Agreement Behind Her Marriage

Drew was thinking about his intentions while sitting in the rear of his car. The way he approaches Jenny could either help or hurt him. He was concerned about upsetting Lily, his wife, and uncertain about her potential reaction. Ideally, he hoped to sustain a harmonious relationship with her throughout their one-year agreement.

During his trip, he thought of calling Finn to ask for advice.

“Hello!” his friend answered on the other line.

“Are you busy?” he asked.

“I’m still at work; do you have another problem?”

“I just needed some advice. I encountered Jenny, one of the women I had hired before, and met her tonight.”

When Finn remained silent, Drew was aware of his thoughts. Because his friend knew him, he couldn’t hold it against him if he had any doubts.

Drew glanced at Mark. Mark seemed to be pretending not to hear anything as Drew explained, “We crossed paths because she’s a friend of Vivian, one of my business partners. I didn’t meet her for sex.” The skepticism from a best friend irked him.

“Vivian?”

“That ‘performer,’ who I frequently hired at the club. She’s a business partner now.”

“Okay, hold on. When you say business, it means purely business without taking the clothes off and sucking each other’s skin, right?”

He was a little pissed. Why does he not believe him? He declared, “Finn, I’m married,” emphasizing his current marital status.

“Then why did you meet with Vivian? No, not just Vivian, there’s still Jenny?”

“Aren’t you listening? I said we are business partners. Okay, before you make me upset, listen up. I wanted to use Jenny to exact revenge on Kenneth’s friend, but I wasn’t sure how Lily would react. I planned to destroy Jenny’s marriage, but I didn’t want Lily to have a bad opinion of me.”

“So, you meant to indicate that you were going to seduce Jenny until she ended her own marriage?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you think Lily could manage it? Must I remind you that your house experienced an unfortunate incident during your absence, and someone nearly molested Lily? And this all happened just yesterday. Bro, she’s having too much right now. Just act upon your plan to exact payback on those who harmed her. But what do you receive in return? Don’t you two intend to part ways one day?”

Drew was unsure of what he would gain from his schemes. He is only aware of his desire to exact revenge on Lily because she is his wife. Furthermore, four years ago, when Lily’s troubled past with Kenneth and his friends started, their lives unexpectedly crossed. Still, he did nothing because she was a stranger at that time.

“Because I can now assist Lily as her husband, I feel it is the least I can do. If we ever part ways, I won’t be frightened to let her go because I already have destroyed those who could harm her.”

“But what if you fell in love with Lily? What if you were the one who hurt her instead of those other people?”

When Finn asked this question, Drew swallowed with a heavy heart. “Nope. She’s the one who suggested our one-year commitment, and I’m certain she has plans for the future that don’t involve me.”

***

Drew found Lily carrying boxes on their home’s third floor. He smiled as he leaned against the side door. Lily turned to him when she heard a rustling.

“Hi! I-I’m sorry if I’m using this room temporarily. I required a room for the ongoing remodeling, and I can’t locate the spare space for the items we haven’t utilized.”

He delayed responding because he wanted to get used to the odd emotions he developed whenever Lily was around. Unexpectedly, he enjoyed it.

“I-I hope it’s okay with you,” Lily said after receiving no response from him.

“If this is the spare you selected, this must be it, Lily. I ought to be the one to apologize for not having planned for the storage space. Have you had a meal?”

He unexpectedly heard her stomach growling. Lily clutched her stomach while having a guilty cat’s flush on her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I was busy remodeling the house.”

He extended his hand to her. “Come with me. I’ll prepare dinner because you must be tired.”

Lily accepted his hand but refused to let him make the meal.

“No, it’s fine; you’re the one who must be tired,” she responded, aware that he had come from somewhere else and had to travel back from his workplace.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“But I’m also certain that cleaning the house has worn you out.”

Lily stopped arguing with him and started helping him with small tasks like chopping vegetables, preparing plates, or doing the dishes instead. Drew grinned because he didn’t anticipate how pleasant sharing simple duties with someone would feel.

After they had done dining, he invited Lily to join him for tea by the pool. They both faced the water, where the light from their home kissed its surface, and the chilly air made it glitter.

“Do you think I can finally complete my college now?” Lily asked. They were each clutching a little cup while they sat on tanning beds across from one another.

“Lily, you are doing great, so why are you doubting yourself?” Drew asked, managing to turn to Lily. She continually looked back at the past, the only thing he disliked about her, though he also couldn’t blame her for it.

“I was humiliated by what happened to me at school, which was extremely traumatic.”

Drew clenched his fist. “As your husband, if you let them shame you right now, it would be the same as letting them insult me. Do not forget, we are now husband and wife. If you let those people hurt you, they will do it again. But they will avoid you if you are brave and willing to punish them seven times for their terrible crimes.”

Lily looked at him and said, “Is that what you did to Victor?”

She has dazzling eyes. There is no mystery or secret significance there.

“Yes, initially, I had no plans to take action against Victor, but if I didn’t, I’m sure he would have bothered you again because he knew you were afraid. I just took action, Lily. And Victor happened to be the first on the list.”

“First on the list? Do you mean to say you also have plans for his other friends?”

His eyes narrowed before replying to her with determination, “Yes.”

“How can I help you, then?”

He set the cup to the side, bringing his face closer to Lily’s. “Help yourself, Lily. You did it once with Victor, and you can do it again. I’ll hand those fuckers to you, and you’re going to repay them by making them suffer through their anguish seven times.”

After speaking, he felt Lily’s lips with his thumb before kissing her. He closed his eyes to feel her even more.

He muttered between their lips, “Let me see your scars again. Remember how I said I’d cover the sofa with paint?”

Lily took a deep breath. “Then cover it with new art. I want a new style.”

He smiled, finding it both thrilling and intense. As his palm massaged one of her breasts and traced her neck, he could hear her labored breathing. Soon, he carried her inside.

***

Sarah placed a folder with papers on Drew’s desk and said, “Boss, here are the new applicants for the secretary position.”

“Ah, yes. Isn’t Mara under you? You should be the one to choose.” He named one of the four secretaries on his staff.

“Yes, but I also considered telling you about a certain applicant in case you found it intriguing and decided to select her as well.”

He curiously opened the folder and saw a man’s applicant sheet.

“He is who I intended to pick. After Mara became pregnant and forced her to take her break, I intend to hire a man this time to avoid a repeat of the situation, but…”

Sarah wasn’t condemning discrimination against women; instead, she pointed out that they dealt with workloads in the most recent incident. As she explained, Drew checked the next applicant. It’s her!

“Hire both of them.”

“We’re hiring two of them?”

“Yes. Because I have no plans for Jenny to stay here.” He knew Jenny had abandoned modeling and now worked for Jericho’s family. She might have used it to qualify her application to his office. He shook his head and carried on with his task.

“She’s come to play. Let’s give her the playground. But she must not blame me if she’s the bet.” He scoffed.

His phone beeped, and he saw Orion’s message. An image of Lily dining in the cafeteria with a young woman is attached.

Orion: Boss, there is no issue with Ms. Lily. She immediately made a friend at school.