59.

"You really are a crazy person," Bella replied with a sarcastic laugh and was about to close her door. Before the door to Bella's house closed, Robert immediately grabbed the edge of the door. Robert held the door shut and looked at Bella very seriously. In just a few seconds the friendly smile on Robert's face had disappeared. "What are you doing?" Bella asked with a panicked expression on her face. She repeatedly tried to move her door to get Robert's hand to release the grip. Unfortunately, Robert's strength was greater than Bella's. Even so, Robert was not provoked to feel annoyed. Robert continued to hold the door of the house while waiting for Bella to get tired of trying to pull the door of the house. "Hey, I don't know why you're being so protective of yourself like that. But I really don't intend to do anything bad to you," Robert said trying to explain calmly. Bella still had a wary expression on her face towards Robert. But gradually, her movement of pulling the door repeatedly slowed down. Bella was a bit tired because Robert's energy was so strong. "Of course I should be wary of you. You're not someone I know but suddenly talking about Asleena and Benny's relationship," Bella replied. "Because I want to ask you to work together," Robert said seriously. Bella snorted as she laughed wryly. "I don't believe a word you say. I don't want anything to do with Asleena or Benny anymore. You must have been paid by someone to pretend to get me to cooperate, but in the end I'll be trapped by my own actions." Robert frowned after hearing Bella's words. For some reason he felt that there was something strange about Bella's words just now, it felt like there was something important that he should know. "Wait, I don't understand. I'll make sure to you now, I'm not paid by anyone at all. You can have this business card of mine," replied Robert who hurriedly took out his business card from the inner blazzer pocket. Bella's wary gaze was still watching Robert. In the end Robert extended his hand to give the business card to Bella. Once again, Bella did not immediately give a reaction to Robert's actions. Bella watched for a few seconds the business card that Robert held out. But at that time Robert did not mind Bella's reaction which was quite slow. "You could have made up this business card of yours," Bella retorted, still looking at Robert through accusing eyes. "Anyone can do anything these days." Robert immediately laughed amusedly at Bella's accusation. He briefly glanced to the side without withdrawing his hand that held out his business card to Bella. "What would I do something like that for? You can make sure my company written here is a real company. Not a fictional company that I made up to deceive you," Robert denied. Due to Robert's repeated rebuttals from earlier, Bella slowly felt her doubts fade away. Bella still maintained her suspicious gaze and expression toward Robert. But gradually Bella stretched out her hand to take Robert's business card. At that time Bella read the information on Robert's business card. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized Robert's job description was as CEO. Bella spontaneously looked up again and looked at Robert surprised. Robert raised both eyebrows, confused by Bella's reaction. "You...," Bella stopped speaking for a moment, then suddenly felt that she didn't need to say what was going through her mind. "... no. I won't say anything. This is really your company?" Robert nodded his head. "Of course. You know that someone who owns a company can't just do bad things? Let alone cheat someone." Bella still looked at Robert skeptically, although her suspicion was not as obvious as before. Bella tried to calm herself down for a moment, took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "Alright. I'll talk to you," said Bella, who had begun to feel relaxed. Seeing Bella's gesture that had begun to open up, Robert released his grip on the door of the house. Robert curved a friendly and warm smile as he realized Bella was more relaxed than before. "I'm not someone who was paid to set you up." Robert tried to explain once again, a very calm look on his face. "But I don't understand, why are you talking about being trapped yourself?" Bella sighed softly, then nodded her head. "That's right. I'll explain to you, but we'd better talk inside the living room," Bella replied. Robert was a bit taken aback by Bella's offer. But he did not refuse. After all, he was also wary of someone else following him and knowing that he went to Bella's house. In the end, Bella took a step back and invited Robert to step inside. They both stepped into the living room after the door was closed and Bella made sure no one was watching outside her house. Realizing that Bella was watching around the house made Robert believe that there was indeed a serious incident that had occurred. I don't know what it is. Considering Bella, who a few moments ago immediately became alert when Robert mentioned Asleena and Benny's relationship, Bella seemed to have an incident related to Asleena and Benny. "Hey, are you worried that someone will be watching us?" Robert asked after seeing Bella already facing towards him. Bella immediately nodded her head. Stepping next to Robert, Bella then explained, "Yeah, I have to make sure no one is watching me or following you. Because for a few weeks since the horrible incident that happened to me, some reporters have been coming to this house. They pressured me to answer their stupid questions." Robert's eyebrows furrowed at Bella's words. Robert still did not understand what Bella's words meant at the moment. "Why are there reporters coming to your house? What's really going on?" asked Robert who was already feeling very curious. Bella and Robert were already sitting on the living room sofa. Hearing Robert's question made Bella let out a long sigh. Bella took a moment to pause for a few moments, thinking about how to start her story. "I have to explain to you from the beginning," said Bella, who seemed to be getting ready. "Actually, as you already know, I'm Benny's ex-girlfriend. We broke up almost four years ago because I... I couldn't stand Benny's very ignorant nature. So at that time, I was attracted to another man and spent a lot of time with that man." Robert watched Bella seriously as he listened to her explanation. He really didn't want to miss a single incident that Bella told him at that time. "I don't know how Benny found evidence of my affair. I actually didn't love that guy, and then the two of us-me and Benny-broke up. Benny just left me without any news and moved to another city. For almost four years now, Benny hasn't told me anything and I've been trying to reach out to him to try and give him an explanation..." Robert nodded his head as if he understood Bella's explanation. "So you and Benny have unfinished business?" Robert asked. Bella nodded her head. "Benny didn't want to listen to my explanation at all. He had promised me to marry me, and it was actually two months after we broke up that we were going to get married. Unfortunately, I was caught getting close to another man behind his back." "Are you trying to get close to Benny again because you want to keep his promise?" "Of course," Bella replied. "I still love Benny very much, even after all these years of trying to find his whereabouts. I know very well that Benny loves me too, and he shouldn't have left me so easily." After that explanation, Robert remained silent, unwilling to answer and trying to listen to more details. "Because I thought he still loved me and wouldn't leave me so easily, I still tried to find his whereabouts. But when I met him, I saw that he was already in a relationship with another woman," Bella continued her previous explanation. Robert did not argue because he felt the same way as Bella. He was still silent and remembered his own condition. His feelings were still very much on Asleena and didn't want her to just leave him. "So I really hate Asleena and Benny's relationship. I want Benny to get back into a relationship with me," Bella said in a soft tone. Actually, Robert was a bit disgusted when he heard Bella's explanation on the part of the woman having an affair behind Benny's back. Robert was still sane enough to think it was something very wrong. But Robert didn't want to make any comments because he felt he still had a need for Bella. "So you're trying to keep Asleena and Benny apart?" Robert asked. He tried not to care about Bella's reasons for having an affair. "Yes, I did. I spontaneously thought of various things to keep Asleena and Benny apart. At that time, my plan was to attack Asleena first. Because if I noticed, when I came into their relationship, it seemed like the two of them didn't love each other," Bella said. Bella's words caused interest in Robert's heart. Robert was both surprised and confused at the same time and turned his sitting position to face Bella. "What do you mean they don't love each other?" Robert asked curiously. There was a glimmer of hope that instantly arose in his heart. Bella thought for a moment, then replied, "I feel like their closeness and harmony is a charade. I don't know how to explain it to you in detail. But you can definitely feel how it is when two people love each other and two people are forced to love each other." "Forced to love each other..." Robert quoted that sentence in Bella's words. He wondered why Asleena and Benny were forced to love each other. "Why would they both do that?" "I don't know," Bella replied, raising her eyebrows. "That's just how I feel. So from what I'm guessing, I still have hope for Benny's heart again. But damn it, I have a hard time reaching his feelings." Robert was very understandable if Bella said her last sentence. Because when he met Asleena and Benny, Benny's character was typical of someone who was not easily subdued. On the other hand, Robert was surprised. When he met Asleena and Benny, Robert actually saw Benny's attitude who really loved Asleena. But why did Bella suspect that Asleena and Benny's relationship was based on forced feelings? "At that time I thought of trying to find out the ugliness of Asleena's company." Bella continued her explanation. "I could already tell that there were traitors in Asleena's company. One of them was someone named Bram." "Bram?" "Yes, he was the one who embezzled the funds for the construction project that Asleena's company was going to do with Benny's company. He, Mr. Bram, also invited me to work together to get rid of Asleena and in return I could freely approach Benny. I thought it was a good opportunity for me to win Benny back." The situation between Bella and Robert became more serious. "But unfortunately no. My thoughts were wrong. Even though Benny doesn't seem to love Asleena much, and vice versa, they both protect each other," Bella replies. Robert looked at Bella more seriously. "I felt that Benny and Asleena had a strong bond with each other. I went as far as to publicize their relationship, spread photos and videos of Asleena with other men with accusations of infidelity even though it wasn't true, and then I did other things. Unfortunately none of that worked," Bella ended her explanation. Robert imagined how hard Bella was trying to separate Benny and Asleena. But to be honest, Robert didn't like it because Bella shouldn't have attacked Asleena so much. "Ever since I first saw that Asleena was already in a relationship with Benny, I suspected that the two of them really loved each other." Robert expressed his opinion.