"Alrik! What's wrong? You're shaking." Eliza said as she woke up, and held his hands.
He said nothing, and just pulled her close for a hug. They stayed that way for several seconds before he was confident he could speak without a stutter.
"I'm okay."
"Are you sure? You looked really scared for a second there. And you're holding me tight like I'd vanish if you let go even a little." She said and he chuckled as he let her go.
"I'm fine. I promise. It was just a bad dream. But being here with you made it all better. It's just been a while since I've had a nightmare." He replied.
"Oh really? What was the dream about?" She asked but he just shook his head.
"I've forgotten it. I only remember feeling fear for a while. But I'm good now. Go back to sleep."
"I's almost sunrise. I doubt I'd be able to go back to sleep. I'm kind of used to being up really early now, ever since I started working multiple jobs."
"But I can see it in your eyes that you're exhausted. Remember what we talked about trusting me to handle everything? No more waking early unnecessarily." He kissed her forehead, and stroked her hair till she fell asleep again.
This was the second time they were having the conversation about her worries she would need to wake early to work and sustain them. He waited till she fell asleep again before leaving the bed. He went for a quick run around the property, and then did some stretches. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to access the gym in the main house, so he had to make do with whatever form of exercise he could get.
He was out of shape after being out of commission due to his mental state for several months. He had lost muscle mass, and his stamina was also affected by months of inactivity. It was time to regain his strength level from before. He would need to be at a hundred percent if he would be able to fight against whoever was working against him behind the scenes.
He had a feeling that Kalen was behind most of the misfortune he had faced, but he also knew that there was no way Kalen acted alone. There would be other hidden accomplices, and he had to expose them as fast as possible. By the time he returned, Eliza was still asleep, so he made her breakfast, and she woke up soon after. They ate together and also spent most of the day together, playing games, reading, and also baking.
Later that evening, Eliza received an email from Crestview Conglomerate that shocked her. They were a subsidiary of the Crestview Group, and it seemed like years ago, she had been part of a team of contract workers that helped manage a project for a company they had bought over. Eliza vaguely remembered the project they mentioned in the email, but apparently, she had left a really good impression. For that reason, they sent over a proposal to make a connection with her family's company, with her as the leader of the partnership.
"Alrik! Oh my God! You won't believe what I just received." She squealed as she rushed into the bedroom to join him. "Crestview Group wants to start a partnership with my family's company. I didn't even submit a formal proposal to them yet. How.." She paused and stared at the smug look on Alrik's face.
"You did this?" She asked incredulously, and he smiled.
"I told you I would handle it for you, didn't I? All you have to do is trust me."
"I never doubted you, but I didn't expect it to happen this fast! It's barely been two days since my grandfather put forth that challenge. Everyone is going to wonder how I made it happen so fast. What do I tell them? They will never believe I could actually pull this off within such a short time."
He came closer and held her hand. "You don't have to convince them of anything. It's as simple as it was said in the email. You made a good impression on a former project you did through one of their subsidiaries, and they remembered you for this. Your family will be too busy calculating all the money they'll make from the partnership to care how you made it happen." He replied to her to put her mind at ease.
"But I didn't make it happen, you did."
He just smiled in response to that. "It doesn't matter, because what's mine is yours." He kissed her cheek, and she flushed. "Now, will you reply to the email, or will you leave them hanging?"
"I'm definitely not letting this opportunity slip by. I don't know how you did it, because let's be honest, there's no way they actually just randomly remembered an old project I did years ago. But I don't care. I'll trust you to explain to me at the right time. For now, I'll focus on setting a meeting time for the partnership negotiations, and what on earth I'm going to wear. It's been so long since I've worked at a proper office, so I sold all my suits and most of my corporate outfits."
Alrik watched as she began to ransack the closet, and it made him laugh. A few days ago, her worry had been how to keep them fed, and make enough money for treatments for him. Now her biggest worry was what to wear. That was progress. Soon, he would make sure she would have no worries at all.
"You haven't responded to the email yet, darling." He reminded her, and she grabbed her new laptop to type out a response to the email.
"They agreed to a meeting tomorrow at 9am. So early."
"They must be eager to get this done with." He replied with a smile.
"Yeah. I heard they recently purchased the newest building from Hanson Real Estate. Now that I've had more free time, I can look through gossip and business magazines sites again. So much has been happening since I lost touch with the world. Now back to my outfit."
She tossed out several clothes, and modelled a few for him to check out. She had lost so much weight due to stress, but she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him. Eventually, she settled on a cream coloured jump suit, with a matching half jacket.
"Now that that's settled, I have to head to the main house and inform my family of the meeting tomorrow, so they'll be prepared." She said with a sigh.
It was obvious that she had no wish to go near them, and no one could blame her for that.
"I'll go with you. Make sure none of them crosses the line with you." He said, but she pat his shoulder and shook her head.
"No need. I can handle them." She said and left.
He stayed back for a few seconds, then followed behind her so she wouldn't notice. No way would he leave her all alone with those wolves.