Ch. 171..180

Chapter 171

"Or maybe, he's just trying to use this method to tell me that he isn't interested in me, and just wants me to wait obediently for the divorce." Xyla shrugged and turned to look at the pine tree in the snow-covered yard. "Forget him, this is nice too. I just have to wait quietly for three years and then get a divorce."

"Actually, weren't you already healed by then? Even if you choose to break the contract in advance, your master can't do anything to you. So, why didn't you?" asked Stanley, staring intently into her eyes, curiosity filling his gaze.

"Humans are supposed to keep their promises, aren't they? Master is my benefactor, I can't be so heartless. To me, my master is like a second parent."

At the mention of her master, Xyla's gaze became much softer and her voice more mellow. She voiced out her innermost thoughts without reserve, "In fact, when I first agreed to my master's condition, I thought that maybe I could try living a proper life with him. After all, I'm indebted to his grandfather. But he had always been reluctant to show his face, so I started changing my mind."

Seeing her this way, Stanley felt as if a warm hand had touched him somewhere deep inside his heart. His lips curled into a barely visible smile.

Xyla stood up. "Alright, let's stop talking about this. Let's put away the things you brought over. I'll take you outside later to get you used to the house." Perhaps it was how dazzling and warm the sunlight was, at that moment, Stanley felt as if she was a soft and listless kitten. He felt an urge to caress her. "Sure." Stanley got up slowly and gently rubbed her head.

Xyla's heart immediately squeezed, taking a step back out of reflex. "What are you doing?"

Was he teasing her?

"There's something on your head,” he said. Turning to leave, his lips curved slightly upward again. “Let's go...”

Xyla quickly tidied her ruffled hair before going after him...

Thereafter, the two of them relocated the items in the luggage bag to their proper places. Once everything was done, Xyla first showed Stanley around the second floor, before they descended to the first floor. Having viewed the rooms one by one, suddenly, it was noon.

Xyla led Stanley back into the living room and said, "Take a seat. There are ingredients in the refrigerator, so I'll make some food now. My dad wanted to arrange for a maid to serve us, but I refused. With our condition, if an outsider comes in, we'll be exposed immediately.

"Thus, our house chores will be borne by us from now on. We'll do a huge cleanup twice a week. As for the other chores in between, whoever's free will do them. How does that sound?" Xyla asked for his opinion.

"Sure," he said.

"You hurt your elbow recently, so for the time being, I'll take care of everything," said Xyla.

"Only my left arm is hurt, not my right." He then gently moved his left arm. Although it still hurt, it was not as bad as she assumed.

"That won't do either... If you feel bad, you can help me do some work that doesn't require too much physical exertion. You'll have to listen to me on this matter." Xyla was firm, even her expression became stern.

Stanley nodded in defeat. "Alright."

"There's no need to sweep and mop the floor. After we have lunch, we'll go out and get a sweeping robot and a mopping robot. We'll put one of each on both floors," said Xyla.

"Sure. I'll pay," replied Stanley.

"No need. I'll pay. You just have to cooperate with me and play the role of my husband. You don't have to care about anything else," said Xyla casually. She had no plans to let him share any of the responsibilities.

Stanley was speechless. After listening to her, an awkward feeling rose in his heart. It was as if he was being kept by Xyla Quest.

Chapter 172

"Alright, I'm making lunch. Is there anything you'd like to eat?" Xyla asked.

"I'm good with anything," replied Stanley.

"What about the food you hate?"

They would be living together for one year, so she felt the need to be aware.

"None."

With a nod, Xyla turned to enter the kitchen. Her father had instructed the maid to fill up their fridge yesterday, so it was well stocked. She took out the ingredients she would be using and washed them. Soon, a household norm of four dishes and one soup were prepared. The spread consisted of braised pork, green pepper scrambled eggs, hot pepper potato shreds, braised prawns, and squid tofu soup. She placed them carefully on the square dining table and filled up two bowls of rice. Against the green and white checkered tablecloth, the wonderfully prepared dishes looked extraordinarily enticing. The expensive tableware further enhanced this visual effect. The rising heat brought about warmth to this huge mansion.

After placing down the bowls, Xyla went to the dining hall's entrance and looked at the man who was sitting on the sofa, looking at his phone. "Five Batton, it's time to eat."

He got up and moved his long, slender legs towards her. Sunlight shone from behind him, making his fair skin glow. There were no wrinkles in neither his crisp black shirt, nor his long black pants, and his mildly rolled up sleeves gave off a lazy vibe.

It was just a simple, all-black outfit, but he had given it a uniquely elegant and noble air. He was merely walking at home, but compared to the models with exquisite makeup and extravagant clothing on the runway, he was much more captivating. Even the milky way could not compare to him.

For an instant, even Xyla, who had gotten used to seeing handsome men, was a little dazed. Once he got near, she quickly turned into the dining hall and sat down. Moving his long legs, he sat down opposite her.

"I've taste-tested every dish today. I didn't use the wrong seasoning this time, so it's all remarkably delicious," she declared with great confidence.

Stanley glanced faintly at the dishes on the table before picking up his chopsticks and trying some hot pepper potato shreds. It actually tasted better than any other hot pepper potato shreds he had ever eaten. "Yeah, it's delicious," he praised.

"Try the green pepper scrambled eggs. It tastes great too. Completely different from the one I made the other day," Xyla added.

Stanley quietly took some green pepper scrambled eggs and tasted it carefully. "Yeah, it's delicious." Suddenly, this green pepper scrambled eggs combination didn't seem so bad.

All of a sudden, his phone vibrated.

Stanley saw a Wechat message from Henry: 'Old Fifth, what are you doing? Let's meet up in the afternoon.'

He simply replied: 'No.'

Henry: 'Don't be like that. My friend has air-shipped a lot of seafood and sashimi to me, so I need to share the good stuff with my brothers.'

Soon after, he sent Stanley a cute smiley emoji.

Stanley: 'Not interested.'

Henry: 'Are you busy? QAQ...'

Ignoring him, Stanley placed his phone on the table and continued eating. His table manners were elegant, while his gestures carried an air of nobility. Looking up from her food, Xyla felt like she was looking at an exquisite and vintage European oil painting.

"How is it? Does it suit your taste buds?" she asked.

"It's great."

Xyla smiled. "Then, have some more."

"Sure."

Chapter 173

After lunch, Xyla Quest drove Stanley Batton to Goldfield Plaza in her sports car.

Soon, the couple managed to purchase the cleaning robots they needed.

After their purchase, they moved the goods into the car.

It was bright, sunny, and cloudless outside. Such a day without snowfall was one of the rare good days in winter.

After closing the fully stuffed car boot, Xyla turned to him and said, "I'll go to the supermarket to get some dish soap. You can wait for me in the car."

"I'll go with you." Moving his long slender legs, he simply strode to the supermarket's entrance on the first floor and got into the elevator.

Xyla said nothing but quickly followed after him.

A good looking couple was exceptionally eye-catching.

"If I had a boyfriend like that, I don't think I'll be able to sleep because I'll be staring at his face until I die."

"This guy looks like my idol, Josh Batton, but I think he's even more handsome than Josh. My goodness, this girl is too fortunate!"

"They look so compatible. This must be the legendary gorgeous couple!"

Shoppers could not help exclaiming as they passed by.

Everyone inadvertently shifted their gaze toward them.

Xyla raised her head a little to look at his attractive side profile and could not resist lamenting, what a waste of resources not to make a celebrity debut with such a handsome face.

However, she knew full well that he was not interested in the entertainment world, so she refrained from saying anything.

"What are you looking at?" He glanced faintly at Xyla before turning away to look at the floor-cleaning robots.

No matter how many admirers gathered around, he remained nonchalant.

It was as if those people were not worth even a glance.

"Nothing," said Xyla.

He looked meaningfully at Xyla as he continued forward. "Were you sneaking a look at me?"

"How was that sneaking a look at you?" I just blatantly took one look at you.

"Okay."

Xyla stopped responding. Getting out of the elevator, she got a shopping cart and went straight for the supermarket. Moving his long legs to keep up, he took over the shopping cart with a swift gesture and pushed it along with one arm. Even when pushing a cart, he looked like an actor in a sophisticated movie with his own special effects.

After entering the supermarket, Xyla led him to buy some dish soap.

After that, she inadvertently went into the snack area to browse the snacks.

No girl could escape the temptations of snacks.

After one round in that area, the cart in Stanley's hand was almost full.

Yet, Xyla showed no intention of leaving as she led him to the fruits area and started picking out fruits.

Spotting watermelons, Stanley pushed the cart over to start choosing earnestly.

A sales assistant hurried over and spoke ardently, "Hi handsome, would you like some watermelons? Get this biggest one. This watermelon is definitely sweet."

"Is that so?" I'll take it," he said.

Immediately after he spoke, Xyla came over and looked at him. "It's the middle of winter, so don't eat watermelons. This is a cooling fruit, so eating it in winter is unhealthy for your body." "Oh." Stanley nodded briefly.

Just then, Xyla's gaze was pulled away by some oranges nearby. She instantly went over to start choosing the oranges one by one.

"Mr. Handsome, do you still want the watermelon?" the sales attendant asked Stanley.

"No. I have strict house rules," Stanley answered apathetically before pushing the cart with one hand and going over to Xyla.

Chapter 174

After picking the oranges, Xyla led him to the commodities area to see if there was anything else they needed at home.

"I seem to have forgotten to bring something over," Stanley was looking calmly at the underwear area as he spoke.

"Just buy whatever you're missing here," said Xyla.

Stanley leaned down, folding his arms on the cart's handle and stared straight at her, asking faintly, "Do you think these here will fit me?"

Xyla looked confused. She had no idea what he was talking about. "Huh?"

He kept quiet, pointing to the men's underwear section.

Following his finger's direction, Xyla immediately noticed an entire section filled with men's underwear not too far away.

Her face and neck instantly flushed red.

Why did that sentence sound so ambiguous? So shameless?

Oddly, this was obviously a mischievous question, but she did not feel disgusted when he asked with a straight face.

Memories she had buried with so much difficulty came surging back like a great flood. As if she had been electrocuted, her body felt numb, and her heart started beating faster. Wait... why did she think about that stuff?

Xyla gave an awkward cough and looked at him. "About that night... Didn't we agree not to bring it up?"

"Did I bring it up?" he responded, looking serious as always. Without any emotion in his eyes, he stood up straight, looking proper.

Xyla was speechless. Although he never said it, that sentence made way for imagination.

"What are you blushing for?" he asked faintly.

"Who's blushing?" Xyla ignored him and pushed the cart forward, hurrying away.

His eyes crinkled as his lips curled into a subtle grin when he stared at her back profile.

What a thin-skinned girl that was sensitive to teasing.

After quickly looking around and realizing there was nothing else to buy, Xyla pushed the cart to the self-checkout counter to queue. Stanley followed quietly behind.

Be it figure, temperament, or their faces, the two stood out from everyone there by a few levels.

Like they were luminous objects, they instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Women could not resist staring at Stanley while men could not help but stare at Xyla.

After queuing for about ten minutes, it was their turn.

Xyla lifted her hand, planning to key in her phone number.

Just then, a pair of warm hands reached over from behind her, one hand gently moving her hand away while the other tapped in a combination of numbers.

He was standing right behind her. By extending his hands this way, she felt like she was being embraced.

Warm breaths glided over her scalp and electricity once again surged through her body.

Xyla took an awkward deep breath before turning to look at him. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Paying," he said like it was something casual.

Xyla subconsciously pushed him away and moved to the side. "Didn't we agree that I would pay?"

However, the man kept quiet as he chose a payment method on the screen. Then, he opened up a shopping bag and started scanning the items one by one before putting them inside.

At the mall earlier, he had insisted on paying. She had felt bad about it, but now, he was insisting on paying again.

"I'll transfer the money to you later." She already owed him a lot of money and favors. She did not want to add to her own debt anymore.

"Help me out," he said calmly as he continued to put the items in the bag, not responding to her appropriately.

Xyla stopped talking after seeing the long queue behind and started helping him to quicken up.

Chapter 175

She handed him the items while he scanned them. Such tacit cooperation was very efficient.

Whatever Xyla asked of him, he would cooperate compliantly.

When Sebastian and a female internet celebrity pushed their cart to the payment area, they just happened to run into this scene. His eyes subconsciously widened. Sebastian deliberately closed his eyes, rubbing them for a bit before opening them wide again.

His eyes were not playing tricks on him. That man was his best buddy, Old Fifth!

And that woman was his sister-in-law, Xyla Quest!

What was this? This person who despised entering supermarkets was actually here shopping!

And from the looks of things, he seemed to be cooperating very well.

He got more curious as to what magic Xyla had used on Stanley.

Were they already this close? So close that Xyla would actually go shopping with him?

"This is too f*cking surreal..." Sebastian could not help mumbling to himself.

The internet celebrity asked, "Young Master Brenand, what are you talking about?"

"N-... nothing." Sebastian shook his head without any intention of explaining to her.

He took out his phone and aimed his camera at Stanley and Xyla to take a fifteen-second video. Then, he sent it to their WeChat group, Gentleman's Club.

The group exploded right away.

Henry simply replied. "??????"

Gary only replied with a single '?'.

Henry then continued. "Holysh*t! What's going on? The one who hates supermarkets the most is actually shopping with Sister-in-law! @Stanley Batton. Is this some 3D fantasy movie?"

Gary added. "Are you guys already at the stage of shopping together? Looks like your relationship is developing very well @Stanley Batton"

Henry continued some more. "I think you're no longer the Old Fifth I know. Why do you treat Sister-in-law differently than us? Are we not worthy of such treatment from you? @Stanley Batton, furious- roaring.jpeg"

Gary seconded. "Of course we're not worthy. screaming-marmota.jpeg"

Sebastian replied. "@Old Fifth, stop playing dead and say something."

Sebastian continued. "This guy is not only keeping sister-in-law company, but he's also going to her at her every beck and call. Would you guys believe it? He is like a robot with Sister-in-law holding the remote."

Henry commented. "I remember asking a certain someone to accompany me to the supermarket once, but that person simply said that it's chaotic and troublesome and that he wouldn't go. Don't ask. I'm just not worthy."

Next, Henry and Sebastian started relentlessly tagging Stanley in their messages.

Stanley, who was currently buying scanning the groceries, was oblivious to all this.

Soon, Stanley and Xyla's stuff had all been scanned.

Stanley had to take his phone out to pay.

Upon seeing dozens of messages in the 'Gentleman's Club' and countless tags of himself, he simply ignored it and made his payment.

After that, he carried all the bags in one hand and strode outside. His long slender legs were attracting so much attention.

Xyla walked beside him as she pushed the cart with one hand. She opened their chat room in WeChat with her free hand. She transferred him fifty-one thousand and eight hundred dollars. This was the full amount of what they had spent today.

Vrrt, vrrt, vrrt. The phone in Stanley's pocket immediately vibrated.

"I've transferred you the amount we've spent this afternoon. Remember to accept it," said Xyla.

"No need," he replied.

"Why not? Didn't we agree that I'll be responsible for all these?" Even if he thought of money as crap, there was no need to go to such an extent!

Chapter 176

"Five Batton, don't force me to take out cash from the ATM." Xyla was adamant about returning the money.

Giving no response, he continued to push the cart forward as if there was a barrier around him, shutting everyone out.

Once at home, the two unpacked everything they bought, putting them in their rightful places.

After that, they sat on the snow-white carpet, taking the cleaning robots out of their boxes and putting one on each floor.

When everything was done, both returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

Stanley took out his phone, opened up the Gentleman's Club chat room, and read the chat records with an impassive look on his face.

Once inside, he saw himself tagged in dozens of messages.

More than ten of them were only tags without content.

Frowning slightly, he kept his composure as he continued to scroll up.

Only then did he finally realize what they were talking about and why they were so excited.

Slender fingers swiftly typed in words. "... any opinions?"

Henry replied. "Screaming-marmota.jpeg"

Right after that, his WeChat voice call notification began to ring. The caller was Sebastian Brenand.

Remembering that her mopping robot required water, Xyla grabbed the robot and the necessary tools and went into the toilet on the first floor.

Stanley casually answered the call, pinching his nose bridge gently. "What's up?"

On the other end, Sebastian chuckled. "Not much. Your brothers are just curious about your development with our sister-in-law."

"Busybodies," Stanley responded coldly.

"That's mainly because we can't tell, do you understand? When you were in school, didn't the teacher teach you to ask if there's something you don't know?" Sebastian had no intention of letting Stanley go. Stanley kept quiet.

"Tss... Ah..."

A yelp of pain could be heard from the washroom. Stanley heard it correctly.

His pupils instantly dilated.

He immediately hung up the call, tossed the phone away, and ran into the washroom. Upon entrance, he saw Xyla running the wound on her right index finger under the tap.

The water flowing into the white basin was slightly pink.

On the floor was a broken bottle of La Mer essence.

"What happened?" He looked concerned.

"I accidentally broke that bottle of essence. I wanted to pick it up, but I cut myself instead." Frowning slightly, he grabbed her right wrist and carefully examined the wound on her finger. The cut was deep. Once she removed it from under the running tap, blood seeped out again. Stanley held the finger to his lips and lightly suckled on it, being extra gentle.

That warm sensation made Xyla's body shudder before she became frozen stiff.

"You... don't have to do this. It'll be fine after rinsing it for a bit and putting on some antiseptic medicine." She subconsciously struggled, trying to withdraw her hand.

"Don't move. Behave." His tone was calm but indescribably domineering. He clamped on to her wrist tightly, giving her no chance to struggle.

Xyla felt as if she was being electrocuted once more.

Without realizing it, her heart started beating fast again.

Even her ears were burning red.

He suckled on it for a bit before putting her finger back under the tap, rinsing it.

When she struggled, he grabbed on tighter.

After a while of rinsing, he finally let her go. "Is there any band-aid and antiseptic at home?"

"Yeah. It's in the drawer of the living room's coffee table." Xyla nodded, still feeling numb from the electric sensation.

"Let's go." He held her wrist gently and led her back to the living room, making her sit on the sofa.

Then, Stanley leaned down to pull out the coffee table's drawer and found some antiseptic cotton balls and a band-aid.

Chapter 177

Carefully cleaning her wound with the cotton ball, Stanley kept blowing cold air at it. He was as tender as an antique duster.

A surge of warmth spread inside her heart when she looked up to see his focused gaze.

"How is it? Does it hurt?" he asked.

"It doesn't." Xyla shook her head.

"Don't use your hands to pick those up next time."

"Okay."

After that, he tossed the cotton ball away and meticulously wrapped her wound with a band-aid.

His actions were swift and gentle.

"Done. Don't get your wound wet for a period of time, okay?" He looked serious as ever.

Xyla nodded, standing up. "I'll go and clean up the glass shards."

"I'll go." He got up and walked into the washroom.

Xyla sat back down on the sofa and surfed Weibo.

Weibo's hottest search ranking was just as interesting as before. Upon entering, the searches were all about scandals involving Emily Quest, Tom Sullivan, and the Sullivan Group. The news was just as intense as before.

She couldn't help wondering again just who was the mastermind behind keeping these searches on top of the list for so many days.

Once Stanley was done cleaning up the washroom floor, he returned to sit beside Xyla and picked up his phone.

After unlocking it, the screen immediately displayed the Gentleman's Club chat room.

Having no idea what had happened above, the group was now filled with shocked and shy emojis.

Stanley was too lazy to scroll back up to read. He simply typed '...'.

After that, he was ready to exit.

However, before his finger could tap on the return button, the group chat exploded...

Sebastian texted. "You're done? But it hasn't been long!"

Henry replied. "Yeah..."

Gary commented. "Aren't you a little too fast?"

Stanley was confused. He typed a speedy reply. "Does it need to take long? Are five minutes not enough?"

Wasn't it enough time to dress a wound?

Henry replied. "... Five minutes? Isn't that a man's worst nightmare?"

Sebastian asked. "Do you have some misunderstanding with regard to this? How are five minutes enough? Even if you've never touched a woman, you should've at least watched videos, haven't you?" Gary sent an image. " shhh.jpeg"

Henry replied. "It's okay, Old Fifth. Don't be devastated. Something like this can now be treated. You just have to look for an excellent andrologist."

Stanley simply replied with '...' again.

Did they think he was doing that sort of stuff with Xyla just now?

What exactly led them to this misunderstanding?

He finally figured it out after a while...

Perhaps it was that yelp of pain when she got cut by the glass. Were the minds of these people so crooked to this extent?

Five minutes?

Him? Impossible!

Sebastian texted. "Did we hurt your self-esteem? We're just looking out for you. Someone so pure like you might not understand but five minutes is really bad." Stanley replied. "My wife's finger got cut, so I went to take care of it."

He could let everything else go without explaining but this concerned a man's pride. He had to explain.

The group was instantly filled with frightened emojis.

Immediately after, they spammed the chatroom with 'I'm sorry'.

Stanley ignored them and exited the screen to tap into the news application to read today's economic news.

"Five Batton... aren't you forgetting something?" asked Xyla.

Chapter 178

"What?" Stanley Batton asked as he slowly shifted his gaze to Xyla Quest's face.

"Are you really planning on not accepting the money in WeChat?" Xyla was determined to return the money to Five Batton.

"I don't want it," Stanley answered without hesitation.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xyla reached out to his phone so that she could accept the money on his behalf.

However, before she could even touch the phone, Stanley reflexively raised his phone high into the air.

"Can you not behave like this?" Xyla asked in softly as she frowned helplessly.

"No," Stanley said before letting go of the phone.

Immediately, the phone began falling. Stanley was able to catch it with his other hand. He then unlocked the phone with a single hand before he continued to read the news.

It happened so quickly, almost as if Stanley did not even need to think about it.

Xyla was amazed by how Stanley was able to move so agilely. It was the first time she had seen something like this.

This man in front of Xyla was handsome and charmed her whenever he was around.

After approximately ten minutes, Xyla tried to snatch Stanley's phone away again. He raised it high in the air once again.

Xyla rarely met people like him. Why was he so against the idea of someone returning money to him?

However, Xyla was not going to give up. She stood up directly and tried to take the phone away from Stanley.

Very quickly, Stanley also stood up and raised the phone higher in the air. Regardless of how Xyla tried to stand on her toes or jump in the air, she could not get close to the phone.

Stanley's facial expression was beginning to soften. While a faint smile appeared on his face, he silently observed Xyla jumping around in front of him.

Soon, the sky turned dark outside. Golden rays from the sun now filled the dusk sky.

The warm light from outside was seeping into the room, making the portrait appear somewhat romantic. It looked like a drama scene where the lady was causing a scene while the man laughed along. Perhaps due to the gentle sunset, Stanley felt that, at that moment, Xyla seemed almost like a white rabbit that was helplessly trying to reach for something it wanted by jumping with all her might. "Alright, stop messing around," Stanley said gently before passing the phone to his other hand.

"If you give it to me, I'll stop messing around," Xyla said before jumping yet again.

"Don't force me to use Kungfu on you," Xyla said.

"Are you resorting to domestic violence?" The smile on Stanley's face widened.

Domestic violence? Why did Xyla feel that this term sounded somewhat romantic?

Xyla ignored Stanley's question and tried to use her Kungfu abilities to snatch the phone away from him.

However, after several attempts, Xyla was forced onto the couch and was unable to move at all.

Meanwhile, Stanley was half-kneeling over her body. With a single hand, he was able to keep both her hands locked tightly. There was a playful look in his eyes. Xyla became quiet as she tried to struggle free.

"Stop fighting? Hmm?" He asked softly.

The intimate distance and posture made Xyla feel goosebumps all over her body.

Since two of the buttons below his collar were open, Xyla could clearly see the lines along Stanley's muscular chest.

While she sensed his warm breath against her forehead, it felt as if the entire living room was burning down.

Xyla's heart began to pound wildly.

"Let go of me. Do you hear me?" She struggled a little more.

"Will you still try to attack me?" Stanley asked.

"No," Xyla said. Although she believed she was a pretty good fighter, she was no match for Stanley. Now, she only wanted to be free from his grip.

This was too dangerous a posture for them to be in.

After looking at Xyla deeply, Stanley slowly let go of her. He then stood up and fixed his messy collar.

Xyla immediately sat up and looked at Stanley seriously.

"I hope that won't happen again," she said.

"Wasn't it an accident?" Stanley asked with his brows raised slightly.