Chapter 7 - Business Trip

ELISHA POV

We remained silent as Caden and I traveled along the road to Batangas. At first, I thought his driver would be coming with us, but I was surprised when he drove the car himself.

“Why did you choose to drive yourself? Won’t you get tired? We’re going somewhere far,” I asked while staring out the window.

“Why not? I can drive just fine. I only let someone else drive when I’m tired.”

I simply shrugged and closed my eyes. We still had a long trip ahead of us, so I decided to get some sleep. It seemed like the man beside me was used to traveling without anyone to talk to.

When I woke up, I saw food and coffee beside me.

“Good. You’re finally awake.”

I sat up properly.

“Sorry. It looks like I slept for a long time.”

“No worries. Go ahead and eat.”

“I didn’t even notice that you stopped somewhere,” I said.

“You were sleeping too deeply to notice that we made a stop.”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile before starting to eat.

I looked out the window and noticed that we were entering a place that was familiar to me, causing me to stop eating.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing. I just missed this place. I grew up here,” I said.

“I see. I didn’t know about it.”

“You didn’t even ask.”

It was already night when we arrived at the hotel.

The receptionist smiled.

“One reservation for Mr. Guevarra and Ms. Gonzales,” I said. “Separate rooms,” I added.

The receptionist nodded.

“Of course.”

Caden raised an eyebrow at me.

“What now? "I asked.

“You thought I'd make you share a room? ”

“I've learned never to assume anything around you,” I replied.

He smiled at me.

“Well, good. What a smart decision.”

---

**CADEN POV**

I got up from the bed and walked to the balcony because I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried.

I heard faint sobs coming from the balcony next to mine and saw Elisha sitting on the floor with her knees hugged tightly against her chest.

It was the first time I had ever seen her looking so sad and crying. Ever since she applied to work for me and started working at the company, she had always been smiling. Even though I buried her in work, I never heard a single complaint from her, and she always remained positive.

Instead of staying there, I went back inside my room and decided to leave her alone for the time being.

---

**ELISHA POV**

It was almost dawn when I finally fell asleep, and fortunately, I woke up early because I was sure my boss would get mad at me otherwise.

When we arrived at the construction site, the project manager welcomed us.

While discussing timelines, an elderly engineer approached me.

“Miss Gonzales,” he greeted me with a smile. “I heard about your parents.”

I smiled back.

“That happened a long time ago,” I replied.

“I’m sure they’re very proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

After saying that, I excused myself for a moment to use the restroom because I didn’t want them to see me looking sad, especially whenever my parents were the topic of conversation.

---

**CADEN POV**

I quietly listened to Elisha’s conversation, and when she excused herself to leave, I approached the engineer she had been talking to.

“What happened? What happened to her parents? "I asked.

“Her parents died in a fire, Sir. Everything they had built was left to her. Elisha is truly admirable because she stayed strong and never gave up after it happened. She carried everything without complaining.”

I nodded after hearing what he knew about Elisha’s parents. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for everything she had been through.

---

It was already nighttime, yet we were still in the hotel conference room, finishing the documents we needed. I noticed that Elisha was already getting sleepy.

“You can rest now, Elisha,” I said.

“I’m almost done with what I’m doing anyway.”

“You still haven’t had a proper rest since we arrived here. And you woke up early this morning to prepare everything we needed.”

“And you did the same. So we’re no different, Sir.”

I simply shook my head at what she said. She always had an answer for everything I told her. Such a strange woman.

An hour later, I saw her putting away her laptop and the other documents.

“I’ll just finish the rest tomorrow.”

“See? I’ve been telling you to get some rest,” I said.

She stood up but suddenly lost her balance. Good thing I reacted quickly and caught her.

Nervousness was written all over her face when our eyes met.

I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to pretend to be strong all the time. There was nothing wrong with feeling weak. But something seemed to stop me from saying it.

Slowly, I let go of her.

“Be careful.”

“T-thank you, Sir,” she said.

“Goodnight.”