Ch. 11..15: Fatal Kiss Of The Vampire Chapter 11-15
Chapter 11: It Was Her Husband
Although Kylie had won the part in Tea House, she still had another job to finish.
She was acting as the mistress, who was to be caught and hit by the lead in a shopping mall.
In fact, it should all have been finished ten minutes ago. But the lead was Khloe’s friend and embarrassed Kylie on purpose. She kept feeding Kylie the wrong line or giving her dirty looks, which delayed the process by three hours.
When Kylie was getting her lunch, she saw a familiar figure.
This figure had a handsome look and long legs. The man was about 6. 2 feet… Wait! It was her husband, Ethan!
It seemed like he was inspecting the area. People around him were respectfully guiding him.
The media had a live report. They were discussing the new leader of Century Group, that he would take some measures to make Century Group richer.
Kylie looked at the bruise on her arm, caused by Khloe’s friend in a scene. She sighed; she was being treated like this, yet he was such a star. How could fate be such a dog?
As she sighed, the phone in her pocket went off.
“Kylie Finch! Come back in half an hour, or you’ll see!” Laurence Finch’s angry voice came through the phone.
***
Alice Davis was so angry that Kylie had gotten the lead role in Tea House.
“Tea House? I invested with Blossom to avoid such conflicts. They were both period dramas. It’s obvious that she’s gone against me,” Laurence explained with a dark look, though he was wrong. “I told Lucas to offer her a role as a dead body or a villain. When did she even attend the audition?”
Khloe gave her mom an orange and said: “I received the call from dear Lucas. She had been refused the role, but she ogled the director and got the role. Dad, you know that man…”
Seeing Laurence’s face turn bright red, Khloe smiled. “Actually, giving her this chance is nothing. We are all family, and I wish her the best…”
“And her? Does she wish you the best?” Alice stared at Khloe with anger. “If she treated you like family, she wouldn’t cause such trouble at your party! Things would be better if she were stopped! Do you still want to keep your career? Do you want to see the Finches lose face?”
When she referred to the things that had happened yesterday, Khloe’s eyes turned red, and she looked down at the floor, about to begin sobbing.
Seeing her daughter cry, Alice touched Laurence on the shoulder. “How can you still put up with Kylie? She is always hurting your baby daughter just because Khloe is kind? Though Khloe calls her sister… Kylie never had a good attitude towards us, even as a child.”
Laurence’s brows were knit. He placed his cup on the table. “Kylie…”
In fact, Laurence knew what made Kylie so crazy. He had seen her mother’s suicide. From that moment on, she had been like an unhappy hedgehog and began to do whatever Laurence disapproved of.
She had argued and fought, smoked and drank, dyed her hair yellow, gone to the bars… She had been a good student and had become a bad apple almost overnight. At last, the school had called her parents more than eight times.
Laurence had once even discovered a pregnancy test in her bag. But she had never admitted it, even when he drew the belt against her.
At last, as he had watched her lying on the ground, gasping for air, he dared not strike her anymore. When he had wanted to bring her to a doctor, for a real pregnancy test, she had jumped from a window.
Laurence’s headache the more he thought about what Kylie had done.
At that moment, the servant called from outside: “Miss Finch is back!”
Kylie wore a tight t-shirt, a tight leather skirt, and high-heeled shoes.
She walked directly to the sofa and sat down beside Laurence, crossing her legs and asking: “What’s up?”
Seeing the bruise on her arm, and the expression on her face, Laurence assumed she had been fighting with the others again.
He spoke in a loud voice: “You are not allowed to be in the Tea House.
Kylie took out a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and asked: “Why?”
“Khloe is engaged to Aiden, but that doesn’t mean you can get on with Lord Ethan! Who do you think the Parker family is? They won’t let you get along with him!”
Laurence purposefully dismissed Kylie’s acting career, and then wanted to destroy her relationship with Lord Ethan!
Aiden was nothing but a paper tiger: he looked ferocious, but, in fact, he had no power. Once Khloe had become engaged to Aiden, Laurence could get something from it.
But Lord Ethan was different for him. Laurence seemed to be humble, but he had everything planned out. He wanted to get back with the Parkers to take over their business. Right now, he had more power than Matthew Parker.
It was fine if he simply wanted to play around with Kylie, but if he had his heart set on her, things would be terrible: Garcia Entertainment would be shut down.
This reminded Kylie of a secret.
The flames leaped up in her eyes.
Kylie smoked and smiled. “Why didn’t we stop them from getting engaged; I can’t see what’s good about that fucking asshole.”
She had thought her father would stick up for Khloe, but he didn’t as immediately as she had expected.
“Dad, please don’t be mad. There’s some misunderstanding between them.” Khloe stepped beside Laurence. “Lord Ethan has just come back from the army, and my sister had never even gone there… How could they know each other?”
She glanced at Kylie with sympathy. “My sister is just so mad at me that she randomly brought this man. Kylie will do something bad regardless of the Finch’s reputation.”
After saying that, she crossed to the other side of the sofa to give Kylie some tea, as though in apology.
“My dear sister, before the party… Aiden told me we were going to dinner for Lord Ethan. And I didn’t know he would propose, either… I have no excuse… You can beat me up or do whatever you want… but please calm down…”
Khloe continued in a different tone: “But you did do something wrong. How is Lord Ethan going to think of us, since he’s been back? Besides, Aiden was banned because of this…”
The damn bitch was an actress, indeed.
She was acting like a kind and perfect girl. Kylie wanted to praise her performance, so she did.
She stretched out her two thumbs, holding the cigarette in her mouth.
Laurence looked away and ate the orange Alice offered him.
“It’s true, and you shouldn’t have embarrassed our family in that way, even if you were upset. You left the party in such a hurry, and I was embarrassed when my old friends asked about you.”
“Dad! No more complaining. Sister knows that she was wrong,” Khloe said.
Kylie took a deep breath and smiled. “I don’t see what mistake I made. After all, you’re the one who took my boyfriend away.”
Chapter 12: Their Evil Plan
Khloe was stiff. “Daddy, I really didn’t know there was anything between them…”
Laurence patted his young daughter on the hand, then looked at Kylie with disappointment. “You can’t blame Khloe. Look at you, and you’re nothing like the sweet girl she is, running around like a troublemaker all day. Who would like you?”
He looked back at Khloe and spoke in a loving tone: “When it comes to choosing a wife, of course, decent and gentle girls like Khloe are everyone’s first choice.”
“Decent? Gentle?” Kylie taunted. She twisted her cigarette butt in her hand, then pressed it against the coffee table. A bit ruthlessly, and a little too loudly, she spoke again: “My mother was also decent and gentle-she was even an upper-class lady. Why do you fool around with this disreputable singing woman?”
“Who do you think you’re talking about?!” Kylie’s words affected Alice Davis’s most sensitive spot. She stood up, her lips trembling.
That time she had been a singer in an underground music hall, had been the most dishonorable episode of her life. She never allowed anyone to mention it.
However, Kylie felt ruthless and wanted to remind everyone. “I’m talking about the one who responded, obviously!”
Kylie also stood up and sneered at Laurence. “You understand my temper: the things you don’t want me to do are the things I most love to do. If you don’t let me hang out with Lord Ethan, then I’ll climb into his bed later tonight!”
She rubbed her belly and smirked. “Maybe I can even get a bonus!”
Laurence’s face clouded over. “You rebellious daughter!” Scolding, he raised his hand and pointed at Kylie. “Do you still recognize me as your father? If you want a foothold in this city, you’d better do as I say!”
She had lost her father and family ten years ago. Kylie’s heart began to ache when thinking of it. But the more she felt pain, the more she forced a cruel smile.
“Do you regret giving birth to me? You should have ejaculated against the wall!” Kylie yelled.
Laurence pushed Khloe out of the way and strode towards Kylie. He raised his arm and was about to slap her against the cheek.
But his arm was seized midair. Kylie pinched his flesh so hard that her fingernails were almost embedded in her father’s arm.
“You think I’m still the weak Kylie you can scold and beat?” She pushed aside his arm and clenched her teeth. “Ten years ago, the weak penniless Kylie you drove out of your home died in the streets!”
Laurence’s face went pale in a flash.
“You made your bed, so you must lie in it,” Alice said, stepping forward. “If you hadn’t fooled around with a man, and gotten yourself pregnant, maybe your father wouldn’t have thrown you out.”
Kylie’s eyes swept over Khloe, who was obviously very nervous. Kylie knew that the dirty trick about her pregnancy had been concocted by Khloe and her mother to drive her out of the picture.
She felt a cold breeze, and said: “God sees and knows everything, so watch out!”
Seeing that Kylie was turning around to leave, Alice anxiously tugged at her husband’s sleeve, to remind him of their last bargaining chip.
Laurence hurriedly roared: “If you don’t do as I say, you’ll never see your mother again!”
Now, the only thing that could be threatening to Kylie was the loss of her mother’s ashes.
They expected Kylie to stay, unwillingly, for the sake of the ashes, but she suddenly laughed. “You can try, but if even a gram of my mom’s ashes is missing, you’ll lose your 10% shares! I mean it!”
Laurence hadn’t expected Kylie to say that. When he moved past the bewilderment, Kylie had already gone.
“Daddy, your blood pressure is unstable-don’t get angry.” Wiping her tears with one hand, Khloe patted her father’s chest with the other, in an effort to calm him down.
“That rebellious daughter; I wish she were half as good as you.” Laurence was so angry, and he could only breathe vigorously.
“Honey, how does Kylie know about the shares?” Alice confusedly asked as she passed a glass of water to her husband.
Emily Garcia, who had been Kylie’s mother and Laurence’s ex-wife, had also been the daughter of the man who owned Garcia Entertainment. Emily’s father had passed away shortly after she’d given birth to Kylie. After taking over the company, Laurence was never satisfied and continuously wanted more. He drove Emily to death, with his demands and his affair with Alice Davis. Later, this drove Kylie away.
But Laurence hadn’t known that when Emily’s father had entrusted his company to him, Kylie’s grandfather had taken the means to protect Kylie’s inheritance: fifty percent of the company’s shares belonged to Kylie.
But Kylie didn’t have access to the money; she would receive half after marriage, and the other half after giving birth to a child. In the meantime, the shares were managed by the estate executor.
As CEO of Garcia Entertainment, Laurence still only received less than twenty percent of the shares. That was the main reason he opposed Kylie’s relationship with Lord Ethan.
The Parkers were much more powerful than the Finches. If Kylie truly had something to do with the Parkers, Laurence would never be able to get a larger share in the company.
He was a man who always put his interests ahead of others. His prosperity mattered a great deal.
“Honey, there’s no need to be angry. If you really want to get those shares, I have an idea,” Alice said, smiling evilly. She asked Khloe to go fetch Laurence’s anti-hypertensive drugs, then carried on: “Doesn’t Kylie have to get married before she can inherit some of the shares? Let’s just get her married!”
“What?” At first, Laurence didn’t understand where she was going with this.
“If she gets married, she’ll naturally give birth to a baby within a year,” Alice slowly said. “At that time, the share will…”
“Hmm!” Laurence tutted. “Then, they’ll simply fall into another’s hands!”
“Right, and this person she marries might be on our side,” Alice responded flirtatiously.
Khloe came back and understood what her mother had been saying. She squatted in front of them, and spoke: “Mommy, then we’ll have to look for someone who has a close relationship with you, and who’s also tractable…”
“How can we find such a man?” Laurence looked at his wife with confusion.
“We’ll have to try hard to find him,” she worriedly replied. “You know your daughter; she’s stubborn. The more you oppose her, the more she rebels… So, if Lord Ethan knew she was a treasure pot…” Alice winked at her daughter, prodding her for help.
Khloe was suddenly enlightened. She added: “Oh, mommy, is it possible to get Lord Ethan to approach Kylie because he knows about her shares suddenly? A man like Lord Ethan can easily get any upper-class lady to marry him; it wouldn’t make sense for him to choose Kylie unless he wants her money.”
Hearing these plans, Laurence began to worry, and his eyes filled with disgust. Catching sight of his expression, Khloe hurried to continue: “If Lord Ethan truly loves Kylie, I’d be happy for her-I’d even break it off with Aiden for her. But with this plan, we can make sure that he likes her for the right reasons-we can’t let Kylie suffer any loss!”
Even though Khloe masked it as a good intention, the implied meaning of her plan was obvious.
Laurence was beginning to panic. He turned to his wife and said: “This matter can no longer be delayed. You’re part of the family-hurry up and find a way!”
“I’m not her mother; it would appear wrong for me to say too much,” Alice replied, pretending to be embarrassed.
“I order you to speak; I’m head of the family!” Laurence immediately pretended to take charge of the situation. He waved his hand to instruct Alice to say what was on her mind.
“The man I want to recommend is Khloe’s cousin. He’s an honest child, even though his family’s not rich. I’m sure he’ll treat Kylie well once they are married.”
Khloe sneered. Her cousin, Kevin White, had been violent since childhood. He was also lazy, an exact parasite of society. But he did have a special fondness for Kylie.
Imagining that Kylie might suffer domestic abuse every day after marriage, Khloe had a hard time hiding her pleasure.
Chapter 13: Kylie Is My Wife
On leaving the Finch house, Kylie casually took a stick of gum from her bag and stuffed it into her mouth.
There was a black car parked on the side of the road, about two hundred meters from the Finch house.
When she walked closer, Elliot got out of the car and opened the door. “Ma’am, Lord Ethan sent me to drive you home.”
“Was he stalking me?” Kylie asked, a little ill at ease.
Elliot didn’t explain any further, but simply opened the door, and gestured inside. “Please get in the car.”
Kylie didn’t think too much of it and bent over to get inside the vehicle.
As soon as she sat down, Pupu jumped towards her and sat beside her, wagging his tail. “Pupu, do you want some gum?”
Pupu barked in response, and Elliot didn’t say anything.
Of course, Kylie didn’t actually feed Pupu her gum, but the dog kept moving closer and closer to her mouth, smelling the sweet aroma.
The car switched to the fast lane. As Kylie stared into the rearview mirror and watched the Finch house becoming vaguer and vaguer, her heart began to ache. Every time she returned to her old home, she had to put up a fierce fight. It made her exhausted.
“Handsome, please slow down a little-I’m getting somewhat dizzy.”
Although it helped that Ethan wasn’t in the car, Kylie felt more at ease, and Pupu was more active. Kylie kicked off her shoes and lay down, taking over the whole backseat. Pupu was happy to be used as a pillow.
“Ma’am, you can just call me Elliot.”
“Ok,” Kylie hummed, her eyes closed. She wasn’t exactly car-sick, but she felt a little dizzy due to the smell of smoke.
Actually, she had lied to Ethan about smoking. She never smoked; she just felt obligated to do things her father hated. Hence, every time she went home, she had to smoke one in front of him.
If Laurence were to pay the slightest bit of attention, he would discover that she exhales all the smoke, and barely inhales. However, in his mind, his daughter was addicted to nicotine and alcohol.
Elliot slowed down to 50 mph, glancing at Kylie and Pupu in the mirror. Though labradors were usually docile and faithful dogs, Pupu was the exception-he wasn’t usually a friendly dog.
He was an old dog who had lived for years at the villa. Ethan was the only one who’d been able to gain his trust. So, when he left home, he’d taken Pupu with him.
Elliot was confused and thought: the driver who picked Pupu up yesterday said he was alert the entire way, and that nobody could approach him. But he was so docile when he was with this woman. There was a feeling of apprehension in Elliot’s heart.
He saw Kylie reach over and stroke Pupu. Knowing that she was still awake, he asked tentatively: “Ma’am, have you ever had a dog?”
Kylie opened her eyes and stared at the roof of the car. After a while, she answered: “I had one when I was young. But we lost it.”
Pupu whimpered and turned to look at her. He pawed her head, as though trying to comfort her.
Kylie gently pinched his paws, then his ears. She snuggled against Pupu’s belly and remembered something.
The night she had left home, she had met a stray dog on the street. They had both been homeless, so she had kept it. Her father had cut her off financially, to try and force her to return home and apologize. But Kylie had decided that she would rather be a child laborer, than return home.
At that time, so long as she had enough food, the dog would not go hungry. But as the year progressed, she couldn’t even support herself, let alone her new dog.
She didn’t have a friend to help her look after the dog, so she had been forced to chase it away with a stick. The dog had finally left, and she had cried for a long time.
It was around that time that Star had first contacted her.
She had wept, and told him what happened, after which Star had offered to help her with her school and living expenses. With this backing, she had gone out in search of her dog but had been unable to find it.
If her dog was still alive, it would be about the same age as Pupu.
Kylie looked up at Pupu: his eyes were bright, and she could make out the guilty expression in her eyes, reflected against his brown pupils.
The car slowly came to a stop. Elliot softly interrupted her train of thought: “Ma’am, here we are.”
Platinum Mansion.
Now that Ethan was back at home, the couple sat at the dining table, in preparation for dinner.
A big deal that the Century Group had been trying to wrap up for three years had just been settled by Ethan on his arrival home. Old Mr. Parker could not be happier; he knew it had been the right decision to call Ethan back home, to take over the business.
Though Matthew was also often praised by his father, he was obviously not happy with the way things had turned out.
Finally, the conversation fell back to Ethan. The theme was clear: career was important, but the family was of the utmost importance.
Old Mr. Parker spoke: “I haven’t been this happy for a long time! When can we add another set of tableware at the table?”
Old Mr. Parker’s second wife, Mrs. Parker, added: “I’ve suffered from insomnia these past weeks, and always dream that someone new would call me granny!”
“You can’t sleep at night because you’re too busy thinking about that!” replied Mr. Parker.
Ethan waved the servant over: “Bring them what they want; add an extra plate beside me.”
“Ethan, don’t joke about me…” Mrs. Parker seized Mr. Parker’s hand in excitement.
Nicole Parker drew her chair forward and turned to Mrs. Parker. “My pretty granny, you don’t know yet… but today Uncle Ethan…”
“Shut up!” Matthew rebuked his daughter in a low voice. “The elder was speaking… don’t you dare interject!”
His wife, Taylor, looked unhappy, and whispered in a strange tone: “Nicole did not say anything wrong, so why would you yell at her?”
“Yeah, why can’t I say…” Nicole echoed. But, raising her head, she noticed Kylie walking into the room. She stood up in a rush. “Kylie Finch? Why are you allowed to be here?”
At the banquet, Nicole had been frightened of her Uncle Ethan’s anger and hadn’t said too much. But, judging from their conversation just now, she assumed that her uncle had not said anything about Kylie to either of his parents. The bit about another grandchild had simply been a joke on Mrs. Parker’s part.
On seeing Kylie, old Mr. Parker’s face darkened. He had heard stories about her.
Noticing that Mr. Parker was not happy with her appearance, Taylor stealthily chuckled. She stared at Kylie with severity and disdain, and said: “Kylie Finch, are you shameless? My son just abandoned you for your sister, and now you’re pestering my brother-in-law. Is it fun?”
Aiden and Nicole glanced at Kylie with disgust. But Kylie continued to smile sweetly and look firmly in Ethan’s direction.
Ethan pulled out the chair beside him, all the while resting his arm on the back of the chair. He spoke in a habitually cold voice: “It seems that somebody didn’t listen to my words today.”
He looked at everyone in the room, in turn, with a serious expression. “From this day onwards, Kylie is my wife. I hope she can gain your respect. If anybody attacks her with those terrible words again, don’t blame me for being rude.”
When he finished his lecture, he turned his head and looked at her. “Come sit down.”
Kylie walked towards the table with natural grace. As soon as she sat down, she noticed that her hand had been caught; her fingertips were suddenly very cold. She looked down to realize that Ethan was putting a diamond ring on her finger.
With a slight shock, she looked up at him. He parted his lips and smiled at the corners of his mouth. “Do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s such a big diamond; who could say no?” Kylie muttered in a heartfelt manner. But they weren’t really married, she thought, and this seemed like such an expensive prop. After all, most truly married women didn’t have such a big diamond.
She raised her hand and showed it off to Aiden. “How gorgeous it is…”
Then she leaned against Ethan. “Although the love between a man and a woman cannot be fully expressed with money, this diamond can at least remind you of the weight of my heart.”
Chapter 14: The Eternal Heart
Observing the pigeon egg on Kylie’s wedding finger, Taylor subconsciously hid her hand under the table. The diamond on her own hand wasn’t exactly small, but, compared to Kylie’s, it was nothing.
She had always reckoned that Ethan didn’t have much in the way of savings, because he had spent all that time in the army. Who would have guessed he’d be more generous than his brother, who had been running the family business for several years.
A woman could be jealous of anything, especially a rich woman of her age. Taylor glared hard at her husband and wondered if he had a mistress for whom he bought expensive gifts.
On seeing Kylie’s ring, Aiden’s face also went white. The one he had just given Khloe was valuable, but the size was far from that of Kylie’s.
Nicole was obsessed with luxury brands. When she saw the diamond on Kylie’s hand, she was so surprised that her chin almost fell off. She recognized that it was the unique, rare pink diamond that repeatedly appeared on the cover of Extreme Luxury magazine. A mysterious man had recently collected it. It was called “The Eternal Heart”!
But what she had never expected was that her uncle had been that mysterious man! Another fact that she couldn’t accept was that this “Eternal Heart” was now on Kylie’s hand.
Even Mrs. Parker, who was good at remaining calm under strange circumstances, could not help but clench her lips when she saw the ring.
Old Mr. Parker’s face was thoroughly pale, and he scolded with an old but sharp voice: “I won’t accept her!”
“My woman doesn’t need your acceptance,” Ethan retorted while drawing Kylie closer to him. “Kylie Finch is legally my wife, and nobody can change that fact!”
He gently lifted her delicate chin, and, as though proving what he had just said, he covered her lips with his. Kylie stared at him, surprised. It was their first kiss!
Ethan’s lips were cold, but his breath was hot. Though this was only a superficial touch, to prove something to his family, it totally disturbed her heart. And she felt the loneliness at the bottom of his heart.
Kylie understood the reason she was there-her presence was simply to annoy the Parkers, which of course, included Aiden Parker.
After Ethan finished his kiss, Kylie lifted herself up on tiptoe and left a little kiss on his cheek. “Even if the whole world betrays you, I’ll stand by your side, even in hell,” she spoke in a shy tone.
Kylie’s words were soft but firm. Within a moment, a strange shift occurred in Ethan’s eyes.
He wrapped his arms tightly around her slender waist. Kylie was wearing an exaggerated crop top so that when she raised her arms to hug him back, the bruises on her arms and sides were exposed. Seeing that, Aiden was ready to explode in anger.
His first thought was that those bruises must have occurred when Kylie and Ethan slept together. It must have been a wild, passionate night!
He preferred Khloe’s obedience, but when Kylie had pursued him, he’d had a sense of fulfillment-he had been attached to her fearless nature.
Man is a creature who always begs for shame. When someone pursues him, he pays no attention. But when that same woman turns to another man, he feels offended and unbalanced.
Kylie had pursued him for five years. He had never wanted to kiss her, let alone sleep with her, but now… With a sudden snap, the chopsticks in his hands broke.
Taylor noticed that Aiden’s hand was bleeding, and said: “How ominous it is!”
Nicole was unconvinced, so she stood up and faced her father, Matthew Parker. “Dad, her disrepute is known across the city. A woman like that, abandoned by my brother… how could she be qualified to wear my Uncle Ethan’s ring?!”
Aiden couldn’t bear it anymore. His mother was reaching for him, but he brushed her aside. He spoke: “Uncle Ethan, everyone knows that Kylie Finch pursued me before… If you marry her, people will gossip that you’ve married a woman who wasn’t even good enough for your nephew.”
“Shut up!” Matthew scolded. “How can you denigrate your elders?!”
“Aiden is just speaking the truth,” replied Nicole. And so, the entire family continued to quarrel.
Ethan watched their angry, disgusting faces. His eyes became colder and colder, while Kylie smiled contentedly, knowing these people were jealous to death but couldn’t admit it.
With a sudden burst, Old Mr. Parker slapped the table in a rage. “Get out of here!” he spoke to Ethan and Kylie. It should have been a happy dinner but turned into a feast of embarrassment and anger.
Back in his Knight XV, Ethan was looking at his computer screen, a sly smile in his eyes.
Seeing him so smug, Kylie couldn’t help but say to herself: “Child.” The show was over; she took off the ring and threw it into Ethan’s lap.
Ethan had messed up the dinner on purpose; the worse the atmosphere, the more satisfied he seemed to be. Kylie didn’t understand why he was so against his family.
“Did you smoke?” Ethan suddenly asked.
“Nope!” Kylie covered her mouth with her hand. He must have smelled it on her breath.
He had smelled the smoke when she leaned towards him to toss the ring. It was the odor of the lady’s mentholated cigarettes.
“There’s nothing wrong with my nose,” he said. “I can smell it! You’ve just lost half your allowance for the month!”
“The smell from inside probably just clung to me!”
“You’ve lost one thousand dollars for lying.” He raised his eyebrows. “You’d better quit smoking and drinking, or you’ll lose your allowance!”
“You bastard! You’ve burned your bridges! You can’t now interfere with my human rights!” Kylie was angry; she had just helped him out at dinner, and now he seemed to forget all he owed her.
“And five hundred dollars for every bad word,” he continued.
Kylie angrily puffed out her cheeks, like a frog.
“And if I see you wearing clothes like that again, all your extra pocket money will be deducted. In addition, you’ll have to make up for my mental torment-I can’t handle seeing you like that. If you don’t want to give back the money, you can sell your body to me.”
Kylie could not have been angrier. She thinks: Shit, this must be part of his scheme… At first, he seems really easy-going, but now that we’re married, he starts to show his true colors!
The atmosphere in the car was icy cold. Half an hour later, they pulled into the drive of a high-class housing estate.
The front door opened, and she saw the cold decorating style of the house, which gave her the feeling that no woman had ever lived there. It was simple and clean.
After changing into his slippers, Ethan was still expressionless. He gently spoke: “Ben, this is my wife-please tell the servants to introduce themselves to the lady.”
The housekeeper, Ben, responded respectfully, but he gave Kylie a weird look.
“Humph!” Kylie was still fuming, so she turned her back and ignored them.
Ethan took Pupu into his room and prepared bowls of dog food and water. When he came out again, he didn’t see Kylie.
She was standing in the doorway of the fitness room and looking around in amazement. Wow! So many types of fitness equipment; no wonder he’s in such good shape, she thought.
Not only was Ethan strong, but he was also smart. His study was filled with books, all lined against the walls.
Kylie wanted to continue her tour of the house, but the next room was locked. “How can such an important man be so mysterious… what is he trying to hide,” she muttered to herself.
She tried to peek through the keyhole.
“Ma’am.” Ben suddenly appeared behind her. “The bedroom is this way.”
“Oh,” she replied, startled. Kylie calmed herself down and followed Ben down the hall. She kept looking back at the mystery room with curiosity.
“What’s that room for? Why is it locked?” she asked. But Ben did not answer. Instead, he led her to a door made of pear wood and gestured for her to enter.
As soon as she stepped inside the bedroom, she could barely breathe.
Chapter 15: Propose Anything Except Divorce
The walls were gray, the furniture was dark, and the sheets were all black. The windows were big but covered with thick, dark curtains.
If there weren’t a large chandelier above her, Kylie would have thought she was standing in a dark room.
Living in such a repressed bedroom, wouldn’t he have nightmares at night? She wondered.
As Kylie recovered from her surprise, the sound of flowing water caught her attention. The door to the bathroom was ajar, and hot steam was spilling out of the door.
“Is he bathing?” she muttered to herself.
For an instant, she recalled his eight beautiful, sexy abdominal muscles. She felt her face flush for an instant. She realized that her nose was wet; she quickly wiped it and luckily, discovered that it was only condensation, not blood.
She quietly retreated, realizing that she should escape, or else that man devoured her. She couldn’t bear the idea of being discovered.
At that moment, the man in the bathroom seemed to read her mind. The sound of flowing water stopped.
While Kylie was opening the bedroom door, the door to the bathroom was also opening. Ethan emerged with clouds of steam around him, which made him appear more gentle.
He was wearing black silk pajamas, and Kylie could see his beautiful trapezius through his big-open collar. His hair was wet, and water was dripping down his chiseled collarbone, and seeping into his pajamas.
The powerful male hormone was approaching. Then, Ethan was standing in front of her.
Kylie became conscious of her dry throat. She stepped back and wanted to get out, but he unexpectedly reached over her and shut the door. Then, he pressed her against the door.
She blinked through her tears and looked at the leaping sparks of passion in Ethan’s eyes.
He pursed his lips, and his gaze swept from her panic-stricken face to her breast and legs.
Where to hide?
Ethan’s handsome face was above her head. She could smell the slight fragrance of bath milk on the tip of his nose. In a panic, her hands began to tremble.
“Well, Lord Ethan… Shouldn’t we spend some time getting to know each other first, or… or, should we sleep apart for some time first? After all, we just met the other day…”
“Tonight is our wedding night.” Ethan suddenly interrupted her. “And with the way you dress, aren’t you trying to seduce me?”
Kylie was speechless. She suddenly felt his hands tighten around her waist; her chest was pushed against his damp body. He was trying to tell her, with body language, that her intention had been achieved.
“Ah! Let go of me… It’s not what you think!” Kylie screamed and punched his chest with force.
“Hmm? What?” Ethan lifted her wrists and fixed them above her head. He leaned his tall, slender figure down towards her, as though he were about to kiss her. But his lips suddenly stopped, just in front of her face.
“What’s that smell?” he asked, in a low and chilling voice.
Kylie thought that he must be a neat-freak! She seized her chance and escaped from his embrace. She took a whiff of her shirt, and said: “Nope, nothing!”
She had performed her scene in the shopping mall earlier that day, had worn heavy makeup, and had smoked a cigarette at the Finch House. Now, she smelled like a fusion of cosmetics, smoke, and sweat. So, of course, she smelled terrible.
“Take a bath!” Ethan said coldly.
Kylie shrugged. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes with me.”
“There are some in the closet.” He pointed at a closet in the corner of the room.
How could he have women’s clothes? There were clearly no other feminine things in the house… Plus, wasn’t he gay? With doubt in her mind, she directly made her way to the closet in search of the truth.
Perhaps the answer was in that locked room? Nonsensical thoughts filled her mind as she opened the closet door. Seeing the clothes inside, she rolled her eyes and turned to Ethan.
“You expect me to wear this?”
A row of white shirts and dark trousers were neatly hanging in the closet. There weren’t many women’s clothes and not a single extra pair of pajamas.
“You can choose to be naked.”
Kylie couldn’t bear him, but she held back her anger and picked out a white shirt.
Sure, she could reluctantly compromise when it came to pajamas, but on that other matter…
“I can sleep next door, really! When I sleep, I look really ugly, and I also snore!” She carried the shirt to the bathroom as she spoke those words.
“If you behave yourself, that can be discussed.”
“Really?” Kylie had expected him to object without thinking; she definitely hadn’t expected him to be so kind, but…
“But what do you mean by ‘behave yourself’? Define it clearly,” she responded.
“If you don’t stir up any trouble for a whole month, then you can propose something.”
“Anything?”
“Except divorce.”
“Mm…” she thought, as he seemed to stare right through her. She considered his words and decided that there was nothing to lose. At least this way, she could remain hopeful.
“Deal!” she said.
Ethan’s eyes were dark, and his lips made a fine line. He thought that, even though this woman looked rebellious, it was all a disguise. She was really so pure, and at the time, even a little silly.
He sat on the bed and took up a book, which he pretended to read. But the whole time she was in the bathroom, he imagined what she was doing through the sound of flowing water.
Kylie’s smooth and tender skin… her perfect body appeared in his mind…
Simply fantasizing, his blood began to boil, and his loins started to react.
Ethan quite admired himself. He could always remain expressionless on such occasions. Now one would be able to tell that he wanted to rush towards her and bully her into submission recklessly.
But he was controlled by reason, which instructed him that it was not the right time. He wanted her to become attracted to him, even gradually. That was the most important thing for him.
Plus, there was no rush to take action. He didn’t want to ruin his whole elaborate plan because of one moment of impulse.
Ethan’s body gradually cooled down, and the boiling blood subsided.
After taking a bath, Kylie put on Ethan’s shirt. She tugged it as hard as she could, but she could still barely cover her buttocks.
Now that the shirt was too short to act as a dress, she could merely fasten all the buttons and hope it covered most of her body.
It is said that one of the sexiest things a woman can do is wear a man’s shirt. The shirt was so loose on her that Ethan could easily tell that she wasn’t wearing any other clothes underneath.
His desire welled up once more. He immediately longed to tear off her shirt and explore the secrets underneath…
But the suffering man went on reading, and spoke in the coolest voice imaginable: “It’s really not easy for you.”
His tone sounded weird, but Kylie seemed not to care. She carefully lay on the edge of the bed, her heart beating hard.
She had thought she would sleep with her back towards him. But thinking about it, it was the terrifying option: not to know what he was doing.
Thus, she chose to sleep on her back. She tightly clenched the quilt and covered her entire body.
Even though she pretended to relax, her alert eyes gave her away. Ethan stealthily chuckled.
Every time he changed his position, the bed sank a little bit. Kylie would suddenly open her eyes and look his way with a nervous expression.