After going shopping with Sofia, it was almost time to get off work; she drove to the Anderson Mansion.
Ariel was surprised as soon as she parked her car and didn’t see the butler to get the car key. She opened the door to the manor, expecting the same hustle and bustle from the maids as usual. She usually arrives home to see the younger maids cleaning and gossiping about one thing or another.
But today the house was silent. Ariel felt a chill run down her spine. The old madam Anderson usually had her dinner this time and the maids would be in position. She carefully stepped further into the house, calling out to the maids, but there was no answer. Ariel looked around, her heart racing. Where is everyone? She walked into the living room.
Seeing Pius standing on the stairs, she was relieved, but had a bad premonition.
“What’s the matter” she asked with a raised brow.
“It’s nothing.”
Ariel looked at Pius and guessed there was something wrong.
“If there’s nothing wrong, you should take a seat.”
“I don’t need a seat, thank you, young madam”, Pius said with clenched teeth.
“When did you know the devil would release you today, are you going to stand till he asks you to get off work?”
Pius wished Ariel would just leave and stopped questioning him; he had been dealing with Rex’s cold and gloomy expression since morning.
“Did the devil ask you to stand by the staircase? And where are the maids?”
“No, I did it voluntarily, and as for the maid, the young master has given them the night off.”
Ariel wanted to say something but decided against it.
Getting to the room, she saw Rex sitting on the bed. The air emitting from his body was cold, even she was lost for words. She tried opening her mouth to say something, but the man looked like he had just been withdrawn from hell.
“Go make me dinner” Rex suddenly spoke up.
When you know you will be hungry why send the maids out?
Without saying a word, she turned and found her way to the kitchen. She noticed Pius was no longer in the living room.
Ariel was in the kitchen preparing dinner for Rex. She hummed a soft tune as she chopped the vegetables for the stir-fry, her hair pulled back into a messy bun.
Not long after, Ariel saw Rex sitting on his wheelchair at the entrance of the kitchen, and asked “What’s wrong?” if there’s anything you need, just let me know”. Rex sat down there with a straight and cold face. Rex watched her as she worked, admiring her grace and skill.
“Just give me some time, it’ll be ready soon.” Ariel looked at the clock unconsciously. It was already 7pm so he was probably hungry. She wondered why the man refused to eat the dinner prepared by the chef but instead asked her. It was obvious the devil would not make things easier for her from now on, she had to come straight back from the office to make his dinner, she thought.
Rex just stared at her without saying a word. After staring for a while, he turned in his wheelchair into the study. Ariel wasn’t a push over when it came to cooking. She was very skilled at cooking without wasting much time. The side dishes were ready. She placed the bowl of rice and soup gently on a tray and knocked on the door of the study. “Rex, the food is ready.” In the study room, Rex was currently on the phone, and said “Handle everything carefully and report it to me later”. With that, he hung up.
“The food is ready, you can eat now.”
He looked up and saw Ariel smiling at him.
“I’m coming” he said indifferently.
“Let’s eat” he declared. They sat opposite each other eating. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was heavy. There were several times Ariel wanted to talk, as Rex was cold and acting indifferent, she gave up.
“I will wash the dishes.”
Ariel stared at Rex when she heard what the man had just said, “Are you crazy? This is the Anderson mansion. Did you want to let the cat out of the bag yourself?” she picked up the dishes and dashed out of the study room; Rex wheeled himself and followed her to the kitchen. Ariel sighed.
“You do not need to help with the dishes. If I did not do it this night, there are people at home who would do the dishes in the morning.”
Rex closed the kitchen door, stood up and walked over. “let me do it, grandma has retired for the night. The maids are out and for that Fidelis son, he won’t be coming back tonight.” Rex moved her away from the sink and pushed her towards the door “Rex what..”
Ariel could only stare at Rex and couldn’t finish her word; she left the kitchen, allowing Rex to do as he pleases.
She sat down in the sitting room, her mind wasn’t at peace as she couldn’t wrap her head around Rex’s cold attitude. The man was warm to her till this morning. What changed?
Soon Rex wheeled himself out of the kitchen, the two looked at each other, and once again the atmosphere became cold. “You should rest early. I still have some matters to deal with”. Seeing Rex being cold to her out of the blue, Ariel was at a loss for what to do. “Alright”, without sparing her a glance, Rex wheeled himself towards the study room. Ariel couldn’t take her eyes off him until he disappeared into the study room. She returned to their room to look through some document and prepare every necessary information she needed for tomorrow’s work.
She raised her head only to see Rex, who had just come out of the bathroom. He was wearing a white robe, his short black hair dripping, and he looked really hot” was I too engrossed in reading this document that I didn’t hear Rex coming into the room? Ariel thought, as she couldn’t take her eyes off the man.
“It’s getting cold at night these days, hurry up and go wash up.” He barely looked at her as he walked towards the bed. Ariel was at a loss for words.
While in the bathroom, her phone beeped and she wondered who that might be. By the time she was done, Rex had his back to her. She picked up her phone and walked to the balcony as she flipped through the text message. It was that man. {I’ve told you the last time I like you, my initial is A. J} the desire in her heart to know the man suddenly rose again, the man knows everything about her, yet she didn’t know him.
No, right now, she was already Rex Anderson’s wife, the young mistress of the Anderson family. That’s what matters now; what if she knew the man? What would it change? She had already chosen the road, so there was no need to cry over spilled milk or be curious about the old thing.
She took a deep breath and went back to the room.
She looked at Rex and couldn’t help but say “Why are you suddenly acting cold?”
“You should sleep early” the man whom she thought to be sleeping said and she froze.
“How could you be so mean, especially to your friend Pius? I came in to see him standing. Don’t you think it is so unfair for him to stand by your side all day”? Rex felt a headache coming.
“Don’t poke your nose into what you don’t know”
“Aren’t you being too strict with him? If you’re having a bad day you don’t have to take it on the people around you, do you know? When I asked him to sit down, he refused, and you didn’t even allow him to rest before you sent him on another errand.”
“It’s just self-discipline, it’s not a big deal”
Ariel stomped her feet and unconsciously moved closer to him.
“Ariel Ann, are you angry because Pius refused to sit or there’s more to it” Ariel coughed lightly.
“It’s just that it’s not good to take out your anger on people”
Rex chuckled.
“How much longer are we going to stay in the Anderson mansion? I don’t want to continue staying here pretending to be in love, it’s tiring”, Ariel complained bitterly.
Pretending? No Ariel, you are in love with me. You just didn’t know it. I told you not to.
“If you were to get pregnant we would leave for the flower garden villa”
Ariel rolled her eyes. “Forget about it. I do not want to have children with a man like you”