Chapter 3

"It is not the nature of love to force a relationship, but it is the nature of love to open the way."

-William P. Young-

***

“Good morning, boss.” A series of his employees greeted him. Eden walked into the room and gave them all a polite nod of acknowledgement before he entered his private office. Eden Black was the current head of the company.

He inherited it from his father who started everything from scratch. It started as a small local tech business but over the years, it had grown and transformed significantly and at the time, it had over a hundred working employees, excluding the freelancers and interns in two different branches.

Their products were exported to fifteen countries at the moment. The company was the primary source of his lavish lifestyle, but he also had other investments and source of income. At that point in his life, he no longer worked for money, but his money worked for him.

What could a man who had everything could possibly want in life? The answer was simple. Companionship.

He already had money, power and status, but these things would be meaningless if he could not share it with someone he loved. After all, the triad of wealth was wealth, health and relationship.

He nailed the wealth and health part, he had decent relationship with others, but one part was missing. Love and relationship. He wished to obtain these through Karina. Yet she was still acting a bit difficult.

“Here is your schedule for the day, boss.” His secretary, Andreas Rodriguez entered the room and handed him his schedule. He scrolled through the device to see everything he had to do that day. His schedule was quite tight, it seemed like he would be back home by the evening.

“Andreas, is there anything we could cut from the schedule? I wish to be home early today.” He tried to negotiate. Andreas raised his brow in confusion.

Eden’s behavior was unusual. He was a workaholic man who loved working. To hear him wishing an early leave, it was strange. Andreas took a look at the schedule again and thought about what to remove.

“Well, there is a few things we could change here, they aren’t very significant. I’ll mark them and revise it for you.” He stated.

“I’d like that.” In the end, his schedule became a lot more concise and he shortened his lunch time so he could finish everything in time.

“Andreas, wait. You’ve been married for five years, haven’t you?” He asked. Andreas turned around and raised his brow in confusion.

“Yes, I do, but what does my marriage have to do with this?” He wondered.

“Do you have any marriage tips for me?” He asked. Andreas was stunned. He was speechless, unable to say anything. Andreas have always known his boss as someone who would never ask personal questions.

Before that day, he never asked him about his life outside of work. Andreas had been working for Eden since the day he was appointed as the company’s head and CEO. It had been years and the entire time, their interaction had always been professional.

“I think the only advice I can give you in this. Happy wife, happy life. As long as your wife is happy, your marriage should be fine. Us men, we don’t need a lot in this life, but women are complicated and complex, not to mention, they’re emotional. Don’t try to understand them, just make your wife happy and everything will be fine.”

It was such a simple piece of advice. Eden had heard it before and in the past, when he was younger, he thought it was kind of silly how they only emphasized things on the woman’s happiness, but as he grew older, he understood.

Women are naturally giving creatures, as long as you make them happy, they will give you their love and heart.

Oh, how he wished it was that simple.

“By the way, why do you suddenly ask me this question? You’ve never been interested in marriage before, have you?” Andreas was a bit worried for his boss, he seemed different that day. With a smile on his face, Eden replied.

“I’m getting married next week.” Upon the announcement, Andreas nearly spit out the drink he was having. He turned around and raised his brow in disbelief.

“Boss, I know you like to joke around sometimes but this isn’t funny. You don’t even have a girlfriend how come you’re getting married next week?” He questioned.

“Why not? I have the bride, I have the money, I just have to call someone to decorate my place to make it seem more appropriate for a wedding venue and that’s it. Call up a priest and hold the wedding ceremony.” He stated calmly.

Andreas knew his boss was not the sanest person in the world but he didn’t expect him to be this crazy. Getting married in a few months might be normal but getting married in a week? He did not even know how to maintain a proper relationship with a woman before and now he wanted to get married? Andreas was holding back his laughter and just replied briefly.

“Just hand me over the formal wedding invitation and I’ll be there.”

“Okay, it’s a deal.” Eden knew Andreas didn’t believe him but he didn’t really care.

At around five in the evening, Eden was already on his way home. The drive home from his office usually took around an hour because his mansion was located in the middle of the forest, far away from other people.

Not only because he loved the extra privacy the space had, but it would also prevent her from running because there was no way she could get out of the forest quickly by running. The land was simply too vast. He expected her to be a smart woman so there was no way she would try to run away from there. It would be as good a suicide.

Once he arrived back home, the first thing he looked for was her. He did not want to make the same mistake as before so this time, he calmly searched for her. It started with her room, but he found she wasn’t there, then he moved on to the other rooms but she was nowhere to be found.

He planned on asking the security guard about her whereabout when his nose picked up a pleasant scent coming from the kitchen.

His feet led him there and he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. She was there in the kitchen, cooking alongside the chef who taught her a few things.

“I heard from the young master that you are lactose intolerant, therefore, I will introduce a new secret ingredient to replace the dairy in the meals now.” The chef told her, both were still unaware of Eden’s presence.

“It’s called nutritional yeast. Vegetarians and vegans often use it in their meal to give that cheesy flavor. I am sure you would enjoy it in today’s garlic cheese pasta.” Karina had a bright smile on her face as she watched the chef added the yellow powder into the pasta sauce mix.

Eden felt like he was being left behind so he cleared his throat and both of them turned their attention to him. The smile from Karina’s face disappeared as soon as she saw him. Clearly, Eden’s presence was not something she appreciated.

“What are you doing in the kitchen, Karina? I told you that all the meals would be prepared by the chef. You don’t have to be here.” He reminded her, quickly hiding the smile on his face to match hers.

“I want to. Do you think I’m just going to stay in my room all day doing nothing? If I’m going to be here, I need to at least do something. Besides, I like cooking and the chef was willing to teach me a few things. Is there a problem?” She crossed her arms while looking up at him. With their height difference. She almost looked like a bratty pouting child to him.

Fortunately, she was pretty, so he couldn’t get mad at her even though she threw him a little bit of attitude. Considering her circumstance, it was understandable.

“Ah, I didn’t know you like cooking. Then, I will give the entire kitchen for you. Use it however you like.” She was slightly taken aback by his reaction. For some reason, he seemed a bit too nice for someone who just kidnapped her the day before.

Truthfully, it frightened her a bit. If he was going to be evil and mean to her, then she would have an even stronger reason and urge to run away, but if he was going to treat her too nicely, she was afraid she might get used to him.

“What? What are you saying?”

“I said, if you like cooking, you can use the kitchen however you like. You seem to get along with the chef too. Just don’t end up falling in love with him or I might end his career.” He glared at the chef who quickly shook his head.

“No, young master, I’m just here to teach the new miss and I am married with two kids, please spare me.” The chef defended himself.

“Anyway, I’m going to take shower, you should too. We will meet again for dinner. There is something I need to discuss with you.” He stated before disappearing from her sight. Karina turned her attention to the poor chef.

“Let’s just continue the dish.”