Chapter 37: Angelica
"Opinion?" Ryle’s playful gaze landed on Daisy, "Don’t forget who you work for now."
Even though he looked as cheerful as before, but everyone could hear the threatening edge in his voice.
Diana glanced at Daisy worriedly.
"I can take up this petty job. I can throw it away. Do not assume that it can tie me up." Daisy said.
Ryle raised an eyebrow, "Poor thing, did you forget the contract you have signed? It will haunt you if you dare to quit the job.’’
"Contract?" Daisy levelled the man with a glare, "I can disappear once without you being able to trace my whereabouts for two years. I can do it all over again. I will see who can stop me. If push my boundaries, you won’t like the outcome.’’
Ryle stepped forward, but under Diana’s worried gaze, Maxim grabbed his arm, putting the ’impending war’ to rest.
Behind them, the backdrop ’Benjamin’ breathed out a sigh of relief.
Eventually after all those bickerings, Daisy and Diana ended up at Diana’s place.
...
"You live here?" Daisy’s footsteps slowed down as she entered the place.
Diana locked the door behind her, "When I came to LA first, I ended up living at Ryle’s mansion."
"What?" Daisy turned on her heels the moment she heard that.
"With Warne, not with Ryle," Diana quickly explained that Ryle had left the his mansion and his pet under Maxim’s care temporarily to and she happened to mistake an address which is how she ended up at Ryle’s place instead of Ryle’s neighbor’s.
Daisy looked further confused so Diana sighed, "It’s a long story. But you can say that this is my place now."
Daisy glanced at Diana quietly.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Diana touched her cheeks.
"It’s been tough on you."
Diana waved her hand as she kicked off her heels, "Initially, I also felt that way but I don’t find it hard anymore. It’s like a breath of fresh air. My current life, I mean.
I have a job. A workplace. People who are clueless about my background and hence are not wary or unnecessarily friendly around me. Sometimes, I find some time to write randomly in the middle of the night and it’s good to pursue what I once loved. I have people I love. And I have Warner. Although he was a bit unreasonable today but he is my greatest source of comfort..." Diana trailed off when she noticed the soft smile on her sister’s face, "What?"
"While looking for you, I was worried about how you would make a living. I thought you would starve yourself in the world outside of the mansion. But it seems like my worries were all for naught," Daisy patted her head, "You seem to be living your own life, instead of letting someone else control it."
Diana pursed her lips, "By someone, you mean our mother, don’t you?"
Daisy’s brows pinched together, "Don’t bring her up."
"Daisy," Diana held her hand, "She is in the wrong but you can’t hate her. She is... quite pitiful at times."
"We can leave this conversation for some other day," Daisy pulled her hand away from Diana’s grasp, "We are seeing each other after so long. I don’t want us to argue over meaningless things."
"Forget that I said something," Diana grabbed her hand again, "Come with me."
"Where?"
"You are afraid to ask about her but I am not afraid to let you meet her," Diana smiled, watching Daisy’s eyes widen as she dragged her toward the Master bedroom of the house.
Before Diana could push the door open, the door opened from inside and a girl seemingly in her early 20s stepped out.
"Dee, you are back—" the girl stopped speaking when she noticed the other person.
"She is Ivy. She has been helping me out here a lot," Diana said to Daisy.
Daisy nodded.
"This is...?" Ivy glanced at the ’man’ standing beside Diana.
Diana looked at Daisy, seeking her permission with her eyes, "Ivy has no dealings with Ryle. Can we...?" reveal your true identity to her?
Daisy could see that Diana did not want to lie to Ivy and it would be tough to keep the cover if she stayed with them.
Daisy looked at Ivy, "How about Maxim? No dealings?"
Diana closed her mouth as she thought about it. Ivy was absolutely loyal to Maxim and Maxim was closed to Ryle.
Ivy blinked, unable to comprehend what they were talking about.
Diana looked at her, "Angel’s father, Dexter."
Ivy gasped, "No way..." she inched closer to Daisy, examining every feature in detail, "Dee, now that I look at him up so close, I feel like Angel’s eyelids are similar to his. The nose. And the mouth...."
"_"
"What eyelids? She hasn’t even turned one yet," Diana grabbed Ivy from her collar, stopping her from latching to Daisy like an octopus.
Daisy was not a gentle person so it was best to take Ivy’s personal safety into consideration.
"Angel..?" Daisy glanced at Ivy and Diana.
Diana smiled, "We named her Angelica."
Thinking back to the time when she had barely spent a few days in Los Angeles, she remembered how troubled she was while thinking of the name for Angel. She loved the nickname ’Angel’ and Maxim ended up choosing this name for her.
"She has been a handful today. Throughout the day, she played endlessly. She did not even take her usual nap. She just dozed off an hour ago when her energy was drained," Ivy stretched her shoulders, "I will leave you both to catch up," Even though she was curious about the handsome man in their humble abode, she kept it in.
Once Ivy was gone, Daisy stepped inside the room, her gaze remained fixated on the small bump on the bed.
She slowly looked up and saw the little girl’s peacefully sleeping face, "Angel..." the word rolled off her tongue effortlessly and it sounded foreign to her ears but she could feel the warmth surging in her heart.
"Did you name her before?" Diana asked.
