Chapter 3: A Kiss

Solene stared at the luggage that Mr. Thompson had given to her. She tried to maintain her composure when Sebastian held her hand. 

"I'm happy that you weren't here at all." Mr. Thompson said. He pushed the luggage toward her. She sighed to prevent herself from breaking down because of what her grandfather was doing.

"You don't need to act as our maid here, but you can still work in our company as a regular employee. That's what I can do for you, be grateful that I chose to give you a right to work in my company even though I don't want you there." Mr. Thompson heartlessly told her. He pushed the luggage, even more when Solene didn't do anything to take it. It fell to the ground, so Bruce quickly took the luggage blankly.

"T-Thank you, grandpa," Solene whispered. She strived to prevent herself from crying. She smiled when she saw Mr. Thompson frown.

When she was a kid, she was too close to her grandfather. Neither was she not the successor of the Thompson family; they treated her right. She's the favorite granddaughter of Mr. Thompson.

"You know there was a house in the middle of the forest. I owned that house and even the land. You will live there with Sebastian." Solene nodded. She bowed her head as she felt embarrassed that Bruce witnessed how badly her relative treated her. She felt scared that Bruce might take advantage of her and abuse her.

"Thank you, Mr. Thompson." Bruce looked at her blankly. She felt uncomfortable whenever he was expressionless. 

"You don't need to thank me. You're doing me a great favor. You helped me to remove them from my house." Mr. Thompson turned his back; he didn't even try to bid goodbye to her. 

She blinked her eyes again. She moistened her eyes when Mr. Thompson slowly walked away from them.

"Solene, you don't need to cry because of them. It's a blessing in disguise that we aren't with them. They constantly bullied us." Sebastian coldly stated. He held her hand tightly as Bruce held the other hand.

"Sebastian, you shouldn't say that. After all, he's still our grandfather. I understand why he's mad at me; I'm a great disappointment to the Thompson family." Solene muttered. She turned her back as she didn't see Mr. Thompson staring at her back after he heard Solene's words.

"I won't understand why you need to endure this, Solene. But I know that we will be alright since Bruce is with us. He's a great man." Sebastian happily shouted. He giggled when Bruce carried him again. He was too glad that Bruce was with him.

"Sebastian!" She yelled her brother's name when he began chuckling after Bruce tried to tickle him. She breathed out. They might be newlyweds, but Bruce didn't even try to look at her, and she slowly felt undesirable.

She was nervous about their set-up. She and Bruce didn't discuss their arrangement if they lived under one roof. She moaned in frustration as she couldn't stop to overthink.

What would happen to her if Bruce wanted to sleep with her? She wasn't ready to have sex with someone after the tragedy that she faced.

She understands that she is responsible to Bruce, especially since she is his wife. She hoped that Bruce might know that she didn't want to have sex with him for now. But she's ready physically and emotionally. Then, she would give herself to him.

"Our house is too far. It's alright; I don't need to endure their nasty tricks whenever they're with me." She stopped thinking when they all reached the middle part of the forest. She gasped when she saw the house that her grandfather was about. It's an old house, but it's big.

She recalled her parents loved to stay in this house. They loved this house because her father fell in love with her mother when he was here. This place was full of memories that she wanted to cherish.

"That older man wasn't wrong at all. He gave us this big house, and there's a lot of food here." Sebastian commented after he ran towards the kitchen. He suddenly felt guilty that he called Mr. Thompson a nasty word.

"D-Do you want me to cook for you?" Solene asked Bruce. He was too preoccupied with Sebastian, and she felt he was trying to avoid her.

"Young lady, are you sure you want to eat with me at the same table? You're a Thompson, and I understand if you don't want to eat with me." Bruce's eyes were too icy that she almost chilled. As she gazed at Bruce, she saw how gorgeous a man he was. He might be accepted as a model if he wanted to.

"I'm Wilson now. I am married to you if you can't remember that." She moved closer to the cabinet and checked the fridge.

"You're still a Thompson. Do you want to carry your personal driver's last name?" She found how sarcastic Bruce was to her. She was confused about why he was acting like this when it came to her. Did he hate her? What did she do to him?

"Where's your anger coming from? I want to talk to you about our arrangement. Bruce, I'm thankful that you marry me, even though I know you don't have a choice either." She lowered her voice as she was scared that Sebastian might hear them.

Bruce nodded. He smirked when she turned her back to him.

"I'm thankful you're aware I don't want to marry you, young lady Solene." Bruce walked towards her, which made her turn around. Her eyes expanded in shock when she saw how close he was to her.

"W-What are you doing? Bruce, I know that we're married, but please, I don't want to have sex with you for now. I'm uncomfortable doing that." Bruce stopped. He closed and opened his eyes several times before a chuckle came out into his mouth.

"I want to get some water. I'm thirsty. " Bruce uttered, and her cheeks blushed in humiliation. She checked her place, and she saw the water behind her back. She gritted her teeth when she saw Bruce arch his brow at her.

"I don't know that you will get some water; I'm sorry." She took the water and quickly took a glass before she gave it to Bruce. She bit her lips when she heard how Bruce laughed at her again.

"Young lady Solene, don't even think about having sex with me. You're not my type; even though my eyes were open, I wasn't hardened whenever I saw you." She almost felt how insulted his words were. What Bruce wanted her to realize was even though she removed her clothes in front of him, he wouldn't do anything wrong to her because he wasn't too attractive in his eyes.

"I'm sorry if I needed to be frank with you. It would help if you didn't hope I was going to sleep with you." Bruce added while he was putting water in the glass.

"It's good. I don't want to have sex with you, either." She angrily snapped. She glared at him when Bruce was stopped by her sudden rage.

"Are you mad because I don't want to do that with you? Okay, don't be mad at me, Young lady. Let's do that tonight." Bruce teased her. He grinned when he saw how flushed her face was. He shook his head before he put the glass on the sink. 

"Shut up!" Solene quickly left him, and she didn't say how Bruce plastered an amused grin on his lips. She wanted to see if Sebastian was in the dining area, but he wasn't there. Worry filled her mind, and she ran fast. She was too scared that Sebastian might get kidnapped.

"Hey! Why are you running? What's the matter?" Bruce followed her and held her shoulder, which made her feel a thousand volts of electricity coming into her body.

"Where is Sebastian? I don't want to lose him!" She started crying when she shouted Sebastian's name, but he didn't come to her. She slumped on the floor and began whipping like a kid. She slightly punched her chest when she felt how her chest clenched whenever she thought that Sebastian was in danger.

"Stop crying. I will find him. You should prepare the meal. Maybe, Sebastian is sleeping." Bruce left her after he said those words. She sniffed, but she obliged. She knew how protective Bruce was of Sebastian, so she needed to trust him.

After a minute, Bruce came back and informed her that Sebastian was sleeping soundly in the room. She sighed in relief as she started to prepare the food that they needed to eat.

"W-What are you doing?" She stammered when Bruce cornered her while she was busy slicing the ingredient.

"Are you sure that you know how to cook? You couldn't cut this carrot correctly." Bruce whispered in her ear. She felt tickled when Bruce took her hand and guided her on how to cut like a professional cook. Her heart began thumping too fast, and it looked like her heart wanted to jump out of her ribcage.

"You should be careful using the knife. It would help if you didn't get a wound because of this. Sebastian would be mad at you if you didn't think about yourself." Bruce added. She bit her lips, hoping that Bruce wouldn't hear how her heart reacted to their position.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you?" She almost gasped when she felt his breath on her cheek. She didn't know that Bruce was looking at her too. She turned her head and their lips met. She was surprised by the sudden kiss that she accidentally did.

"Young lady, you don't need to steal a kiss from me. I can give you a lot of that if you want it." Bruce smirked before he held her chin and claimed her lips once again. Her lips trembled when she felt how soft his pinkish lips were. She felt a lot of voltage again in her body, and she quickly pushed him when she realized what he had done.

"How dare you kiss me, Bruce? I can't believe that you dared to--"

"Young lady, I didn't even push you when you kissed me. You should be fair to me. You stole a kiss from me, so I took the kiss back. We did the same thing, but you did that first."

"Bruce, it's an accident." She defended herself.

"Then, it's the same. I accidentally kissed you. " Bruce began walking to the door without even looking at her. She couldn't believe everything that had happened too fast. But she was surprised by how her heart reacted after Bruce kissed her.