Crushed Affections (Dominic and Bella)
Chapter 42

Chapter

Heard This

Tella dan't get a wink of sleep that night. By the time down broke, she had packed her bags and was ready to leave.

Before heading out, the

Leonard message to explain her situation. Since he was abroad and in a different time zone, she didn't want to disturb him by calling.

To be surprise, Leonard called her right away. "Where are you planning to po

"Holha," she responded. As soon as the word let her mouth, the realized she had sold him where she was going, and Dominic would soon replace out about it,

Truthfully, she wanted to see Dominic, but she couldn't. It would be best if they had never crossed paths-again in this lifetime.

After a brief exchange, they ended the call Right before she left, Bella book one last look at the rose in the corner of the courtyard, hoping it would still be as bullete when she

Bella took a direct flight to Holh to save time. Even though she tried to catch some sleep on the plane, she was still severely sleep-deprived.

After getting off the plane, she searched for nearby hotels Alter confirming her booking, she received a text about a place to rent

The location was nice, and the price was reasonable. Undamilar with the loopental market, she found the terms quite enticing. Della didn't doubt the text message in the age of bigdia, it was normal to reive messages like this.

She saved the information and decided to get some shut-eye at the hotel before checking out the place in person the next day. Since she might be staying there for a long time, the wanted to be thorough. After all, not every landlord was as laid-back and easygoing as Leonard

Looking back, it was bonic Bella had tumed to the quaint with nostalgia and high hopes but ended up having to get out of there as fast as she could

The next day, she scheduled an appointment to look at the apartment. Bella expected to meet with a real estate agent, but to her surprise, the landlord responded, and they only wanted to communicate via text

The landlord was rather odd; they told her to let herself in, ring the key was under the doormat at the entrance.

When she and at the property, she began to wonder if it was too good to be true. This place could easily be worth double the price, and it would still be a steal. It was in a high- and neighborhood, close to a school, and it was huge.

Bella would get to use all the rooms except the master bedroom. The only catch was that she couldn't sublet any of the rooms. Additionally, the landlord would occasionally come back to try, but she was dine with that.

Even though it was a really good deal, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off Plus, she suspected that someone might have died in the house.

Bella hesitantly asked the landlord if there had been any accidents or incidents in the house, to which the landlord replied. "If you don't want to rent, get lost! m's your place that's been haunted by misfortune"

Bella had to rent it, or she would be out on the streets.

wasn't until the

third day of her employment in Hatha Simonched out. The first thing he said was, "You' in math already? why didn't you tell me? I've been busy these past few days and didn't get a chance to check on you. Have you found a place to stay? Thave a house bere Before he could finish bis sentence, she impatienthreat him off "I didn't come here to mooch off you the already found a job and a place to stay. Don't bother me unless it's important!TM

Bells hung up and was just about to peel an apple when she heard the doorknob baming ught off guard, she cut her finger, and blood started to drip. As soon as the door swung open, Bellatrose "D-Dominic? What are you doing here?

Not only was hehere, but he also had the keys to her rented abode. If he won't standing right there in front of her, she would've thought she was tripping

Dominicked his black suitcase in the comer, loosened his ce, and responded lowly, "This is my house. Why wouldn't be here? Didn't tell you before I rented it to you that world stay here sometimes? m on a business trip, so let's just stay out of each other's way during this time."

11 Look Bella five etinutes to wrap her head around this. It was just a coincidence that her bedlord in the small town named out to be his friend Leonard, then what are the chances that he's now her landlord too? Bella felt like a puppet on a string with no way to berak free. This time, she was certain that he had planned this!