There was silence in the car.
No music. No small talk.
Just the quiet hum of the engine...
And Bella's muffled crying.
She sat in the leather seat like a statue crumbling from the inside out. Her shoulders trembled as she pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, desperately trying to silence her sobs, but the pain kept leaking out in broken gasps.
Davos sat beside her, stone-faced, his jaw tense. He didn't look at her.
At first.
He didn't know what to say.
He never did, when emotions entered a room like this—raw, cracked, and bleeding.
He wasn't built for comfort.
He was built for control.
But something in her unraveling touched something in him. Something he'd buried a long time ago.
So he glanced.
Just once.
And it hit him like a blow to the chest.
She was beautiful. Not just physically—though that was obvious. But beautifully wrecked. Raw and real in a way no one around him ever was. No pretenses. No games. Just... grief. Pure and unfiltered.
Tears ran silently down her cheeks. Her lips trembled. Her hands clutched the edge of her seat like she was trying to keep herself from falling apart completely.
He couldn't look away.
He had seen her before—quiet and neat, head down, He hadn't given her more than a passing glance then.
But now?
Now, he saw her.
Saw the storm behind those soft eyes. The strength in her silence. The ache she tried to bury.
And something in him twisted.
A part of him wanted to pull her into his arms.
Another part—the darker part—wanted to find out who shattered her like this… and ruin them.
He didn't understand the reaction. He never felt like this. Not for anyone.
But the connection in that moment was sharp, immediate, and dangerous.
He stared.
Unblinking. Unapologetic.
Eyes like a storm about to break.
Bella finally turned. She felt his gaze before she saw it.
Her puffy eyes met his steel-gray ones.
"I'm… I'm so sorry," she said, voice hoarse. "I wrecked your car… and here I am crying like I'm the victim."
She wiped at her face with trembling fingers.
"I didn't mean— I was just... I didn't see the road. And now your car is… I'll pay. I swear, I'll find a way to pay for the damages."
She swallowed hard, eyes lowering in shame.
"I know it was a luxury car. I—I'll figure it out."
Davos didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Then… he smirked.
It was slight, but it curled at the edge of his mouth with dark amusement.
"Pay?" he repeated, voice low and cool. "You'll pay for the damages?"
Bella nodded quickly, embarrassed but sincere.
"I mean… I don't have the money now, but I could— I'll try. I'll do something."
Davos exhaled sharply through his nose, leaning back in his seat.
"That's... noble," he said, gaze flicking to her trembling hands. "But unless you're hiding a few million dollars somewhere in that floral dress, I'd say you're out of luck."
Bella froze.
A million...?
Her stomach dropped.
Of course.
The car. It wasn't just luxury — it was a statement. The kind that cost more than her entire neighborhood. She had ruined a car worth more than her family's total life savings.
The silence in the car deepened, thick and heavy.
The driver said nothing, eyes trained on the road ahead as the city lights streaked past like ghosts.
---
Then Bella turned, trying to gather her breath.
"How… how did you know where I live?"
She wasn't sure if she should be scared or impressed.
Davos's eyes never left the road.
"You applied for a job at my estate," he said flatly. "You didn't think I'd run a background check?"
Her breath caught.
He remembered her?
He noticed her?
At the mansion, he hadn't even looked at her. Hadn't spared her a full sentence.
Yet… he had run her name. Looked into her file. Knew her address.
A thousand questions darted through her head.
Why did he care?
Why was he still here?
Why hadn't he left her on the street the second the accident happened?
Her thoughts were interrupted as the car slowed.
They were parked.
Right in front of her apartment building.
---
Bella blinked in confusion.
Davos didn't say anything for a moment. He just opened his door slowly, stepped out, and walked around to her side.
He opened the door and leaned in.
His voice was soft this time. Too soft.
"You're resuming tomorrow."
She blinked. "What?"
"You're coming back to the mansion," he said. "Eight o'clock sharp. And then we'll talk about whether you're paying… or not paying… for the car."
Bella stared at him, stunned. "Wait—what? I thought— I mean, I didn't mean it literally…"
He raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't make expensive promises out of guilt. People like me might take you seriously."
Bella's stomach twisted.
Was this a punishment?
Or… something else?
Davos stepped back.
"Tomorrow. Don't be late."
Then he got back into the car, the door clicking shut like the final word.
The vehicle pulled away smoothly, swallowed by the night.
Bella stood frozen on the sidewalk, still breathing hard. The wind tugged at her hair. Her heels wobbled slightly under her.
What did I just agree to?
She hadn't meant it. Not really. The words had fallen from her lips in a flood of guilt. But now… now she was in his world.
And Davos DeLaney didn't seem like the kind of man who let people go once they stepped inside.
She turned to her building slowly.
And realized something strange—
Her hands weren't trembling anymore.
Later That Night – Bella's Apartment
Bella stepped into her apartment like someone sleepwalking ,The door clicked softly behind her as she leaned against it, her pulse still racing.
She should be crushed.
After what happened with Raymond—what he dared to do
But instead…
She was thinking about Davos DeLaney.
The car. The crash.
His voice like thunder. His gaze like ice.
That moment in the car, when he'd looked at her
Bella let her purse slide to the floor.
Ridiculous, considering her day had started with heartbreak. But somehow… all of that had been eclipsed.
By him.
---
She kicked off her sandals and walked into the living room, collapsing onto her couch.
Then, without a second thought, she grabbed her phone and called Luisa.
It rang once.
Twice.
"Where have you been?!" Luisa's voice exploded through the speaker, full of frantic energy. "I've texted you five times,no reply
Bella smiled. "Hi to you too."
"Don't 'hi' me, woman. You disappeared for hours. Spill."
Bella hesitated—just for a second.
She could've told her everything. The real reason she'd left the house earlier. That she went to meet Raymond, That he showed up with a fiancée like it was a brunch date.
But she didn't.
She couldn't.
Not tonight.
It felt too raw. Too humiliating. And now… too unimportant.
Because somehow, the ache Raymond left behind was shrinking under the weight of something new. Something colder. Sharper.
Davos.