‘He just had to praise my face, a replica of Heather’s. Does he like Heather, or is it me?’“You’re so beautiful, and I can’t stop looking at you! You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!” Ralph said quickly, nodding fervently. He was trying to flatter her, but his words were true to a certain extent.‘Heather is indeed beautiful in a unique way. However, it was slightly exaggerated to say that no other woman could compare to her. Forget about other women and just take Alex’s wife as an example. She’s a true beauty and was born beautiful. Anyone would find her gorgeous at first sight. Her beauty isn’t the kind that would take anyone’s breath away, but one wouldn’t be able to avert their gaze from her. The more one looks at her, the more beautiful she is. However, she has nothing to do with me now that she’s married to Alex. What I want is the family’s wealth, not just merely a woman. This woman before me is different. She’s not only good-looking, but she could bring endless we
Their meal went by in a quiet and weird atmosphere. Ralph could not figure her out and could only speculate carefully based on his observations. Her attitude toward him told him she was fine but looked unhappy, although she said she had forgiven him.After the meal, Ralph tried to start a conversation. “Heather, do you like the bracelet?”“I li—” Hannah paused and gave it some thought. “It’s fine, I guess.”Initially, she wanted to say that she liked it, but it hit her that he bought the bracelet for Heather and not for her. Hence, it did not matter whether she liked the bracelet or hated it.“You don’t like it then?” He understood the underlying meaning behind her words instantly. ‘She doesn’t like the gift, but she still wears it, which shows her feelings for me. Mom was right. I should buy her something more expensive.’“What do you like? I’ll buy it for you,” Ralph offered proudly, and it made Hannah’s gaze brighten successfully, but the light in them slowly diminished again
‘In the past, Heather would ask me to pretend to be her and stayed in her office too, but I didn’t have to say much. Sometimes, I’d just put on a dark expression and it would scare those people away. Now she wanted me to pretend to be her completely out here, and I even have to deal with this man and say such strange things to him. I can’t take it anymore.’Ralph stared at Hannah with a probing gaze. When she thought that she was going to be exposed, she heard him say, “Sure! I think what you said makes sense!”‘Huh?’Hannah raised her head and looked at him in surprise. Then, he continued, “It’s right to be honest with each other in a marriage. With that being said, shouldn’t you be more honest with me too?”He stopped there, but his intention was clear as day. If she wanted to learn about his assets, she had to reveal hers. However, Hannah thought of something else. She understood nothing about assets, shares, and all those business jargon, but she understood the word “honest”.
“N-No, no, no. We’re not.” Hannah waved her hand and looked toward Ralph. “I don’t like diamond rings.”Her words stunned him, and after looking at her for a moment, he finally came to his senses. “Oh right! You practice kickboxing…” He paused and looked at the sales advisor before he agreed, “It’s indeed not that suitable.”“What about a necklace then? We can get a diamond necklace for you too.” he continued. The sales advisor was smiling from ear to ear. “We just received several diamond necklaces of the season and it fits your style well. Would you like to try it?”“I actually don’t like diamonds,” she whispered. To Hannah, diamonds were merely stones, and they held no value to her. In fact, she liked the pearl bracelet, but it made her uncomfortable wearing it because Ralph actually bought it for Heather, and not her.“What do you like then?” Ralph asked patiently.“I…” She did not know what she liked as well. Since she was younger, she did not have the right to choose
His gaze was so fiery that it seemed to warmed her ears. While covering her ears, she said, “Okay then. I’ll have them pierced!”Ralph grinned, delighted to hear that. “Heather, you’re the best!”Hannah just stayed silent as the sales advisor brought her to a small cubicle at the side. In that room, there was a tool that was specially used to pierce one’s ears. In fact, the whole process was quick and did not hurt as much as Hannah thought it would, but it still stung a little. It was hard for Ralph to believe that a woman who practiced kickboxing all year long and who was tougher than many men would be afraid of getting her ears pierced, as shown by the frown on her face. There was an indescribable sense of satisfaction in Ralph’s heart at the sight. Initially, he did not care about the type of earrings Hannah wanted to get, but the moment the sales advisor wanted to check out the item, he suddenly had an idea. If he managed to convince her to get her ears pierced, it meant that
“Annie?” Puzzled, Ralph repeated.“Yeah!” Afraid that he would be mistaken again, Hannah quickly explained, “When we go out on dates in the future, could you call me Annie?”“Is… Annie your nickname?” he asked while thinking, ‘This is weird. I’ve never heard that Heather had any nicknames in the past. Plus, where did that nickname come from?’She looked so excited, so Ralph just agreed to her request. “Sure.”His answer made Hannah happy, and her cheeks were red, but she thought of something suddenly. “Don’t call me Annie all the time too. I might not like it sometimes.”“Huh?” Ralph frowned. He was even more puzzled now. ‘What does she even mean?’Ralph knew that she had a weird temper, but he did not expect her to be this weird. She wanted him to address her as Annie sometimes only, and he had to call her something else on some other days.“Do you dislike… how weird I am?” Hannah asked cautiously. She did not want to do this, but her little secret would be exposed if he called
Hannah widened her eyes upon seeing the enlarged face in front of her. She felt scared, nervous, and ashamed the first time he kissed her, but she was feeling something else this time.It was not the first time he kissed her now. This time, he was gentle and cautious, sucking on her lips gently. It was a weird feeling for her.No one had ever done this to her in her life. Forget about getting kissed, but no one had ever held her hand or even hugged her. The strange yet familiar man was doing something intimate and felt weird to her, but she did not want to push him away.Ralph just wanted to test the waters. After all, he did not get a good experience the first time he kissed her. Sensing that she did not resist and accepted him obediently, he became bolder and slid his tongue over.Hannah was taken aback as she did not expect him to do this. She kept her teeth clenched, unwilling to open up due to her fear and nervousness.On the other hand, Ralph was a veteran of this. He caress
She broke free from his embrace and her expression darkened. There was a hint of indifference in her gaze too. “It’s getting late so I’ll get going now.”“What?” Ralph was taken aback. He wanted to invite her to watch a movie together, and he had a lot of moves planned to win her over. He did not understand why she wanted to leave all of sudden. Everything was still going perfectly well earlier.Puzzled, he watched as she got ready to leave. Before she could walk far, he held her hand, “Heather…”He paused, then corrected himself, “Annie, tell me what’s wrong. I want to hear it from you. You’re passionate one moment, then cold the next. It’s driving me crazy…”Hannah turned around and faced him, then lowered her gaze at their joined hands, hesitant to speak. “Annie, tell me honestly about what you’re dissatisfied with me. I don’t know what to do when you’re like this. I don’t know what I should do to make you happy.”Anxiety was written all over his face while his gaze held si