Love Began with the First Meeting novel Chapter 24

Molly held onto the chopsticks when she heard Brian's remarks. Biting her lower lips slightly, she stared right at the man sitting in front of her. Fire was burning in her eyes. "I've agreed to stay at your house for a month..." Molly paused for a second," to be your woman." It appeared that she had made a great effort just to say those words. "But I need to work. I... I really need the money," Molly added.

She felt sorry for herself when she finished speaking. What she really wanted to do at the moment was have a good cry somewhere, anywhere else but not in front of this man. She shouldn't have made any compromises, but she couldn't just run away. Reality was very cruel, and she didn't have any choice now.

Brian didn't even take a look at Molly, and he had kept a straight face the whole time. With a stony expression, he continued with his dinner unhurriedly. It appeared that he had known that Molly would say yes and he would get whatever he wanted. Molly had become his pawn and everything was under his control now.

Molly had waited a long while for a response, but she felt that Brian was going to remain silent. It took her a lot of courage to negotiate her conditions with him, but now that he was not saying anything, she started to feel worried. She pursed her lips and said with tears brimming in her eyes," I'm begging you. I really need to work..."

Brian finally raised his head and looked at Molly, and it seemed like he could see right through her. A feeling of loss and sadness pinched his heart.

She wasn't Becky.

Becky had begged him a couple of times before, but it was truer to say that she was asking more than begging for what she wanted. He had always seen the stubbornness in her eyes, which made him feel a little angry but powerless at the same time. Brian finally broke the silence and said," Being my woman means you don't have to work. Okay?" Molly felt the unhappiness radiating from his voice. His eyes were fixed on her with a piercing stare and his thin lips tightened while swaying the glass of wine with his long fingers.

A dead silence fell in the room. Shivering slightly, Molly felt that she was about to suffocate in that atmosphere. She was scared because of the tone of his voice, but the fear was replaced by anger as she heard his disrespectful remarks.

"I agreed to be your woman to pay you back the 200 thousand loan… But I will never be your mistress," Molly had the courage to blurt those words out finally. It was hard to figure out whether she said those words out of anger or out of other reasons. There was intensity in the way she said those words and her hand gripped the chopsticks so tightly that it seemed to snap any minute.

Brian opened his mouth slightly, as if to object to what she had said. Instead, he just said coldly," Whatever." He seemed to have changed his mind to argue as his lips curved in a barely perceptible smile while he spoke.

Molly had been very nervous about what his answer would be. She had been afraid that he would refuse her conditions. Now that he had given her a very short answer, which barely counted as a yes, she was too shocked to react.

Before Molly could think of anything else to say, Brian stood from the table, left the dining room, and went straight upstairs to the study. Once again, Molly was left all alone in the big dining room.

Molly pursed her lips as if to suppress whatever disappointment or anxiety she was feeling that moment. She raised her head and was stunned as she noticed the intricate design of the stairs. After a while, she withdrew her gaze and began to eat alone quietly. Her mind was busy trying to figure out what Brian meant by his answer. Unknown to her, someone looking enraged had been observing her the whole time in a dark corner.

Meanwhile, in the study, Brian was gazing at the snow outside as he stood in front of the window. A fresh layer of snow had covered the buildings like thick powder. Earlier it had been a bright sunny day, but now, the sky had gloom all over it. It seemed that more freezing days were ahead.

Thinking about it, Brian didn't know the reason why he wanted Molly to keep him company for a month. He wanted her to stay probably because her eyes looked like Becky's, or because he found some comfort being around her since the night she had spent with him unintentionally. For some reason, he had come up with this idea out of nowhere when he saw her sitting on the ground the day they had been at David's place.

He had never felt lonely before. Richie, Shirley, and Wing were always around when he was growing up. But at that very moment when he saw Molly at David's place, he felt unusually lonely. He wanted her companionship, even just for a month. It might have been because Becky had left him again.

'Well done, Becky, '