Chapter 3

Cordelia draped a light robe over herself and went out to the front of the house, where Marcus was working out.

The man’s upper body was bare while he held two dumbbells in his hands. As the morning sun shone on his pronounced muscles, it felt like he was Helios, who had descended from heaven.

Cordelia’s cheeks burned a little as she greeted him softly. “You’re up early!”

Marcus turned around to glance at her.

Cordelia scanned her surroundings. The front of the house was not too spacious. It was rather messy, and there were sandbags, boxing gloves, baseball bats, weights, and similar things lying around. Her heart squeezed. She dared not claim that the rumors were true, but Marcus must fight often.

She wondered about the man’s temper. She had heard that people in this area were severely masochistic and it was not uncommon for drunk men to beat their wives up.

Cordelia bit her lip and stepped closer, asking him with almost bated breath, “Um… Have you had breakfast?”

“No.” The man’s answer was curt and icy.

“Go make some.”

Cordelia nodded and darted into the kitchen.

She worked fast and soon made a pot of soup, some pancakes, and even pushed a plate of bacon toward Marcus.

Marcus looked up, only to meet her beaming eyes. Feeling a jolt, he put some bacon on her plate.

Cordelia was about to say no after her initial surprise, but she heard the man say in his deep voice, “Eat more. You’re very thin!”

“Oh…”

She pressed her lips together. She actually had a lot to tell Marcus—such as apologize for last night. It was more than normal for newlyweds to do it, but it had ended up feeling like he was forcing her.

She also wanted to ask him about their future plans. They were husband and wife now, so there should be some sort of plan in place.

In addition, she still did not know what his job was and how he was going to take care of the family…

They needed to get to know each other better.

However, when Cordelia saw Marcus digging in and noticed the visible calluses on his fingers as he lifted his hand, she knew that those were from punching and striking sandbags. Whatever had been about to roll off the tip of her tongue was swallowed back down.

The first meal after their wedding was long and silent. Cordelia was upset about it, but there was no place for her to turn back to.

“Right, do you have anything to do today?” she asked.

Marcus paused. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m going to town to return the wedding dress,” she answered with a smile.

Marcus froze. He had not given any thought to the wedding and had no idea that she had rented the wedding dress. It was the dress of a lifetime for other women, and they all bought their wedding dresses merrily. The situation left a strange taste in his mouth.

“I’m not asking you to accompany me!” Cordelia explained when she noticed his silence. “I’ll return the dress myself. Go about your business. Don’t mind me.”

“Mm,” the man hummed in response.

Both of them were polite to each other, as though they were mere roommates.

Cordelia cleaned the wedding dress and bagged it in the plastic, just like it had been when she had gotten it. She took several buses and only arrived at the bridal boutique when it was almost noon.

The Jenners had prepared nothing for her aside from the promised monetary gift when she had gotten married. She had only searched the town herself and finally found this boutique with dress styles and price points she was happy with. The boutique was not huge, and the staff was used to being arrogant. Customers like Cordelia, who got married with rented dresses, were looked down on.

“Miss, are you sure we’ll still be able to rent this dress in the future?” The sales assistant raised her voice in disdain.

“Look at it yourself. See what you’ve done to it!”