Chapter 7 Future Stepfather

Ryan snatched a piece of tissue and gave it to her. Archer was standing near their table with a cold expression, and it did not slip from his attention.

“Can’t your question wait until I finish my drink, at least?” Felly grumbled. She dabbed her damp clothes with the tissue from Ryan.

“Oh. You must be Felly’s husband.” Ryan stood up. He smiled, extending his hand to shake Archer’s. He tried to be polite to Felly’s husband. “Hello, my name’s Ryan,” he said calmly.

Archer turned his gaze from Felly to Ryan’s hand. He looked away as if Ryan were not there with them.

Ryan smiled slightly. He noticed Archer’s reluctance, then withdrew his hand and shoved it into his pocket.

“We’re just having lunch. I came here alone, and we had no appointment beforehand,” Ryan explained. He hoped Archer would not misread the situation they were in. Although Archer’s expression looked flat, Ryan knew the emotions that were hidden behind those darkened eyes.

“I didn’t ask you anything, Mister Ryan.” Archer stared at him indifferently.

“Just call me Ryan.” Ryan smiled, although he knew Archer only called him that to get on his nerves. “I’m not used to being called ‘Mister.’”

“If you have no other business with my WIFE, you better leave us alone.” Archer emphasized the word ‘wife.’ It was as if he wanted to reaffirm Ryan’s place as a stranger to them.

“Alright. I have finished my lunch anyway.”

Ryan turned to Felly, who had been just observing silently. From her expressionless face, Ryan could not guess what she was feeling. Ryan could see something very strange in the way Archer and Felly communicate. But he did not want to stick his nose deeper into their business.

“Alright, Felly, I’m leaving. About what we discussed earlier, just send it over e-mail.”

Felly nodded. “Okay. I’ll finish the design today.”

Ryan then left the café. Archer’s gaze hardened as he met Felly’s eyes.

“Follow me. We need to talk.” His voice was icy.

“Is it important?”

“Of course. When did I ever need to talk about unimportant things to you?”

“Let’s talk here. No one will hear us here,” Felly said calmly.

Archer’s jaw clenched. He did not like Felly’s laid-back attitude and her lack of remorse. What she did today was completely unforgivable. Felly went out with another man in public. That could ruin Archer’s reputation as a young well-known CEO of the country.

Archer grabbed her wrist. His grip was so tight, that it made Felly wince in pain.

“Come with me!” Archer commanded in an even firmer tone.

“Mama! I have washed my ha … hands.” Kimberly’s high-pitched voice was gradually lowering when she spotted Archer.

Archer turned around. He fell silent when he noticed his daughter still looked at him in the same grim gaze. He was still not forgiven.

Upon Archer’s distracted attention, Felly pulled away her arm from his grip.

“Where’s Uncle Ryan, Mama?”

“He’s left, darling.”

“Oh no.” Kimberly looked disappointed. She did not realize how her behavior also disappointed and upset her father.

Kimberly climbed up her chair. She hugged and pulled the pony doll into her lap.

Archer’s glare weakened when he noticed Kimberly’s dream doll had been sitting on that chair.

“Kimmy, you got the doll?” Archer asked. He felt a lump in his throat.

Kimberly nodded. Her expression was not as cheerful as it was before Archer’s arrival. “Uncle Ryan got it for me.”

Once again, Archer fell silent. Both of his hands slowly curled up into fists until the veins popped. He then stared at his car that was parked outside the café. His gaze darkened when he remembered he had bought many pony dolls. They were inside of his car. He planned to give them to Kimberly today.

Apparently, he was defeated by that Ryan guy. Archer smiled bitterly.

“Okay, where do you want to talk? Here? In my office?” Felly quickly changed the topic when she saw Archer’s expression grow darker after seeing their daughter’s new doll.

“Home. Let’s go home.”

Archer left the table and went out of the café. Felly sighed heavily as she stared at his back which was slowly moving away.

“Darling, let’s go home.” Felly ruffled Kimberly’s hair out of cuteness aggression.

“But you haven’t finished your drink, Mama.”

“Oh … right. I forgot. I’ll finish it first.”

Felly finished her drink. She always taught Kimberly to finish her food and drink. It felt wrong to contradict her own words.

In the end, Felly gave in to what Archer wanted. Her work that day could be handled from home, and there was nothing important enough on her schedule that required her to stay in the office.

The atmosphere in the car was tense. Archer was focused on driving. He looked straight ahead, his lips were sealed shut. His jaw clenched and grip tightened on the steering wheel whenever he heard Kimberly excitedly talk to the doll from Ryan in the backseat.

Felly did not want to give her comment. She just focused on answering Kimberly’s questions. Felly recognized Archer’s anger. She just did not want to acknowledge it.

At home, Archer asked Zoe to keep Kimberly company. He then pulled Felly to her room. Yes, this was what usually happened. He was free to enter Felly’s room but hated if Felly entered his.

“I’m not a thing you need to drag around.” Felly yanked his grip violently, unfortunately, the grip was stronger.

Archer closed the door and locked it. He then pressed her body against the wall and locked her wrists above her head. Felly quickly looked away when Archer’s face leaned too close to hers.

“If you want to talk, just talk nicely. You don’t have to treat me like an animal,” Felly said coldly.

“Did you teach our daughter how to beg, Felly?” Archer hissed sharply. It made Felly frown; she was confused.

“Beg? What do you mean, Archer?”

“That doll!” Archer raised his voice as he glared at her. “You told Kimberly to beg that doll from that man, right?” Archer smiled bitterly. “Or … are you introducing her to her future stepfather, is that what this is?”

***