Gabriel planted a soft kiss on the middle of her forehead and touched his forehead with hers. "No. I don’t wish to do anything for now that can hurt your body," he whispered. His hands moved up the straps of her gown and pulled up her zipper. His hands tenderly brushed the hair that fell over cheek before kissing it.
"Then, why did you even start? It’s just difficult, you know," Amelie whispered.
Gabriel smiled and recalled the time when she would resist him so easily. And now, all her eyes carried the possessiveness, the passion that made his heart flutter.
"Well, I thought to make you feel good. It happened in the flow. But I can’t ignore what the doctor advised," Gabriel asserted.
"Hmm." Amelie pouted her lips.
A soft smile graced his lips as he pampered her with the kisses before carrying her into the bedroom. As he laid her down on the bed, his eyes moved to the cradle. Noah was in a sound sleep.
"It’s time to go to bed," he whispered to Amelie and covered her from the duvet. Entering the bed from the other side, he snuggled Amelie close to him. "Goodnight, Ame."
"Goodnight, Gabriel," she answered back, her eyes shutting slowly as the sleep finally taking over her eyes.
~~~~~
Karmen stepped out of the bar after having drinks with Louis, whom he met after so many months. The last he met when they needed help with the witches to find out about the mark on Amelie’s nape.
"I’ll drop you home. I came with a driver," Louis said as he stopped beside him.
"No, thank you. I’ll call for the taxi," Karmen replied.
"Great! Goodnight, then," Louis said and walked ahead. Turning he said, "Make sure to tell Gabriel that I miss working for him." He waved at Karmen before entering the car and disappeared down the street.
Karmen took out the phone from the pocket of his long coat and opened the app to book a taxi. He lifted his eyes when he felt a familiar presence around him.
"Aisha?" Karmen shockingly gazed at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Did you forget you messaged me to meet here?" Aisha remarked.
"Fuck! I’m sorry. I must be drunk that I ended up messaging you," Karmen replied with a smile. "But you shouldn’t have come here. Or you should have called me."
"You phone wasn’t connecting for some reason," Aisha replied. "So, you did a drink message to me?"
"You spoke from the very bottom of your heart, Karmen. Why did you pretend you weren’t interested in me? You only agreed to help me because you-you liked me. You thought you had a chance with me, didn’t you?" Aisha challenged with accusation.
"I never thought that way," Karmen countered.
"Then why on earth did you help me?" Aisha demanded. "You should have been honest from the start and told me you had feelings for me! I would never have let myself get involved with you! Now, it feels like I’m completely taking advantage of you! Karmen, you should have just refused everything!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Karmen’s own composure cracked, a surge of anger tightening his jaw. "Why does my past feelings even matter?" he shot back. "Do you honestly think if I still liked you, I would have walked away from you so easily? I agreed to help you because you absolutely do not deserve to be treated this harshly. There are no hidden motives behind my help. If there were, the first thing I would have done was ask our families to arrange our marriage. You are completely overreacting to something I don’t even feel anymore!"
He let out a sharp sigh, his tension deflating slightly. "Let’s just stop this now. I’m leaving. And let’s end our arrangement here." He gestured around the room. "I made a mistake in letting things go this far, so I will step back. You can tell your family the truth of what your heart truly desires. As long as you have that will inside you, you can make anything happen."
He opened the car’s door and stepped out before walking away.
"Karmen! Stop! I’ll drop you home," Aisha said after stepping out of the car. When he didn’t, she ran behind him and grabbed his hand from behind.
"Where are you going? It’s already too late. I’m sorry for overreacting. I will drop you home. Let’s get into the car," she pronounced, her tone was softer now.
Karmen didn’t budge from his place. "It’s okay. I can go home. I am not drunk anymore. So, just leave," he muttered, yanking her hand away.

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