Chapter 157 - Raymond's Declaration Of Love

At noon, Bryana sat on the sofa in the workspace in the office. She looked at Dean who had not had time to eat lunch because he was too focused on work. Even her husband after the meeting was still busy with the documents that had to be read to be signed.

"Honey, don't you want lunch?" Bryana asked as he approached Dean.

"I'm not hungry yet," Dean replied, looking down at the documents.

Bryana put away the document and sat on Dean's lap sideways, then wrapped her arms around his neck, staring into his face while feeling his downy jaw. "Don't push yourself so hard for work that you skip lunch."

"But I'm not hungry yet, Sweetheart." dean put his arm around Bryan's waist and looked up at her.

Bryana sighed and said, "You are not hungry, but the one who has accompanied you is very hungry. Ah, maybe this baby in my belly also really needs additional nutrition to grow healthy."

dean chuckled and kissed Bryana on the lips passionately, then asked, "Okay, let's have lunch now. At a cafe, cafeteria, or restaurant?"

Bryana thought for a moment by staring at the glass wall that showed the outside atmosphere of her magnificent office building. "Looks like eating at cafe Alexandria would be really fun. That's where we ate together for the first time after you beat up the guy who came in front of us."

"You want to reminisce?" Dean asked with a smile.

"I don't know, I feel like going there. I miss the steaks there that taste delicious," Bryana replied with a shrug. She got off Dean's lap and immediately took him out of the office, visiting her favorite cafe.

"Wait a minute, I have to sort this all out," Dean shouted, tidying up the slightly messy files on his desk.

Bryana nodded and instead helped Dean clean up the file, but she suddenly thought of Monica.

"Since you came home from the meeting, I haven't seen Monica here anymore, where is she?"

"She's being taken to lunch by Raymond," Dean replied, stacking the files.

Immediately Bryana cracked a smile on her lips, imagining her brother who might be approaching Monica. 'Ah, I hope they will become a couple.'

___

In a cafe with a futuristic European-style design, Raymond and Monica sat on a brown-white chair. they were opposite each other at a table where two cups of coffee latte and other treats were available to them.

Raymond kept staring at Monica who was playing with her smartphone as if she didn't care about his presence. he reached out his hand and took the phone gently, then put it on the table.

"I want us to have an important talk," Raymond said seriously. His gaze was so cold and intense that it made Monica swallow her saliva silently.

"What are you talking about?" Monica asked nervously.

Raymond rubbed the back of Monica's hand, and said, "I like you."

Instantly Monica choked with dry throat and lips, not knowing and unable to reply to the words of the man in front of her.

Raymond released his grip on Monica's hand, then reached into his jacket pocket for something. Is that something?

"Marry me, Monica," Raymond asked as he opened the small red box that had been taken from his jacket pocket.

Monica was getting choked up when she heard the request and saw the contents of the small box it turned out to be a diamond ring with a blue gem in the middle. Ugh, it must be very expensive.

Looking at Monica who was silent, Raymond let out an exasperated sigh. "I admit I'm a stupid man. Approaching the wrong girl while the best girl for me is you, you who are always with my sister. I beg you to marry me, Monica." Raymond said with such a sad look.

"You. You must be like this because you fail to marry Kareen, like when you failed to marry Elsa," Monica said with a false image of her past when Raymond proposed just to replace the bride's position, even she was rewarded in the form of money as if she was low.

The image made her feel sick again, moreover the memory of Kareen this morning also made her feel doubtful.

"No, I can't marry you. You don't rove me, I'm sure of it!" Monica shook her head and withdrew her hand from near Raymond's.

"Monica, I'm serious. I proposed to you because this is sincere from the seed of my heart with a love that I realized a few months before I returned to London," said Raymond affirmed until he grabbed the girl's hand again. "It's very painful to hold on to a feeling, but I did it because it was to trap Kareen."

Monica was silent as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. The man who had been in love with her, finally confessed his love for her, reciprocating the love that she had been hiding. for a moment the girl felt very happy, but Kareen's words resonated in her ears, making the happiness fade instantly.

"We can't be happy after someone suffers because of us...." Monica shook her head with teary eyes. "I can't marry you after what we did to Kareen."

"Kareen? Why do you care about her? She doesn't even care about you, always badmouthing you in front of me, please don't sacrifice your feelings just for that sly woman?" Raymond looked at Monica in frustration.

"Even though she's my cousin, she's also been very caring for me ... And I don't want to be happy on top of people's suffering. That's so annoying!" Monica bent her face, not daring to look at Raymond who was so disappointed in her. "She said I'll have you have you that was once here, her former...."

"Gosh!" Raymond closed his eyes for a moment while massaging his forehead which felt dizzy because Monica was instigated by Kareen's words. "Monica, I've never done anything obscene to her, I've never even kissed her on the lips!"

"I have no idea." Monica turned her face away. there is a sense of wanting to accept, but doubts continue to alight in her heart.

Raymond sighed, then took the ring from the small box. He looked at the ring and said, "This is the only thing my mother has left that is most meaningful. She wants me to give this to my future wife, to the girl I love the most... And this is the first time I'm giving it to the girl I love, which is you."

"I don't believe. You must have also given the Ring to Kareen or Elsa," Monica exclaimed with her pessimistic attitude.

"No, I never gave this Ring to them. if so, maybe they will take this ring away because there are only a few units in this world, and my mother bought it especially for her future daughter-in-law who she doesn't even know who it is," Raymond explained sadly.

Monica kept silent no matter how expensive the ring was because she was too restless and afraid that Raymond would only toy with her feelings.

"I beg you, fight for a love that is reciprocated, not even thinking about the feelings of people who don't even care about you. I'll give you two days to think about the answer to my request," Raymond exclaimed with a disappointed look.

"Two days?" Monica looked unsure. She looked at Raymond who was now getting up from the chair.

"Yes, even if now you say 'willing' to marry me, I will come to your house and propose to you honorably, in front of your extended family."

Monica fell silent in her confusion. She looked at Raymond who put the ring back in the small box and put it back in his jacket pocket.

"Remember, in two days I waited for that answer. lest you make the wrong decision, or we will live an unhappy life because we can't unite our love," Raymond exclaimed as he leaned towards Monica.

Monica stammered back slightly, her eyes on Raymond's face so close to hers. "You...."

"I know you love me, Monica." Raymond kissed the forehead of the girl who had not even answered his request, then left the cafe.

Monica was silent with a blank stare, then touched her forehead which had just been kissed by the man of her dreams.. she had a happy smile on her face, but that smile faded quickly as the memory of Kareen flashed back to her.