Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sunlight slowly crept up the curtains. I had the vague sense that something was standing beside my bed.

I cracked my eyes open blearily and nearly died of fright.

“Why are you standing next to my bed?”

I seriously wondered if there was something wrong with Qin Xian. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, he had been standing silently beside my bed for who knew how long.

When he saw that I was awake, he seemed a little pleased. Even his expression softened considerably.

“I’m leaving for work.”

He pursed his lips before speaking softly, his eyes fixed on me without blinking. It looked like he was waiting for a reaction.

I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

“Oh. Have a safe trip.”

But the man behind me didn’t leave. In my half-asleep state, I wondered if he was waiting for his good-morning kiss.

After all, until today, I had always gotten out of bed with Qin Xian and clung to him like glue.

Then, whenever he had to leave for work, my flair for theatrics would go into overdrive, and I’d put on a whole performance about how utterly miserable I was without him.

Every morning, I refused to let him leave until he’d given me ten good-morning kisses.

Now that I had completely stopped performing for Qin Xian, shouldn’t he be relieved? Why was he standing beside my bed like he was cosplaying a Terracotta Warrior?

Too lazy to think about it, I drifted back into a deep sleep.

Somewhere in my haze, someone bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. Then the room fell completely silent.

I slept all the way until noon. So this was how wonderful life could be when I didn’t have to play the clingy wife.

I was happily humming to myself and playing with the dog when the housekeeper handed me my phone.

“Madam, you haven’t sent Sir a video of the new trick Pipi learned today.”

“And you haven’t sent him today’s menu either.”

I froze. When I took out my phone, I realized I hadn’t sent Qin Xian a single message all morning.

Scrolling up, I found nothing but the mundane details of my daily life that I’d shared with him.

Qin Xian replied occasionally, but I never really cared whether he did. I was simply doing my duty and playing the part of a clingy, pampered wife.

I casually tossed my phone aside and went back to playing with the dog.

“He’s my dog. Why would I tell Qin Xian whenever he learns a new trick?”

The housekeeper stared at me in surprise, then fell silent.

What I hadn’t expected was that when I stopped messaging Qin Xian, he would be the one to contact me first.

[Are you bringing lunch today?]

Remembering how his stomach had hurt yesterday, I decided to be generous, since I admittedly hadn’t put on much of a performance last night.

[Yes.]

He seemed to be in a good mood. The usually aloof Qin Xian even sent me an uncharacteristically cute “Mm-hmm” sticker.

“Madam, do you mean you want me to deliver it?”

The housekeeper looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Did you and Sir have an argument? He seemed to be in a bad mood when he left this morning.”

I frowned at her.

“If you don’t want to take it, have Aunt Liu do it.”

What did his bad mood have to do with me? This was just an arranged marriage. Once I stopped performing, I realized Qin Xian was no different in my eyes from a handsome, disease-free male escort.

She awkwardly shut her mouth, picked up the food, and left.

A little over ten minutes later, a message from Qin Xian appeared on my phone.

[?]

[Aren’t you coming to eat with me?]

[Don’t bother sending lunch anymore, then.]

I simply didn’t reply. It wasn’t until I woke up from my afternoon nap that I discovered Qin Xian had recalled all three messages.

What a strange man.

After I stopped clinging to Qin Xian, I found myself with nowhere to channel my flair for theatrics.

So I returned to an old hobby of mine: buying handbags.

“I only found this personal shopper recently. Quite a few girls in our circle buy from him. He’s charming, and his merchandise is authentic.”

My best friend sent me his contact information while talking to me on the phone.

“You’ve missed quite a few releases while you were busy playing the sweet little homemaker. He has them all in stock.”

Delighted, I added him immediately. As soon as we’d arranged a time, I rushed over, too impatient to wait.

For two days in a row, Qin Xian came home earlier instead of getting off work at ten thirty as usual. It was rather strange.

I looked up at the clock. It was seven fifty. I spread my arms and walked toward him.

The man’s eyes lit up. He rose from the sofa and opened his arms to welcome me.

And then…

I sidestepped him and dumped all the handbags hanging from my wrists, that afternoon’s spoils, onto the sofa.

Qin Xian stiffened. I sprawled over the sofa as if utterly exhausted and stayed there for several minutes.

“Wash your hands. It’s time to eat.”

After a long silence, he reached out to pull me up. His leg pressed against my favorite new bag, and I shoved him away on instinct.

“Get away from me!”

An indescribably oppressive tension filled the air. The man’s dark pupils abruptly contracted, and I felt a little awkward.

“I’ve already eaten. You can eat by yourself.”

Irritation practically spilled from Qin Xian’s eyes, and his expression seemed to darken even further.

“Fine.”

After leaving the bathroom, I climbed straight into bed, ready to sleep. I’d spent the whole afternoon shopping, after all, and I was exhausted.

But when I looked up, I found that Qin Xian had already loosened his bathrobe halfway.

The sight of his perfectly sculpted muscles made me flush with desire. I had no idea how someone who spent every day buried in work managed to maintain a body like that.

I was tempted, but I was even more tired. Pretending not to notice, I closed my eyes to sleep, only for him to grab my calf.

His warm palm slid along my lower leg. Qin Xian had a beautiful voice, especially in bed, when its deep timbre took on a faint rasp.

“You don’t want it tonight?”