Chapter 6 Chapter 6
Merri doesn’t know why, but his harsh, cold words sometimes pierce her heart. She bites her lower lip.
“Shit… why do I feel hurt? I shouldn’t be surprised by his attention. We married for this purpose, not for love,” she whispers, lowering her head.
“Go into the bathroom and check yourself. Make sure you’re presentable when you come back to our table.”
She blinks and lifts her head. She didn’t expect him to linger. Evan glares at her, unreadable, emotionless… yet there’s something in his eyes, a subtle intensity that makes her stomach tighten.
“Is that an order?” she blurts out, unable to hold it in. She hates his tone, so formal, so controlled, like he’s testing her.
“Yes. Why? Is there a problem with it? Or do you think that because I married you today, made you my wife, I’ll stop giving orders?” Evan steps closer, tilts her chin up with his hand. Their eyes lock, and she swallows hard. She feels it: there’s a method behind his. coldness, a careful precision in the way he measures her reactions.
“Sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart, but it’s better if we stay formal with each other, especially when we’re alone,” Evan whispers. Her ears burn. She steps back, speechless, heart pounding. He’s deliberately keeping her off-balance, controlling the moment, and she hates how much it affects her.
She stomps her foot in frustration. “Damn him! That arrogant asshole! I was wrong to agree to marry him… arghhh!”
“I badly want to break his neck,” she mutters, dragging off her heels as if she might actually throw them at him.
Evan suddenly turns around. She freezes, hides her shoes behind her back, forces a fake smile, and waves.
“Hmph… he’s a devil in disguise,” she whispers, pulse racing. She knows he’s testing her, seeing how far he can push her, yet part of her can’t stop thinking about it. Evan signals she should go freshen up in the bathroom, and she obeys, every step tinged with irritation and curiosity.
Shortly when she walked towards their table, she could hear from afar, the loud and annoying laughter of a woman, who was now standing beside her husband, touching her arms.
“Fuck him! Is this a way to protect his reputation? He was deliberately flirting with another woman on our wedding day—” She cut off her sentence when she suddenly remembered something.
“Wait, why should l care about him? Since he's just with another woman. Should l enjoy myself as well?” she whispered and smiled. She turned back and walked straight into the food.
She has been craving to try the foods and drinks. Since everything was new to her eyes and she badly wanted to taste them.
“Wow!” she blurts out when she sees different kinds of sweets.
“Ahh, l love them,” she said while swallowing since her mouth started to watered.
She immediately got a plate and picked different cupcakes inside. When she got enough, she immediately walked towards the nearest table. She smiles widely like a child who gets what she wants.
“Time to eat,” she whispered and picked pistachio cupcakes when she was about to put inside of her mouth someone holding her hand. She frowned and was about to scold whoever dared to stop her from eating when…
“What do you think you're doing?” an authoritative voice asked her.
Her eyes widened and the cupcakes slipped from her hand. When she saw her Boss-slash fake husband glaring at her, as if he wanted to break her neck.
She pouted. “I'm eating, what else?”
“Merri!”
She blinks her eyes when she hears him calling her name, with a warning tone.
“I'm hungry, why can't you let me eat in peace? And why are you here? Are you done fooling around with your woman?” those words slipped out from her mouth before she could stop it.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Did l tell you to come back to our table? Why are you here? Eating as if you are a beggar who starved for months?”
“W-What?!” her eyes widened and she could feel her blood boil upon hearing him, comparing her to a beggar and worse, he made her feel like she's a hungry pig.
“Get up, we should get back to our table. A few more minutes and they're done eating and we must proceed with the next activity, which is cutting the cakes together–”
“No! Cut the cake yourself! A beggar, huh? I'll show you what a really beggar behaves,” she angrily stated and got two pieces of cupcakes and bit them as if she's in a hurry.
“Stop! Don't make me lose my temper woman or else l will hand you over with the loan sharks leader,” Evan warned her.
She stopped and put down the cupcakes and glared at him.
“Wipe your mouth, and stop being childish,” Evan said to her and hand her the tissue. She gets it and wipes her mouth.
“You–”
Her sentence cut off when Evan pulled her to stand and wrapped his strong arms around her waist.
“Alright, how about we watch our couple dance?” the emcee announced.
Her eyes widened. Is this lady part of the program? Why did n't she know about this?
The crowd cheered. She glared at Evan.
“I-I don't know how to dance, so tell him to stop–”
She couldn't finish her sentence when Evan suddenly let go of her. Stand in front of her and the next thing he does, make him gasp. He just bowed and extended his one hand.
“My l have the honor to dance with you, my beautiful wife?”
The crowd makes noises, as if they're moving with a romantic gesture. She doesn't expect him to play his role like a professional actor. She bit her lips and put her hand in his, showing that he accepted his invitation to dance with him. Since she has no other choices but to do so.
“Hold on me, and follow my lead,” Evan whispered to her ears as they came forward. The guest makes a way.
When the music started, she silently prayed she would not step on his foot and embarrassed themselves. Since they're a lot of people watching them, the media are pressed as well to cover their wedding. Evan is a popular figure, so, his wedding would be intriguing to the public. When she hears the crowd's applause, she blinks her eyes. Then, suddenly Evan pulled her closer to him. Her heart suddenly beat abnormally. Evan holds her cheeks, and when his finger touches her lower lips, she stops breathing.
“Oh, dear!” her subconscious exclaims when Evan moves closer, until their lips are one inch away with each other. She held in his shoulder and closed her eyes when Evan didn't stop moving.
She doesn't know but, she doesn't feel like pushing him away, instead she waits for his lips to touch hers.
