Chapter 14 Daniel, Don't Be Too Possessive
Daniel's gaze sliced across the room, cold as steel. Chris cleared his throat, forcing a composed smile to stay in place.
"Mr. Wilson, who did you manage to piss off this time? Pulling a stunt like that… takes guts."
The remark made the others pause. Then realization hit.
Of course. With Daniel's position, if there had been any real issue, he would have had an elite medical team handling it quietly. No need for random strangers online to volunteer their help.
Thank God it was just a prank. Otherwise… they'd all be lining up to get silenced.
"Too much."
"Mr. Wilson should dig out whoever's behind this."
Voices chimed in around the table. Daniel's phone kept ringing. His expression stayed unreadable, dark as a storm cloud, until he cut the projection feed, muted the device, and spoke in a low tone.
"Continue."
The meeting ended. Back in the office, Chris barely made it to the sofa before doubling over, clutching his stomach in laughter.
"Daniel… this has Scarlett written all over it. Years apart and she's still got that wicked sense of humor."
Chris remembered high school—Daniel had somehow crossed Scarlett, though no one knew how. She'd snuck into his room in the middle of the night and given him a full set of glittering gel nails, baked hard under multiple coats. Impossible to remove.
The next day, Daniel had an inter-school basketball game. He played with those sparkling nails catching the sunlight every time he gripped the ball.
Chris still had the photos on his laptop. Daniel's eternal blackmail material.
In this world, only Scarlett would dare mess with Daniel like that.
Daniel's voice cut through the memory, sharp. "Two details in the project proposal are off. Fix them."
Chris straightened immediately. "Alright, alright. I'll drop it. But seriously, I haven't seen Scarlett in years. When are you going to bring her around? You can't keep her locked away forever, Mr. Wilson. Possessive much?"
Daniel had already set up a firewall on his phone. The flood of prank calls and Facebook friend requests finally died.
He tossed the phone aside, rubbing his brow, about to tell Chris to get out when the office door opened and Tom stepped in with a package.
"Mr. Wilson, this just arrived. Same-city delivery. Mrs. Wilson sent it."
Daniel's brow tightened, eyes locking on the package. The air in the room thickened.
Chris, curious, took the parcel. "What's this? You two playing romantic games? Love letters under the same roof?"
Daniel leaned forward, taking the package from him with a flat, dangerous tone. "Do you have nothing better to do?"
Chris shrugged. "Just saying… you guard it like treasure."
But he could tell Daniel's mood had soured. Wisely, he left the office, catching Tom in the hallway.
"What's going on with Daniel and Scarlett?"
Tom had a pretty good guess about what was inside, but he wasn't about to say it. He gave a strained laugh and walked away.
Inside the office, Daniel opened the delivery envelope. A wedding ring slid out first.
Worth over thirty million dollars, she had once cherished it like it was part of her. Now it was tossed inside like trash, along with the divorce papers.
Daniel's hand closed around the ring, his jaw tightening.
At Dream Dance Training, Scarlett had spent the morning teaching. She stayed through lunch, working alone in the studio, choreographing to a piece she'd composed herself.
By afternoon, as she was heading to her next class, the manager, Iris, stopped her. The institution had just received notice—they were no longer hiring part-time instructors. Scarlett was dismissed.
She pleaded, but Iris only shook her head.
Scarlett left the building furious, pulling out her phone and calling Daniel.
She'd worked there for a year. Everything had been fine that morning. Being fired out of nowhere? Impossible without a reason.
It didn't take her long to guess. She'd argued with Alice… and now Daniel was teaching her a lesson.
The phone rang and rang. Just when she thought he wouldn't answer, the line clicked open.
Daniel didn't ask why she was calling. He already knew. His voice was calm, almost too calm.
Scarlett's breathing grew ragged, trembling with anger. "Daniel, just because I slapped Alice, you had Dream Dance Training fire me?"
On the other end, his tone stayed low and steady. "The child Alice is carrying matters. Nothing can happen to it. I admit I was impulsive today—blaming you before I had the facts—but…"
Scarlett froze. Her vision blurred.
He said Alice's child mattered.
The cruel truth hit her. It wasn't that he didn't want children—it was that he refused to have one with her.
Until now, she hadn't wanted to believe Daniel would cheat on her during their marriage, or treat her this coldly. But here it was, laid bare.
Her voice broke into a near shout. "Daniel, you're such a bastard!"
There was a pause. Then his voice hardened. "Scarlett, enough. Go home. I told you long ago—being a dance instructor doesn't suit you."
When she was six, Alice had arrived and taken everything from her. Back then, it was fate, and Scarlett couldn't blame anyone.
Now Alice was back to take it all again. Scarlett realized, with a hollow ache, she was still just as powerless.
The Wilson Mansion had never been her home.
Even her two years with Daniel… had been stolen time.
She gave a bitter laugh. "Home? Do I have one?"
"I've been too lenient with you. That's why you think you can get away with anything."
Her exhaustion seeped into her words. "Too lenient? Alice is pregnant. There's no place left for me. Let's divorce, Daniel. Go back to her. I'll step aside so your perfect little family can be whole again. Isn't that better?"
Four years ago, the Wilson and Brown families had discussed an alliance. Alice had pursued Daniel openly, passionately. Everyone assumed they were a pair—until Scarlett schemed her way into his bed. Everything stopped.
Alice left the country, heartbroken. Daniel had blamed her ever since.
Now she was ready to give him back to Alice and her child. But he still wouldn't let her go.
Daniel's laugh was sharp, cutting. "Mrs. Wilson, how generous. If you knew you were holding me back, you shouldn't have done what you did four years ago."
Scarlett swayed where she stood. "I regret it. I've said I regret it."
"Regret? That depends on whether I forgive you. And I don't. Which means your regret is worthless. Go home. I want to see you at Regal Estate tonight."
The line went dead.
Scarlett's grip on the phone tightened until her knuckles turned white. She wouldn't go back.
Daniel had closed one door. There had to be another.
But every dance school she tried turned her away. The opera and ballet companies wouldn't even consider her.
By dusk, her injured foot was bleeding again. She sat on the curb, hungry, thirsty, exhausted.
The light in front of her dimmed. She looked up.
Under the trees, a familiar car rolled to a stop. Tom stepped out and opened the rear door.
Inside, Daniel sat in a three-piece tailored suit, long legs crossed, posture relaxed, the picture of controlled elegance. The car's luxury matched him perfectly.
Beside him was a large cake box. On his lap, a red velvet jewelry case.
His long fingers tapped the velvet lid, patient, waiting for Scarlett to get in.
Was this his way of making up for missing her birthday? A gift to balance the scales after Alice's pregnancy?
But the cake and the gift only reminded her that when she had needed him most, his time had belonged to Alice.
Once, a single glance from him would have been enough. She would have run to him, thrown her arms around him, forgiven anything.
Not now. She was done being someone's second choice.
Scarlett rose slowly, turning away. She walked down the long street, her limp betraying the pain in her foot, but her back straight, her pace steady. She didn't look back.
In the car, a flicker of surprise crossed Daniel's eyes. Then his expression darkened.
He stared at her slender silhouette, gripping the velvet box on his lap until his knuckles whitened.