The car sank into another dead silence after their short exchange of words. They were nearing home and there were just few hours left before she’ll leave him.

‘If she won’t agree with me then, I guess I should just give up. I shouldn’t force myself on her. It won’t work if I’m the only one who wanted to make things work out between us. Right. I should just do that.’ Stefan was convincing himself on his own without giving Cayenne a single glance.

Cayenne was looking at his reflection on the mirror. Honestly, she wanted to become his friend. However, she was afraid. ‘You are not supposed to become friends with someone who is wealthy. Why? Because you are poor.’ These were the words that Arthur’s mother spoke to her years ago.

This was also the reason why she never wanted to become friends with Arthur once again. She didn’t want her poor status to be used against her, like she was some disgusting creature just because she’s poor. The words that Stefan spoke to her last time made her remember those awful things that Arthur’s mother told her. It hurts but it was the truth as well. There’s no way she could deny something she knew long ago.

Cayenne’s tears pooled in her eyes. She would never find someone who will truly understand her. She would never find someone who will truly care for her. People will only approach her because they needed something from her. Once she has no use, she will be discarded like an unfavored toy.

Not long after, the two of them arrived home and Cayenne went inside as soon as possible. She walked back upstairs to wash her face, in order to wash away her tears. When Stefan came inside, she was drying her face with a face towel.

“Let’s go back to sleep.” Stefan mentioned without meeting her eyes.

“Okay.” Cayenne responded. She wanted to turn on the alarm on her phone but she didn’t want to disturb his sleep since that was her job.

Therefore, when she woke up, it was almost nine in the morning. The school activity will start at nine but Stefan was still sleeping beside her. She wanted to wake him up but she didn’t want to lose her job. She needed the money so much.

Her phone was buzzing for several times and messages from her brothers kept popping up. She couldn’t even reach for her phone because Stefan was hugging her and small movements will awaken him. She already disturbed her sleep in the middle of the night and she didn’t want it to happen again.

She blinked back her tears to stop them from falling. For the first time, she will be breaking a promise to her siblings. Ever since their mother got hospitalize, she would always make sure that her brothers will be taken cared of properly. Whenever she’s needed in school, she will surely attend them. She would do her best to keep her promise to them. But now, she was running late.

‘I must have angered him.’