Taming My Arrogant Husband
Chapter 46: She seemed like a puzzle

Daniel's POV:

"Sophia!"

I immediately opened the door of her room when I heard her faint scream inside. It was already 11 pm and I just arrived from the late office meeting.

She's having a nightmare again and she was saying the same line as when I first saw her this way.

But this time she's shaking and she seemed more scared than before, so I decided to wake her up.

"Sophia."

I hold her hand as I shaking her shoulder.

"No! Please don't do this!" She's crying in her nightmare.

"Sophia, wake up!" I dropped her hand and continued to shake her shoulders. But I was surprised when I heard the name that came out from her mouth.

"No! Joseph, please stop doing this!"

"What the fuck!"

-'Joseph? Joseph De Lucca?'- I repeat mentally clenching my jaws.

"Help! Somebody help me, please!"

-'Forgodsake, why is she asking for help?'-

I tried again to wake her up but the reaction she gave me left me in total shock.

"No! Please don't touch me! No, no, no!" She jolted bringing her knees up to her chest while crying.

"Hey, it's just me!" I tried to hold her hand but she moved away not looking at me. "Sophia, it's just me, Daniel. Look at me."

She slowly looked at me with tears flowing in her face. And her eyes widened when she finally recognised me.

"W-what are you doing here?" Shock and confusion was written in her eyes.

"The Joseph you were mentioning in your dreams and the Joseph you saw in the restaurant earlier were the same?"

"H-how did you know that? How did you hear---"

"You're having a nightmare and you're screaming." I said cutting her sentence. "Why are you asking for help and why are you begging him to stop?" She looked at me shaking his her head."Did he do something to you?"

She didn't answer my question. She avoided my gaze wiping her tears.

"Thank you for waking me up. I'm fine now, you can go back to your room."

"You didn't answer my question. Did he do something you?"

She shook her head.

"Are your nightmares connected to what happened to you in the past?" I asked her again but she remained quiet. "Sophia, tell me, did Joseph do something to you before?"

She glanced up at me then suddenly chuckled to my surprise.

"Thank you again, Mr. Kelley but I'm fine now. You can go back to your room."

"Sophia----"

"I can't tell you everything." She paused. "No, I think it's better to say that, I can't tell you anything about my life, because we're not really a couple and we're not even friends. And soon we will separate, so it's better not to know anything about me."

"Sophia, why don't you try to tell me?"

She chuckled again but I didn't miss the couple of tears that flow down on her face. She immediately wiped them and shook her head.

"I can't, Mr. Kelley." She cleaned up her face using her both hands. I wanted to ask again but she looked at me and plead. "Please, I want to be alone. I want to go back to sleep."

I just sighed nodding and walked towards the door. I glanced at her again but she was already lying on her bed with her back facing me.

I took my phone and dialled my mother's number as soon as I shut the door behind me. I walked to my room while waiting for her to answer her phone. I hope she answers it as I can wait until tomorrow. I took a deep breath when she finally lifted it after five rings.

"Son, what happened? Why are you calling at this late hour? Is there something happened with you or with Sophia---?"

"No, Mom we're fine." I cut her off before mention all the possible reasons why I called.

"Then what happened, why did you call at this late hour?"

I sighed.

"I just have something to ask with you about Sophia."

"What about your wife?"

"Mom, do you know someone named Joseph De Lucca whose related to Sophia?"

She suddenly became quite on the other line.

"Mom?"

"How did you know him?"

"It doesn't matter how I get him, Mom. I just need to know if you know this guy?"

"Son, I'm not the right person to tell you about---"

"So that means you know him?" I heard her sighed. "Mom, please I need to know about him."

"Son..."

"She's always having nightmare, Mom, and I heard her begging and asking for help while she's mentioning the name of this Joseph guy."

"Ohh... I didn't know that, son. How is she?"

"She's fine now but she didn't want to tell me about him."

"She is the only one you can ask about it, and she alone has the right to speak about her past."

"That means I can't get any answers from you?"

"Daniel, I can't tell you anything, son."

"Then I have no choice."

"What do you mean you have no choice?"

"You don't want to give the answers, then I will get them on my own."

"Daniel Kell----"

I didn't let her finish what she was about to say as I ended the call.

-'I'm sorry, Mom but I can't just sit down not knowing what happening around me.'-

It's not the first time I saw her shaking from her dream, but it's impossible that she's mentioning the name of the person she saw earlier at the restaurant.

-'Is there something you haven't told me about, Sophia? Who is this Joseph De Lucca in your life and what did he do to you?'-

I remember her reaction when I came back to our table. She looked so pale.

I shook my head as I also recalled what happened when we were in the convenient shop outside the hospital.

-'Why did she react that way? Why would she want to chase that girl?'-

I put my phone over my bedside side table as I sat down at the edge of my bed. And I massaged my temples when the image of her crying in the mall while talking to her mother suddenly flashed in my head. -'Forgodsake, Sophia! You seemed like a puzzle that I had to solve first before I could get the answer.'-

"Andrew, cancel all my appointments today."

I told Andrew the moment he entered my office the next morning.

He frowned.

"But why?" He asked giving me the latest reports came from the finance department.

"I just have some important things to do."

"What about the lunch meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Giovanni at 11:30?"

"Just tell them I have an emergency or it's up to you whatever you want to tell them."

He scrunched his face then dropped himself on the couch.

"Tsk.tsk.tsk. This is what I love my job, lying pretending and don't forget making shitty excuses when my boss is not around." He said rolling his eyes.

"Ahh... so you're complaining? Okay, you can start to pack all your things because this will be your last day as my assistant."

"Whoa!" His eyes widened as he stood up. "Who says I'm complaining? Don't you know that I love my job? In fact, I love everything in it! I love making shitty excuses, and if you want I can make you coffee every morning!"

I smirked at him.

"Really, I thought you're tired of being my assistant?"

"Of course, not! And don't worry about your appointments today, I'll take care of them." He said walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go back to my office."

I chuckled when he closed the door.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Mr. Kelley, there is a certain Mr. Nonato Alejandro waiting for you outside, he says he is your private investigator and he wants to talk to you."

"Okay, send him in, Denise."

I took a deep breath and a few seconds later, the private investigator I hired through the help of Andrew came inside.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kelley."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Alejandro, please take a seat." He sat down in front of my desk. "So, how's the work I've assigned to you? Did you get any information about my wife's background?"

"Yes, Sir, her full name was Sophia Yzabelle Anderson Del Mundo before she married you. She was born and attended high school in Bologna Italy, but continued her college here in California." "Here in California?"

He nodded.

"She's the only daughter of Janette Del Mundo and Romano Del Mundo who owns a small sausage company in Bologna. But her parents separated when she was ten years old and her mother left them the same year."

So it's true that her mother left her when she was young.

"Why were her parents got separated, and what does Joseph De Lucca have to do with her?"

"As for the reason why her parents got separated, I think it's related with financial problem."

He handed me a brown envelope.

"Those are pictures taken when Roman Del Mundo signed a contract with Nickolas De Lucca. The contract was made by De Lucca's camp and it's stated there, that he was willing to lend Del Mundo a large

sum of money enough to save his company from bankruptcy. But in return, his daughter would marry De Lucca's only son, and that was none other than Joseph De Lucca."

"What the fuck? So that means he was her ex-boyfriend?"

"Ex-fiance to be exact, Mr. Kelley."

I crumpled the photos in my hands as I felt the sudden surge of rage inside my chest.

-'So he was her ex-fiance, huh?'-

"So what happened, why didn't they get married? Why did she leave Italy and why did she attend college here in California?"

"As of now Mr. Kelley, I still have no information as to why their marriage did not proceed and why she left Italy. But I'll try to dig up more information on their former neighbors, maybe they know something about what happened before."

"Also try to investigate Bryan Delgado, he's a close friend of my wife. I don't know how long they have been friends so I'm not sure if he knows something about her."

"Excuse me, Sir, but I just wanna know if you're talking about Bryan Delgado, the owner of Delgado's detective agency?"

"Yes, he is."

"But sir, I think we will replace it difficult to keep track of his every move."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"He would easily replace out if someone's watching him because this is his job and he already knew every inch of this thing---"

"I don't care whether this is his job or not!" I said slamming my hands over my desk. "I need you to do something with it! I don't fucking care if he owns the biggest detective company in the world! Just do what

I tell you to do, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mr. Kelley."

"I want you to hire some men to monitor him. And don't worry about the payment because I've already put half of what I promised you into your account."

"Yes, Sir. And about her mother, Janette Del Mundo, she's now living in Seattle with his 16 years old son."

"So that means Sophia has a brother?"

He nodded. "She works as a volunteer in the Calamity foundation in Seattle and the last city she visited was in Amador City, where your wife also went in those days."

"Do you think they met there?"

"It's something I'm not sure of, Mr. Kelley. Maybe it's yes, or maybe not."

When he's finally out of my sight, I looked again at the photos in front of me.

What happened to their engagement and why did she leave Italy? Did she escape from their engagement?

Sophia's POV:

,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Good morning, Nanay Emily." I said hugging her back. She's preparing omelet for breakfast.

"Good morning, Anak. How's your sleep?" She smiled patting my hands on her belly?

I bite my lips before answering her question.

"It's fine, Nanay."

It's been days since I started having nightmares again and they were all the same, they were all about Joseph and what he did. I could hardly sleep at night and had to visit my doctor to get a prescription for

sleeping pills.

I didn't notice Daniel coming into the kitchen and now watching me from behind.

"You want me to make your favorite classic coffee?" Nanay Emily asked when she turn off the stove.

"Ohh.. thanks Nanay Emily, but I'll just do it myself." I turned around and was surprised to see Daniel walking towards me.

"Sit down."

"Huh?" I furrowed my eyebrows as he grabbed my hand and made me sit in one of the chairs at the counter.

"What happened to your eyes?" He asked cupping my face with his hands. I tried to remove them but he glared at me. "Where did you get these? Are you still having nightmares?"

I know he's referring to my eye bags.

"Uhm..."

"You don't have yo answer it, I already know the answer." He turned around and walked inside the counter. "From now on, you're going to sleep in my room."

"What?"

My eyes widened and at the same time, we heard the sound of something falling on the floor. We both turned to Nanay Emily who has a wide grin on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry it slipped into my hand. Anyway, don't mind me and just continue with what you're talking about."

I glanced back at Daniel who turned his back on me.

"What did you say, sleep in your room?"

He turned around with a cup of coffee in his hands. He placed it right in front of me.

"You heard it right, so I don't need to repeat it again."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

I gulped as I saw the seriousness in his eyes.

"Why would I do that? Why would I sleep in your room?" I started to raise my voice as I felt my blood draining all over my body.

"You're just going to sleep in my room, what's wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with sleeping in your room, but why would I do that if I have my own room?"

-'Sleep in his room? Haha..that's a big NO! That idea is worse than my nightmares.'-

"So that I can easily wake you up when you're having nightmares again."

I looked at him then chuckled sarcastically.

"No!" I glared at him and walked out of the kitchen with the coffee that he made for me.

"Sophia!"

"No!" I marched towards the living room.

"Sophia, listen to me!" He shouted, his voice echoed in the living room.

I took a deep breath and turned to him.

"I said no, I won't sleep in your room! And let me just remind you, Mr.Kelley, that's not included in our agreement! I'll just pretend to be your wife when we're in public, but not inside of this house!"

"Then fuck that agreement! You've already said that there's nothing wrong with sleeping in my room, so what are you afraid of? That we're having sex?"

My mouth hung open when I heard his last word. I felt my face turning into crimson red as he smirked at me.

"Or maybe you're more afraid of yourself because you don't know what you can do when we are in the same room?"

"Oh, good heaven!"

"Don't worry, sweetheart because I'm a willing victim." He winked at me. "Haha... in your dreams, Mr. Kelley! And what did you say, fuck the agreement? Wow, as I remember, you were the one who told me not to forget about 'the agreement"." I said emphasizing the last two words.

"So, I'll just do as you tell me, I will never sleep in your room and that's final!"

I was about to go upstairs but I stopped when he spoke again.

"Okay, I'll ask Nanay Emily to transfer all your things to my room and also to lock your room."

"Then go ahead, there are two other rooms in this house where I can sleep!"

He suddenly chuckled and stepped closer to me.

"Ohh... do you think I'll just leave them open? No, because I'll make sure all the rooms in this house are locked, so you have no choice but to sleep in my room!"

"You can't do that!" I said glaring at him. "I will sleep in the living room!"

"Fine, but I'll promise when you wake up you're already in my bed." He shrugged much to my annoyance.

"Why are you doing this, Mr. Kelley?" I asked through gritted teeth. I don't understand why he suddenly wants me to sleep in his room? Is it just because of my nightmares?

"I've already explained to you the reason, Sophia."

"Well, I don't get it! Can you explain it more specific because I don't believe that this is just because of my nightmares!" I paused and eyed him suspiciously. "Or don't tell me you're fantasizing of me?"

The moment he laughed at me, that's the time I've realized that, that question came out loud from my mouth.

We both didn't notice that we were watched by the two oldies from the kitchen. For them, seeing how carefree Daniel while he's in front of me is a good sign that he's starting to have a good relationship with

me.

"Well, why not, sweetheart? I'm a man, a man with needs and desires----"

"So, you're really fantasizing me? I thought you said I wasn't your type?"

"Yeah, I said that but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to dream of your body." he laughed after biting his lips.

"Forgodsake! Then you want me to sleep in your room? Argh! You pervert!" I said, shocked and annoyed.

"Hey, I'm just kidding! I won't touch you if that's what you're afraid of. I won't touch even a strand of your hair but of course, I can't promise myself if you initiate yourself and seduce me. Because like what I told

you I'm

just a man, sweetheart."

"Oh, my God, Daniel Kelley, you're a sex maniac!" I shouted the last word before I run upstairs and left him laughing at the end of the stairs.

But to my dismay, I heard his voice when I reached the hallway. He followed me again.

"Come on, sweetheart, how would you know if you will not try? Don't you want to have a baby with me?"

"Argh! Can you stop it, Daniel Kelley? Now do you expect me to sleep in your room after all you've said?" I asked, narrowing my eyes, gripping the mug in my hands.

"I told you, I'm just kidding."

I sneered. "Really? Then keep on kidding all your life because I will never sleep in your room!" I pushed the door of my room and slammed it immediately into his face.

"Sophia, open this door!"

He keeps on knocking but I ignored him and sit comfortably on the terrace.

"Keep on knocking 'till your knuckles turn white, I don't care!"