“Anthony!”
Anthony let out a laugh and pressed his forehead against mine as he massaged one of my ears. “Featherstone Corporation is planning to pull out of the project to minimize our losses as much as possible, and then let another company take over it. When that’s all settled, go back to K City with me, Sienna. Okay?”
“But I want to see this until the very end.” I preened in his embrace, my eyes fluttering close at the relaxing motion. “I don’t want to go back to K City and become a spoilt wife who just waits for you to return home every day.”
“I never said that” he sighed. “You’re free to do whatever you want in K City. Didn’t you mention that you wanted to pursue a postgraduate education? You can try that, and if all else fails, you can come back to Featherstone Corporation and take up your previous job. How does that sound?”
I pursed my lips. “But I can’t just give up on the project halfway through.”
“Sometimes, I really wonder if you’re a spy that Armond sent to bewitch me on purpose.” He shook his head, a little exasperated.
I raised an eyebrow, quickly taking the chance to climb off of his lap. “Go take a shower and sleep early tonight,” I huffed before exiting the bathroom.
There were too many suspicious things about the Lavelian Village project as if someone was causing trouble on purpose. Thus, I didn’t want to return to K City without getting to the bottom of things.
I heard the sound of running water from the bathroom as I sat back down in front of the dressing table, resuming my skincare routine.
Soon after, Anthony came out, a towel wrapped around his waist. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly at the sight of me. “What’s the use of all these bottles and creams?”
I shrugged, my gaze sweeping over the many skincare products lined up on the dressing table. “I’m getting old. If it weren’t for these, I’d have turned into a hag a long time ago. You wouldn’t want to bang a wrinkly lady, right?”
He squinted at the products, raising a curious eyebrow. A charming smirk grew on his face as he slowly approached me.
Sensing his strange actions, I stared at him suspiciously out of the corner of my eye. “What are you doing?”
He picked up one of the bottles of lotion, skimmed over the instructions, and then glanced at me. “I’ll help you put this on.”
I…
That was the lotion that Nora had gifted me. Her old folks claimed that our relationship would improve with this. Despite the expensive price tag, she thought we had to catch up with the trend and try it.
He squeezed some lotion out onto his palm, pulling me into his arms once more. “You can leave these sorts of things up to me in the future, Mrs. Featherstone.”
Panicking, I grabbed onto his wrist. “What are you doing, Anthony?”
“I’m helping you put lotion on.” His smile was disarmingly handsome, and one of his hands was already starting to slip under my negligee.
“Don’t rush your decision to withdraw from the Lavelian Village project, alright?” I frantically changed the topic. “Hopefully, this will all pass and everything will get better soon. Besides, hasn’t Featherstone Corporation lost some of its AI technology recently? Even if you try to withdraw now and find another company to collaborate with, you’ll still face the same problems. The employees from both corporations are finally starting to get along and cooperate with each other well, too.”
My little rant didn’t distract him at all. I bit on my lower lip, suppressing the heat building within me as I asked, “Did something happen today?”
Anthony seemed stubborn in not talking about the subject anymore, but he finally replied, “Just the project.”
I knew it. The project’s condition was still unstable, after all. Pushing him away, I crawled back into bed and hid under the covers. “I’m sleeping!”
“You little vixen,” he laughed wryly. “It’s as if Mr. Murphy is your husband instead of me. You’re just trying to twist my arm at this point.”
“I get a large portion of the profits if I stay with Murphy Corporation,” I argued from under the covers. “I wouldn’t get anything if I worked at Featherstone Corporation.”
He sighed, getting under the covers and wrapping me in his arms. “Can’t I just give you however much money you want?”
“It’s different! I want to earn my own income.” I squirmed in his embrace.
“I see that someone needs to be taught a lesson tonight,” he joked. After saying that, his hands started wandering all over my body.
More than an hour later, my body had reached its limit after several rounds of lovemaking, and I begged him, “Anthony, I can’t… Ah! If you keep this up… I won’t go back to K City with you…”
Anthony’s hips finally halted their movements as he buried his face into the crook of my neck, chuckling in satisfaction. The grass is always greener on the other side. People often fail to realize the bliss and happiness they own when faced with challenges.
Just like how someone might be admiring the scenery, but someone else might be admiring the sight of them from afar.
I grew sleepy as the night dragged on, my eyes closing on their own will. I distantly registered the sensation of something being put onto my finger, whimpering quietly as I pulled my hand back. “What…”
“It’s your wedding ring,” I heard Anthony say before he placed a gentle kiss on my lips.
A little astonished, the fog cleared from my brain as my eyes flew open. Burrowing into his arms, I reached up and kissed him again, saying drowsily, “We’re already an old, married couple, though.”
When I ran away from K City, I’d left my wedding ring and all my credit cards at the villa. I’d never thought that he would be wearing it all this time.
The dim lighting of the bedside lamp cast a warm glow onto Anthony’s gentle smile. His voice was husky as he replied, “Thirty isn’t old at all. In fact, I think it’s the best time of our lives.”
He pushed himself up to hover over me, swiftly stealing my breath away with countless deep kisses.
The following days were inevitably boring due to the project Lavelian Village being put on hold.
As a result, I grew antsier and antsier with each passing day.
Nora eventually recovered and was discharged from the hospital. She wasted no time in going to the Murphy Corporation and inviting Linda and me for lunch.
“There’s no use in drowning in work to distract yourself. Even if the project gets back on track, we still need to take the higher-ups’ opinions into account. You might as well enjoy some delicious food and take your minds off of the whole situation for a while,” she chided us while in the car.
Linda’s fatigue and worry were clearly written all over her face. Even her makeup looked cakey in contrast to the perfect image that she usually upheld.
I was faring slightly better than her. Although Anthony was still busy at the office, he made sure to come home every night and keep me company, preventing me from burning the midnight oil and ensuring that I would actually get a good night’s sleep.
“It’s not like I want to be this stressed either,” Linda groaned. “But the longer this project stays on hold, the more our company will suffer losses that just keep piling on top of each other!”
She had a point. There were more than a hundred employees currently on-site at Lavelian Village whose salaries were at least five thousand per month. If the project was delayed for one month longer, we would be wasting a month’s worth of salaries. Murphy Corporation was a large company, but that didn’t mean that we could afford to burn through our financial assets recklessly.
“Mr. Murphy’s the one who should be worrying about this, not you. Let’s just forget this nonsense and go grab some food,” Nora said.
Upon our arrival at Gastronomia, Linda exclaimed when she got off the car, “Ms. Oberick, is there really a need for us to eat here? One meal cost at least a month’s worth of my salary. We know you’re rich, but the both of us treasure our money.”
Nora handed her keys over to the valet. “Stop exaggerating. I know you’ve eaten at fancier restaurants back in the past. C’mon, it’s not like you’re treating. Let’s just enjoy our meal.”
Linda coughed awkwardly. “Can’t help it. I’m tight on cash recently.”
Although A City was only a second-tier city in the Xenhall region, it did not lose out to the other first-tier cities in terms of lavishness.
True to its name, Gastronomia was a fine-dining restaurant that served exquisite food. Instead of the private dining room, we opted to eat at the main hall. Nora headed over to the bar to greet a few familiar faces.
One of them led us to our seats. Right after, she took the liberty to order for us. “They sell mainly seafood here. So don’t worry about getting fat and eat your fill.”
Linda was in disbelief. “Is this really our main concern now?”
Despite the complaints from earlier, the relaxing ambiance and mouth-watering dishes had evidently improved all our moods. At the moment, Nora ordered some red wine. She managed to persuade Linda to drink with her.
After a few drinks, both of them started talking about Armond. Nora seemed a bit down. “Dating is such a dread. Which reminds me, Linda, have I ever mentioned how much I envy you? You have a family of your own. Being a single parent is tough, but it saves you from all those relationship issues.”
“Ms. Oberick, this is where you’re wrong. You’re the lucky one! Since you’re single, you can do whatever you want and not have to be accountable to anyone. How great is that!”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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