Scarlett’s POV:
“Do something about what?” Charles asked casually, grabbed a magazine, and started flipping through
it. I snatched the magazine from his hand and said, “The entire world doesn’t need to know about our
marriage.”
“Well, you heard my assistant. The entire world already does. What do you expect me to do about it?”
Charles dipped his chin and eyed me carefully as if he was seriously considering what I wanted to
happen.
Feeling that there was still a chance to ameliorate the situation, I set down the magazine and started
strategizing with him. “Now is a good time to issue an official statement. Netizens don’t know what to
believe right now because you haven’t confirmed or denied anything about our relationship. Once you
speak up, everything will be okay.”
“But I don’t want to lie about us.” Charles furrowed his brows and looked very upset.
“Fine. Then I’ll issue a statement. That way, you won’t be the one lying,” I compromised again. I could
not believe the stream of excuses he had flowing. “You’re so smart, honey.” With a faint smile on his
face, Charles said, “Go do whatever you want.”
I blinked at him twice. I did not expect that he would just agree to my suggestion without a fight. “If you
want, I’ll call someone right now to help you write an official statement,”
he added and then continued, “I mean, we don’t want to worsen the situation with a badly written press
release, do we?”
I froze and then darted my eyes to my phone. I took a moment to consider what he just said. Charles
did make a lot of sense. A clumsy denial might result in self exposure. If I failed to explain everything
clearly, the netizens would probably even doubt me for trying to hide something, and all my efforts
would be in vain.
“What? Do you want to make the phone call?” Charles cast a cold glance at me.
I pursed my lips and put down my phone. “I want to rethink releasing an official statement.”
What if I just left it? Was it really such a bad idea that everyone knew about me and Charles now? I
decided to forget about it and drop the idea of making a statement.
“Very well. Like I said, you can do whatever you want,” Charles beamed and pointed at the gift boxes.
“Open them.”
“No. I don’t want to accept those gifts. It’s not appropriate for me to open them.” I folded my arms over
my chest.
The gifts were for Mrs. Moore. If I accepted them, then that would mean I was admitting to being
Charles’s legal wife.
“Well, they’re yours anyway. Just open one, will you?” Charles said to me lazily.
If I refused one more time, Charles would just badger me until I gave in, so I decided to save myself
from the pestering.
The gifts the partners sent obviously came from a place of sincerity. They were not only in delicate
boxes but also wrapped in shiny, expensive-looking wrapping paper that exuded a signature fragrance.
I opened one box that contained a pair of gorgeous couple rings.
“Are those couple rings? Give them to me,” Charles ordered and crossed his legs. “Get them yourself,”
I replied and rolled my eyes.
“But my hand hurts,” Charles pouted and rubbed his hand.
“But your legs are functional, aren’t they?” He was really starting to piss me off with his barefaced lies.
“I thought you decided to stay to help me. Why are you being mean to me now? You know what, forget
it. Just leave me alone so I can curl up in my bed and die,” Charles murmured to himself, implicating
that I was cold, heartless, and without a conscience.
I could not decide whether to be irked or amused. In the end, I just shook my head, picked up the rings,
and brought them to him.
“Here you go. Stop sulking.”
“Put one on me,” Charles grinned.
“Oh, for crying out loud, Charles. Don’t push it,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I can’t do it. Like I said, my hand hurts. I’m really feeling useless right now, okay? I don’t appreciate
your being snippy toward me. You should be kind to injured people,” Charles began pouting again.
Once again, I rolled my eyes and then picked up the bigger ring. “Give me your hand.I had to admit that
Charles’s hands were the best-looking hands I had ever seen in my life. They were always clean and
supple, and his fingers were long and slender. When I slid the ring onto his finger, it fit perfectly like it
was tailor-made for him.
I curled my lips and murmured, “Wow. It looks great on you.”
Charles did not respond. Instead, he picked up the other ring and said, “Now give me your hand.”
“What? Why?” I shot him a suspicious look. What was this guy up to?
“I’ll put this on you,” Charles answered, looking up at me.
“Oh, no. We can’t wear couple rings,” I refused outright. Charles chuckled a little but did not force me.
He put the ring back into the box and darted his eyes straight at mine. “Why not? Are you planning on
dating other men?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you again.” Not wanting to engage in yet another pointless
argument, I got up and went to the kitchen to prepare some food. I did not bother looking back to check
on Charles’s reaction. He could feel whatever he wanted.
In the evening, after cleaning up, I went to the guest room, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I saw was the other half of the couple rings on my finger.
The second thing I saw was Charles’s sleeping face right next to my head. I rubbed my eyes and
thought hard about whether or not I forgot to lock my door before I fell asleep last night. 1 “Hey! Wake
up! What are you doing in my bed? How did you even get in?” I poked his arm.
Keeping his eyes closed, Charles grabbed my hand, pinned it down, and said, “It’s too early, honey.
Let’s sleep a little longer.”
From the little dark circles under his eyes, I had guessed that he might have worked until really late
again last night and somehow staggered into my room and passed out beside me. I could not help
staring at him while he slept. He looked like a different person when he was asleep. He seemed warm
and kind, which was the polar opposite of his awake self.
I reached out to touch his eyelashes. They were so long and upturned. I brushed my thumb over his
cheek and gave it a little pinch, which strangely felt good. I could not help pinching him several more
times.
“Scarlett, if you don’t want to go back to sleep, we can do something interesting.”
All of a sudden, Charles opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around my waist. He stared deeply
into my eyes.
I was so startled that I withdrew my hand immediately. “Were you awake the entire time?”
“Were you pinching me because you found me irresistible?” Charles asked in a hoarse voice that
tripped all the alarms in my head.
I quickly lifted off the quilt and rolled out of bed. “I’ll go make us some breakfast,” I said in a voice that I
desperately tried to keep level.
I was out of the room before Charles could grab me again. That was close. Good thing I had reacted
fast enough. Otherwise, I would still be in bed and doing something I would definitely regret with the
man I vowed to cut loose from my life. I really should be careful around Charles especially when he
was sleep-deprived because that was when he was coming up with interesting things to do to wake
himself up.
As soon as I entered the kitchen, the doorbell rang. When I went to answer the door, I found Rita
standing outside. She was a bit overdressed for a morning visit.
The moment she saw me, she narrowed her eyes, raised her hand, and attempted to slap me. How
could I let her succeed? I raised my right hand in time to grab her wrist and hold it tight. The ring that
Charles put on my third finger glinted in the morning light.
“Oh, Rita. Don’t you know that angry is the new ugly?”
Rita did not appreciate my thinly veiled insult and shook off my hand. “You bitch! Have you no shame?”
“What do I have to be ashamed about? Last time I checked, Charles and I are still married. You’re the
one who’s showing up at a married man’s house so early in the morning. I think you should answer
your own question. But if you want my opinion, yes, I do think you have no shame,” I explained smugly,
crossing my arms over my chest. People should not tolerate people like Rita, or she would become
more aggressive.
A muscle flickered in Rita’s jaw as she fell silent. She was so furious that her face began to look
distorted. She shoved me out of her way and said, “Be a good guard dog and get out of my way!”
I raised my eyebrows and watched her march into Charles’s home. I did not try to stop her by use of
force. She might be an infuriating woman, but she was still sick and pregnant. I could not have her
death on my conscience just because I felt that she should not be ambushing my husband in the early
hours of the day.
It was only then that I realized that Rita did not come alone. “Aren’t you going to follow her, Richard?” I
asked Rita’s bodyguard who was standing outside like a statue.
He shook his head and put on a gloomy expression. “You better take good care of Mr. Moore, Miss
Riley.”
“How do you feel about Rita now?”
“I’m in love with her. I don’t want to leave her,” Richard said in a low voice.
“You’re already in love with her?” I could not help sighing.
I was looking at a big, hulking tower of a man in love’s merciless shackles. If Richard stayed in love
with Rita, he would be destined to end up a poor, broken man,
At this time, the sound of breaking glass came from upstairs.
Thinking that Charles was hurt, I immediately rushed to him with Richard closely on my heels.
I found Charles standing in the corridor on top of the staircase. There was a broken vase on the floor.
Rita was on her knees in front of him and hugging his thighs. She was sobbing and begging, “Please,
Charles. Give me one more chance.”
There was no expression in Charles’s face. When he saw me, his eyes moved slightly.
I frowned and thought that he was being cruel. After all, Rita was pregnant.
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