34

“You even remember my birthday?” Isabella expressed some surprise.
When Isabella gave birth to Asher, Andrew had seen her medical records, which included her date of birth. He had an exceptional memory and remembered it clearly. However, due to recent trivial matters, he had momentarily overlooked it.
Isabella tilted her chin slightly, her eyes gathering the moonlight outside the window, filled with a faint coldness and sadness.
“I am as unlucky as ever. On my tenth birthday, Charlotte and her daughters showed up, and my mom and dad got divorced. On my eighteenth birthday, I slept with the wrong man. On my twentieth birthday, I was wrongly accused of being a mistress. Perhaps, my birth was a mistake.”
“Mistake? A beautiful mistake.” Andrew smiled, reaching out to stroke her head, his posture almost indulgent. “Don’t overthink it. Everything has its meaning.”
His palm moved from the top of her head to the tips of her hair, with water droplets in his palm.
After washing, Isabella didn’t dry her hair; her long black hair was wet and loose.
“Dry your hair; be careful not to catch a cold,” he said.
Isabella sat still. She didn’t like his commanding tone and even less liked him meddling in her affairs.
“Need me to help you?” He raised an eyebrow.
She was about to refuse, but he had already pulled her into his arms.
She sat passively on his lap as Andrew casually grabbed a towel from the side, not particularly gentle as he wiped her hair.
“Andrew, has anyone ever told you that you’re really annoying?” Isabella struggled, expressing her dissatisfaction.
His strong arm, however, pressed her against his chest. She heard his strong heartbeat and slightly disordered breath.
“Move again and see what happens next. I can’t guarantee anything,” Andrew’s low and hoarse voice revealed a hint of restraint and suppression.
Isabella’s body suddenly stiffened, and she distinctly felt something extra around her waist.
She realized what it was, and her pretty face blushed with embarrassment. “Andrew, have you no shame!”
“A normal physiological response has nothing to do with shame. If I were truly taking advantage, that would be a problem,” Andrew said calmly.
Just as his words fell, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Andrew’s arm around Isabella’s waist loosened slightly. Seizing the opportunity, she hastily climbed out of his arms.
“I’ll go answer the door.”
The door opened, and outside stood a unfamiliar young man. He wore emerald-green leather shoes, white straight-leg pants, and a striped shirt covered with a rose-pink casual suit jacket. He looked like a flaunting peacock.
“Hello, beauty, happy birthday!” The man held a cake in one hand and a large bunch of flamboyant red roses in the other, smiling and greeting Isabella. When he smiled, his eyes narrowed, revealing two rows of white teeth.
“May I ask, who are you looking for?” Isabella looked at him, puzzled. Her first reaction was that this guy probably got the wrong door.
However, he directly handed her the flowers, stretched his neck to look inside, and said, “Is Andrew here?”
After saying that, without even asking for Isabella’s opinion, he swaggered into the house, casually placed the cake box on the coffee table, and then sat down on the sofa, crossing his legs and leisurely surveying the apartment.
“The house is a bit small, and the decoration is barely passable. Is Asher sleeping?” he asked.
“Yes,” Andrew, sitting opposite him, responded casually. He casually extended his arm, picked up the cigarette box on the table, and rotated a cigarette between his fingertips.
Seeing Isabella coming in, Ryan showed a smiling expression again, pointing to the cake on the table, “Black Swan Cake, a favorite of you girls. I broke into the cake shop in the middle of the night. How about it, moved? Oh, and this, you probably need it.”
As if suddenly remembering something, Ryan took out two boxes from his pocket and threw them on the coffee table. One box contained contraceptives, and the other contained morning-after pills.
Isabella’s cheeks instantly turned red, both embarrassed and annoyed. She glared at Andrew fiercely, thinking: Truly, these unemployed people make friends with all kinds of riffraff.
Andrew’s response, however, was indifferent. He glanced at Ryan and said, “Done delivering the cake? Still planning to stay for dinner?”
Ryan also felt that he shouldn’t disturb this couple, so he tactfully stood up from the sofa. “Let’s go, right away. I wouldn’t dare to delay your great time.”
Isabella escorted Ryan to the door, closing it loudly to express her displeasure.
Returning to the living room, she noticed that the two boxes of condoms and morning-after pills originally placed on the coffee table had been thrown into the recycling bin on the floor.
She felt somewhat relieved.
Walking over, she sat across from him.
Whether it was due to the lighting or not, from her perspective, Andrew was enveloped in a play of light and shadow, half-lit and half-dark. His features were deep and three-dimensional, and the contours of his back and shoulders wrapped in a dark shirt were upright and robust.
One hand held a cigarette, while the other was opening a cake box with a focused and steady expression. The buttons on his shirt collar were not fastened, and with his movements, the collar slightly opened, revealing a bronze chest. With each breath, it gently rose and fell, showcasing the sensuality and charm of a man.
Isabella uncontrollably swallowed her saliva. She exclaimed, “The man is truly captivating.”
Andrew used a remote to turn off the crystal chandelier above, instantly plunging the room into dimness, with only the candlelight on the cake flickering faintly.
“Do you need to make a wish?” he asked in a deep voice, his profound eyes looking over. With just one glance, Isabella almost got lost.
She shook her head.
Since the age of ten, her birthday wish had been the same every year: hoping her parents would reconcile, hoping Charlotte and her daughters would disappear from her world.
Of course, her wish was never fulfilled. After repeated disappointments, Isabella finally understood that making wishes was just a way to deceive children.
She blew out the candles, then directly took a knife to cut the cake. The first piece she cut, she handed to Andrew.
“I don’t like sweets,” he said, holding a cigarette.
“So many issues,” Isabella muttered, picking up a fork to eat herself.
Black Swan is a high-end brand of cake, and its taste was naturally good. Sweet but not cloying, it melted in the mouth.
After eating a piece, Isabella still wanted more. Licking her lips, she said, “It’s very sweet and not cloying. Are you sure you don’t want…”
Before she could finish the word ‘eat,’ Andrew kissed her.
His arm pressed on her shoulder, forcefully trapping her in his embrace. His tongue swept into her mouth, carrying away the sweetness. Isabella was kissed breathless, staring at him with wide, beautiful eyes. Although they had kissed several times, she still wasn’t accustomed to this level of intimacy.
“Andrew!”
Isabella frantically resisted, but it only resulted in a more intense kiss. His strong arms had unconsciously wrapped around her, and she felt a loosening in her chest as he unbuttoned her bra.
His kisses extended beyond just the lips, tracing down her lovely collarbone until they finally landed on her chest.
Especially when his cool lips touched her neck, his sharp teeth hesitatingly grazed her skin, her heartbeat quickened.
Isabella felt like her entire being was set ablaze by him, intensely hot. The sensation of being roasted on fire made her uncomfortably suffer.
She struggled clumsily, wanting to end this torment quickly.
However, Andrew clearly had different intentions; he wanted to intensify the burning desire.
Just as Andrew’s passion was reaching its peak, a loud crying suddenly echoed from upstairs. This cry, like a bucket of cold water, directly extinguished the sparks between the two.
Immediately, the lights upstairs turned on. Amelia was soothing the child while calmly preparing milk to feed the baby.
Isabella finally pushed Andrew away, hastily jumping off the sofa.