David felt a headache coming on. He didn’t have any high-paying, easy jobs to offer Nora’s cousin. Even a company assistant role required certain qualifications.
David recalled Sarah’s words from their conversation the day before–“If she really loves you and is right for you, she’ll respect your choices and not make things difficult for you.”
“We need security guards. What do you think?” David suggested.
“Security guard?” Nora frowned. “It’s a tough job, standing all day.”
Before, William had worked as a security guard in a residential area. He found it too tiring and felt it was too lowly to have to greet the residents, so he quit.
Nora’s job also required her to stand all day and deal with customers, but she could handle the hardship.
William couldn’t take it, and Nora felt sorry for him.
Nora bit her lip. “David, can’t you arrange a manager position or something for him?”
David was taken aback. His company was in the internet industry, and even entry-level employees needed to be college graduates in relevant fields. Managers had to have degrees from prestigious universities. Putting someone without a college education in that position would be impossible.
“That’s not possible,” David said. “He doesn’t meet the requirements.”
Nora lowered her head and silently wiped away her tears.
If it had been before, David would have definitely felt bad for her and agreed to whatever she asked. But today, perhaps influenced by Sarah, David suddenly felt that Nora might not be the right person for him.
David quickly dropped Nora off outside her apartment complex.
Nora hesitated. “David, aren’t you coming up for a bit?”
William wasn’t home tonight. Even if he was, it wouldn’t matter much. Nora had previously lied to David, saying she was sharing a two-bedroom apartment with her cousin to save money.
As an adult, David understood what she was implying. He had given Nora so many things and hadn’t even held her hand.
Tonight, her attitude was much friendlier, and David felt flattered. He wanted to get out of the car, but he quickly held himself back.
“It’s late, Nora. You should go upstairs and rest.”
A hint of disappointment flashed in Nora’s eyes.
******
Sarah went to the supermarket, bought some breakfast for the next morning, and got some snacks for the night. She put everything in the fridge when she got home. She took a shower and noticed Holden hadn’t returned yet, so she started texting him on WhatsApp.
Sarah, “Boss, aren’t you coming home tonight?”
Holden had just arrived at the parking lot and was about to enter the house when he saw her message, “No.”
“Okay.”
What a pity, she had bought dessert for two. Since Holden wasn’t coming back, she decided to eat his share too.
Sarah took the chilled wine from the fridge. She had an audition the next afternoon, and although she didn’t know how it would go, she decided to celebrate a little in advance with some champagne and cake.
It felt great to have money in her bank account…
She had just finished the two pieces of cake when Holden walked in.
Sarah stood there holding a wine glass, staring at him.
Holden raised an eyebrow. “My dear wife, you are sneaking a snack without me?”
Sarah, “Uh.”
There was no need to make it sound so… so bad. What did he mean by sneaking a snack?
Sarah poured him a glass of wine. “How about a drink to help you sleep?”
Sarah often drank a glass of red wine to help her sleep when she had trouble falling asleep at night. Butler Ted had told Sarah that Holden didn’t sleep well and that she should try not to make any noise.
Holden took the glass from Sarah. It was $999 a bottle at the supermarket, quite expensive for Sarah.
Unfortunately, Holden didn’t drink this kind of wine. He took a sip. It tasted more like juice than wine. The fruit flavor was stronger than the alcohol.
Holden looked at her with a faint smile. “You want to drink with me? How’s your tolerance?”
Sarah answered without thinking, “I never get drunk.”
Thirty minutes later.
In the villa’s underground wine cellar, Sarah was completely wasted, passed out on the sofa, fast asleep.
Holden glanced at her half-finished whiskey, puzzled for a moment about where she got the nerve to claim she could never get drunk.
The night was hazy, with the soft, elegant lighting of the temperature-controlled wine cellar reflecting off the expensive bottles and onto Sarah.
Holden’s gaze also rested on her.
Holden had been repeatedly warned by his doctor not to drink alcohol. If possible, he was advised to avoid even coffee and tea, as they could easily trigger emotional reactions.
But Holden never paid much attention to the doctor’s advice-he never liked following anyone’s orders.
Sarah groggily started to wake up. Her tolerance for alcohol wasn’t great, nowhere near matching her boasts.
That small amount of strong liquor had already left her feeling light-headed and sleepy. The burning sensation in her stomach from the alcohol made her feel overheated, and she wanted some ice water to cool down.
When she opened her eyes, she found Holden towering over her. There was a dangerous aura about him, and his gaze felt unfamiliar.
Still disoriented, Sarah blinked slowly. “Mr. Holden, are you drunk?”
Holden’s mood was at an all-time low, and the unexplained agitation made him give a cold laugh as he roughly grabbed Sarah’s chin. The touch of her skin was softer than the finest silk.
Holden generally hated physical contact with others. Though he seemed warm, he was actually the coldest person. But something about Sarah’s touch made him feel an inexplicable attachment, and the moment he touched her, he didn’t want to let go. It was like holding a soft and harmless doll.
At that moment, Sarah finally realized something was off with Holden. He wasn’t acting like a typical drunk person. His sharp, deep eyes, usually so calm, now lacked their usual clarity. His hand slid down to Sarah’s slender neck, squeezing it firmly, but when he saw the pain on her face, he quickly let go.
The leather sofa in the wine cellar was large enough to fit both of them comfortably. Perhaps Holden visited here often, as the sofa was covered with a soft, snow-white rabbit fur blanket.
Sarah couldn’t tell if this was a drunken hallucination, but she felt the man pull her tightly onto his lap, whispering something dangerous in her ear. It might have been in French or German; Sarah could only understand a bit of Japanese and had no clue what he was saying. After a while, she drifted back into a hazy sleep.
******
The next morning, Sarah woke up with a splitting headache, finding herself in Holden’s room.
She felt around and realized she was still wearing the clothes from the night before. But her memories of what happened last night were so fuzzy that she couldn’t distinguish between dreams and reality.
Taking advantage of Holden’s absence, she quietly slipped back to her room, showered, changed clothes, and applied light makeup.
She had an audition today, and if it went well, she’d have her own job in this world, no longer needing to worry about being thrown out by the boss Mr. Holden, and ending up homeless.
Sarah checked the time. It was ten in the morning. Normally, someone as busy as Holden would have been at the office by now.
But as she came downstairs, she saw him in the middle of a conversation with someone.
Butler Ted nodded as he listened, while the housekeeper silently continued wiping down the railings and floors like a well-oiled machine.
They’d actually returned from their vacation!
Butler Ted glanced at Sarah, and she couldn’t help but feel like there was something strange in his look. She tried to quietly slip away from Holden’s side, but his voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Never get drunk?”
“…”