In the back seat…
Credence ignored Dorothy’s bashful resistance and forcefully held her hands. He pursed his thin lips and coughed slightly. There was a hint of nervousness as he spoke, “Oh, yeah, do you like the color blue? What about open-air balcony houses or things like that?”
His questions baffled her, but she answered honestly, “I don’t hate blue, but I don’t particularly like it either. Belle likes open-aired balconies but I don’t have enough money to buy one.”
Credence’s nervous heart finally felt at ease after listening to her answers.
It seemed that she was not the romantic sort. So, she probably wouldn’t be picky with the candlelight dinner the blue roses.
After he calmed himself down, he took out his phone and clicked on Dorothy’s WhatsApp profile picture, which was a cute rabbit, for the first time. He then swiftly typed a string of messages to her.
Soon after, Dorothy heard the sound of notifications popping up on her phone. She took it out from her bag and tapped on it casually. When she looked at the screen, she saw that it was Credence who had messaged her.
She couldn’t help but feel shocked.
This man was sitting right next to her. He could’ve just said what was on his mind yet he chose to send her messages. However, she felt unexplainable happiness fill her heart.
She clicked on the message a photo popped up.
The photo showed a hall that was used for parties with a rectangular marble table in the center. There was a 12 layer cake with their faces printed on it on the table and it looked realistic.
The hall was filled with blue roses and the entire scene looked elegant and romantic.
Underneath the photo was a message that wrote, “Your birthday date!”
The word ‘date’ made Dorothy’s face turn rosy.
This was the first time he had formally invited her out for a date.
Dorothy felt extremely shy as if she were a teenage girl out on her first date.
She felt as if she was still her 16-year-old self, dressing up excitedly to attend the banquet that her beloved had invited her to.
She began to smile and could not help but touch his face that was printed on the cake repeatedly.
Recently, because of Belle’s illness and Credence’s injury, she had her plate full. However, this man had suddenly pulled out such a wild card. Not only was there a candlelight dinner, but he had also filled the hall with roses. What in the world was he trying to do?
Dorothy could not help but turn to look at Credence and found that his face was as calm as still water as if he was not the one who had sent her the flirty message.
A steady man like him would never show his emotions easily. So it was impossible to guess his thoughts from looking at his expressions.
Dorothy frowned. Although she was happy to know that he had deliberately arranged a date, her sensitive heart told her that the reason he was well aware of a woman’s desire was probably that he had done multiple romantic surprises for Rosalie. So coaxing women was an easy task for him.
However, even though her heart was in turmoil, Dorothy kept her mouth shut and never said a word.
Credence did not expect her to only give him a couple of glances after seeing the photo and message. What did she mean by that?
He frowned, a little surprised and defeated. “You don’t like the arrangement?” He leaned over and asked softly.
He might have looked calm on the surface, but in his mind, he was already furiously kicking Jonathan over and over again.
He knew it. He should not have expected too much from that bare branch from the very beginning.
Jonathan was so fearful that he played dead as he could feel the air behind him turn freezing cold.
He knew that Credence was the type of man who would be willing to stab a brother for his woman, all without even blinking.
Credence’s tone was too gentle; there was even a hint of pleading. This was a tone that Dorothy had never heard before, so she could not help but feel a little smug.
When the man looked over to her, she put on her most formal smile and nodded, “It’s fine.”
Upon hearing this, Credence narrowed his eyes and asked, “Just fine?”
“What else do you want me to say?” Dorothy snorted.
Suddenly, the man pinched her waist. Dorothy’s body stiffened for a moment as she felt his warm hand on her and both her face and ears turned red in an instant. “Credence, can we have a decent conversation without you touching me?”
“You’re the only one I would touch.”
The man’s seductive voice lingered in her ear, making it turn red. She quickly turned her head around and muttered, “I’m done arguing.”
She thought that he wouldn’t be able to hear her mumble.
Little did she know that he had undergone training as a special force army; his hearing was impeccable. So her mumble was as clear as a bell to him. He smiled as he held her hand and said in a seductive voice, “So can you please treat this as a practice and put up with me for now even if you’re not happy with any part of the arrangement?”
“Okay!”
After that, Dorothy turned her head to look out of the window, pretending to be difficult to please.
As the evening lights flashed, the joy in her eyes reflected on the window.
They finally arrived at the manor with a scenic view an hour later.
Jonathan jumped out of the car and walked to the back seat like a proper driver. He opened the door for them and said with a smile, “Ladies and gentlemen. Let’s welcome the stars of the show.”
With that, a group of staff members came out of nowhere and quickly pulled out a red Persian carpet and spread all the way into the building.
Looking at the grand scheme, clueless people would think that a celebrity had arrived.
Although Dorothy had married Credence, they have never walked on the red carpet together before. Ironically, the woman who accompanied him was Rosalie instead of her, his lawfully wedded wife.
As she was not used to the feeling of her high heels on the soft carpet, she almost lost her balance.
“Careful.”
He quickly held Dorothy and took the opportunity to pull her into his arms, then led her into the building.
Jonathan discreetly followed behind. Seeing Credence take on the role of a dutiful husband, he could not help but sigh and lament to Marvin over the phone, “Marv, Dorothy is so charming. I think Credence will really fall for her this time.”
Marvin scoffed, “You dummy, Credence had already fallen for her a long time ago. Have you only realized this now?”
Dorothy’s birthday party had officially begun and the atmosphere was lively. On the other hand, the lights in the building opposite the manor weren’t switched on.
The French windows of the dark bedroom were wide open and a dark figure stood calmly behind it. Through the night vision sunglasses, the figure watched the bustling scene coldly. Seeing Dorothy leaning in Credence’s arms with a smile like a blooming flower, their heart shattered into a million pieces.