Chapter 14.2

Christine entered with a surprised look on her face. 'Stephanie!" she uttered and was almost in tears when she saw her friend finally conscious and awake. 'Oh, my God, Stephanie! You're finally awake," she said as she rushed, still limping from the injury, toward Stephanie and hugged her tight, squeezing her. 'Are you okay? Do you feel any pain? How about your back?"

Although Stephanie was staring at her at the time, she observed that her best friend was also looking away.

Wondering, Christine turned her head in the same direction and as soon as she saw Titan standing near the door, she gasped. 'Mr. Titan Sandoval, oh, my God, you're here." Her index finger pointed at him and turned her head and looked at Stephanie, waiting and begging for her quick answer.

Despite being mesmerized by Titan's stunning appearance and imposing stature, she straightened herself and aimed her face slightly upwards at him as she stood facing him. 'Hi, Mr. Sandoval. What are you doing here?" she asked shyly this time.

'Nothing, I just checked on Stephanie and see if she's fine. That's all," he replied in a bossy and commanding tone and let out a faint smile on his face that remained scarlet from embarrassment.

When he cast a glance at Stephanie, whose eyes remained at him, he was quick to look away and blinked for a moment, and said, 'Anyway, I have to go." Titan tried his best to sound professional despite his agitation. He had never felt so pitiful in his life, yet that alone made him feel so weak.

Christine lifted her eyebrows and ruffled her forehead as she stared at Titan and Stephanie in turn.

As she continued doing so, she noticed the cat collar on Titan's neck. 'Hey, I know that cat collar. That's Titan's collar—" she paused and her eyes widened once more with her hand muzzling her mouth the moment she realized something.

Christine remembered when Titan ran and transformed into a cat that lunged and attacked the men that night. Plus, Stephanie's old cat and the man she was staring at apparently have the same name. That made her eyes widen more, dumbfounded.

She turned her head and looked back at Stephanie, whose face flushed, and back to Titan once more. 'What were you thinking, Stephanie?" she asked in a high tone, which almost sounded like she was squealing.

However, Stephanie refused to answer.

Christine took the nerve to approach Titan for the first time, her eyes fixed on the collar that encircled his neck, despite that it was obviously intended to be worn by both people and animals, she inspected how well it sat around his neck.

'Why are you wearing it, Sir Titan?" she asked him in a hushed tone, almost stuttering with his name. 'Don't worry, I'll take it out from you."

Christine pressed her toes to reach Titan's neck with her arms raised.

But to her surprise, Titan blocked her with his arm. Please don't touch me. 'No, I'm fine with it. Don't worry," he answered shyly as he stepped back.

Christine's eyebrows knitted. 'Why on earth would you want to wear this? Doesn't it make you look like a fool in front of everyone in this nation and the rest of the world? You don't have to do this at all, sir. So, please, let me take it off from you."

To her surprise, Titan did the same in response. This time, his gesture made Christine curious about why. 'No, thank you. I like wearing it anyway. So, it's okay."

Then, she turned Stephanie back again, crossing her arms. 'Did you force him to wear it, Steph?" she sputtered.

Stephanie flinched and was quick to avert her gaze toward the window. She winced, clucked, and pursed her lips, trying to avoid Christine's concern.

Christine slapped her arms to get her attention. 'Hey," she paused to sit on the bed, 'Why did you make someone like him wear that collar?" she sputtered. Her face began to blush out of embarrassment.

However, at this point, instead of denying it, Stephanie looked at Christine and sighed, feeling defeated. Besides, she knew that she didn't have any chance to dismiss the idea.

'Yes," she replied nonchalantly while pressing her back against the soft pillows behind her back with her face up to the ceiling.

'But why?"

She looked at her again. 'Because he's my cat. Simple."

Titan had heard Stephanie's response before, but when he realized she wasn't joking when she spoke the same line repeatedly in the past or when she handed him the cat collar, his chest suddenly tightened.

'Why would he be your cat?" Christine asked in a louder tone. 'Come on, he's Titan Sandoval. He isn't just some stray cat you could play with, Steph!"

'I know, but what else could he do when he is my cat?" Stephanie answered without having any second thoughts while crossing her arms and turning her head to glance at her obnoxious boss. She cocked an eyebrow and let out a smile before she looked at Christine again.

'Seriously? Are you kidding me?" Confused and suspicious, Christine's eyebrows knitted. She hummed as she moved a little bit at the edge of Stephanie's bed to have a good look at Titan. She pressed her lips and crossed her arms. 'Hmm, am I missing something? It seems to me that both of you are hiding something from me?"

Stephanie shook her head. 'Nothing."

'No, I don't believe you, Steph."

'Why?"

Christine stared at Titan with her eyes a bit squeezed. 'Why would someone like him do something like this outrageous? And how could you give him your cat's favorite collar? Have you already moved on from his death?"

Her sudden inquiry made Stephanie silent, as she began to recall the last moments she had with her old cat and Titan's unusual kind gestures. 'No, it isn't about that, ‘Tine."

'Then, why?"

Instead of responding to her inquiring companion, Stephanie summoned the courage to steal a glimpse at her employer, who had been listening to their chats while standing motionless. She was unaware that Titan had begun to feel nervous while staying steady in his stance.

Although he was resisting Stephanie's suggestion that she give him a collar, he suddenly felt obliged to wear it, which was preposterous. He felt obligated to comply with her wishes since he couldn't comprehend why he had permitted it.

When they started exchanging gazes, Stephanie replied, 'I don't know."

'How come you don't know? You weren't drunk when you gave it to him, were you?" Christine turned her attention to the young man and asked him the same question. 'How about you, Mr. Sandoval? Do you have anything to say about this?"

Titan was about to open his mouth but then, his phone rang. 'Excuse me," he said as he took his phone out of his pocket and saw Simon's name on the screen. He pressed to accept the call and gestured to the two young women as he exited the room.

When he was standing outside Stephanie's room, he cleared his throat. But his hand was pressed on his collar, rubbing the material with his fingertips. 'Why did you have to call this early, Simon?"

'Where are you?"

'Sorry, I'm at the hospital."

'What? Did something happen to you?"

Titan sighed and closed his eyes. 'No," he paused and shook his head, 'I'm fine."

'Then, why are you there?" Simon demanded his answers.

'I'll talk about it later when I arrive at my office. But right now, I have to go," he said and pressed the screen to end the call without waiting for Simon's reply.

Titan hung up and sighed an annoyed breath in and out as he turned to face the door. He returned to Stephanie's room and overheard Stephanie and Christine conversing. He cleared his throat after that.

When Stephanie's eyes landed on Titan's face, Christine ceased asking inquiries and became silent.

'Excuse me, but I have to go now."

'Sure," Christine replied.

As he was about to turn and leave the room, Christine stood and walked closer to him. 'Wait, I forgot to say thank you, Mr. Sandoval."

Titan cocked an eyebrow, wondering what she meant. 'For what?"

She let out a soft giggle and gulped before she uttered a word to answer and look at him in the eye. 'Stephanie explained everything to me. So, I'm thankful that you're there for her when she needed it the most."

Titan didn't expect that statement from her. As he tried to keep himself composed, though he was in utter chaos inside him, he let out a faint smile. 'It's nothing." He sighed and gestured. 'Anyway, I have to leave now."

'Bye, Mr. Sandoval," Christine uttered, waving her hand.

Stephanie, on the other hand, just didn't mind him leaving.

He quickly glanced at Stephanie, who was already fixated on the windows, before slamming the door. She appeared to be disconnected from what was happening around her as she was gazing off into the horizon.

My human, what are you thinking? His questions about why he was simultaneously absorbed by this feeling inside of him and what Stephanie was thinking kept him fixated on her.

For him, seeing Stephanie pondering something was unusual. He had been with her for a few days and had seen her pacing the business grounds in a panicked manner. If not, every time Titan went by the Human Resources Department office, she may see her being reprimanded by Ms. Gonzales.

From the moment he shut the door until he entered his office and sat in his swivel chair, he kept wondering what she was thinking. He speculated that she might have had 'Titan," her previous cat, in mind.

He put his elbows on the armrest, his back on the plush material, and his index finger on his temple. His other hand continued to fiddle with the cat collar around his neck as he kept repeating Stephanie's comments to himself.

'Because you're my human, and I'm your cat," he whispered in an attempt to figure out the right answer to Christine's inquiry earlier.

As he stood and made his way into the office mirrors, he gasped and sighed as he examined his reflection in the cat collar.

Even though he had some difficulty the day Stephanie had given it to him, the longer he kept looking at himself in the mirror, the more his chest began to hurt and he noticed that his face was blushing. He couldn't stop thinking about Stephanie's lines since his mind kept replaying them over and over.

His furrowed eyebrows started to split apart, and his eyes sparkled as they widened and stopped being scary, despite that his logical mind was clear about how and what he should feel about Stephanie's absurd concessions in the contract.

Even though Titan's intellect questioned why he grinned when he touched the collar once more.