Clara came out of the bathroom after a while, her face flushed as she said to Ethan, “I… got my period.”
Ethan instinctively glanced at Clara’s lower body.
Clara, feeling his gaze, instinctively squeezed her legs together.
Ethan was a bit confused.
He had never expected to encounter such a situation.
Clara, her face still red, got into bed.
Ethan looked at Clara.
She felt uneasy under Ethan’s gaze.
Why was he staring at her?
Could it be that even though she had her period, Ethan still wouldn’t let her go?
Did he want to… fight through it?
The thought scared Clara.
Ethan looked at Clara and asked, “Are you… feeling uncomfortable?”
Although he didn’t fully understand, he had heard that women often feel uncomfortable during their periods.
Clara looked at Ethan, puzzled by his question.
What did he mean?
Did he mean that if she was uncomfortable, he would let her go?
But if she wasn’t, he wouldn’t?
“My… stomach hurts a bit,” Clara said. In truth, she wasn’t in pain; she was healthy and didn’t usually feel discomfort during her period. It was no different from normal days.
Stomach pain?
“Do you want some painkillers?” Ethan asked tentatively.
If it hurt, taking painkillers was a logical solution.
Clara didn’t know how to respond.
Ethan glanced at Clara, got dressed, and brought her some painkillers.
Clara took them and swallowed them.
Ethan got into bed and held Clara in his arms, asking, “Does it still hurt?”
Did he think the painkillers would work that quickly?
That the pain would disappear as soon as she took them?
“Mm,” Clara nodded lightly. Since she had started pretending, she had to continue.
Otherwise, if she said it didn’t hurt anymore, Ethan might want to do something with her again.
She felt that was a real possibility.
Ethan didn’t seem like someone who would be gentle and considerate.
At other times, he might be fine, but once they were in bed… he didn’t care about anything else.
Ethan suddenly slipped his hand under Clara’s clothes.
“Ah…” Clara was startled and looked at Ethan in fear. “You…”
Ethan looked at Clara. “What’s wrong?”
Clara looked at him nervously and asked, “What do you want to do?”
Ethan placed his hand on Clara’s stomach and said, “I want to… massage it for you?”
Ethan had never done something like this before.
Just a massage?
Clara’s face turned red.
She felt ashamed of herself.
What was she thinking?
She felt she was being too wicked.
How could she think of Ethan that way?
Ethan was kindly and thoughtfully offering to massage her stomach, yet she had imagined him as a beast who wouldn’t even spare his wife during her period.
Ethan’s hand gently massaged Clara’s lower abdomen.
His hand was large and warm. After a few moments of massaging, Clara felt a warm and comfortable sensation in her lower abdomen.
Clara quietly watched Ethan.
She never expected Ethan to be so considerate. She felt a sweet warmth in her heart and couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Clara leaned against Ethan, and as he continued to massage her, she fell asleep.
Ethan looked at the sleeping Clara, a faint smile on his lips… This should mean she wasn’t in pain anymore.
He held Clara close and fell asleep as well.
—
In the morning, Clara woke up to find Ethan watching her.
Her face inexplicably turned red. “… Morning.”
Why was Ethan looking at her like that?
Usually, when she woke up, Ethan had already gone out to exercise.
Ethan had a very regular schedule. No matter what time he went to bed at night, he always woke up at 6:30 in the morning… whereas she usually woke up at 7:30. By the time she got up, Ethan would have returned from his workout.
“Morning,” Ethan said, suddenly leaning in to give Clara a light kiss on the lips.
Clara’s face turned even redder as she looked at him in surprise.
Something seemed off about Ethan today.
He hadn’t gone to exercise and had even given her a good morning kiss.
This… was very unusual.
“Are you feeling uncomfortable?” Ethan asked.
Clara was momentarily confused. “Huh?”
Ethan asked, “Does your stomach still hurt?”
Oh.
So that’s what it was about.
She shook her head. “… It’s much better now. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Her face flushed with guilt. She had lied to Ethan, but he had believed her and was so concerned about her.
Could it be that Ethan was acting so unusually today because of her period?
Was he worried about her pain?
So he skipped his morning exercise to stay with her?
And last night, he had massaged her stomach…
The usually cold and unfeeling Ethan had suddenly become so gentle and considerate… She wasn’t used to it.
“Let’s get up,” Ethan said.
Clara nodded and got out of bed.
She had to keep up the act.
She couldn’t let Ethan know she had lied to him.
Otherwise… the gentler and more considerate Ethan was now, the more ruthless and unfeeling he would be once he found out the truth.
They got up and washed up.
Then they went downstairs for breakfast.
—
After morning classes, Clara returned to the apartment across from the school that Ethan had given her to rest during lunch break.
Though she said rest, there was no time for sleep.
Because there were always people inquiring about the items she had listed on the online second-hand marketplace.
Clara kept responding to inquiries.
She sold several more items.
Sometimes Clara felt guilty towards Iris… Her sister had asked her to return the items to Ethan, but instead, she had listed them online for sale as second-hand goods.
But then again, she did return them to Ethan. If he wanted to throw them away… she thought it would be such a waste to discard them.
So she considered it as if… as if Ethan had thrown those items into the trash can and she had picked them up from there.
—
After afternoon classes ended and school was over, Clara went home. Once home, she packed up those items and went to mail them out.
Several buyers were local. She initially wanted to meet them in person to hand over the items so they could inspect them… but those buyers found it troublesome and asked her to send them by courier instead.
Sending by courier it is then.
After all, courier services are very convenient too.
After mailing the packages, Clara returned to the neighborhood. Walking along the path within the community, she saw someone approaching from the opposite direction.
He looked somewhat familiar.
“We meet again,” the man said with a smile as he looked at Clara.
When she saw his face clearly, she remembered him.
It was that narcissist she had met at the banquet that day.
Clara looked at this narcissist warily.
What was he doing here?
Could he have followed her?
Benjamin walked towards Clara.
“What do you want?” Clara took a step back defensively.
She thought if this man tried anything funny, she would call for help. There were security guards patrolling the neighborhood at all times.
Benjamin looked at Clara. Raising an eyebrow with a half-smile, he said, “I don’t want anything… but if you want me to do something for you, I wouldn’t mind… I can fulfill your request.”
“Ugh!!” Clara’s face turned red with anger as she glared at him. “Shameless.”
Benjamin said, “How am I shameless?”
He took two steps closer to Clara, bringing his handsome face close to hers. “Look… I have such a good-looking face. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to use it?”
Clara took two more steps back, frowning as she glared at him. How could this man be so shameless?
And so narcissistic.