Agreement Behind Her Marriage

Victor’s glare caught Lily off guard, and she immediately considered how she could leave the establishment. She seemed unable to breathe, and her hand holding her golden card began to tremble.

Drew looked at the person, then his eyes narrowed when he caught him smirking. “Was there a problem?”

“No, sir!” Victor responded after adjusting his posture. “I am the owner of this restaurant. I’m merely checking in on customers to see whether they’re okay.”

“We don’t have a problem. She was just overwhelmed,” replied Drew.

“Good to hear, sir.”

“Get the bill. We will pay.”

“Okay! I hope you enjoyed the food.” Victor was about to leave when Drew caught his attention again.

“And please bring this your way.” Drew handed him a soiled tissue that she had used to wipe her tears. “Throw it away. I don’t like dirt scattered around us.”

Lily swallowed hard after hearing Drew’s command. Did he notice something?

“Hang on, sir! I’ll immediately ask my server to clear your table.”

“No.” Drew shook his head. “I’m asking you nicely. You are the only one who isn’t busy.” He looked around and sure enough, every server was occupied with something.

Victor clenched his fist slightly but forced a smile. “Indeed, sir.”

Dissatisfied, he picked up the soiled tissue and took it somewhere.

When Victor vanished from Lily’s line of sight, the emotions she had subsided. How did Drew manage to command him? After some while, a female server came back to them carrying the receipt. Before Drew invited her out, she paid the bill with no problems.

“Thank you, ma’am and sir! I hope you enjoy the meal!” remarked the woman manning the restaurant’s entryway.

Drew, who apparently merely intended to make trouble, muttered, “Please tell your boss that we are not coming back. It’s tasteless! Your food is too cheap for my taste.”

Lily was terrified, believing Victor might follow her. Although they remained silent, Drew continued to offer to hold her arm. She likes it as if he were prepared to defend her. They went to his car, ending their night. He confronted her there.

“Lily,” her husband murmured. She then turned to face Drew, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. “Have you ever, at least once in your life, caused trouble?”

She shook her head. No! She cannot! If she did, she would only get slaps or a beating from a family like the Martins. She was too terrified of her father to cause trouble.

“I’m asking because you married the worst troublemaker on this planet,” he paused before elaborating, “but a troublemaker is not the same as the monster from your darkest nightmare. Considering how disruptive I am, the monster may view me as Lucifer or his greatest demon. Do you understand?”

No, she didn’t understand anything, so she shook her head in response.

“To make it simple, I am the troublemaker, Kenneth is the monster… I will be the King demon in their eyes!” he explained, squinting his eyes.

Why can’t she do that? If only she had Drew’s strength, she would have exacted revenge on Kenneth a long time ago.

“I want to be the King Demon too,” she whispered. She wanted to be the one to cause trouble with Kenneth. Her tears continued to flow, thinking about the nightmare she had with her stepbrother.

Don’t be too arrogant, Lily. Who are you kidding?

“So, don’t be scared. Take a confident stance and stare them in the eyes if they see you.”

Although her stepbrother no longer lived with her, she has been thinking of him since yesterday. Lily wanted to break free from Kenneth, but she couldn’t because the overwhelming fear she had for him was crawling through her body. That is something she wants to let go of!

Drew smiled meaningfully. “You have nothing to fear, Lily. You will only repay the bad things they did to you. Being weak differs from being kind.”

***

Just a few hours later, a truck arrived to bring the appliances they had purchased to their home. They worked together to organize Lily’s room. Drew was mostly the one who carried the stuff inside her room. It took them until midnight.

“Hmmm.” Drew held his chin up and peered around the bedroom, saying, “You are good, Lily. Everything was nice and comfortable in the eyes.”

Her cheeks flushed. She’s not used to getting compliments. In the past, she frequently received praise from her teachers. She had to be intelligent, otherwise, she was useless.

“Could you fix the whole house just in case?” asked Drew, thinking carefully.

“T-this home?”

“Yeah! Why not? You could decorate this home.”

“But you might not like it…” she replied worriedly.

“Nah! The living room below is stocked with gym equipment, as you noticed. Also, it’s your house too, so how you fix this place depends on you.”

She had a small sense of joy. Drew gave her a job. It implies that she isn’t worthless in his view. “I could use your card to pay, right?”

“Sure!” he answered, chuckling. “If you need help, I’ll have someone come. Let’s get some rest. I have to get up early because I have unfinished work at the office. I’ll ask a friend to come here.”

“A friend?”

“Yeah. You met Lauren, right? I don’t understand why she keeps bugging me and asking if she may come, even though I’ve already assured her that we’re alright.”

Lily remembered Lauren, the woman who discovered her secret. “T-thank you!”

Drew left the room to give her space. Lily took a glance around the bedroom. It was larger than her room at the Martin residence by three times. This is her new home. Hers!

Since she first met Drew, he has been forcing her to encounter and comprehend the impossibilities. However, she was hesitant to completely accept her new life. What if she refuses to stop this? What if Drew decided to stop this?

***All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

When morning came, Lily came downstairs to find Drew running on the treadmill. It was six o’clock in the morning. Sweat drips from his neck and runs down his lean body. She swallowed while looking at her husband.

He took care of himself, which Lily found admirable.

Drew stopped slowly when he noticed her.

“Oh! You’re already awake.” He came closer, making her feel even more embarrassed.

Did she mention he was half-naked?

“Change your clothes. Your training starts today,” Drew stated.

“Huh? But I don’t have any clothes.” She no longer has any extra clothing and the outfits she had worn since yesterday were prepared for her by Master Walton, Drew’s grandfather. To prevent conflict with Drew, her father asked her not to bring any of the clothing she usually wore at the Martin residence.

Drew realized she was right. “Oh, I see! I will tell Lauren to take you to Kori’s shop. Make sure to get some active wear because you’ll start your workout tomorrow.”

She looked at his body. She couldn’t seem to take her gaze away from her husband.

“Would you instead prepare our meal?” he asked, wiping his sweat with a towel.

“S-sure! You can continue to work out. I will prepare breakfast.”

He smiled before returning to running. In the kitchen, Lily started looking for ingredients. She found fruits, eggs, and sausages inside his fridge.

She kept glancing at her husband because there were no dividers separating the living room from the kitchen. It wasn’t the first time she harbored admiration for men. She once experienced love, but that was too long ago-when Kenneth hadn’t destroyed her character.

Drew is unreal. He is twice as big as she is. Even though she wants to stop it, her attraction to him is strong.

Lily, stop! That’s right!

In their story, Drew is a prince, and she is a frog.

***

Drew told his assistant as he entered his office, “Go get the contract of the Italian Club in our West Mall.”

“Right away, boss!” Sarah, his assistant, responded. She only had to follow him; she didn’t need to inquire.

In just 15 minutes, he already held Victor Panganiban’s contract, the owner of the Italian Club where he and Lily had dinner the day before. He tapped his name into the laptop’s search bar immediately. Drew was not dissatisfied when a number of images from various social media sites showed up on his screen.

As he had anticipated, he had a photo with Kenneth Martin and four other men. Drew considered them to be his intended targets. What they had done to Lily was unknown to him.

She said they molested her. In what way?

Are you sure you wanted to know?

He first glanced over the contract before turning to Sarah. “What are your impressions of this restaurant?”

“The Italian Club’s business is expanding since they are profitable. Their food is excellent! They have three locations throughout the Walton Group, and, as far as I know, they will take part in the bidding for the mall branch that we will open in the North.”

“Are they following the mall policy or the kitchen rules?”

The woman answered, “There are no problems so far, boss.”

“Oh, really?” Drew scoffed. He will offer them one if there isn’t a problem in that restaurant. Even if Victor owned ten restaurants, it is evident that he only rented a space inside Walton’s Mall.

How dare he use Lily’s mall?

“Moreover, boss. Last weekend, Vivian came here. She asked when you would be visiting the Bar Vivi. She also expressed disbelief that it was your wedding day.”

“I’ll give her a call later,” he responded simply. He frequently hired Vivian as a talent at Club Erotica, but that happened a very long time ago. Drew accepted her offer to invest in the bar she built, Bar Vivi. Why not? Partying and se**x are his two great passions.

He respects people like Vivian for having that desire because it allows her to refrain from pr0stitution. Even though she kept attempting to se*duce him, they were now just business partners.

He took Vivian out of his mind. His first focus right now is Victor Panganiban.