Chapter 37 Red silk nightmare
Dandelion.
I stood by the door, my hand gripping the knob so hard my knuckles turned white.
"Noona, really, I don't think we have to do this tonight. We could do this some other time, I'm not even in the mood"I explained quickly hoping she would change her mind.
"Hush." She waved me off like I was a child throwing a tantrum. "Tonight is perfect, you both are young couples so your sexual life should be active, and why am I even the one pushing for this huh?."
"Gosh please don't force me into this Noona" I whispered to myself
"What did you say?" She quizzed.
"Um nothing" I replied awkwardly.
She nodded slowly and continued ransacking.
If only she knew this marriage was nothing but signatures on paper, her blood pressure would skyrocket and I would be responsible for putting her in the hospital.
So I just watched in horror as she searched through the shopping bags, tossing aside silk nightgowns and lace robes like they were too lame for whatever nightmare she was planning.
Then she suddenly stopped, her eyes lit up. And she pulled out the most slutty piece of fabric I had ever seen.
A red silk thin straps nightgown. So short it barely qualified as clothing. It looked tight enough that even a mannequin would blush at the too much exposure.
My soul left my body.
"N--Noona, that one is definitely a mistake. The cashier must have mixed up--"
"Nonsense." She held it up against me, eyeing the nightgown like a general inspecting armor before battle. "This will do perfectly."
She grinned. A slow, wicked grin that made me wonder if she had made a deal with the devil to frustrate me and Alex.
"This will do perfectly."
My knees wobbled. "Noona this is too-- too, I don't know but I'm sure even Alex wouldn't like--"
But before I could finish, she grabbed my wrist with surprising strength for someone her age.
"Come on dear. Why are hesitating so much huh?, Gosh the two of you are more like strangers than a couple, is that why you sleep in different rooms."
I froze. She knew?.
So she had figured out we weren't sleeping together despite our cover up.
But why wasn't she really interrogating me about it? Why wasn't she demanding explanations or threatening to disown Alex?
Instead, she was just... handling it. In the most mortifying way possible.
This is getting a bit confusing and suspicious.
"Noona I..."
"There's no need for explanation, just quickly put this on." Her tone left no room for argument.
I stared at the scrap of red silk in her hands, my face burning hotter than the sun turning almost beetroot red.
"Right now?" My voice came out strangled.
"Yes, right now. I'm a woman too. So what's there to hide?"
Everything!, I wanted to scream, literally everything. But I swallowed as her sharp gaze pinned me in place.
I gulped and took the lingerie with trembling hands, and turned away to change.
The fabric was so soft. And impossibly short.
When I finally gathered up the courage to look down at myself, I wanted to cry.
The silk barely covered anything. The straps were so thin they felt like they would snap if I breathed too hard. And the neckline?
No there was no neckline, just my full cleavage out in display.
"Perfect!." Grandma Winifred's voice rang with satisfaction. "With this body of yours, let's see how he won't be in the mood"
I felt like dying and just spare myself the humiliation of what was about to happen.
But Noona wasn't done.
She grabbed my wrist again and dragged me out of the guest room with the determination of a woman leading troops into war.
I stumbled after her, my bare feet cold against the marble floor and my heart hammering so loud I was sure everyone in the estate could hear it.
"Noona, hold on, maybe we should talk about this"
"There's no talking or negotiation. I want only action."
By the time we reached Alex's bedroom door, I was already glistening with sweat due to the tension and embarrassment this old woman was about to throw me into.
She didn't even knock she just pushed the door open and strode inside like she owned the place.
Which, technically, she did.
Alex was sitting at his desk, his shirt sleeves rolled up, with papers spread out in front of him, his mind fully focused on the work as if he was using it as a distraction from this tension.
He looked up immediately.
His gaze locked on his grandmother first.
Then it shifted to me.
And he froze. Completely.
His eyes went wide and his jaw clenched. And for a split second, I saw something flicker across his face that looked almost like panic.
Grandma Wini smirked devilishly, she looked like the cat who had caught the canary, roasted it, and served it for dinner.
"Alex," she announced proudly, like she was presenting a gift. "Your wife will be staying with you tonight."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Alex's expression turned icy.
"I should be asking why you both didn't sleep in the same room all this time," she continued. "But that's a question for another day. From now on, you'll sleep together. And my eyes are on you, so you better not try to be smart with me."
"Noona, even though we are a couple, we like to respect each other's privacy so this is completely unnecessary."Alex complained.
"I'll decide what's necessary." She insisted, then she patted my shoulder firmly, then stepped back toward the door. "Go ahead and bond or talk or sleep. I don't care what you do, but you will not be in separate rooms. Not tonight not anymore."
"......." I was completely speechless
So was Alex, but Grandma Winifred was already walking out, humming some old tune like she'd just orchestrated world peace.
The door clicked shut behind her.
And then there was silence.
A complete, suffocating silence.
I stood there in that ridiculous red silk nightmare, my arms wrapped around myself, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole.
Alex stared at me, He just... stared.
With an unreadable expression and his eyes dark. Every muscle in his body looked tense, like he was holding himself back from something.
I couldn't tell if he was furious or horrified or both.