…
Annie returned home to find smoke spreading from the kitchen.
She dropped her bag and quickly took off her shoes, hurrying inside the kitchen. “Mr. Lim, do you want to burn down my apartment?” She exclaimed.
Andrew covered his nose with a towel and waved one hand, dispelling the smoke. Through the heavy smoke, she could feel the man glaring at her.
A few minutes ago, after waiting for her return, he was tired and decided to cook for himself. After all, he believed his skill must have improved.
Who knew she went and bought fake oil?
“Annie, are you so broke that you can’t buy genuine ingredients? You’re keen on feeding me poison, huh?”
Annie almost laughed at his words. She sighed in relief, seeing that he had already turned off the stove.
She pulled him out of the kitchen and opened the apartment’s window to let the smoke out.
“Don’t blame me for your mistake. I didn’t ask you to cook, I asked you to eat out.”
“You know I don’t like outside food.”
“That would at least save you from hurting yourself.”
Andrew just realized what she was wearing. His eyes roamed over her dress and they stopped on her face.
“Mrs. Lim.” He walked forward and stared down at her. “You can go out the way you please. You can now go to parties too.”
“I didn’t stop you from doing the same. Why does Mr. Lim look offended?”
Andrew stared into her eyes for a few seconds. “You’re not allowed to go somewhere else again without my permission, Annie. Next time, don’t also wear something like this.”
The wine hadn’t completely dried up and it made the thin fabric clung to her body. Annie shook her head at him, maintaining her smile.
Without saying anything, she walked past him and entered the bedroom.
Andrew’s eyes followed her back. His eyes were fixed on the spot which was stained red. Even the back of her dress wasn’t spared from the stain.
A small frown could be seen making its way to the man’s face. He stepped forward as if he was about to follow her. Then he changed his mind and entered the kitchen.
.
Inside the bedroom, Annie blew out a sigh after changing out of her dress and taking a bath. Her phone rang when she wanted to apply a mask on her face.
She picked it up and saw Layla’s name displayed on the screen.
“Annie, are you alright? I hope you got home safely.” Layla’s voice came immediately she answered the phone.
“I’m fine.” Annie smiled. “I didn’t mean to leave early.”
“Urgh! I totally understand. That witch is overdoing it, really! It makes me wonder if you should report her to the police.”
“Forget about her. How much did the restaurant charge? I’ll send half the bill’s money.”
“No, you don’t have to.” Layla shook her head. “You didn’t even get to eat that much, Annie. Those freeloaders have drunk themselves into an unconscious state. I’m planning to ditch them and let the restaurant hold them back till they pay the bills themselves.”
This time, Annie laughed for real. “Isn’t that a great idea?”
Realizing that Annie had caught her joke, Layla groaned. “Seriously, Annie, I can do that. This celebration was a disaster. I should have gone with inviting Mum’s friends and having them bugged me with questions all day.”
“Just send me the invoice,” Annie said softly, laughing again. “Don’t work yourself up, Layla. Disasters are inevitable.”
They bid goodnight and Annie waited for the girl’s text. After a while, Layla sent her an invoice and she sent half the bill then texted her a screenshot of the payment.
Annie rested her back on the bed and faced the ceiling. She was about to doze off when a knock came from the door.
“Annie, come out!” The man’s grumpy voice reached her ears.
“To do what?” Annie asked.
“Come and help me in the kitchen.”
Annie left the bed and joined him inside the kitchen. “I thought Mr. Lim was confident in his skills.”
“Don’t push your luck, Annie. I might punish you for what you did.”
“What did I do?”
“Going somewhere without my permission and engaging in a fight at work.”
Annie stopped stirring the soup in the pot. She lifted her head and looked at him. “So Mr. Lim is aware of what happened. Why didn’t you appear and pacify your troublesome wives?”
“I only have one wife.”
“I don’t believe so,” Annie chuckled. While she spoke in a lighthearted tone, the man didn’t appear to take her words lightly.
If Assistant Jiang hadn’t hinted to him, Andrew wouldn’t have known that the secretaries had turned his office into a marketplace.
The way Assistant Jiang put it made it seem as if Annie too was involved in the fight. So Andrew thought he should warn her.
“Remember our marriage is a secret. Don’t do anything to give yourself out, Mrs. Lim.”
“Mr. Lim, I’m not on the list of your fan girls. You can have as many wives as you want, it’s none of my concern.”
While the couple bantered, the food was soon done. Annie didn’t have an appetite, so she only served him before going to the bedroom.
Sleep was far from her eyes. She picked up her tablet and found herself logging into the company’s forum.
Just like she suspected, someone had posted the news about the war that broke out in the CEO’s area.
Some comments made her laugh and most of them made her shake her head.
“I don’t think the CEO will tolerate their behavior. I’m sure if the CEO gets wind of it, they’re all going to be fired.”
“Then new secretaries will be hired.”
“That means we must step up our games.”
Annie logged out of the forum and dropped her tablet on the bedside table. Moments later, the man joined her on the bed and she looked at him.
“Speaking about permissions, I must let you know that I won’t be spending the weekend in this Apartment Building.”
“Where are you going to?” Andrew frowned.
“X District,” she replied.
Immediately, his expression changed and he pulled her forward, pressing her to his body. “You’re not going anywhere, Annie. We’ll spend the whole weekend together.”
Since he returned from the other city, his routine had been hectic. Now that the man was longing for some rest, how could he think of letting her go?
Without a proper sleep, Andrew could feel he was about to reach his limit again.