Be my editor

"I'm more amazed by how good your manner was. Aren't you a fan of handsome males?" she tittered and heard Lily laughed in return.

"No-no... Not him. He was too intimidating. How in the world did you become his friend? Aren't you afraid of him? But again, he was so good at treating you earlier," Lily ate her noodles. Slurping sounds echoed in the small kitchen.

"It's a long story. Well, the thing is, what should I do with his invitation?" Bella Lim asked. She wiped her mouth that was smeared with the noodles' sauce.

"Hmm, if you're worried about things like today to happen again, you should take his offer. Meanwhile, you could try to woo him. Cough..." Lily almost choked on the noodles when Bella Lim suddenly slapped her shoulder. She drank the water next to her and glared at the woman beside her.

"This is a rare chance! Don't you love him? Your eyes clearly adored him," she asserted her opinion after recovering from the gagged earlier. There was no way for her to ignore the loving gaze in Bella Lim's eyes towards the unfathomable man.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Bella Lim panicked. She focused to eat the noodles on her plate, ignoring Lily's teasing looks.

"Big sister Lily, don't tease big sis anymore. Big brother Eric has helped us many times. We could only feel grateful towards him," little pumpkin tried to save his big sis but the anticipation in his eyes couldn't be hidden with a mere sentence. To him, Lily's remark would be a blessing given by heaven.

Bella Lim saw the hopeful expression on her little pumpkin's face. She didn't know whether to laugh or not. Lily, on the other hand, burst into hysterical laughter. She slapped the dining table several times before groaning in pain. Still, the amusement didn't leave her lips.

Bella Lim exhaled in defeat. The only thing she could do was enduring the teasings and had a playful banter with Lily as well as little pumpkin till they finished their food.

"God, why is this bitch calling me?" Lily shouted as she picked her noisy phone that was placed next to her plate. Bella Lim who was now washing the dishes looked over. She chuckled when she saw Lily's irate face which enhanced the longer she spoke with the caller.

"Alright, coming!" she heard her replied irritatingly and rose from her chair.

"Bella, need to go. Bitchy Clara is looking for me for the job that supposedly hers. You don't know how terrible the business nowadays. I almost want to quit," Lily blabbered on talking about the changes made by Clara. Bella Lim simply smiled without commenting. Simply Cafe was her past, anything that she would say would mean nothing. Therefore, she preferred to keep her opinion to herself.

"Patience is a virtue," she comforted her and chuckled when she responded with a pout.

"Will you be coming back?" Bella Lim asked and saw Lily moved her head sideways. They were now at the entrance.

"My worry for you is incomparable to Azure's almighty man. I suggest you think about what he had proposed. I bet that would be a life-changing experience for you. See ya! Bye little Ryan!" Lily hugged little pumpkin and Bella Lim both at the same time before she walked out of the house and ran towards her scooter.

Bella Lim sighed as she carried little pumpkin inside the house. Little pumpkin was too sleepy now as he could barely lift his eyelids. She carried him to their bedroom and laid him down on the comfortable mattress.

"Sleep," she kissed his forehead and saw him drifted into dreams. Then, she took her laptop before leaving the bedroom to the living room. She turned it on and went online to check her email. She was bewildered when she read the sender's name of the new email she just received.

"Enlai Gong?!" she gasped. Eric Wu actually sent her an email via Enlai Gong's address? What is he scheming? Wait, so her suspicion was true?

Eric Wu had known about her knowing him as Enlai Gong!

Bella Lim fidgeted. Now, how was she going to explain this?

She put the laptop on the empty space beside her and walked around the house with the hope that she could find a way to explain the matter when he met Eric Wu again.

"Hopefully, not so soon!" she mumbled only to be taken by surprise at the reverberated sound of Fur Elise's melody. She recognized it as her ringtone and followed the sound which came from the kitchen. On the dining table, was her phone. She took it and almost let it go when she realized the caller was Eric Wu!

'Did I jinx myself?' she inwardly sighed and decided to answer the phone when it rang the second time.

"You received my email?"

Bella Lim was stunned with the first thing she heard from him. Did this man want to test her again? If she said yes, it would act as a confirmation that she indeed knew about Enlai Gong's real identity. If she denied and he asked for another email address, how would she proceed with the lie?

"Bella, we need to be honest now, don't we?" she heard him asked again. This time, it seemed that he was trying to help her let go of the concern in her mind. Being caught up by him was disastrous because she had no inkling of what kind of explanation would satisfy him. Unless she reminded him about the incident six years ago, which she believed was long forgotten by him.

"I-I haven't read it yet," she spoke as leeway for herself. This would help to provide her the time to think.

She heard him chuckled in the background before his husky voice entered her line of hearing.

"It is a job offer from Enlai Gong to you to become his editor,"

Stunned again. Bella Lim let out a sigh that vibrated nervously.

"Bella, this job is offered due to many reasons. However, the most important is the fact that you know who Enlai Gong was. Second, today's break-in, as well as the kidnap attempt, were highly premeditated. Making you my editor is a way to protect you and little Ryan. Well-- it's Sun Nan and Lu Fei's suggestion," the end of his sentences made Bella Lim's lips curved upward. It seemed that this man loved to give all the credits to others.

He was kinda cute, wasn't he?

Bella Lim's right foot hit a chair as the thought made her jumpy. She groaned in silence.

"I'll read the email first. I'll call you back!" she hurriedly ended the phone call so she could examine the bluish bruise on one of her toenails. Once again, a groan slipped through her lips.

'You deserved this,' she muttered to herself. She shouldn't think about the man in such a perverse way. Look at what had happened! She scolded herself. It was only after the pain subsided did she went for the laptop on the couch. She sat comfortably, putting her legs on the small table in front of her and read the email from Enlai Gong.

It was decent if not a superior offer! That was her conclusion after reading the whole email. The job wasn't difficult. Aside from editing his books, the jobs included contacting the publisher and dealt with other miscellaneous tasks. Well, to others this would be a lot of work, but when she read the salary offered, she thought that no one would be crazy enough to reject the offer. It was too generous!

Bella Lim was tempted, but the final requirement which was to live with the writer alias Eric Wu didn't register well in her mind. She knew the reason it was written as one of the requirements. That man was living a double life; Eric Wu as Enlai Gong was a secret! Still, the idea of living with him was frightening because she wasn't ready to enter his life. What more to get him involved with her life.

But, wasn't this the best course? If she accepted the offer, she had a better opportunity to undo the things that ended his life in the past.

Bella Lim sighed as she put the laptop on the table while bending her knees at the same time.

Thinking back, her life was now the opposite of her previous life which was peaceful and satisfying. Now, her, as well as little pumpkin's life, was in constant danger. She thought she was becoming stronger as she could deal with the upcoming troubles one by one, but nope! She wasn't. She was getting weaker and somehow she had become dependent on Eric Wu.

Thinking about that man, Bella Lim recalled that he was another missing piece in her previous life, a contrast to the life she was reborn at. In this new life of hers, Eric Wu was a regular. To be more precise, he was now her friend.

Was this a blessing or a curse? Bella Lim contemplated, but she couldn't decide which. To her, both sounded correct and that made her think that she was being absurd!

Maybe, her reborn was a masquerade of the punishment she supposed to get due to her sin. In the past, she didn't take care of little pumpkin well. Now, she was being punished by bad incidents trying to steal him away from her.

Bella Lim let out a mocking laugh. One that was directed to herself.

At the same time, drops of tears fell onto her cheek. Now that she fell into the mini-war inside her brain, Eric Wu's offer was like a life-saving opportunity.

Besides, what other choices she had? All the options she could think of would end up with destruction. She didn't want that!

It was confirmed. Her decision was.

Bella Lim reached for her phone and dialed Eric Wu's number.

"I agree," she told him without any hesitation.

"Good, I'll send someone to fetch you guys tomorrow. Pack what necessary. Stuff like daily essentials is already part of the benefits as stated in the contract," his voice was natural, no expression could be adopted from the way he spoke.

"Sure, t-thank you," Bella Lim expressed.

"Well, I would say you're most welcome if you could discard the stutter. That would be a great help,"

Bella Lim chuckled as he listened to his reply.

"I-I'll try... no, I will," she responded.

"That's good. See you tomorrow,"

"See you," Bella Lim said her farewell.

She stared at the white ceiling above her, the motionless fan was the focus of her eyes. She realized that she just made a life-changing decision, just like what Lily had mentioned before.

Bella Lim closed her eyes, letting the information sunk deeper within her consciousness.

After a while, she opened her eyes and let them wandered within the perimeter. Tomorrow, this place would no longer be her home. Should she rent the house? It would be a good plan. Although the salary was a lot, she knew extra cash would be helpful for her future endeavors.

She promised once everything was settled down, she would try to find a permanent living space for her and little pumpkin. It would take a long time, but it wasn't wrong to have a goal. At least that would avoid her from becoming even more dependent on Eric Wu.