The Royal Contract

Chapter 246 - Answerable To Death

She opened her eyes with the rays of sun shining on her face. When she squinted her eyes to the time on her phone, she already knew that it was already late.

"Alex." She looked at the vacant space on the bed and wondered if he was in the kitchen making breakfast. He was not in the bathroom, which was quiet.

She quickly stood up from her bed and grabbed her robe. She made a quick stopped at the bathroom before proceeding to the kitchen. There she found Alex slaving away on a pot of coffee and a pan of whatever delicious concoction he was making.

"Why did you not wake me up?" She asked him when as soon as she moved closer to his position by the stove.

She looked at him, wondering why she deserved to find a man who made her world complete. In his sweat pants, shirtless, and an apron, he still appeared perfect.

As he moved while cooking, with precision and skills, she could not think of any reason why she could not love a man like him completely. He was the man she had been waiting for all her life.

"Because you need your rest. What happened yesterday could not have been easy for you?" He said as he continued stirring the food on the pan.

When he woke earlier, all he wanted to do was cook something nutritious for breakfast. Dani hardly ate anything yesterday, and the soup last night would not be enough to sustain her.

"Thanks for taking care of me." She vaguely remembered him gently carrying her from the car to her apartment, not wanting to wake her up.

She must be too exhausted to argue with him to put her down. Or, she loved and enjoyed the feeling of his body against hers. The point was, she felt cherished and loved by his simple actions.

"I know you will do the same for me. Besides, I enjoy taking care of you." He was indeed a prince who loved to play as the knight in shining armor. But it was more than that.

He would do anything to see a smile on her face every day, as soon as they woke up in the morning and before they slept at night.

"Well, thanks still for last night and breakfast." She could already smell the delicious aroma that he was making.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her cheeks on his muscular back, trying to get some comfort on his warmth. She knew yesterday would have been more difficult if he was not by her side.

"Are you alright now?" He finally asked, sensing a difference in her compared to last night.

Last night, she had been quiet as soon as he put her down on the couch. He felt that she was awake when they entered his apartment. But she did not make a sound as she just sat on the soft cushion, staring at nothing.

He believed that the earlier events were only sinking in, now that she had time to think about it, without worrying about her father and mother.

"Yeah, I think so." She said with a smile on her face, but she knew she failed to convince him.

Last night, she realized how fragile life could be. She always had pictured his father as the invincible tyrant that nobody could beat. He was this strong man, capable of putting others to their knees.

But it had been a wake-up call to her what happened to her father. She failed to see that her time with her family was limited, and she should not be wasting it with their quarrels and differences.

"Come on. Let us eat first before we get ready to leave." He offered and helped her on one of the stools.

Then, he put two plates of food in front of them on the counter, pouring a cup of coffee to cheer her up. He knew how she loved her coffee in the morning. She was grumpy when she did not get some caffeine in her system.

"I am just going to call Mom to check on her." She suddenly remembered that she wanted to hear if there were any changes.

It should have been the first thing she did when she woke up earlier, but Dani was still slightly disoriented and forgot about it.

"No need. I already talked to your mom, and they are ok. Your dad was awake and feeling much better." Alex informed her before she could rush back to their room and call them.

He made a point of checking on the hospital and talking to the doctor in charge of Ethan's care. Then, he also called Laura to monitor her condition.

He wanted a guarantee that everything was fine, and if not, he would like to be on top of the situation. It was the only way he knew how to help Dani in her current condition.

"You did." She said with a slight tone in her voice. Well, she was a bit surprised by his action. She would have preferred to talk to them herself, but she could do that later.

Then again, she was glad that he already checked on them. What was important was, her father was doing great. She could not wait to see him and her mother soon.

"Yeah, I did when I woke up this morning. I only wanted to make sure that everything was ok." He said, watching her reaction, catching the slight hitch on her tone.

He hoped that she did not take it the wrong way that he meddled with their family affair. After all, he was only the boyfriend. But his intentions were only to help her.

"That's great. I'm happy that you checked on my parents. I think I'll probably drop by the hospital before proceeding to my office to see both of them." She suddenly felt bad that she used that tone on him.

She knew he was only trying to help. She was just stressed with the entire situation and thinking of the job that she had failed to do yesterday.

Although Evan said they would take care of it, she knew that it was her obligation. She could not keep passing up her work every time something was happening in her life.

"Can I drive you to the hospital and your work? I wanted to say hi to your father, and I have some papers I need to show to David." He told her as they finished up with breakfast and readied for work.

He knew he was making up excuses to accompany her. But from the way she reacted earlier, he was not sure if she would want his company.

"Yeah, I think that is fine with me." She answered him, trying to make up for her unruly behavior earlier.

She only wished that those tiny miscommunications or disagreements would never turn into something big that could ruin their relationship.

She then thought of her father, who she always argued with one thing or another. She wondered if she could ever get over what he did in the past.

But she discerned one thing with this incident, Ethan, her father, was just the same as everyone else.. He was human and still answerable to death.