Let's Go Home

Hazel had tried to understand what he meant by meeting his expectations. Wasn't he supposed to be disappointed that it wasn't Nady he had married?

"It's so hard to understand people," she muttered under her breath and decided to eat, as she was starving.

When she was done, she picked up the dirty plates, but a maid hurried to her. "I will take them."

Hazel smiled at the maid. "It's fine, I will—"

"Please, Mrs. Anderson," the maid insisted in a pleading tone. Hazel let her do her job and returned upstairs to the bedroom she had been assigned earlier.

She pushed the door open and found Coyle on the bed. He was now dressed casually, wearing glasses, and focused on reading a document.

"Umm," she stuttered, unable to form a coherent word. Was she supposed to share the bedroom—and the bed—with him?

"Silly me, we are married," Hazel thought, but that still didn’t feel like enough of a reason.

"If you're sleepy, then go to bed. Don’t stay up on my account; I’ll be quiet with my work," Coyle said without lifting his gaze from the document he was reading.

With a nervous look, Hazel slowly dragged her feet to the other end of the bed, tucked herself under the duvet, and closed her eyes tightly, praying she would fall asleep soon.

---

The next morning, Hazel discovered she was the only one in bed. She walked to the bathroom but couldn’t spot anyone, so she hurried back to the bedroom and spotted Sharon.

"Good morning, Mrs. Anderson. All the gifts are ready. Do you wish to check them out?"

Huh? Hazel was confused and asked, "What gifts?"

"For your family," Sharon replied. Hazel’s brows furrowed. Gifts for her family?

"Mr. Anderson said he has some urgent work at the office and will be back soon so you could both go visit your family," Sharon explained further, and Hazel had a blank look. Did he really want to visit her family with her?

No matter how much she tried to understand him, it only got harder. Nothing made sense. Wasn’t he supposed to be angry and probably sue her family for tricking him?

Didn’t he want to marry Nady instead?

"Mrs. Anderson..." The maid’s voice snapped Hazel out of her reverie. Hazel’s gaze shifted to Sharon before she nodded.

"Thanks. I will freshen up."

The maid excused herself and left. Hazel spent more than an hour in the bedroom before walking downstairs, where she found Coyle’s gaze fixed on her. She looked stunning in the limited-edition blue dress he had ordered for her, her natural beauty shining without any makeup.

He felt a wave of relief seeing her, and the thought that she was his wife made him even happier. Their gazes met briefly before she glanced away.

Coyle signaled the driver, who quickly parked the car at the entrance. They both got in, and the car took off.

The drive was silent until they arrived at the Jones mansion. The driver stepped out, and Hazel was about to do the same when she realized the door was locked.

"For you," Coyle said, shoving a jewel box toward her. She stared at it in disbelief.

"Mine?" she asked, her fingers brushing the top of the box. "Why would you get me something?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard her clearly. The question should have been, "Why hasn’t he yet given the world to me?" He chuckled and placed the box in her hands.

Slowly, she opened the box to reveal a ring with a heart-shaped diamond. It was stunning—and clearly expensive. Nervously, she tried to give it back.

"I appreciate it a lot, but—"

Coyle scoffed, grabbed her hand, took the ring out of the box, and slid it onto her finger.

"I think this is a symbol that a woman is married. If you take it off, I’ll make you regret it," he said with a playful smile. But Hazel shivered in fear, feeling as though his words carried a hidden threat.

---

When they entered the sitting room, it was empty. Coyle sat comfortably on the couch, pulling out his phone to handle the office work he had postponed just to be here.

Minutes later, Nady walked in with her husband, Max, who carried the gifts they had brought.

"Oh, my sweet sister is here," Nady chuckled before her gaze shifted to Coyle, who didn’t acknowledge her presence. Her brows furrowed.

"This couldn’t be Coyle Anderson, right? It must be one of his employees," Nady thought.

"Babe, where should I drop the gifts?" Max asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. She smiled and hurried to him.

"You’re so kind, babe. Place the expensive gifts you got for my family over there," she said, pointing to the table. Max chuckled and walked over to set down the two boxes.

"Max, I’m happy you took time off work to be here," Nady said sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

Hazel looked away, only to find Coyle watching her. He seemed curious, as though trying to gauge her reaction—was she jealous or indifferent? His assistant had told him that Hazel had once been madly in love with this man and was supposed to marry him.

"Umm, I’ll get coffee," Hazel said, standing up, but paused when they heard footsteps from upstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Jones came down with broad smiles.

"Baby!" Mrs. Jones hugged Nady tightly and smiled at Max as well.

Then she turned to Hazel. "Hazel, was your husband not feeling well enough to come?" Mrs. Jones asked. It never crossed her mind that the healthy, handsome man sitting nearby could be her husband.

"Your grandma makes good herbal teas. You should ask her to send some for your husband since he isn’t feeling well. You need to be a responsible wife," her father added, making Hazel chuckle lightly.

Coyle raised his gaze in confusion. "Excuse me," his voice echoed through the room, and all eyes turned to him.

"Shouldn’t my wife be the one not feeling well? I mean, after our numerous activities last night?" he asked, and confusion spread across their faces. Nady’s gaze dropped to Coyle’s legs.

"He’s Coyle Anderson?" she thought, shocked. Her gaze shifted to her parents, who shrugged, just as puzzled. None of them knew what Coyle Anderson looked like.

"Isn’t he supposed to be crippled?" Max whispered to Nady, who wore the same confused expression.

As they stood in stunned silence, Hazel wondered, "What activities?" They hadn’t done anything last night, so what was he talking about?

Coyle stood, checked the time on his expensive Rolex, buttoned the third button of his tailored suit, and extended his hand to Hazel.

"Come, sweetie."

Hazel blushed slightly as she stood and held his hand. To her surprise, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Sir," a voice called from the door. Several men in black suits walked in, carrying large boxes.

"What’s all this?" Mrs. Jones questioned.

"The gifts. It’s not much, as my wife was too tired to go shopping," Coyle replied. Nady’s gaze shifted from the two boxes she had brought to the large boxes Coyle’s men carried. She felt humiliated, her breathing hitching. Her sister was in the arms of this handsome man who claimed to be Coyle Anderson—and he adored her.

Had she misunderstood everything? Was this a nightmare?

Coyle’s gaze moved to Mr. Jones. "My wife is tired and needs to rest, so we’ll be on our way now."

They walked to the car, and Coyle whispered to Hazel, "Let’s go home."

Hazel felt like she was dreaming. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up.

She couldn’t understand what Coyle was up to. Why wasn’t he upset that her family had tricked him? Was he just pretending not to know? Or was this actually what he wanted? So many questions swirled in her mind, and she wished she had the answers.