Tangled With The Irresistible Billionaire: Single Dad

Edward was pacing back and forth inside the room. He couldn’t relax knowing that Lia wouldn’t talk to him anymore. He felt bad about the confession he made at the peak.

He brushed his hair harshly as he thought of Lia leaving and would never have a chance of seeing her again.

His head was already painful because of the hangover, but it got worse when he realized that Lia was totally gone.

When he was steady on his post, he inhaled deeply. He went outside and walked towards Lia’s room. He wanted to try one last time and looked if she was there now.

“Lia,” he said softly as he knocked on the door.

“Hey, Lia. If you can hear me, please open the door,” he pleaded.

For the past three days, he had stayed in the hotel. On his first day, he was contemplating whether what he did was the right move or not.

When he decided to talk to her on that day, Lia didn’t show up. He was in front of her door, constantly knocking, and hoped that someone would open the door for him. But there was none.

Second day.

The moment he opened his eyes, he hurriedly got up and washed his face. He went to her door again, but he was welcomed with silence. He sat beside the door and patiently waited for her.

He thought that someone might open the door anytime, so the right thing was to remain there quietly.

He would go back to his room when he was hungry or thirsty.

On the third day, he started to lose hope because no matter how long he waited, no one came or went outside the room.

So he finally got up and went out to drink. He wasted all his worries that night until he temporarily forgot about her.

He knocked on the door again, but no one opened it.

‘Maybe she has already gone back to New Zealand,’ he thought.

He was about to leave when the door opened. Finally, he was mesmerized and surprised when Lia's angelic face showed up.

When she saw Edward at her door, Lia was taken aback, but she immediately smiled at him.

“Hey, Edward. I was about to go to the lobby to call for—” Lia said, but she couldn’t finish when Edward hugged her so suddenly.

Lia felt a little guilty for Edward because she left without saying anything to him. Although it was not her responsibility to tell everything to him after what happened that day, she should have a word with him.

They didn’t have a chance to talk again, so she thought that it was okay to console him by hugging him back.

“I thought I had lost you,” Edward said as he sighed deeply.

“I’m sorry, would you like to come in? So we could talk,” Lia calmly stated.

“Yeah, that’s right. We need to talk.”

Both of them entered the room, and he was welcomed by her nanny and guard. Edward greeted them before they left.

Aunt Naneth told the lady guard to go back to her room, so they could give them privacy.

When Edward saw the guard, he still wondered why Lia needed it, but he was more worried about their talk, so he washed away all his curiosity about it.

When they were the only two left in the living room, Lia felt awkward, while Edward was lost in his words.

Silence embraced them, but after a few minutes…

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

Both of them said at the same time, which made them look at each other. Lia released a low chuckle while Edward scratched his head in embarrassment.

“Go ahead, I’ll listen first,” Edward suggested.

“I apologize if I’m gone for three days. We went to my mom’s friends and spent our days there. I didn’t contact you because I don’t know what to say,” she explained as she played with her fingers.

“It’s okay, I just thought that I won’t be able to see you anymore,” he replied.

But her brows knitted when she heard that. “Of course, it’s not okay. I heard that you were waiting outside my door. Some guests saw you and notified the hotel staff.”

“Is that so? Well, it was my choice, so you don’t need to feel burdened. I’m the one who needs to apologize to you. I became selfish, and I didn’t think about your feelings when I confessed to you,” he said and felt ashamed.

“I’m sorry if I reacted that way, I just didn’t know what to say that time.”

“It’s really fine, maybe I expected too much that you felt the same way. I didn’t think it would ruin the mood and our day as well,” he said as he slowly went to her and held her hand to tell her that it was all good.

It was just Edward felt relieved that she didn’t totally ignore her and set him aside. He still had a chance, so he would take it slow until the right time arrived.

“What about this? To compensate for that day, would you like to go to the beach with me?” Lia initiated, and he was astonished for a second.

He didn’t think that the one who would compromise first was Lia.

“Yeah, that’s great. Let’s do it now,” Edward uttered cheerfully.

“Okay. Then, it settled. I just need to prepare a little, and this time I will be the one who will choose our destination,” she said excitedly.

“Alright, I’ll go back to my room and prepare as well.”

When Edward left her room, she immediately looked at social media to search for the nearest beach they could go to.

She called her nanny to help her prepare the things she would need for their outing. Aunt Naneth was pleased when she saw Lia smiling again.

Three days after they parted ways, Aunt Naneth suggested visiting her mom’s friend.

So she could think carefully about what she wanted to do and what she felt towards that man. Lia agreed with her and didn’t hesitate at all.

When they got there, Lia thought that she would be okay if she were far away from him, but she realized that she missed Edward even though only one day had passed.

Lia wanted to see him as soon as she could. However, she already said that they would stay there for three days. So she spent time thinking about him and thought of buying a gift for Edward.

All of them traveled to the beach for an hour. They reserved a room ahead of time for them to stay.

“Wow, the breeze feels nice,” Lia said the moment she stepped onto the beach.

“It really is,” her aunt seconded. Lia smiled at her, and she was glad that her Aunt Naneth was able to join this time.

“Alright, let’s go to your room and change your clothes. I’ll handle our food, so you two can enjoy yourself,” her aunt told them.

“Thanks, Auntie Naneth. If you need something, you can tell me,” Edward said.

They rented a small villa that could cater to four individuals. Lia picked her room which had a good view of the sea.

She started to undress and changed into a swimsuit. She was wearing a one-piece sky blue swimsuit.

Her curves were in the right places, but she couldn’t help but feel conscious of her body. She was bashful, and many thoughts ran in her head of what Edward would think of her.

When she left the changing room, Edward was already waiting for her. He was only wearing beach shorts, and he was topless.

Lia couldn’t help herself but feel fascinated with Edward’s physique. Edward looked at her with amazement in his eyes, making her feel more conscious.

“You look gorgeous as always.” Lia came back from reality when she heard his voice.

“Thanks, you also looked great,” she complimented him.

They walked towards the beach, dipped in, and started to swim. The seawater was cold, but the sunlight warmed their bodies.

Aunt Naneth was satisfied watching Lia being happy with someone else.

‘Lia already closed her heart to anyone, but that man managed to capture her heart.’ Aunt Naneth thought.

When they got tired, they decided to sit down on the seashore.

They satisfied themselves by watching the sun disappear from their sight as they talked about random things and had some deep conversations.

“I already told you that I have a twin, right?” Lia said.

“Yeah, I remembered that you called her by the name of Mila,” Edward replied.

“She was already dead long ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. You don’t need to tell me that if you aren’t comfortable talking about it,” he assured her.

“No, it's okay. I just thought that I might need to share something about what happened to her,” she insisted, so he didn’t have a choice but hear her out.

“I saw her, with my own eyes... On how she died that day. That scene was always vivid on my mind, and I can’t help but despise those people who did it to her.”

Edward was listening intently to her. He was staring at her while she was staring somewhere far as she spoke.

“I’m weak, I just watched her die. I never had the chance to protect her nor save her. Then, I remembered what our mother had told us before. She was my older sister, and she was bound to protect me.”

“But, what about her? Who is going to protect her?” Lia said, and her tears rolled down her face. She lowered her head as she wiped her tears because she didn’t want Edward to see her like that.

“I should have protected her, just like she always does, but I couldn’t. I am useless, I let her die in vain.”

Her tears kept on streaming, it couldn’t stop. Edward went behind her to embrace her. He knew that Lia didn’t want to show this side of her to anyone.

“Don’t punish yourself, it is not you who killed your sister,” he consoled her.

“She is my other half, why did she leave me here alone?” she exclaimed.

Edward couldn’t find the right word to say to her, so he stayed silent. He just listened to her until she was okay. In some way, Edward understood why she was acting that way.

‘Someone important to her lost in her very eyes, but what was she afraid of?’ he thought.

“All I know is that I understand your pain, I also lost my parents when I was a kid. My father died in a car accident, and my mother died of breast cancer. I thought my life ended when they died as well. But I have my brother, I have my auntie who helped us to grow.” Edward spoke.

“And all that wound might leave you scarred, but it will eventually heal when you finally accept it,” he added.

“Lia, what is the scariest thing for you?” he asked.

“Is it to lose someone you love? Is that why you are scared to accept me in your life?” Edward finally voiced it out.

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. I’m scared that if I let other people enter my life, they would end up perishing because they tried to protect me,” Lia told him the truth.

“I won’t. You’re not going to lose me, I promise. Just give me a chance and trust me.”

Edward told her as he turned her around to face her. The determination was visible in his eyes as he waited for her response.

Lia was still doubting, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that she had fallen for him.

“Alright, I will trust you,” she smiled as if she finally saw another light once again.

“Really? Is that true?” Edward was bewildered when he heard that. He thought that Lia would reject her again.

"Yes, let’s give our relationship a chance. I wanted to know how far we will go,” she said with pleasure.

When they returned to their room, they had already broken the news to Aunt Naneth and her lady guard.

Later on, they told their decision to Lia’s mother because they wanted to visit Hamilton Town together without her nanny or lady guard.

“Mom, please! I’ll be safe with Edward,” Lia pleaded for the first time to his mom via facetime.

Aunt Naneth disapproved of it, so Lia called her mother for approval. Edward was beside her to support her.

“I said no, if you wanted to go there, you should at least bring one of them,” her mother said firmly.

“Edward…” she whispered as if she wanted to cry. She looked at her Aunt Naneth with pleading eyes.

“Okay, let me talk to your mother,” Aunt Naneth said.

She took the phone and went to the corner with her and tried to talk it out to her mother.

Aunt Naneth explained everything to her mother and started persuading her. Her aunt saw the happiness she had when she was with Edward.

Her mother sighed in defeat and gave her approval if that made her happy.

Lia rejoiced when Aunt Naneth convinced her mother. So the next day, they went to Hamilton Town.

They both decided to tour around before Lia visited Edward’s school. They walked into the park there and ate different foods that Edward recommended.

When the night came, they stayed in Edward’s apartment. That night, Lia gave it all to him. She didn’t hesitate at all and played into the fire.