Forbidden Love

Chapter 17

'The time is 7:00 am. The time is 7:00 am.' His alarm kept repeating.

Bryan grudgingly turned off the alarm and rubbed his eyes. He was about to drag himself out of bed when he felt a weight on his left arm. He turned to look at the source of the weight and saw Amy holding onto his arm like her life depended on it while sound asleep.

Images of what happened earlier that morning flashed through his mind. Amy had knocked on his bedroom door at about 3:35 am when he was trying to get some sleep because she also couldn't sleep. He hated to see her cry as that was the only thing she did earlier while he soothed her until she eventually fell asleep.

He was only able to get an hour's sleep before his alarm went off. He gently untangled her hands from his left arm and carefully placed her properly on the bed without waking her, before making his way to the bathroom to quickly freshen up.

Amy's eyelids slowly fluttered open to an unfamiliar, yet familiar bedroom. She rolled over on her stomach and the smell of his cologne immediately filled her nostrils, causing her to remember the events of last night up until early this morning, which she wished she had forgotten. She tried to sit up when she felt a sharp pain in her head.

'She must've gotten a headache from crying for too long.' she thought to herself as she stared at the alarm clock on the bedside table, it was 10:00 am.

She sighed deeply, internally grateful that she was able to get some hours of sound sleep, thanks to Bryan's safe arms. But, at the same time, she felt bad for depriving him of sleep with her sobs, after making him leave his house to come get her in the dead of the night when he was supposed to be having a proper night's rest to enable him to run his company well. Now, because of her, he would be working without having a good night's sleep. She glanced around the room and noticed two tablets of Advil and a glass of water on her side of the bedside table. She smiled at how thoughtful he was, before taking the painkillers.

Amy reluctantly climbed out of bed, she made the bed before leaving the room. After taking a shower, Amy headed downstairs. She couldn't stay in her bedroom because flashes of last night's incident kept flooding her mind, making her feel exposed and vulnerable. She didn't want to have a nervous breakdown, not now when Bryan would be at his company. So, she slowly made her way to the kitchen to get a glass of juice as she didn't have the appetite for food.

On getting downstairs, Amy was surprised to find Bryan in the living room, casually dressed. She wasn't expecting to see him at home, not to mention finding him in the living room, watching the news and not in his study working. As if he sensed her presence, he turned towards the stairs and sent a smile her way, which she returned with a

"Good morning."

"Good morning." He replied as he made room for her to join him on the couch.

"I thought you already left for work?" Amy asked, still slightly confused by Bryan's presence.

"I took the rest of the week off. I can't leave you to be by yourself." Bryan explained.

Amy internally sighed with relief, she was glad he made that decision because she was beginning to wonder how she was going to spend the rest of the day alone in this mansion, after what happened. Although, she won't be alone in the house as there were maids, but they wouldn't give her the emotional support and safety that Bryan would give.

"You shouldn't have. I can take care of myself." She eventually said, trying not to sound weak.

"I never said that. I just wanna make sure you're comfortable." Bryan lied, as he could see through Amy's facade of strength.

"What would you like for breakfast?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not hungry."

"Amy.." he sighed, not wanting to say anything to upset her.

"I'm being honest. I don't feel like eating anything." She tried to convince him.

"Last night was understandable, but I can't watch you starve yourself." Bryan chose his words, not wanting to trigger any emotions.

He couldn't just stand by and watch Amy slowly lose herself. He was willing to help her in whatever way possible.

"A glass of orange juice would be fine."

"Princess, you need to eat something to regain your strength." He tried to plead with her.

"I'll have lunch, I promise." She concluded as she didn't want the conversation to go any further, so he didn't suggest that she see a therapist.

Speaking of which, she hopes he hasn't said anything to her dad. How would she even know, when she just got out of bed?

Her dad would probably be on his way back home if Bryan had told him everything.

Could that be the reason why Bryan decided to stay at home? But he said he took the rest of the week off, not the rest of the day.

Bryan never kept anything away from her dad, so how could she be so sure he hadn't told him already?

Amy was so deep in thought that she didn't notice when Bryan asked a maid to get her a glass of orange juice, nor did she notice when the maid returned with her glass of juice.