Chapter 118 Unexpected
Arabella was in a daze, the last bit of clarity in her mind disappearing as she instinctively hugged Alexander and murmured softly, "Don't go..."
Alexander looked down at the hands around his waist in disbelief, excitement, and wild joy. Her pale, slender fingers were interlocked, holding him tightly.
This was a scene he'd fantasized about countless times in his dreams, and now... it was really happening. She was really holding him!
He didn't dare breathe, his whole body tingling with sensation as an irrepressible impulse rose from his lower abdomen. He took a deep breath and forced it down.
She was confused right now, but he couldn't be.
She had no romantic feelings for him whatsoever, and she'd just gotten out of her last marriage—she couldn't accept another man.
If he really indulged himself, she'd probably cut ties with him when she sobered up.
Playing the long game was his plan—he absolutely couldn't mess this up.
But while his mind was clear, his body was another matter entirely. It took tremendous self-control to lift those hands from his waist, his voice hoarse as he didn't dare turn around. "Arabella, don't mess around. I'm getting you water."
Sensing someone trying to pry her off, Arabella held on even tighter, pressing her head against Alexander's lower back and nuzzling against him. Already unconscious, she mumbled, "Alex, if only you were really my husband..."
Alexander's entire being was electrified by that sentence. He grabbed her hands and turned to look at her, his voice husky as he tried his best to restrain himself. "What do you mean by that? Do you want us to be a real couple?"
Arabella didn't answer, just nuzzled against his waist, her pale cheek pressed right against his belt. Alexander smiled bitterly, unable to bear pushing her away yet unable to control his instinctive urges. This was truly torture.
Arabella hugged his waist for a while, then started tugging at her own clothes. "So hot."
Alexander's eyes flashed with darkness as he pressed down her hands, saying hoarsely, "You're drunk. Let me take you to your room."
Arabella refused. "I feel terrible. I'm hot. Help me unbutton this."
She grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest.
Alexander's hand froze there. Beneath his palm was a warm, soft body. He endured with all his might while Arabella, unsatisfied, continued fussing. "Help me."
Her body bounced against his, and Alexander could no longer hold back. He swept her into his arms, holding down her constantly moving hands and feet as if trying to merge her into his own body. After a long moment, he smiled bitterly. "Arabella, have mercy on me."
No longer playing the gentleman, he bent down and scooped her up horizontally, striding into the bedroom and placing her on the bed.
Arabella was still hot. Alexander hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't dare test his self-control further, turning on the air conditioning instead.
The cool breeze hit, and Arabella finally quieted down.
Alexander breathed a sigh of relief, shaking his head with a smile as he pulled the thin blanket over her.
Her hair was scattered across her cheeks. She seemed uncomfortable, trying to brush it away several times without success. Alexander reached out to help her, his fingers sliding across the skin of her face. He couldn't help but apply more pressure, gently caressing her face.
Then he lightly kissed her cheek before getting up to arrange his own blanket.
After tidying up, Alexander had calmed down considerably. He got up and went outside to clean up there too. Those dishes were specially made for Arabella, but since she was drunk, he'd lost his appetite and dumped them all in the trash.
The guest room door opened a crack, revealing a small head. Becky looked at him curiously. "Mr. FitzRoy, did you and Ms. Bourbon make up?"
Alexander nodded with amusement. "We did."
"That's good," Becky said with a bit of pride. "Looks like my arrival had some value after all—at least I helped repair your relationship, right?"
Alexander originally had little interest in her. To him, Becky was just a child Arabella had adopted. He was willing to look favorably on her only because she was Arabella's appendage.
He was a decisive businessman who never showed compassion. His limited kindness and tenderness were all reserved for Arabella—he showed no mercy to others.
But seeing Becky's mischievous expression now, he couldn't help remembering many years ago, that spirited little girl.
The liveliness in her eyes was identical.
He smiled and picked up her thread. "Yes, your timing was perfect."
At least it had gotten him and Arabella literally "living together." He'd be willing to sleep on the floor just to share a room with her.
Getting a positive answer, Becky felt relieved. She'd been feeling guilty about causing Ms. Bourbon so much trouble, but now knowing she was somewhat useful put her at ease.
Actually, she'd only come out to ask about this. Now that she had her answer, she waved at Alexander. "Mr. FitzRoy, you should get some rest early too."
But Alexander seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "How did your first day at school feel?"
He didn't ask directly, but Becky understood what he meant. When they'd gone to school today, they'd run into Molly, and Mr. FitzRoy had asked if she needed to transfer schools, which she'd refused.
She and Molly had become classmates, and since they were both transfer students, the teacher had seated them together.
Molly looked down on her, which was really looking down on Ms. Bourbon. Her words kept mocking how Ms. Bourbon had been kicked out of the Watson family. She couldn't help arguing with Molly.
It escalated into a fight.
She neither won nor lost because classmates called the teacher, who brought them both to the office for a lecture and made them write self-criticisms.
Becky secretly touched the bruise on her arm—it still hurt after a whole day.
But faced with Alexander's inquiry, she didn't mention any of this, just smiled cheerfully. "It felt pretty good. Big city schools really are great. I'll definitely cherish this hard-won opportunity and study hard."
Alexander's lips curved slightly. Watching the little girl slip back into the guest room and close the door, he shook his head with a gentle laugh.
Becky was his arrangement, and for Arabella's sake, he'd take good care of her. Becky's homeroom teacher was Roy's relative—as soon as Becky and Molly fought at school, he'd gotten word.
But since the little girl was so confident she could handle it herself, he'd hold off on interfering for now.
Returning to the room and seeing the peaceful sleeping face on the bed, his heart swelled with fullness. After lying down, his mind was filled with images of Arabella holding him.
And her unconsciously grabbing his belt, nuzzling back and forth...
Alexander tried hard to clear the images from his mind, but her face seemed infinitely replicable, constantly appearing in his thoughts. Her misty eyes looking at him, saying, "Alex, if only you were really my husband."
The wicked fire in his heart wouldn't subside no matter what. After all, he'd been single for over thirty years—it would be strange if he could suppress it when faced with the woman he loved.
After a long while, Alexander sighed helplessly and got up to take a cold shower in the bathroom.
When he returned, he saw that Arabella had somehow pulled off her pants at some point. Her pink heart-patterned underwear was half-exposed as she struggled determinedly to remove the uncomfortable jeans completely.
Alexander groaned inwardly. Helping wasn't right, but not helping wasn't right either. He could only pull the blanket up over her and let her fuss however she wanted.
Then he went back to the bathroom for another cold shower.
He had a very difficult night.
The next morning, Arabella opened her eyes feeling terrible. Her head was throbbing dully, and her throat was dry and sore. What had she done?
Struggling to get up from bed to wash up, she saw Alexander coming out of the kitchen with something when she finished. Seeing her, he smiled. "You're awake? Does your head hurt? Have some water first."
Arabella was stunned, belatedly remembering last night's events.
He'd wanted to celebrate getting his paycheck with her, but she seemed to have downed a big glass of red wine by herself and then... passed out?
She was still confident about her alcohol tolerance and behavior when drunk. One glass of red wine would definitely knock her out, but she'd always been well-behaved when drinking and shouldn't have done anything inappropriate.
She said embarrassedly, "We were supposed to celebrate for you, but I got myself drunk instead. Did I cause you trouble?"
Alexander looked at her deeply with an ambiguous expression. "It was okay."
It was trouble, but he'd enjoyed every moment of it.
He handed her the water. After watching her drink it, he instructed, "The morning after drinking too much is the worst. You don't have much tolerance, so you'll probably feel bad all day. I heated some milk for you to take to the office."
Arabella quickly said, "Okay, thank you."
Alexander turned to bring out breakfast.
Becky had also gotten up and washed.
During breakfast, Alexander handed over a card.
Arabella was startled. "What's this for?"
"Salary," Alexander smiled. "Didn't we agree? Starting this month, I'd hand over my paycheck for you to manage."
Arabella was completely stunned.
They seemed to have discussed this topic. He'd said that for Becky to have a complete family, it would be better for them to keep living together, and he'd mentioned turning over his salary to her to be a real fake married couple.
Alexander reminded her, "What are you spacing out for in front of the kid? Hurry up and put it away."
Afraid Becky would overthink it, Arabella quickly took it, hesitating before saying, "I'll save it all for you."
Alexander said with amusement, "It's to help with household expenses. You don't need to save it—spend it however you want."
But Arabella was firm. "I can't spend it. You need to save some money too—you'll need it later."
He still had to find a boyfriend, and he'd need money for lots of things in the future.
Alexander said, "Whatever works. It's up to you."
He was just happy to finally find a reason to give her money.
Arabella put the card away.
After breakfast, Alexander drove her and Becky as usual, dropping Becky at school first, then taking her to the office. However, today when Arabella walked into the company, she saw Rachel walking toward her.
Rachel clicked over in high heels, aggressively approaching and viciously swinging her purse at Arabella's head!
Fortunately, Arabella reacted quickly and dodged. She frowned at Rachel. "What's wrong with you?"
Rachel glared at her fiercely, gritting her teeth. "Arabella, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You think just because I can't produce evidence, I can't deal with you? You're the one who hurt Gloria like that, and you want me to take the blame? Dream on! Come on, you're coming with me to the Reeves family right now to explain everything!"
She reached out to grab Arabella's arm.
Arabella pushed her away, saying in confusion, "I don't know what you're talking about. What does whatever happened to Gloria have to do with me? Clean up your own mess and don't drag me into it!"
She started to head upstairs.
Rachel grabbed her arm, furious. "No one else knew we were there that night—only you had the opportunity and motive! If it wasn't you, who else could it be? Arabella, stop pretending. You have to give the Reeves family an explanation for what happened to Gloria!"
A dark glint flashed in Rachel's eyes.
That night, to kidnap Cassidy, she'd destroyed the nearby surveillance cameras. She wasn't sure if this actually had anything to do with Arabella, but Arabella had to be the culprit.
Otherwise, there was no way to calm the Reeves family's fury.
Gloria's parents had called her brother yesterday, and last night she'd been interrogated by him for a long time. Her brother said she had to go to the Reeves family today to apologize and accept whatever punishment they decided on.
Because the Reeves family had said that Gloria had only gone out in the middle of the night because of her, which led to that incident. If her brother didn't give them a satisfactory explanation, the Reeves family and Watson family wouldn't need to cooperate anymore.
But the Watson family's electronics industry could only get components from the Reeves family. If the Reeves family refused to cooperate, half of the Watson family's electronics business would collapse.
The Watson family couldn't afford such losses.
As for her previous attempt to shift blame to Arabella, the Reeves family said there was no evidence and they didn't believe it at all.
So Rachel had come to find Arabella first thing this morning. She wanted to bring Arabella to the Reeves family and make her confess to this in front of them.
Only then could she escape.
"I don't need to give explanations for your affairs," Arabella knew exactly what she was plotting and refused to cooperate. "Rachel, you reap what you sow. Do you think everyone will indulge you when you look for scapegoats after causing trouble?"
Rachel glared at her, still finding it hard to adapt to Arabella's tough attitude. Since divorcing her brother, this once meek woman had completely changed.
How had she never noticed before that this bitch was so good at pretending!
"Arabella, if you help me this time, I can help you get back into the Watson family." Rachel offered what she thought was a tempting condition.
Yesterday her brother and Cassidy had completely fallen out, so Cassidy would probably be kicked out soon. She didn't mind using this as bait to trick Arabella into helping her.
What she didn't expect was for Arabella to laugh. "If your brother knew you were using him as a bargaining chip, he'd probably need to get to know his sister all over again. If he knew I rejected him even when he was offered as a condition, imagine how embarrassing that would be for him. So I advise you, stop pestering me, Rachel. I'm not interested in helping you."
After speaking, she didn't spare Rachel another glance and strode away.
The morning incident was just a small interruption that didn't affect Arabella's work. She'd been busy all morning when she suddenly received a call from Philip at noon.
Philip's voice sounded devastated. "Arabella, come out for drinks. I'm completely finished this time."