Am I Ugly
Looking at Anna’s sad face, Daniel brushed his fingers through her hair and said in a gentle voice, “I am sorry, my princess. I won’t be late again. Forgive me this time.”
Anna was slightly convinced, but she still hadn’t gotten an answer to her second question, so she said again, “Forgiving you for being late is not that difficult because I am willing to wait for you, but…” she said this in a very innocent way, her red teary eyes glistening.
Looking at her in such an appearance, Daniel’s face darkened, and he felt like his heart was being grabbed and squeezed by several hands.
Daniel adjusted his mood a little and coaxed her like a child, saying, “What happened to my Anna? Why are there tears in my baby’s eyes?”
Then she said, “Brother Daniel, am I really so ugly? Or not obedient, not well-mannered, like Aunt Sasa, Isabelle, and Uncle? Is that why you all are not willing to take me with you? Or do you also think I am a mentally retarded person?”
She said this while hugging Daniel’s hand and looking down.
Daniel did not speak for a long time and finally sighed, saying gently, “I am really sorry, Anna, but I can’t help it, you know. But believe in your brother that one day, I will tell everyone who you are and what you mean to me. Do you have faith in me?”
“Yes,” said Anna, and her mood was much better than before.
Suddenly, Daniel said in a deep voice, “And one more thing—you are not ugly. You are the most beautiful one in the whole world. Did you get it?”
Anna giggled and said, “Yes, sir. Hehe, I got it! But I still want to know—where is my cake? Didn’t you bring it, huh?”
Daniel took out the cake from behind his back and said, “Here it is, my master. Okay, come here to the table.”
She went near the table, sat on the chair, and they both cut the cake, laughing and giggling.
Although Daniel had already lavishly celebrated his birthday in the hall, for him, it was nothing more than a business party and a gathering for company affairs.
Actually, for him, he was celebrating his birthday now.
“Anna, you are my world. This is why I want to protect you. If anything happened to my world, where would I exist?”
Daniel faintly said this, but Anna didn’t hear it.
Daniel was not the same person the whole business world knew when he was with Anna. He was extremely gentle and considerate.
No one could have imagined that the handsome hunk, the devil of the business world, and the youngest CEO who had achieved so much at such a young age—who always wore a poker face that no one dared to talk to directly—could be laughing and giggling like a child, looking so gentle when he was with Anna.
He was the complete opposite of his usual self when he was with her.
As Anna was immersed in childishly eating her cake, a deep voice came from above her head.
“That’s enough for today. Go to bed—it’s really late. Tomorrow morning, you have class, so you have to get up early.”
Anna smiled in a silly way and said, “Brother, let me eat a few more bites, please?”
She was acting like a baby because she knew Daniel couldn’t refuse her when she behaved this way.
But Daniel didn’t give her any chance. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bathroom, putting her down and saying, “Take a bath and go to bed. There are no buts.”
Anna had no choice, so she nodded. Daniel left the bathroom, closing the door for her.
He started cleaning her room, picking up the plates from the table, making the bed for Anna, and then leaving.
At the door outside her room, he ordered the maid to take the plates away, then glanced at the bodyguard deeply in a devious way and said, “Come to the living room and tell every family member except Anna and Grandpa to come immediately—within a minute.”
With that, he left.
When everyone gathered in the living room, Daniel was sitting lazily on the sofa like a king.
Aunt Sasa asked, “What happened, Daniel? Why are you gathering us at this time?”
But deep inside, she guessed it was because of Anna’s slap incident, so she glanced at Isabelle, who was coming downstairs with a sleepy appearance, rubbing her eyes.
She asked arrogantly, “Mom, what is happening? Don’t you know I have class tomorrow? Why are you all gathering here at this time?”
Isabelle came forward and stood beside Sasa, leaning on her. Seeing Isabelle’s careless attitude, she pinched her and said, “Stand still! It’s not me who called everyone downstairs—it’s Daniel.”
As soon as she heard Daniel’s name, she became sober and finally noticed his gaze.
He was looking at Isabelle with extreme disgust.
Finally, Uncle Robin arrived.
After one minute, one person was still missing.
Daniel asked, “Where is Kelvin? Why is he not here?”
Aunt Sasa said, “Oh, my dear, you know Kelvin. He only comes home once a week. This time, he went out with his friends.”
Daniel didn’t say anything—he just listened and sneered, the corner of his lips curling slightly upward. Then he stood up from the sofa, looking at everyone one by one with a half-smile on his face, making him look both extremely handsome and devilish.
Uncle Robin asked angrily, “Daniel, what is this? Is this the time to disturb everyone from their sleep?”
Daniel smiled sarcastically and said, “Ask your wife and daughter why I disturbed you all at this time.”
Robin glanced at his wife and daughter. “What did you two do again?”
Aunt Sasa said, “What do you mean, what did we do again?”
Isabelle also said, “I didn’t do anything! What are you talking about, Daniel? Can you be clear?”
Although she said this, deep inside, she guessed it must be related to Anna.
Daniel asked lazily, “What did you do to Anna?”
Isabelle tensed up but pretended to be calm. “What happened to Anna? Is she alright? And what do you mean by ‘what did I do to her’?”
Daniel looked at her fake innocence and felt even more disgusted.
He knew that either her mother or she had a hand in it.
But instead of admitting their mistake, they were pretending to be clean and innocent.
This made him extremely angry, and he roared, “I asked—who did it?!”
His voice was so loud that everyone’s back stiffened.
Isabelle trembled, but Aunt Sasa quickly said, “Sorry, Daniel! It wasn’t intentional—it was just a mistake! Let me off this time, okay? It won’t happen again.”
Aunt Sasa also pleaded, “Yes, my son. Isabelle is also your sister. She did it today, but it won’t happen again. After all, I am your aunt and treat you and Anna as my own children. Let Isabelle go this time, okay?”
But if Daniel could be swayed by their words, he wouldn’t be Daniel.
He looked at her and said, “Okay, this time, I will let her go one last time, but only on one condition.”
Aunt Sasa quickly agreed. “What is it? Say it—she will definitely do it.”
Daniel smirked. “Aunt Sasa, you will slap her—ten times, heavily, on both cheeks.”
Isabelle stomped her foot. “I won’t agree to this!”
“Let’s see,” Daniel smirked.
Robin was shocked and said, “Daniel, what are you saying? How could you do this?”
“I can not only do this but also more than this. Do you want to see?” Daniel said as he sat on the sofa lazily, both hands resting on the back of the sofa. Then he said, “Start.”
Aunt Sasa said, “I am sorry, my sweetheart,” to Isabelle, but Isabelle was reluctant to accept the fact that she was going to get slapped because of a mental girl. What was so good about that girl?
As Aunt Sasa put a stone on her heart and was about to slap Isabelle, suddenly a voice came from the sofa.
“If a slap isn’t heavy, it won’t be counted.”
Isabelle was not ready to get slapped. She looked pitifully at her father, hoping he could help her, but suddenly a heavy slap fell on her cheek. Her body shook as she lost her balance.
After receiving ten slaps on each cheek, her face was numb. She couldn’t feel anything—it looked like a red balloon, and tears were falling.
Daniel stood up and said, “Don’t let Anna know about this. Otherwise, next time it will be harsher.” With that, he left.
She looked at her mom and ran toward her own room, locking herself inside.
In the living room, Aunt Sasa was also crying. She had never beaten her daughter since she was a child, but today she had…
Uncle Robin said, “Are you happy now? I always tell you not to do anything recklessly. There is a way to do everything, but who listens to me? Now see, our daughter got punished harshly.”
He sighed and left the room.
On the other side, Anna was sleeping after taking a bath. She had no idea what was going on downstairs.
Before entering his room, Daniel went to Anna’s room and stood at the door, looking through the peephole. Seeing that Anna was sleeping, he left.
He went to his library, and his eyes fell on an album. He took it out and started looking at old photos, lost in thought.
After a long time, he went to his room, took a bath, and went to bed.
