Bella walked into her apartment and saw a short-haired woman wearing a black hoodie fast asleep on the living room sofa.
"Wake up, hey!" Bella woke her up by nudging the woman's leg with her foot.
The woman startled awake, sat up, and tried to shake off her drowsiness.
Bella took off Dev's jacket—which she was still wearing—and opened her phone. Once the drowsiness completely wore off, the woman glared at Bella in annoyance.
"You told me to meet you in the CEO's office," the tomboyish woman said, angrily throwing a sofa pillow at Bella, who was still glued to her phone. "But when I got there, you were already gone. I applied for my leave three months ago! I haven't seen my mom in a year because I was busy watching over you in LA. I had barely even arrived at the station when I had to turn right back around just to deal with you and your endless drama. You absolute nightmare of a lady!"
"Come on, Ter, it's like you just met me. Making people annoyed is practically my talent," Bella said proudly.
"If I didn't remember your late parents entrusting you to me, I would have quit Xander Security a long time ago," said Bella's best friend, who also doubled as her personal bodyguard.
Bella walked over to Tere and wrapped her arms around her.
"Don't be like that! Who else do I have if you leave? Alright, alright, I'm sorry," Bella said coaxingly.
"Then hurry up and marry this Dev guy so I don't have to deal with your babysitting duty anymore," Tere replied.
Bella stopped hugging Tere and sat back down on the lounge chair across from her, pouting. "Dev doesn't want to marry me."
Tere burst out laughing loudly at her best friend's words. Feeling offended, Bella threw the sofa pillow right back at Tere.
"Screw you, you ungrateful bodyguard! How dare you laugh at your boss!" she cursed.
"I seriously need to meet this guy named Dev. This is the first time a guy has ever rejected you!" Tere scoffed, still laughing hysterically at Bella.
"You wouldn't believe how amazing he is, Ter. He's incredibly handsome, with thick eyebrows, a sharp nose, thin lips, a sexy voice, a toned body, six-pack abs, and a tattooed back. He literally swung from the 40th floor using nothing but a rope, he can fly helicopters and fighter jets, he's a pro at racing, and he is just such a gentleman, you know? He can actually resist my charm even though I flirt with him all the time! I honestly don't understand how someone so perfect can exist." Bella's gaze drifted as her mind filled with thoughts of Dev.
"Swinging? What is he, a monkey? Wow, you are completely whipped. Yeah, I admit that sounds cool. But unfortunately, he's not from your social circle."
"So what? I don't care! I love Dev so much!" Bella's eyes sparkled as she spoke.
"You are so naive. There's no way Grandpa Hirawan will give you his blessing. You know how ridiculously high your grandfather's standards are." Tere tried to bring Bella back to reality so she wouldn't get too carried away by her feelings.
"As long as Dev feels the same way, I'll do whatever it takes to marry him," Bella said with fierce determination.
"Does he even like you back? Didn't you just say he doesn't want to marry you?"
"He likes me! He's just not ready to admit it yet."
"Why are you so obsessed with marrying him anyway?" Tere asked.
"I'm exhausted from being pushed to replace Grandpa as CEO. And I refuse to marry whatever guy he chooses for me. I want a man who genuinely likes me for who I am, not for my status. Grandpa always thinks I'll never find a guy who loves me sincerely. But you know what? He's wrong. There is a guy who loves me sincerely, and that person is Dev," Bella explained happily.
"Are you sure about that? And how exactly do you plan on getting your grandfather's blessing to marry Dev? You're just looking for trouble by picking a guy your grandfather will hate. It's going to be an uphill battle for you to marry him. Plus, have you thought about this? The man who marries you will automatically become the CEO of Xander, right? Are you sure Dev is capable of leading a corporation? I highly doubt it," Tere said realistically.
"I don't plan on getting my grandfather's blessing. Even if he doesn't approve, I'm still marrying Dev!"
Tere ran her hand through her short hair, sweeping it back in sheer frustration. "Hello? You are the majority shareholder of Xander Corp, and you're his only grandchild. Do you want to get written out of your grandfather's will and family registry? Can you even survive without your credit cards? Your cards were confiscated for just one day and you practically tore the Xander Security office apart."
"I don't care. I don't need the Xander fortune or the title. You know itself that all this time, I've only been throwing money away because I wanted to. Everything I did was just to piss off my grandfather. If Kris wants to be the CEO, let him take it. I don't care if it's Uncle Hendra or Stuart who becomes CEO. Whatever!"
"Wait, why are you bringing Kris into this?" Tere asked, confused.
"Kris likes me!" Bella's temper flared again. "Because you didn't show up to the CEO's office earlier, Kris actually had the nerve to kiss me."
"WHAT?!" Tere's eyes widened in absolute shock. She couldn't believe her own colleague had dared to kiss Bella.
"You have no idea. He's been making all kinds of investments to the point where he owns a larger share of stocks than Stuart. Because of that, he had the guts to propose to me through Grandpa, and Grandpa almost agreed to it."
"Are you serious? No wonder he's been living so frugally all this time—turns out he was using his salary to invest? I never expected him to finally build up the courage to propose to you."
Bella frowned. "You knew he liked me?"
"He never said anything, but I noticed it myself. Think about it—no other bodyguard has ever lasted 24 hours straight watching over you except for Kris and me. I'm willing to bet that ever since he became your personal bodyguard seven years ago, he's had feelings for you," Tere speculated.
"You're wrong. He didn't do all that because he likes me. He 'likes' my grandfather's company," Bella corrected.
"Well, maybe. But I'm still sure he genuinely likes you too, which is why he endured guarding you for so long. Nobody else can stand being your bodyguard for extended periods besides me and Kris. You know, guarding you is like the most..." Tere trailed off, unable to find the right words to describe just how difficult it was to protect someone like Bella.
"The most what?" Bella asked, clueless.
"The most miserable job ever!" Tere finally found the words. "We can't blink for a second. If we do, you've already run off somewhere. You pick fights with people, destroy astronomically expensive things, and you were even almost kidnapped by a human trafficking mafia once! Not to mention the guys who used to pursue you—they always come back for revenge because they can't accept how you rejected them in ways that make me wonder, 'What is actually going on inside your brain?'. And who has to deal with the fallout of all your absurd antics? Kris and me! What did I ever do wrong to end up with a boss like you?"
"That's literally your job description. I only cause trouble so you guys actually have something to do, so you're not just earning a blind salary," Bella said without an ounce of guilt.
"I am sending in my resignation letter right now." Tere picked up her phone and pretended to text her resignation to her boss.
"Remember, my parents entrusted me to you, Ter," Bella said, snatching Tere's phone away and putting it aside.
"You don't want me to resign? Then I need you to start acting like a saner person."
"Yeah, yeah. Stop nagging," Bella muttered.
Suddenly, a question popped into Bella's mind. She looked at Tere with a serious expression and asked, "Ter, do you have any new updates on why Dev left the military?"