Chapter 113
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A nameless feeling washed over him, filling his chest with a wave of longing and tenderness.
Daron turned his gaze aside, trying to hide those confusing thoughts.
As he moved, the opening of the trash bag tightened, and some il from the plate dripped onto the floor.
“Oh…” Marina sighed, clearly not happy.
Only then did Daron look back, noticing the oil stain on the floor and the slightly annoyed look in Marina’s eyes–she was all gentle just now.
“Oil stains are a pain to clean off the floor,” Marina said.
“Sorry,” Daron apologized. “I’ll clean it up right away.”
As he spoke, he grabbed a few paper towels and started cleaning up the mess on the floor.
Marina hesitated for a second, then said softly.
“I’ll wipe it down with some soap after I finish the dishes. You should head out for now, so you don’t end up stepping in the oil and spreading it everywhere.”
Daron stood up, raising an eyebrow.
‘Guess she’s a little annoyed with me,‘ Daron thought to himself.
Still clutching the trash bag of leftovers, Daron spoke quietly as he left the kitchen, “I’ll go take the trash out.”
Marina nodded. “Okay.”
Hearing her reply, a small smile tugged at Daron’s lips. He found himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, this kind of life could be pretty nice.
Marina kept her head down, focused on washing the dishes, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.
Once she’d finished the dishes and wiped the table, she turned her attention to the oil stain on the floor.
Right then, Elnora called.
Marina picked up, still scrubbing the floor, and started talking with Elnora about work stuff.
Even though Elnora was the one who called, she barely said anything, so Marina had to do all the talking.
“Hey, sis, did the Clark family send an invitation to the Finley family?” Marina finally blurted out.”
She’d been dying to ask, but she just couldn’t hold back anymor
“Yeah, they did. Every family with a name in Vrufield got an invitation from the Clark family,” Elnora replied.
Just for the engagement, they went all out–you could really see how much the Clarks cared about this match.
“Are you going?” Marina asked.
Marina instantly regretted asking as soon as the words slipped oft.
‘I shouldn’t have brought that up,‘ she thought.
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But Elnora replied instantly, not a hint of hesitation in her voice
“Of course I’m going. Why wouldn’t I?” Elnora said.
Marina’s grip on her phone tightened.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Marina said softly.
Marina knew Elnora wasn’t in the best shape, and she didn’t wan her to get upset over this.
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Elnora replied in a cool, collected tone, “Of course I’m going. Marrying you off to Daron stirred up quite a buzz, and the Clark family’s event is the perfect chance for us to show our faces. We need to remind everyone that the Finley family will make a comeback sooner or later.”
Her voice was so calm, like she could shrug off years of hardship with a smile, no matter how rough things got.
But Marina knew her sister’s heart wasn’t nearly as peaceful as she sounded.
“If you’re going, then I’m going too,” Marina insisted.
Elnora answered flatly, “You can’t come. The invitation from the Clark family only has my name on it. The Finley family doesn’t have much influence in Vrufield, so they only invited me If I bring you along, they’ll just think we’re desperate for a free meal.”
Hearing her sister speak with such indifference, Marina couldn’t help but feel tears welling up in her eyes.
Elnora heard the quiver in Marina’s voice and reassured her gently.
“Marina, I’ve really moved on. Don’t worry about me. Just stick with Daron and learn from him. We’ve known each other for years, and he’s trustworthy,” Elnora said.
If it hadn’t been for Daron quietly helping us all these years, the Finley family would’ve collapsed ages ago.
Marina burst into tears. “I’ll make sure to learn everything I can from Mr. Zamora. One day, I’ll come back and bring the Finley Group back to the top.”
Elnora gave a quiet laugh, brushed Marina off with a few casual words, and ended the call.
Still worried, Marina messaged Gauri and her assistant, asking them to keep a closer eye on Elnora for her.
After getting their replies, Marina finally put her phone away.
She wiped at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, tying to pull herself together–no way she was letting Daron catch her with tears in her eyes.
Once the floor was spotless, Marina washed her hands and turned to leave the kitchen.
But there was still some water on the floor, and she slipped, yelping in surprise as her waist bumped into the sink behind
her.
Hearing the commotion, Daron dashed in and scooped her up.efore Marina could even regain her balance, Daron’s foot slid out from under him too.
Daron hit the floor with a solid thud, his back taking the impact, but he held onto Marina tightly as they went down.
All Marina heard was Daron’s muffled grunt–he’d ended up breking her fall with his own body.
Daron’s heart was pounding, and Marina’s was racing too–for a second, it felt like their heartbeats were beating as one.
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Marina blinked, coming back to herself after the shock, and struggled to get up.
“Mr. Zamora, are you okay?” Marina asked, sounding worried.
Daron took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself.
“Not gonna die,” he grunted.
“But if you keep crushing me like this, I might actually die,” Darch joked, his voice low and playful.
As he spoke, Daron’s gaze dropped.
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Marina froze for a second, then followed his eyes down–only to realize that, in her panic, her knee was pressing right at the top of his thigh, dangerously close to somewhere sensitive.
She scrambled to get up, pushing herself off the floor with her hands.
“I–I’m sorry,” she stammered.
But just as she tried to push herself up, her hand slipped again, and she tumbled once more right into his arms.
Daron let out a deep, raspy grunt.
Marina’s ears went hot as she flusteredly scrambled to get off him, using both hands and feet in her panic.
But before she could escape, Daron caught her by the waist.
“Hey, stop squirming. Trying to take advantage of me while I’m down?” Daron teased, his voice low and playful.
“N–no,” Marina stammered, her face burning red as she shook her head.
Even if she was ten times braver, she wouldn’t have the nerve.
“The floor’s just super slippery from the oil–I didn’t clean it well enough. I’ll wipe it down again right now,” she blurted out, flustered.
She hurried to explain, quickly scooting to the side so she wasn’t pressing down on him anymore.
Daron let go of her waist at just the right moment.
Marina scrambled to her feet and quickly reached out to help him up.
“Are you okay, Mr. Zamora?” she asked, her voice full of concern
Daron had hit the floor hard with his whole back, so Marina hurried to check the back of his head, worried he might’ve banged it up.
He’s already hard enough to handle when his head’s fine–if he ally did knock it, he’d probably be even more impossible.
Daron just let her fuss over him, not making any move to stop her.
Watching her expression shift from tense to relaxed, and seeing her settle down gently beside him, Daron felt his heart soften without him even realizing it.
‘You okay?‘ Daron asked, his voice gentle.
Marina waved it off. ‘I’m fine, just tweaked my ankle a little.
Daron glanced down at her ankle before reaching out.
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The moment his hand brushed her ankle, Marina hissed in pain
Daron could tell she was more hurt than she was letting on.
Daron released her ankle and got to his feet.
Marina was startled when Daron suddenly bent down, his tall figure coming right up close to her face.
The next moment, he picked her up without warning and heade for the living room.
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Her heart felt like it was being played with by two rowdy kids, bouncing back and forth and refusing to settle down for even a second.
Daron set her down on the couch and knelt down to take a look at her ankle.
Marina instinctively pulled her foot away.
“Mr. Zamora, I’m really okay,” Marina insisted.
Daron reached out for her foot on reflex, but worried he’d hurt her, he let go immediately.
“Let me see if you broke anything,” he said.
Marina paused, quickly covering her foot with her hand, and blurted out, “I don’t think I broke anything–I didn’t hear any cracking sound or anything.”
Daron’s brow jumped.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
