59 Damn hard

Back on the ladder, Abigail slowly climbed up towards the roof. She was slightly shaking from both fear and the cold. It was slightly scary for her so she didn't dare look down as she kept climbing up, higher and higher, with a blanket draped over one shoulder. After a few more steps, she was finally on the rooftop. Luckily for her, the day had been a sunny one so the roof was dry. It would have been very dangerous if it was covered with moisture or rain.

As she straightened up, a wide smile curved on her lips. This was something she had never dared to do before but was something that she thought would be an awesome experience. However, her grandparents and her father were too much of a worrywart and she was afraid that they would have a heart attack if she climbed on their roof, so she never dared.

She didn't know that standing on the roof felt this refreshing. She felt the cool breeze of the air brush her face and she took a deep breath, rewarding her lungs with fresh, unpolluted air. She looked around and she could so far ahead in all directions. She even got the better view of the sunset and the twilight sky. She felt like she was on top of the world!

Standing up on the rooftop, Abi felt free and she subconsciously spread her arms out in response to that feeling.

However, to her surprise, at that moment, someone suddenly grabbed her from behind.

"Abigail… What the hell are you trying to do? Huh?" Abi shivered because of the coldness in his voice. No, it wasn't cool indifference he emitted; it was anger. For an instant, she felt a genuine fear of him, raising the hair on her arms.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to calm down. She slowly turned and looked at him but she quickly realised that that might have been a big mistake. As soon as she saw his darkened face and the fury in his eyes, her spine instantly turned rigid and she froze. She felt her throat dry up and she felt her heart want to leave her chest for fear of what was coming next.

This was the first time he was this angry towards her. She bit her lips to stop it from trembling before she managed to answer.

"I… I… I am working hard, Alex," she stammered.

"Huh?"

"You said I should work hard for you to approve my request, right?"

". . ."

"P-please don't be angry at me," she pleaded like a terrified, little drenched puppy. But then, despite her fear, her arms flew around him as she hugged him tightly.

Alexander didn't know how to react. He didn't understand this girl at all. She was clearly scared of him to her bones and yet she was… she was…

Before Alex knew it, his anger had already disappeared. He didn't even know why he was not angry anymore. This girl… this little daredevil needed a good scolding! He must punish her for doing something crazy like this! He needed to stay as scary as the devil to show her the gravity of her actions, and yet… he didn't even know what killed his anger so suddenly.

Alex let out a deep sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair before his eyes blazed again. But it was no longer with fury; his eyes glimmered with something else.

His hand moved to her nape and he made her look at him.

"Abigail… do you want to die?" he asked. Abi saw that he was no longer angry at her but his question made Abi feel like something strangled her. And then, a second later, tears suddenly fell from her eyes.

Alexander was stunned. He didn't see this coming. Why the hell was she crying now?!

"No… I don't want to die, Alex," she uttered as she began to sob. No, she didn't want to die. She wanted to live longer. She wanted to experience a lot more things in life. She wanted to grow old too. She didn't want to leave her family, her friend, Kelly, and the kids in the orphanage. She also wanted more time to be with this man before her; to get to know everything about him, to experience a lot more things with him and to love him with all her heart. She wanted to live.

As Abi silently cried before him, Alexander didn't know what to do or say. He had seen and made countless girls cry before but for some reason, he hated seeing this little lamb cry like this. He really hated it.

"Stop crying, Abigail," was all he said. His voice was still cold but his eyes never left her face and he didn't know why, but he felt damn angry again, although this time, he didn't seem to be angry at her anymore.

"You were the one who climbed up here on your own and now you're crying?" he gritted his teeth to control his voice.

"I-it's because… you're scaring me," she replied, wiping her tears. She had let out the wave of pain she suddenly felt so she felt better now.

"Abigail, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm angry because… why the hell are you doing this? Do you think you can still live if you fall from up here, huh, Abigail? Why risk your life for something that silly?" he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not risking my life. I'm being very careful! And… this is not silly, okay? You were the one who told me to work hard. You told me to show you!" she argued. She began to hiccup but her eyes suddenly looked fiercely determined, causing Alex to close his eyes in frustration.

Alexander shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair again.

He then grabbed her chin with his thumb and pulled her face closer to him.

"Listen little lamb. Let me be clear about this. I forbid this kind of crazy stunts. No matter what your reason, never do anything like this again! Anything that I think is dangerous is forbidden. Do you understand?" he firmly told her with a burning intensity in his eyes forcing Abi to swallow. "I'm warning you, if you do something dangerous like this again, I'll punish you… damn hard... You hear me?"