At X District Apartment Building…
Annie didn’t have much left to pack. She had already finalized with the landlord, and all she needed now was to move into her new apartment.
While Mrs. Lin tidied up her now empty room, the girl stood by the window, staring silently at the neighborhood.
“That boy is becoming a nuisance. Annie, didn’t Dylan tell you where he was going?” Mrs. Lin was grumbling as she folded the bedsheets.
Since Dylan left very early in the morning, he hadn’t returned home. His absence from the house was frequent nowadays. As each day passed by, Mrs. Lin was getting more suspicious.
“He didn’t tell me, Ma,” Annie replied. “How about I go get the taxi myself?” After a few seconds, she suggested.
Mrs. Lin looked at the distracted girl. Maybe her daughter was sad about leaving, she couldn’t tell. The girl kept spacing out.
While Annie was on her way downstairs, her phone rang and she retrieved it from her shorts pocket. Staring at the unknown number, her lips twitched at the sides.
“Mr. Lim.” She answered the call.
There was a few seconds of silence before the man’s hard voice came from the other end. “It appears you don’t take this marriage seriously, Annie. Should I remind you that you’re now my wife?”
It had been almost a week since they signed the certificate. Yet, this girl kept evading him. She didn’t cease to anger him whenever he communicated with her. Just like she was about to do now.
“What exactly does Mr. Lim want from me? Our marriage is only in name. We’re not even a real couple. Can Mr. Lim please stop bothering me?”
And now, they were back to phase one. Andrew thought marrying her again would solve everything. However, her stubbornness seemed to be on another level.
“I don’t have to tell you that as a couple, we must live together, do I?”
Annie found his words funny. This man, whom she thought she could read through and through never ceased to amaze her.
“Even real couples aren’t obligated to live in the same house. Mr. Lim, stop being a nuisance.”
Her last word went straight to Andrew’s heart, shattering his pride. “You dared call me a nuisance, Annabelle?” His yell was cut off as she suddenly hung up on him.
Andrew dropped the phone, his eyes flashing. Inside a large booth at the top of a bar, the man looked as if he would draw out a sword and slash someone apart.
Instinctively, Assistant Jiang covered his throat. The man’s murderous look was directed at him, and he wished he could sink into the ground.
“What did you tell me, Assistant Jiang?” The floor seemed to shake from the impact of his voice.
Assistant Jiang hung his head and wiped his sweat rapidly. Ah! Was it possible that he could just disappear? Seemed like the advice he had given his Boss didn’t work. He thought by calling Mrs. Lim and speaking with her, she would concede.
“Erm, Boss, maybe you could talk to her carefully. Maybe all Mrs. Lim needs is some coaxing and sweet words.” In an effort to placate his Boss, the assistant spoke anything that came to his mind.
He had always believed in the notion that opposites attract. But then, wasn’t this couple a pair made in heaven?
The husband was strict and the wife was heartless. With this kind of progress, how could his Boss get his cure? Would the contract last up to a year even?
“M–Mr. Lim, believe me. All women fall into two categories. On one category are the ones that will instantly obey when you impose authority on them. And the ones that fall into the latter category are very troublesome. The more authoritative you get, the more difficult they make your life.”
Andrew was fed up with Assistant Jiang’s blabbering. Annie didn’t fall into either of the categories. The girl he knew three years ago didn’t need to be asked first before carrying out any of his commands.
Three years was not now though. If she wanted to do it the hard way, so be it.
The man sprang to his feet and Assistant Jiang almost fled to the door. He only sighed in relief when his Boss picked up his car keys and left the booth.
Quickly, Assistant Jiang gulped down many glasses of wine to calm down. Nowadays, he was having a mental breakdown. He didn’t care following his boss, he just wished whoever his boss was on his way to meet would have it easy.
…
Annie stood on the side of the street, her hand stretched out to stop the approaching taxi. However, she heard a commotion coming from her left and she looked in that direction.
“Take it down! I don’t want to see one thing left in its good shape! No! Break down the door!” A loud voice of a woman filled the neighborhood.
At that time of the evening, almost all the neighbors had returned to the apartment building. A lot of people were outside and they quickly gathered around.
Standing in front of Mrs. Lin’s store was a large woman with up to ten boys who looked like thugs. And she was commanding them to take down the store.
Annie looked speechless for a while. Ignoring the taxi she just stopped, she hurried to the store. “Madam, may I know what is happening here?” She went to their front, standing between them and the door.
The woman was breathing heavily. She squinted her eyes at the beautiful girl standing in front of her. Then she looked at the other people who had gathered around. Among all of them, this girl was the most beautiful.
“Is your name Annie? Are you the daughter of the woman who owns this store?”
“That is right.” Annie gave her a blank look. “You can tell me the reason why you want to take this store down. I believe we haven’t met before. If it’s my mother you have a problem with, we both know this isn’t the right action to take.”
“Ah!” The woman almost cried seeing how beautiful this girl was. Thank goodness she decided to act fast.
If her husband set his eyes on this kind of girl, how would she be able to survive?
“Boys, change of plan.” She turned to the thugs and yelled, “Instead of destroying the store, I want you to beat her up until she’s unrecognizable!”