As these thoughts ran through her mind, sleep quickly overtook her. Sarah rested her head on the soft pillow, which carried the subtle scent of oud, similar to Holden’s own scent. It was strangely calming.
In no time, Sarah drifted into a dream.
Not long after, Holden noticed that in her sleep, Sarah had rolled closer to him, almost unconsciously drawn to his presence. She didn’t seem to mind him being there.
Holden casually wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his embrace.
He used to genuinely dislike Sarah, and maybe he still didn’t like her. But why let her sleep in his bed? Because she was just a human sleeping pill, nothing more.
However, her body was soft, and the touch of her skin was unexpectedly comforting.
Holden had always been averse to physical contact with others, but he didn’t mind Sarah’s touch at all.
When she slightly shifted away in her sleep, Holden darkened his gaze and pulled her back into his arms.
They were married, after all, even if it was just on paper. So, what harm was there in sleeping together?
When Sarah woke up the next morning, as expected, Holden was no longer in the room.
She wandered out of his room and immediately saw the maid cleaning the floor.
The maid, probably under Holden’s orders to avoid gossip, remained silent but looked at Sarah with more warmth than before.
It was clear that the maids respected her more now, as she wasn’t just a wife in name but seemingly one in reality too.
Holden had been extremely busy lately, likely with an important project at work, and hadn’t been home much.
After receiving a huge sum of twenty million, Sarah began house hunting.
To her, the first priority after getting money was to secure some real estate. Even if things ended badly, like in the novel, where everyone despised her and treated her like a pariah, she’d at least have a place of her own to sleep at night.
But picking the right house wasn’t something she could decide on quickly.
Sarah wasn’t familiar with the real estate market in City N and couldn’t make up her mind about the best location.
Out of boredom, she massaged the super-rich, Mr. Holden, showing him four properties she had shortlisted, and asked him which ones were better.
Holden quickly replied, [The third and fourth ones.]
Curious, Sarah decided to ask, [Why?]
She expected him to give her a detailed analysis, considering factors like traffic, medical facilities, and the environment.
But Holden’s response was simple, [Because they’re mine.]
Sarah took a deep breath.
Alright!
That was some next-level showing off.
She was ready to be at odds with these rich folks forever.
Holden asked, [Why are you buying a house?]
Sarah, feeling a bit wronged, replied, [Because I want to move out! At your place, I can’t make any noise at night. If I do, I get turned into your bedtime companion.]
After that night, even when Sarah snuck downstairs for a drink of water, Holden would catch her and fine her twenty million for breaking the noise rule. If she didn’t want to pay, she had to agree to be his bedtime companion.
Yes, Sarah finally got Butler Ted to spill the beans.
Like many strange CEOs, Mr. Holden had his quirks.
Some CEOs had stomach problems, some had incurable diseases that only the heroine could heal, and some suffered from insomnia.
Turns out, Mr. Holden had insomnia.
Whether he had other quirks besides insomnia was still up for debate.
But Sarah sleeping next to him? That was the perfect cure for his insomnia.
Holden said, [Did I say you could move out?]
Sarah was confused. [???]
[I thought I was just staying temporarily?] she asked.
Holden responded, [According to our marriage contract, to avoid outsiders questioning our marriage, we have to live together.”
Suddenly, Sarah realized something serious. Since she ended up in this story, she hadn’t seen the marriage contract. But Holden kept bringing it up like it was gospel.
She had no idea what was actually in the contract.
[Mr. Holden, can you send me a copy of the contract so I can take a look?] she asked.
[Did you lose yours? If you did, I could always add or remove clauses from my copy,] Holden said.
[…]
Sarah quickly said, [No, I just locked it in a safe and don’t feel like digging it out.]
Three minutes later, Sarah was pestering the ever-patient Butler Ted, asking about the contract.
Butler Ted knew there was no contract beyond the marriage agreement, but it seemed like Sarah had forgotten the details and was getting played by Mr. Holden.
Mr. Holden was a big-time capitalist, and as everyone knows, heartless capitalist are always out for themselves.
As Holden’s million-dollar-a-year butler, Butler Ted, of course, sided with the one who paid his salary.
Butler Ted simply replied, “I’m just a humble butler. I wouldn’t know about that.”
“… Fine,” Sarah sighed.
Whether she moved out or not, she decided to buy the house first.
The houses in City N’s high-end neighborhoods were worth more than Sarah’s life. The twenty million she just got vanished like a cooked goose flying away.
Sarah was back to being cash-strapped Sarah.
Just then, Viola and Monica called her. They knew that at the beginning of every month, Sarah received a big payout from Holden.
For the past few months, whenever Sarah got her money, she’d splurge on luxury clothes and bags, and then she’d spend the rest on her family.
Even though her marriage to Holden had brought in two or three hundred million, the original Sarah hadn’t saved much.
And the original Sarah had also thought Holden was stingy, believing that with his billion-dollar fortune, she deserved more than just a small fraction.
Viola was always jealous of Sarah marrying into wealth, but that didn’t stop her from trying to squeeze every penny out of Sarah.
At the beginning of each month, Viola’s attitude toward Sarah softened considerably.
Sarah listened with a cold expression as Viola spent a good while calling her “sister” over the phone.
Viola danced around the point for a bit before finally getting to it, “Sis, do you have money now? I want to buy something. Can you lend me four million?”
Sarah replied, “Don’t call me sis. We don’t share the same mother.”
Viola went silent for a moment. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing,” Sarah said flatly. “I’m just done being an ATM. However much you’ve borrowed from me, you can start paying it back.”
Viola was furious. “Do you think you married Holden because of what? It’s because our family worked so hard to raise you! If it weren’t for you, I’d be the one married to Holden.”
“Wrong,” Sarah chuckled. “I married Holden because I’m pretty, smart, resourceful, brave, kind, and adorable. It has nothing to do with you all, so stop trying to take credit. Holden’s lucky to have married me; he must’ve accumulated eight lifetimes’ worth of good karma.”
Viola, unable to hold back, hung up on her.
Sarah suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She slowly turned around and saw Holden standing there, staring at her coldly.
“Uh, Mr. Holden, you’re home?”
Holden’s tone was icy. “Yes.”
Sarah felt a wave of dread. “When did you come in?”
“When you were praising yourself for being pretty, smart, resourceful, brave, kind, and adorable,” Holden replied, giving her a once-over. “So, it took me eight lifetimes of good karma just to marry you.”