Candice instantly panicked, wondering what Elio meant by his words.


    She was stunned, staring at him nkly. Although tears still welled up in her eyes, she was dumbfounded.


    Seeing her dazed expression, innocent and clueless, Elio asked angrily, "Did you hear me clearly?''


    Candice was so shocked that she gulped. She quickly nodded.


    Elio thought she understood until Candice blurted out, "I heard you. I don''t need you to take responsibility. I won''t cling to you."N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.


    Elio was furious. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to ease the pain deep in his heart. After a moment, he said coldly, "No, I want you to take responsibility." Candice froze. She bewildered ly asked, "I... need to take responsibility for you?"


    Elio replied with a maic voice, "Yes."


    Candice was stunned as her mind was a mess.


    He had been the one to initiate making love with her, and even though she hadn''t refused, she was still the passive party. The experience had been painful, with no pleasure for her.


    She had been at a disadvantage. Now, she had to take responsibility for it?


    Most importantly, Elio already had a fiancée. How could she take responsibility?


    She might want to, but they were family, and he was getting married next month. By any chance, did he want to be friends with benefits and make her his secret lover? Candice could never be a mistress. She panicked and blurted out, "I don''t want to."


    Elio smiled bitterly as he looked into her eyes. He felt sad and a bit angry, saying, "Candice, from the moment you agreed to have sex with me, you had no choice." She panicked as a shiver ran up her spine. Did Elio n this to make her fall into his trap?


    He helped her secure a job as an intem, took her abroad for events and arranged for them to share a room. All of it, just to sleep with her and make her his secret lover or friend with benefits?


    Why was he so terrifying?


    Had she loved the wrong person all these years?


    Was he a yboy?


    Candice''s heart sank. She was filled with regret. Although she was gentle and didn''t have the temper and guts, she wouldn''t obediently ept mistreatment.


    She already regretted doing such a taboo thing; she wouldn''t make the same mistake again.


    With a firm stance, she lifted her chin and looked at Elio resolutely. She said, "Elio, aren''t you afraid I''ll tell Uncle Nathan? He''ll shoot you dead."


    Elio stared intensely at her. He said hoarsely, "I''d like to let everyone know about it."


    Candice was taken aback.


    Elio lowered his head and leaned closer to her ear. He whispered, "Candice, the moment I slept with you, I was ready to face death. You only have two choices. Tell your family and let them kill me, or keep this secret and be with me."


    She didn''t want Elio dead, nor did she want to be his mistress.


    Candice sadly asked, "Why can''t we pretend nothing happened? Why did you want to go into the deep end and cause so many problems for everyone?"


    "Because I want you, Candice," Elio growled. Tears welled up in his eyes as he felt his heart breaking.