Nara's eyes flew wide at the whisper, and beads of sweat began to dampen her body one by one. The sharp look Dimas now fixed on her seemed to prove that the man wasn't joking. At that very moment, Dimas narrowed the distance between them even further, one arm wrapping completely around her waist.
"She... She mocked me by calling me a paid woman, Evan!"
One corner of Dimas's lips finally lifted when Nara managed to speak more boldly in front of Bella. He pulled her deeper into his embrace, occasionally breathing in the fragrant scent drifting from the nape of her neck, as if deliberately showing off their intimacy. Dimas cast a sarcastic look at Bella, as well as at several women who appeared extremely jealous of Nara.
"I'm sorry, Bella. It seems your mistake can no longer be forgiven, especially since this isn't your first offense. Didn't I already give you a first warning?" Dimas said, making a pointed reference to the video of Bella's argument and confession after the press conference that afternoon.
Bella tried to think of an excuse, but unfortunately, she could no longer deny anything. All she could do was clench the side of her clothes and vent her frustration through a stream of curses in her head.
"Nothing left to say, Bella? Ah, forget it! Besides, I'm not the one who has the right to forgive you. That all depends on Nara, my girlfriend. She's the one you've harmed the most here!"
A moment later, Dimas finally led Nara out of the bar. He draped the black jacket he'd been wearing earlier over both of her shoulders so she wouldn't feel the chill of the night air, leaving Bella behind as she visibly struggled to contain her anger.
"Evan?"
That single call made Dimas glance over while driving. He kept his hands on the wheel, steering through the empty road ahead.
"How could you say something like that earlier, Evan? Isn't that—"
"I mean it!" Dimas cut her off quickly before turning his gaze straight ahead again.
"Wha—what do you mean, Evan?"
"I mean it, and that means that starting tonight, I'm your real boyfriend!"
Nara's heart began racing again, overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling. Although Dimas made the declaration with only an occasional glance in her direction, she could sense how serious and sincere he was.
"Bu—but, Evan—"
"But what?"
The thoughts attacking Nara left her barely aware that the car had arrived in front of the apartment where she now lived. She nearly gasped when she saw Dimas's face right in front of her and immediately leaned backward until her body was pressed against the seatback.
"But shouldn't we..."
A second later, Nara nearly dropped her gaze when she felt an incredibly gentle touch on her lips. She needed several seconds to process what had happened. Then she realized that Dimas had truly kissed her, just as her breath grew short from nearly running out of air.
"That's the consequence of your dishonesty earlier!" Dimas said, instantly pulling away from Nara as if he had already forgotten what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Nara's thoughts were floating somewhere far away. She was still utterly shocked by the sudden kiss and needed time to steady all the feelings surging through her heart and body.
"Why didn't you just admit that Bella made you fall and pushed you earlier?" the man asked, his brown eyes once again fixed on Nara.
"I... I just didn't want to make things worse, Evan. My problem is with Evan, not Bella," Nara replied, daring to meet his gaze only for a fleeting moment.
A second later, silence returned. Dimas truly couldn't understand Nara. In the end, he decided to get out first and went straight into his apartment.
As on the previous nights, Dimas stayed in his apartment only briefly. Ever since Nara had arrived there, he had never spent the night in that place. The next day, he showed up again and took her to a shopping mall.
"Buy whatever you want with this. I still have something to take care of, so I'll catch up with you later," Dimas said, casually placing a black card in Nara's hand.
"I'm sorry, Evan, but everything I need is already in the apartment. I don't want to trouble you anymore," Nara refused as gently as possible.
But Dimas was still Dimas. He didn't like being contradicted, and a second later, he was willing to sacrifice his online meeting just to accompany Nara while she bought everything she needed, including new clothes.
For the second time, Dimas openly displayed his intimacy with Nara in public. Several onlookers immediately grew jealous, especially because the man was treating his woman like someone truly special.
"Evan, this is already way more than enough. You really don't have to," Nara refused again, for what felt like the umpteenth time.
"Nara—"
"Please, Evan. This is already more than enough."
"All right, then wait here. I'll take care of the payment first."
While waiting for the payment to be processed, Nara glanced around. Her meeting with Dimas had changed her life in many ways. Even now, she still couldn't believe that Dimas had made her his real girlfriend the night before.
"Hey, look! Isn't she the woman in that video?" someone said, instantly making Nara turn her head.
"Oh, yeah! That's definitely her! What is she doing here? Is she celebrating because she managed to destroy Bella's career? What a horrible person!"
Nara's brow immediately furrowed, until she realized Dimas had approached. Her mind kept returning to what the two people had said, and she barely noticed that Dimas was looking at her curiously from beside her.
"What are you thinking about, Nara?" he finally asked, abruptly stopping in his tracks.
"Hmm, I... I accidentally overheard some people talking about Bella, Evan. They said—"
"Don't think about it! Leave everything to me!"
"Hmm, what do you mean?"
Leave everything to Dimas? Of course Nara couldn't do that. No matter what, she wanted to know the man's plan, especially since it concerned the life of the ex-husband who had destroyed hers.