An idea suddenly crossed Gabriella’s mind, the one that she was reluctant to admit.
“There’s no way Max loves me. He must be talking nonsense. Max Evans won’t understand what Snowy means to me. He shouldn’t use my teddy as an analogy,” the woman thought before asking doubtfully.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think our lives are similar? You have to fight alone without anyone to support you sincerely.”
The woman stared at Max’s words. It was the first time she had heard her husband being so open and honest.
“Then, what does it have to do with my teddy?” Gabriella inquired with furrowed brows.
Max’s bitter smile added her confusion again.
“You’re lucky to have Snowy who can calm your restlessness. When you cry and need strength, you can immediately hug him. But I … I didn’t have anyone before you came.”
A strange feeling suddenly filled Gabriella’s heart. “Before I came?” she murmured, accompanied by an incomprehensible stroke on her forehead.
The corners of Max’s lips immediately rose in sincerity. A second later, he did not hesitate to trace Gabriella’s long hair.
“It’s the first time I’ve had someone by my side. Because of that, I’m always tough on you. I don’t want to lose my favorite doll.”
Gabriella’s brows furrowed spontaneously. Her annoyance had subsided, but he refused to admit it. “It’s true, you do think of me as your puppet,” she protested with pursed lips.
Unexpectedly, a kiss landed there. The woman’s eyes reflexively opened wide.
“Being my puppet or doll isn’t bad. I’ve studied how you treat Snowy. In fact, sometimes, I feel rivaled by him. How can I lose to a teddy?”
“But I’ve never kissed Snowy like you just did,” Gabriella said with a small shake of her head.
The man’s smile automatically widened at his wife’s protest. “Do you mind?” Max asked sounding like a test.
The woman’s eyelids flickered awkwardly.
While waiting for Gabriella to search for an answer, the man pulled her into a hug.
“What are you doing?” the woman asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes were as big as her confusion.
“Can you sleep well without hugging Snowy? I can’t too,” Max said, forcing his wife’s head to stay in the crook of his neck.
“But, I’m human,” Gabriella protested, still unwilling to accept.
One of Max’s eyebrows was arched high. “So you still don’t want to be treated as a doll by your husband?”
“Of course.”
The man’s lips suddenly curved mysteriously. “Does that mean, you want to be treated as a wife who is accompanying her husband on a hotel bed?”
The woman’s heart suddenly throbbed. Without a word, her body froze. Memories of their hot night had filled her mind.
Getting that kind of response, Max smiled lopsidedly. His hand began to move looking for a slit to the warmth.
“Do you remember, you still owe me one night?”
Panic began to hit the woman’s mind. With lips quivering as fast as her heart beat, she forced the brain to come up with an impromptu idea. Suddenly, her eyes opened wide.
“I’m on my period!” she exclaimed like someone who answered a quiz with prizes. Max almost laughed at that.
“So, you choose to be my wife or doll?” the man inquired while peeking at the expression on the red face.
“A doll. For tonight, think of me as a doll,” Gabriella answered with her vocal cords squeezed. She was completely overwhelmed with the pulse that was vibrating her whole body.
“Then,” Max brought his hand back behind his wife’s head, “sleep.”
The woman spontaneously nodded silently. With eyes still alert, she tried to control her frantic lungs.
“Why am I submitting to him again?” Gabriella grumbled inwardly. For a while, she struggled to control her beating heart.
“Can’t you sleep?” Max asked, suddenly popping a new shock in the woman’s ears.
“I can,” she said quickly, before hiding deeper into her husband’s shoulder.
With eyes tightly shut, Gabriella tried to control her pulse. However, she didn’t realize that her body was moving restlessly, making her husband laugh silently.
“If you don’t want to sleep, we can-”
“I’m going to sleep, Max. Don’t make any noise,” the woman interrupted as she tried to deal with nervousness.
Even though it had been muffled by the doll, the turmoil in Gabriella’s chest was still intense. She couldn’t imagine what would happen to her heart if Max continued to play.
“Half an hour ago, I was still crying in the corner of the room. But now, why is my heart beating like this?” she thought behind the closed eyelids.
The woman did not realize that her husband was stroking her hair gently. Max even had time to kiss his wife’s head before closing eyes too.
“Nice, Gabriella. Just stay like this, keep being my sweet doll. And you don’t have to worry. From this moment on, I will no longer suspect you. You have been appointed as the princess I have longed for. You are the queen written in little Max’s diary,” the man thought before adding warmth.
For the first time, the CEO felt so peaceful in bed. Gabriella really had become “a Snowy” to Max Evans.
***
As soon as he opened his eyes, the first thing Max saw was a cute face closed with a teddy bear under her chin. A smile automatically rose to warm his heart.
“It’s a beautiful morning,” the man thought before raising his hand and moving the strands of hair that covered Gabriella’s cheeks, so the beauty of the woman could radiate flawlessly.
“Sebastian is right. I’m lucky that the girl who was framed with me is Gabriella,” he thought with a wider arch of his lips.
After a blink, Max gave his wife a warm kiss on the forehead. Right at that moment, Gabriella’s eyelids began to tremble.
“What are you doing?” the woman asked after consciousness was fully collected.
Her astonishment wasn’t over yet, but the man had already bit Gabriella’s lips. The confusion suddenly grew bigger.
“You often kiss Snowy’s head when you wake up. I’m copying you,” Max replied before brushing his trace on Gabriella’s lips.
“But, why did you do that?” the woman asked with still narrowed eyes and furrowed brows.
“I don’t know, just imitating. Why do you do that every morning?” Max answered effortlessly.
“To make my day go smoothly. Snowy has become my lucky charm.”
“In that case, my reason is also the same. You are my lucky charm.”
A tired sigh suddenly escaped from Gabriella’s mouth. “Whatever,” she mumbled before kissing Snowy’s head and getting out of bed.
After five steps, the woman suddenly stopped and turned to face the man who was standing very close to her.
“Why are you following me?”
Max spontaneously blinked. “Is it forbidden? You often take Snowy out with you.”
“But I want to take a shower. You stuck with me all night. My body is sweating,” Gabriella explained, protesting.
“Then let’s take a bath together.”
“Don’t you have to take care of work? You usually check your tablet every morning,” the woman said without thinking.
“It’s weekend. Time to relax.”
Gabriella shook her head firmly. “You do that without knowing the day.”
Subconsciously, Max’s finger moved to scratch his temple. Unable to find an explanation, he touched his wife’s shoulder and urged her to go to the bathroom. “Stop arguing and let’s take a shower!”
Gabriella automatically rebelled, trying to escape. “But I’m on my period. You can’t take a bath with me.”
“I have no problem.”
“I don’t want to!”
In a glance, Gabriella ran into the bathroom and locked the door, leaving her husband gaping in amazement.
“Apparently, she’s agile too,” he mumbled before letting out a smile and shaking head slightly. “Perhaps, I’m meant to be at work this morning.”
Just as Max was about to turn around, his cell phone rang. The man rushed to answer the call. “What’s wrong, Bass?”
“Did something happen? Why haven’t you given instructions this morning? You haven’t even responded to the report I sent.”
The CEO spontaneously raised an eyebrow and scratched his ear. “I was too exhausted so I woke up late,” Max replied in an odd voice.
“Exhausted from playing with Gabriella, huh?” Sebastian guessed unexpectedly.
The CEO’s eyes could not get any wider. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll check the report as soon as possible,” Max said, changing the subject.
The secretary’s laughter immediately burst. “It turns out that my guess is right. You invite her for that reason. All right, Mr. CEO. Have fun. I won’t bother you anymore today.”
As soon as Sebastian’s voice disappeared, a sinister smile had graced Max’s face. “Having fun? He doesn’t know what I went through last night.”
After a few moments, the curve of his lips returned flat. The man just remembered that someone had been forgotten in the room without an access card.
“Oh my gosh, is she okay?”
Without wasting any time, Max looked up Cherry’s contacts on his cell phone. However, until several attempts, the woman never received a call.