Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

"Why not?" Andrew took the box from her hand. "Isn't it for me?"

"How is that for you?" Rachael frowned and tried to take it away from it but he refused to give it to her.

"Well, you are going to wear it for me so technically, it's for me," he grinned. He couldn't wait to see her in it.

Elsa would surely get a big reward for giving his wife such a lovely gift.

"Who said I am going to wear it?" She quickly looked away. She didn't want him to see her face that was burning with embarrassment.

He raised his brows. "If not for me, who will you wear it for?" When she did not say anything, he started digging the box again, taking out whatever he could get his hands on.

"Andrew, stop looking into it." Rachael took the box away and started shoving everything inside.

"Wait—I wanna see what else is in it." He wanted to chase her but seeing how flustered she already was, he decided against it.

...

[Inside the closet]

Tapping her fingers on the box, Rachael glanced at her husband who was folding the clothes she had taken out. After making sure that he was busy, she quickly opened the box.

To her surprise, the box was not only stuffed with two or three but almost seven to eight pieces of sexy lingeries. A couple of them were decent ones while the remaining were completely see-through and netted. It barely covered the intimate parts.

Rachael ran her fingers through the black netted lingerie that Andrew had grabbed earlier and frowned.

'Will this even fit me?' she thought to herself. The clothing looked really very small for her size.

"Rach, do you want to drop by the hospital to meet grandma?"

"Y-Yeah," she answered as she shoved everything inside the box.

….

[Eastern High Complex]

"Why are you so worried?" Samuel tossed a beer bottle to Joshua. "Andrew said he will help you out, right?"

"Yeah but—"

"Then you have nothing to worry about," Samuel assured him. "Just trust him and stay calm."

"I don't understand one thing." Pausing for a while, Joshua inquired, "Why do you trust him?"

Taking a sip of the beer, Samuel questioned him back. "I can ask you the same question, right?"

"Yes you can," he remarked. "I don't have any other choice but to trust him. And he is also my sister's husband so I believe he will never backstab me."

"Good point," Samuel sighed. "He is your brother-in-law."

Keeping quiet for a while, he added, "Well, I trust him because he is Andrew. I wouldn't have even approached him if it was Owen…."

"Yeah," Joshua scoffed. "That guy is sly and evil as fu*ck."

Throwing his head back, Samuel laughed, "You are terrified to meet him, aren't you?"

"Yup," Joshua took a sip of his drink. "That guy is gonna rip me apart when he sees me."

"After what you have done, can you really blame him?"

"Well—" he shrugged. "The main goal is to avoid him as much as possible."

Contemplating for a while, Samuel said, "Josh, you have time. You can walk away if you want."

Wehn Joshua looked at him, he added, "Igor still thinks you walked out because you don't wanna put your family at risk anymore. But it's just a matter of time until he realizes you and I are working together."

When he did not say anything, Samuel tried to convince him. "Listen, this is my fight, I don't want you to risk everything that you have for me."

"Who said I am doing it for you? I have my reasons too," Joshua remarked. He had left Igor's side for two main reasons, one of which was helping Samuel.

"Alright then—" Samuel sighed. "Since you have made up yout mind, let's move forward with what we have planned.

"You won't ask me what the second reason is?"

"Will you tell me if I ask you?" When he did not say anything, Samuel chuckled, "Since you don't wanna tell me, what is the point asking? I mean, you never asked me why I am fighting against my brother."

Joshua did not say anything, he sat there in a daze.

Noticing how he had completely zoned out, Samuel patted his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"If I tell you why I am supporting you, will you kick me out?"

Surprised by his strange question, Samuel raised his brows. "Why do you suddenly want to tell me the reason?"

"Well, we are working together," Joshua stated. "I think it's best if we both are transparent with each other."

Since they had already formed the alignment, it was only right if they shared all their intentions and secrets. Hiding things would only hinder their work and they would never be able to fully trust each other.

Without waiting for his reply, Joshua said, "I like Katherine."

"What?" Samuel widened his eyes in shock. "Our Katherine?"

"Yes."

"Oh my fu*cking God," he gasped. "You are seriously out of your f*ucking mind."

Katherine Hollick Petrov was an orphan. She was brought home by Igor when she was eleven years old.

Since they never had a sister, Igor and Samuel adored her and had always treated her like their own, especially Igor. She was his favourite and he always made sure to fulfill whatever she said without thinking twice.

"How could you—" Samuel frowned. "She is my sister."

"Hey, it's not like only I like her, Katherine likes me too," Joshua stated.

"But you are like her brother," he remarked.

Since the day Joshua had joined them, Igor only trusted him with Katherine. He was responsible for protecting her whenever she was outside. He accompanied her everywhere. In fact, there were times when Igor had asked Joshua to take Katherine for short vacations when they were too busy to accompany her.

"I never said she is my sister or anything," Joshua defended himself.

Since the first day he had seen Katherine, he had always considered her as a woman, a beautiful woman he fancied and had feelings for.

Pinching the space between his brows, Samuel sighed. He had no idea how he was supposed to react.

"You do realize that Kath is already engaged, right?" When Joshua nodded, Samuel snapped, "Then what the hell are you trying to do?"

Igor had already fixed Katherine's marriage with their long time business partner's youngest son. In fact, they were already engaged and their wedding was scheduled next year.

Initially, Samuel was against the relationship but when Katherine agreed without saying a word, he assumed that maybe she liked the boy Igor had selected for her.

But now when he learned that she liked Joshua, he was very confused.

If she liked someone else, why would she say yes to marry someone else and also get engaged? Something did not make sense.

"I know." Joshua sighed. "But she was forced into it by Igor. He is threatening her."

"What?" Samuel snapped.

Joshua opened his mouth to make an attempt to give him an explanation but everything was so complicated, he had no idea where he was supposed to start from.

But his silence was killing Samuel.

"Say something—" he growled at him. He didn't understand why Igor would threaten her. What was he even using to threaten her?

Katherin had been staying with them for more than a decade. She absolutely had nothing that could be used against her.

"I-I can't explain," Joshua sighed. "You should talk to Katherine." He thought it would be better if Katherine told Samuel everything. It would be more appropriate.

Samuel pursed his lips and frowned. He wasn't getting a good feeling after learning everything. He had to make arrangements to meet Katherine as soon as possible.

...

[Moscow, Russia]

[Volkov Mansion]

Taking a sip of his morning tea, Semion sighed in satisfaction. "It's such a lovely morning, isn't it?"

"What lovely?" Akim scoffed. "Your grandsons have made my life a living hell."

"Well, they are my grandons, my own flesh and blood. What did you expect from them?"

"It's easy for you to say," Akim rolled his eyes. "They have stopped all my businesses, my ships are being blocked and—" He stopped midway when Semion started laughing.

"How can you laugh like this when I am suffering?" Akim snapped at him. "We are losing money, Semion, this way we won't be able to survive for a long time."

"Isn't that nice?" He smiled as he took another sip of the warm tea. "We will be able to retire and live the rest of our lives in peace."

Akim wanted to argue but he didn't. He was used to Semion's weird and strange behavior.

Akim Ivanov was Semion's old business partner. They had worked closely together until Andrew and Owen kicked Semion out.

In order to make sure Semion was left with no strong backup, Owen and Andrew had been purposely suppressing all of Akim's business, making sure is left with no other means to support Semion.

...