Just To Have You

Chapter 6

"Miss, that's a beautiful song you're humming." The driver spoke up after hearing the woman sing to herself.

Luisa blushed. "Thank you," she said, taking off her headphones.

The man politely nodded and eyed Luisa's appearance. She was a little bit skinny and wearing simple clothes, but even with such poor attire she still looked pretty. He heard her speaking to the phone and guessed from her accent, her poise and the way she speak that she was probably once a wealth young lady, so why she became so poor now??

But because he did not want to offend her and receive a lower tip, he became quiet and focused more on driving.

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up. "Ma'am, we've arrived at your destination."

Luisa looked out of the window where New York Hospital stood proud and tall. There was a path leading up to the front entrance, with a fountain in the front.

"Thank you." She smiled and handed him her fare. Luisa closed the door, walked into the hospital, and toward the reception desk.

"Hi, what floor is the VVIP room located in?" She asked one of the nurses, who exchanged glances with her coworker.

Seeing their skeptical looks, Luisa smiled. "Oh, don't worry. I'm a friend of the patient's sister," she reassured.

The nurse eyed Luisa's attire, and raised her brow, with suspicion. The patient in the VVIP room was someone from an extremely wealthy background, and this woman seemed to come from a poor background

So the nurse replied, "I cannot disclose the room number without proof of identification, but the VVIP rooms are located on the 11th floor." She knew each of the VVIP rooms was heavily guarded and figured if Luisa was a fake, she would never be able to enter the room anyway.

"Okay, thank you." Luisa didn't have any proof of identification, and she knew she looked someone who can't afford the VVIP room but she was still thankful that the nurse didn’t snob her. So she took the nurse's small piece of advice and walked into the elevator.

When it reached the 11th floor, Luisa walked out, down the clean and polished elevator hallways. She turned the hallway to see a few patients and figured she wasn't that far from the VVIP room.

True to her belief, as she turned down another hallway, there were four VVIP rooms. But from where she stood, she could only see two rooms and one of them had a group of bodyguard standing in front of it.

She smiled. This should be the room where Dina's brother residing.

Luisa walked up to the men and noticed how suspicious they were of her. They stood like soldiers with their head raised, arms to the side; in clearly protective stances. But something was off about them. Where had she seen those badges on their breast-pocket before?

She heard a low murmur from the room and instinctively realized it was a pair of male and female voices. Guessing it might've been Dina and her brother, Luisa said, "Excuse me, I'm here to visit Dina Choi?"

Neither of the men budged.

Because their shoulders were wide and the men were incredibly tall, Luisa couldn't see the door's sign, so she couldn't see the room number. Then again, who else would be in a VVIP ward with so many bodyguards?

Obviously, it would be Choi Enterprise's highest shareholder, the CEO himself.

When the men didn't move, Luisa figured it was because they wanted some sort of proof. "Uhm, I don't have any written proof of my relationship with Dina Choi, but I do have pictures taken of me and her together—"

"Huh? Luisa, what are you doing standing outside that door?" Dina's voice echoed down the halls. Luisa turned around, and saw her walking towards her.

"This is not your brother's room...?" She asked, awkwardly standing there.

"No, my brother's room is on the opposite side of the hall," Dina laughed, looping her arm through Luisa and guiding her away from the room.

Luisa didn't think much of her honest mistake and apologized to the men with unwavering stony faces.

She was completely oblivious to Dina's dark expression while walking down the halls.

But while she walked with Dina, Luisa couldn't help but wonder who was residing in the other room… Well, whoever it was, it must've been someone extremely important to have such high security around their doors..

.....

Luisa followed Dina down the halls and to a different section where another group of bodyguards was standing in front of a door.

'Geez, these bodyguard organizations must be rolling in money at the number of people who are hiring them,' Luisa thought.

When the men saw Dina, they let her through. They were trained professionals who didn't even spare Luisa a glance. Instead, they kept their eyes forward for any mishaps.

The minute the door opened, the wind of Antarctica must've blown through because Luisa shivered on contact and her questioning gaze landed upon an incredibly handsome, but daunting man sitting in the hospital bed.

His eyes were fierce, their color darker than ink and the night itself. The aura he exuded was chilly, dark, and terrifying. Despite his intimidating vibe, he was breathtakingly handsome with thin lips, a tall nose, and a jawline so sharp, it could probably cut through glass.

Luisa was not prepared to face such a deadly and overbearing presence.

Her throat ran dry.

She finally understood why so many women threw themselves at his feet. With a face and aura like that, who wouldn't?

"Ugh, brother, why the bad temper?" Dina sighed, placing down her purse.

He scowled, his eyes blazing with annoyance. "Maybe it's because of these damn handcuffs."

Luisa was surprised to hear his voice wasn't rough or ferocious. Instead, it was deep and smooth, like the finest chocolate.

Standing by the doorway, Luisa was unsure of whether she wanted to enter the room or not. The man was much scarier in person. Despite the fire that burned in his eyes, his face was impossibly calm.

She thought to herself, 'is this what people mean when they talk about the calm before the storm?'

"If I didn't have you handcuffed, you would leave this room. Then your body won't get better..." Dina trailed off when Alexander Choi threw her a soul-piercing glare. Even though she had known him for all her life, his brooding stares still terrified her.

"I'm perfectly fine. I don't need additional treatment." Alexander stubbornly replied, his lips pulling to an unpleasant line.

Dina faltered at his stare and voice.

"Unlock the handcuffs." His fierce voice was so commanding, it took every fiber within Dina to reject his request.

"No." Dina stubbornly rejected his request, placing her hand on her hips.

With a simple word, the atmosphere turned colder. Alexander's frosty eyes dropped the temperature around him, sending a chill down Luisa's spine.

"It wasn't a suggestion." His voice became so dark, Dina was forced to take a step forward.

Sensing her friend's obvious reluctance towards her absolute monarch of a brother, Luisa came to Dina's aid. "Don't be so rude, she's only looking out for you."

Alexander's eyes shifted to Luisa. He wasn't surprised by her presence; in fact, he was expecting her.

Luisa Ortega: the ex-wife of Anton Salvatore, and the best friend of his pampered little sister… Alexander knew of her background. He always investigated Dina's friends in order to ensure none of them had a criminal or harmful background.

He expected Luisa to hang around his little sister, but he didn't expect her, to looked so haggard but still have a daring-temper. Was she always like this? Why was she not scared of him?

Sure, this woman was beautiful beyond words before she got married but now she was just a shadow of her true self.

But Alexander didn't know that a month ago she looked worse. It's just because of his sister help and patience that Luisa was slowly recuperating. Luisa was pretty stubborn and never asked for helped even when she was disowned and lost all her privileges as the Eldest daughter of the Ortega's.

Luisa didn't squirm under his scrutinizing glares. She was all too familiar with those type of looks. Her skin was long hardened by the envy-filled glances of other socialites.

"I didn't invite you into this conversation, get out." His voice was cold and ruthless, cutting everything it touched.

Luisa narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, her past temper flaring. "Well then, I'm inviting myself into this conversation."

Alexander let out a humorless chuckle. "What gives you the qualifications to enter this conversation?"

Luisa felt her lips pull into a scowl. "I donated a lot of blood just to save your life. I think I should have a voice of reason in this conversation."

Alexander was taken back by the new information before him. "You're the blood donor?"

"Yeah I am, why else would I be here for?" Luisa crossed her arms. "I nearly fainted when I donated blood for you. Can't you see how I thin I am? How can you repay me with wanting to waste all of my hard efforts of staying awake?" Okay, she lied about the last part. But, she needed something to guilt-trip him with.

But Alexander instantly misunderstood her words. She wanted something in return for saving his life… Of course, what else could he have expected?

He thought he was foolish for thinking she might've been different from the rest of the women that hung around Dina. But alas, she was just another fly with ulterior motives.

"Fine, you want repayment? Dina, pass me my checkbook." Alexander humorlessly ordered, his voice thick with annoyance.

Dina blinked in surprise. She didn't expect her brother to always carry a checkbook around. Curious to see if he was telling the truth, she walked to his suit and took out a leather checkbook.

"Wow brother, you actually bring this around!" Dina was astonished at the presence of the book. She didn't think he would actually have this! What type of drama cliché was this?

Luisa felt her patience run thin when he grabbed the book, flipped it open, and signed his name at the bottom of the first page. He ripped the check and handed it to her.

"Since you want money so badly, write as many zeros as you'd like." His voice was laced with disgust.

Luisa scowled at the backhanded insult. He didn't even look at her as he passed the check to her, insinuating as if she was some sort of p********e or a gold-digging woman with no morals.

Who did he think he was?

She saved his life and this was how he was going to repay her? By hinting, she was a woman after his money?

Luisa nearly scoffed at his pretentious behavior. She roughly snatched the small paper from his hand and grabbed the pen.

Alexander felt his expectations and impressions for Luisa drop lower than ever. He couldn't believe his younger sister's judgment of people was so poor that she was willing to become best friends with this type of woman.

He watches her write down at least seven zeros. When she placed her pen down, he opened his mouth, "Now get out—"

Luisa took him by surprise when she suddenly ripped the paper into shreds.

"What are you doing?"

SWOOSH!

Luisa threw the pieces of the paper into his face, the tiny white shreds blowing onto his honey-colored skin.

At the disrespectful gesture, the room went quiet. The room was filled with deafening silence. The temperature dropped so low in the room, Dina shivered in fear. She glanced at the thermometer and was surprised to see it was room-temperature, despite the chilly atmosphere.

Why did it feel like the wind of Antarctica had entered through the windows? The air around her brother was so cold, she was surprised the walls didn't develop icicles and the glass windows didn't freeze over!

The look that Alexander gave Luisa was so bone-chilling, even Dina took a step back.

"You must have a lot of courage to do that. " His voice was so thick with restraint anger, Dina nearly ran out of the door in fear.

But Luisa was already used to these type of men who thought their daunting stares and threats could make a woman run for their life.

Having toughened her skin from all of the times Anton had treated and glared at her, Luisa was already used by this common behavior. Sure, this man did it better than Anton, but she didn't care.

Luisa ignored the warning bells in her head and the obvious red flags that waved in the air.

"I don't need your money, you pretentious bastard!" Luisa snarled at him before storming out of the hospital room.

..............