Chapter 171 - Shiela 2

Shiela returned to her senses when the glass wall she was leaning one of her hands on, reflected the image of her secretary. She returned to her table after realizing that the man she was watching had long left the place. Until this moment, she felt guilty for not telling him the truth that she did not go to Japan. That Neil's father only kept her on an island until she gave birth to her child. She was young then, helpless and easily scared by threats.

"Miss Shiela, I would just like to remind you that your appointment with Rough Seas will be two hours from now."

"Yes, thank you," Shiela replied, and her secretary left as silently as she came in.

She hurried to pack a few things in her bag and left the office with a laptop in her arm. She must go before the heavy traffic in the afternoon set in. Anyway, she could find a coffee shop closer to the Rough Seas office if she arrives too early.

Ordering herself a cup of steaming coffee, she settled herself at a quiet corner on the left side of the counter. On her other side was a glass wall where she could see the busy streets of the city. She looked at her watch and realized she still had an hour and a half left. Occupying herself by scanning into her social media account, the voice of someone in the counter made her turn her head.

"A cup of espresso, please."

Though his voice was a bit modulated this time, she could still clearly remember who owned it, even without looking at him. It was the same voice that said, "I love you," every time he kissed her before placing her down on the bed. What she saw was only the side of his face as he made his order. He was so focused on it that he did not notice a pair of eyes looking at him. He had matured and his sturdy built made him look intimidating. Back then, even if he never talked about his family, she knew he came from a prominent one. Most people in the university said so.

"Thank you," Shiela heard him spoke after the attendant repeated the order. She turned her head away quickly and looked down, pretending she was scanning at her phone. She kept her senses sharp as she followed him in her peripheral vision. She wanted to know whether he was alone or on a date. Her heartbeats hammered louder than her thoughts, and she regretted the moment she decided to come early.

She held her breath until she could no longer hear his footsteps. She only inhaled deeply and made a sigh when she heard the sound of the opening and closing door. Perhaps, he just dropped by to order a cup of coffee.

She slowly raised her head up to see if it was indeed him who just went out. She was facing the door and even if it was some feet away, she could still clearly who came and went out. To her shock which made her heartbeat leap some miles away, her eyes directly met his and it locked for a while before she looked away.

"Shiela," she heard him call her name softly, and without looking up, she saw him pull out a chair across her and sat down.

"Shiela, glad to see you again. But I'd like to ask you directly, where's our child?"

Shiela lifted up her head and dared to look into his eyes. It darted anger and hatred which Neil may have expected already.

"How dare you ask, you didn't care after all!" she muttered under her breath and continued, "you left me alone, helpless and scared."

"How about your family?" he persisted and asked further, "what did they do to you?"

"None of them knew about it, even my father. And until now, I'm dying with guilt every time I think about it because my poor father believed that I was in Japan for job training."

"Then where is the child?" His voice was now quivering in anger and impatience.

"I had it aborted," Sheila answered nonchalantly as he stared into his eyes. No one knew how much courage did it take her to say that. Even Neil who closely watched every bit of her reaction.

"Damn it, Shiela, tell me the truth! I was powerless then, my parents took me to the USA right after I told them about you."

"Do you want me to make up stories? Well, I drank bitter herbs, I scrubbed the floor many times in a day, I jogged until I was breathless and took some medicines I can't remember," Shiela's emotion gripped her again as her thoughts brought her back to those days where she was torn between doing right and wrong.

No matter how many times she told herself she won't cry again but looking back to those days in front of the man whom she expected to share the burden, she couldn't help herself from breaking any more. She brushed her betraying tears angrily, picked up her bag and stood up to leave.

"Don't ever think we're done!" said Neil as he grabbed her arm as he spoke, giving her a dangerous glare after he released her.

Shiela sprinted toward her car and threw her bag in the passenger's seat before she broke down and cried. It took her a long while before she calmed down. When she glanced at her watch, she was already fifteen minutes late.

She got horrified when she realized she was late, this appointment was too important for her new company. She grabbed her bag and pulled out her powder, dabbing her face hurriedly. She no longer cared about how she looked, what's more important was to refrain further delays.

The next thing she knew, she was already in the reception area and before she even asked, the receptionist offered to guide her to the function room. The moment she opened the door, two pairs of eyes met hers and her eyes widened in another wave of shock!