Chapter 184 Steven’s Surprise for Nora
Nora suddenly felt a bit anxious. Although she'd just been sulking, the thought of Steven actually being angry still scared her.
She looked at the coffee table in the living room. On it sat a a strawberry cake, a potted orchid, a box of cherries, and a big bag of snacks.
Nora froze.
So he'd gone out to buy all this? And it was all to cheer her up?
She turned to look at Steven, her eyes filled with surprise and a hint of uncertainty. "Are these all for me?"
Steven suddenly smiled, his eyes crinkling warmly. "Want to eat some strawberry cake?"
She'd been mad at him, but seeing all this food, she couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips. Her face quickly broke into a grin.
Steven walked over to her, leaning down to gently touch his forehead to hers, his voice soft. "Sit down and eat. Don't worry about the chores. I'll help you clean up later." he said softly.
In a flash, all of Nora's grievances and frustrations vanished, leaving only happiness in her heart.
Truly, when a man goes this far to show how much he cares for you, even the worst temper gets soothed.
Steven opened the strawberry cake, cut a slice, and handed it to her. "Here, try it. There are cherries too, want some? I can wash them for you."
Nora took a bite of cake and shook her head with a smile. "No need, the cake's enough."
"There are snacks too." Steven handed her the bag. "Don't you always say you get hungry during your online classes? You can eat some when you're tiredYou can eat some when you get tired. too."
Nora wanted to play it cool a bit longer, but her hands couldn't resist reaching for the bag.
Inside were all her favorite snacks.
She couldn't help but smile, her eyes bright as she looked at Steven. "Aren't you a neat freak? You never let me eat snacks in the bedroom."
Steven reached out and ruffled her hair. "It's fine. I'm giving you the permission to do that today. Just remember to throw out the trash right away. Oh, and I took the trash you left by the door downstairs when I went out."
A warm feeling spread through Nora's chest. As she ate her cake, she looked up at him. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden? Did you do something you feel guilty about and you're afraid I'll find out?"
She thought again of the woman who was dressed so nicely this afternoon.
Steven looked at her seriously. "I just don't want you to be unhappy. Can you tell me why you were upset today?"
Nora lowered her head, her voice a bit muffled. "When we were on the phone today, I heard a female voice on your end. Then at the hotel entrance, I saw a woman dressed really sexy standing next to you. Did the voice I heard on the phone belong to her?"
The two sat on the sofa.
Nora held her cake while Steven looked at her. "Are you worried I have something going on with her? You think I'm doing something behind your back?"
She didn't speak, just nodded slightly.
Steven frowned, lifted her chin, and looked at her seriously. "Nora, aren't you overthinking this? She's not even my type."
Nora met his gaze, her lashes fluttering. She couldn't help asking, "What's your type then?"
Steven smiled. "You're my type."
He leaned close to her ear and said in a low voice, "Timid, a bit jealous, especially cute. It makes me want to tease you."
Nora's face instantly turned red. She knew exactly what he meant by 'tease'—and it wasn't about jokes.
She felt a bit embarrassed. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you. Why do you always like to joke around?"
"I am being serious." Steven chuckled softly. "You're timid and you enjoy making a fuss."
"You're terrible!" Nora punched him indignantly.
Steven caught her hand and pulled gently, drawing her whole body into his arms.
Before Nora could react, Steven had already lowered his head to kiss her.
His kiss deepened, and she fell for it, letting out a breathy sigh.
After a long while, he finally released her, raising an eyebrow. "So you were in a bad mood today because you were jealous?"
"You're my husband. Of course, I'm unhappy when you're that close to another woman." Nora's lips still carried his scent, her voice trembling slightly.
Steven's gaze deepened. "Then I'll be more careful from now on, so you won't overthink."
"That's more like it!"
"Eat your cake." Steven said gently, allowing her eat.
Nora remained in Steven's arms while she held her cake, her face a bit red, especially with Steven's arm around her waist while he watched her eat.
Nora asked quietly, "Aren't you eating any?"
"I don't like sweets." Steven's lips curved into a smile. "But watching you enjoy it so much feels satisfying."
She felt even more flattered and shot him a playful glare. "I can't finish this cake all by myself. Let me call Olivia out to eat with us."
"Wait." Steven stopped her. It was rare to have time alone together, and he didn't want to be interrupted. He said in a low voice, "when we're done talking, you can call her. The cake won't go bad."
"Okay." Nora agreed and continued eating her cake. "The weather seems to be getting cooler lately. I feel a bit cold sitting out here."
"The temperature's dropping, you should wear more clothes tomorrow." Steven held her tighter and pulled a thin blanket over both their legs, letting her lean against him.
The position was quite intimate, but Steven didn't do anything else, so Nora went along with it, eating her cake and smiling.
Steven held her, his expression somewhat complicated.
Should he tell Nora about his real identity? After almost being discovered this afternoon, he felt that continuing to hide it wasn't a solution.
Just then, Nora turned on the TV.
A biographical interview program was playing, about 'South City's prominent figure Doyle' and his legendary life.
On screen, Doyle sat on a sofa in a suit. He was sixty-two, his hair graying, but his features were striking with mixed-race features—he must have been very handsome growing up.
He was still the top executive of York Development Group.
The program introduced his background, saying he came from a wealthy family that had once been very rich, but later fell on hard times, and his first wife divorced him during that period.
Later, he met his second wife, Serena Ross. Serena was a famous socialite in Majestic City. After Doyle married her, he built his business using the Ross family's resources, becoming Majestic City's richest man in just two years.
Later, he moved his business to South City, and it grew bigger and bigger, but Serena died while giving birth.
The program portrayed Serena's death as tragic and claimed that Doyle had been deeply devoted to her.
Steven watched the TV, his expression growing colder.
The program went on to say that after Serena's death, Doyle married Electra. It said Electra had stayed by Doyle's side during his hardest times, they had strong feelings for each other and after marriage, became a model couple everyone envied.
After watching the interview, Steven's brow furrowed tightly, feeling very uncomfortable.
What complete nonsense.
If he cheated, just say he cheated. What model couple? It was nauseating to hear.
Nora noticed his expression and leaned over, cupping his face and forcing him to look at her. She went on to kiss him. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Steven glanced at her, frowning, and shook his head. "Nothing."
"How can watching a show make you unhappy?"
"It's nothing." His tone was a bit cold as he pulled her hands away. "Go shower and get ready for bed."
"Okay."
Nora called Olivia out to eat cake, moved the orchid to the balcony, and then returned to the master bedroom to shower.
That night, as they were going to bed, Nora was applying her skincare and thought again about the York family from the TV.
"Speaking of which, Doyle's life really is quite legendary. Going bankrupt and then making a comeback to become the richest man again—that's pretty impressive." She finished applying her cream, screwed the cap tight, lifted the covers, and lay down next to Steven.
Steven's brow furrowed slightly. "He only succeeded because of his second wife's family resources."
"But he's pretty capable himself." Nora looked at him, then suddenly went quiet.
"What is it?" Steven noticed her gaze.
Nora was a bit curious. "Honey, I noticed you look a bit like Doyle. He's really handsome, kind of like he's mixed race."
Steven's expression shifted slightly, his gaze settling on her face. "Nora."
"What?"
"What do you think of that kind of family?" Steven seemed to ask casually.
"Whose family? Doyle's?"
"Yes. If you had to marry into the York family, would you be willing?"
"Why are you asking this again?" Nora frowned, feeling like Steven had been bringing this up a lot lately.
"I just want to know." he pressed, looking into her eyes.
Nora thought seriously for a moment, then shook her head. "I think I'd rather not. That family is too complicated. Just from the show, you can tell there must be a lot of scheming and power struggles. If I really had to join a family like that, I probably wouldn't survive three days."
Steven scoffed. "You have so little ambition? You just want to keep living like this?"
"What's wrong with our current life?" Nora thought Steven was being strange. "I think when two people get married, they should be evenly matched in status. Marrying you already makes me feel like I married into a higher class. If I joined the richest family, I'd definitely feel even more uncomfortable. Plus, wealthy families like that definitely have tons of rules. I don't want to live every day walking on eggshells."
"What if they didn't have that many rules?"
"I still wouldn't go." Nora was firm. "I like our life now, we're not very rich, but we're not lacking money either. Every day feels solid; we can come home and eat dinner with family at night, there aren't all those messy relatives, and we don't have to scheme against people. This kind of life is what I want."
She laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm not that smart. Running a small business is fine, but if you really made me manage such a huge estate, I'd probably have insomnia every day."
Having struggled when she was young, she didn't dare hope for too much.
"Being a wealthy wife means money and status, being able to buy whatever you want, and giving your family a better life. You're really not even a little bit tempted?" Steven asked.