At H District Apartment Building…
Annie wasn’t surprised when she got home and found her apartment’s door unlocked. On entering the living room, she met the man sitting on the couch and staring straight at the door.
Without a word, the girl only walked past him and entered her bedroom.
Andrew’s expression changed but he didn’t follow her. He, however, remained in the living room, and sometime later, he could feel her movement in the kitchen.
“Annie…” He called out to the girl who seemed to be busy preparing a dish.
Annie didn’t answer him, though. She only came out after she was done cooking and setting up the table.
Without waiting to be invited, the man followed her to the dining table, and couldn’t mask his surprise when he saw that she had served him food.
Andrew narrowed his eyes, then he looked up and gave her a skeptical look. As he hadn’t eaten, he suppressed what he wanted to say before and ate the food instead.
Just one taste of the food had him traveling back to three years ago. He frowned and shook his head, dispelling those memories that were about to flood back.
The man’s actions didn’t miss Annie’s eyes. She ate her food silently and would lift her head to look at him now and then.
One could term the atmosphere in the dining room as peaceful, but only the couple knew the storm looming ahead.
After the man finished eating, he didn’t hide his anger anymore. He pushed the empty plate away and glared at her.
“You thought by feeding me, I would let it go. Annie, are you so impatient that you can’t even wait for a year to be over?”
Annie only smiled. She wasn’t taken aback by his words. In fact, the girl already saw them coming. This man whose temper was beyond himself, how would he let it go easily?
“I thought I heard it somewhere that the only way to tame a man is through his stomach. Mr. Lim, why are you being sensitive?”
“I’m glad your hope is shattered. Even if you cook another meal, Annie, you’ll have to explain yourself.”
Annie stood up and packed the plates away.
Thinking that she was ignoring him, a look of irritation flashed in the man’s eyes. He was about to follow her, but she came out soon.
Sitting back on her chair, Annie removed her phone from her pajamas pocket and played a recording. “Since Mr. Lim is being so insecure, you might as well know why I was with Mr. Zhang.”
As Andrew listened to the conversation going on between her and the man, his frown didn’t disappear, but the man was no longer angry.
Surely, Annie was not in for another round of argument after an exhaustive day. Only the girl knew how to control the man’s feelings. She could anger him intentionally, and she knew the only way to make herself come clean.
Spending a long time with him three years ago wasn’t child’s play. Like the back of her hands, she was sure she could read him thoroughly.
After listening to the evidence, Andrew had no more reason to reprimand her. “Still, you mustn’t take other men’s car, Annie.”
“Don’t worry, I can exercise patience for a bit longer. But after a year, I can enter as many men’s cars as I please.”
Andrew didn’t like her reply, but another thing caught his attention. The girl was somehow obedient tonight.
“Just carry on with your pretend game. I don’t need you to worship me.”
Annie smiled and shook her head. “Mr. Lim, we’re both adults. And for the next ten and half months, we’re going to live together. If we keep acting like dogs, who is going to be the last man standing after this marriage is over?”
Annie knew not to make an enemy out of this man who wouldn’t back down from an argument. She had her mental health to look after. If they continued fighting every day for the next several months, how sure was she that she wouldn’t run crazy by the end of the marriage?
“After all, we’re not real couples. Mr. Lim, how about we keep this marriage professional?”
The reason why he married her was still a mystery to her, yet, Annie could use the contract to spell out their relationship. After all, it was better if they only lived as strangers.
“Why do you want to quit?” It was as if he didn’t hear her words. Andrew’s mind went back to the conversation he had heard in the recording and he couldn’t help but crease his brows.
He heard her loud and clear, but one word stuck to his mind and he was somehow displeased. The more she regarded him as a stranger, the more he felt angry somehow.
“Is it because I didn’t deal with those cowards?” He added to his first question.
Annie tilted her head, watching him keenly with a small smile in her eyes. “I believe my own battles are for me. I don’t anticipate Mr. Lim to have a say in them.”
“Annie, you lack patience. Running away won’t change anything. How about fighting back?”
“If fighting back means exhausting my mental strength, It’s not worth it, Mr. Lim. I have ambitions to follow, and I plan for a better future for myself. Instead of wasting my time on those people, I’d rather go make myself useful somewhere else.”
Andrew didn’t agree with her notion. The frown on the man’s face only deepened. “The more you allow people to step on you, the more confident they get. If you keep running away, do you think those problems will go?”
He pulled his chair back and stood up.
“Mrs. Lim, why are you acting like a coward?”
Annie stared at him with a smile. “Isn’t fighting back the same as making more enemies for yourself?”
“It is up to you.” Andrew began walking away. “However, you can’t just go in and out of MystiArt Productions as you please. Without a tangible reason, your name goes directly to the blacklist.”
And if he put her name on the blacklist, the chances of her finding another job were close to zero percent.
“Should I take that as a threat?” Annie stood up and followed him.
“You can take it as whatever you want.” Andrew shrugged and used that opportunity to hold her. “Mrs. Lim, no struggling tonight. I will still sleep in your bed.”