Chapter 11

“Ah, why did you drop the towel?!”

Catherine was completely stupefied as it was the first time she encountered this kind of situation. She reached out to cover her eyes and that was when she realized the white towel was in her hand.

Did she… Did she accidentally pull the towel off him earlier?

“The towel came off?”

Shaun’s indifferent voice swept past her cheeks like cold ice. “I’ve never seen a woman as shameless as you.”

She felt like crying, but no tears came out. “I didn’t plan to do so. I accidentally tripped on the mat.”

“I’ve been walking on this mat every single day but I’ve not tripped before. Not once. You can’t convince me with this ridiculous excuse.” The man did not believe her at all.

She blinked blankly. The situation was beyond mending now, so she replied innocently, “Perhaps after having a glimpse of your god-like and impeccably perfect body, my mind went blank and I lost my ability to focus…”

The man scoffed out of anger. He had encountered numerous women in his life, but not one was this brazen.

“So you’re shifting the blame onto me now?”

“No, not at all. It’s my fault, really, for I’ve not seen much of life…”

“Will you stop staring? Get out.” Shaun could not hear more of that. He felt the blood boiling in his veins and tried really hard to resist kicking her in the face.

“Yes, of course. I’ll leave right away.”

Catherine hurriedly rose to her feet and headed for the door.

“Stand right there!”

A frustrated voice shouted behind her. The man was fuming with rage and said between gritted teeth, “Give me my towel.”

She lowered her eyes to the towel she was clutching. She was so embarrassed that she wished there was a hole she could just crawl into.

“Here.”

She put on a bold face and shoved the towel into his hands.

“...”

He was speechless when he realized the direction she was looking in.

What an audacious woman!

Slam! Catherine slammed the door shut behind her, patting her chest while puffing.

She seemed to notice the tips of the man’s ears turning bright red before she left the room. Was he embarrassed?

It was quite adorable, to be honest.

However, after this incident, she dared not linger in the living room anymore and returned to her bedroom right away.

Nonetheless, her mind did not seem capable of recovering from the surprise.

She had no idea how much time had passed when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

The woman jumped up in fright. A couple of seconds later, she replied timidly, “Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m sleepy.”

“Do you keep your lights on when you sleep?” Shaun’s deep voice entered through the gap beneath the door. “Don’t make me get the key.”

She scratched her head in frustration before opening the door.

The man who was standing by the door was dressed in his gray pajamas. The refreshing scent of his aftershave smelled pleasant.

The buttons of his shirt were done all the way to the top, covering his Adam’s apple. It was only autumn now, so it was not even that chilly.

“What are you looking at?”

Shaun became more furious upon sensing her gaze. This woman sure had the cheek!

Speechless, Catherine did not know what his piercing stare meant. “Nothing.”

“You know better than anyone else.”

He lowered his head to look at the woman. From this angle, her neck appeared slim and elegant. Perhaps it was the light or another reason, but her face seemed to be illuminated with a charming sunset glow.

His gaze moved down to the neckline of her cotton pajamas.

Right away, his eyes narrowed as he became more determined about his decision.

“Well, what are you looking at?”

She posed the same question.

The man’s piercing stare was so intimidating that she, who was mentally prepared to seduce him, was having cold feet. She cast her gaze downward and immediately used her hands to cover her chest instinctively.

He scoffed. “I’m trying to see how you’ll seduce me.”

“...”

She was at a loss for words. Admittedly, she did have that thought before but not now.

“I wasn’t…”

The woman pouted. Her face was clean, fair, and tender. She looked beautiful.

Shaun withdrew his gaze, and indifference instantly returned to the features on his handsome face. “I can give you the money to rent a place somewhere else. It’s not appropriate for us to live in the same house.

He was chasing her out of the house.

Catherine became nervous upon hearing that. “How is it inappropriate? We’re lawfully wedded.”

A sarcastic smile spread across his face. “I think you know the real reason why we got married.”

Upon hearing that, she attempted to put on her best seductive smile while trying to look shy at the same time. “Isn’t it because I fell for you at first sight? Since that moment, my young heart has been deeply attached to you.”

“...”

Speechless.

He must have been bewitched that night.

Out of the blue, she said, “I get it now. You must still be mad about the incident earlier. I know you feel as if you’ve been taken advantage of and it’s normal to think that way.”

She bit her pink lip, looking as if she was trying to make up her mind.

“Well… What about I show you what I have as well?”

Then, she reached out to undo the top button of her pajamas.

He subconsciously stopped breathing for a split second before he turned around and slammed the door shut, not forgetting to comment on her outrageously brazen behavior.

She heaved a sigh of relief as she looked at her collarbones. She found it quite funny that he had left before she could show anything.

Despite his bad temper, he was still a decent gentleman.

It was quite rare to meet a man like this nowadays.

…

Midnight. Catherine was woken up by the noise of the cat meowing incessantly.

She got out of bed and turned the lights on. Fudge was laying under the table, throwing up weakly.

“Fudge.” Startled, she reached out to get the cat, but Shaun’s indifferent voice rang behind her.

“Get out of the way.”

Her hands froze mid-air. He stepped forward to pick the cat up.

His chiseled jawline appeared indifferent and distant under the soft illumination of the lights. Nonetheless, beneath the messy black hair, somewhere deep within his pair of dark brown eyes was sparkling with an enchanting gentleness.”

“What happened to her?”

Catherine felt lost and helpless to see the adorable cat suffering.

“What do you think?” Shaun glared at her with rage in his eyes. “She’s a cat but you’ve been feeding her trash. Do you seriously think her stomach can handle it?”

She felt utterly remorseful. She had seen stray cats before that ate almost anything they could find on the streets. This was why she thought cats had a strong digestive system.

“I’m sorry.”

“I won’t let you off the hook if something bad happens to Fudge!”

He glared at her long and hard before rising to his feet and grabbing the car keys. He then hurried out of the house with Fudge in his arms.

She quickly followed him to the elevator. “I know a good veterinarian. Let me show you the way,” she said anxiously.

He pursed his lips coldly without acknowledging her.

The elevator stopped at the parking lot and he stepped out of it in big strides.

When they got to the car, she had just opened the door to the passenger seat when a strong arm pulled her away forcefully from the back.

Catherine, who was wearing slippers, staggered backward. Being tipped off her balance, she fell backward and landed on the ground.

He stood in front of the car. She was frightened by the intense despise that exuded from his dark pupils. “Get out of here immediately. I don’t wish to see you here by the time I come home. I won’t ask politely again.”

Then, Shaun carried Fudge into the car. The white Lexus sped off into the distance in no time.

Left alone in the dark parking lot, Catherine’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at the car driving off. The grievances that she had been holding back the entire day finally poured down her face like a broken dam.

Everyone had been giving her the cold shoulder today, keeping her at a distance.

She did not feel as if she belonged to the Jones household anymore.

Fudge was the only one left that was nice to her.

However, she could not even remain at this place any longer.

Her lips twitched into a sarcastic smile. Suddenly, the image of Fudge throwing up earlier popped into her mind and she felt deeply sorry.

Catherine knew Shaun was not interested in her, yet she persisted in pestering him anyway in order to achieve her own goal. She completely disregarded her own dignity. Was this really worth it?

She even put Fudge through this pain.

Perhaps it was time for her to leave.