Taunts.

"What did you say!" She snapped, her voice became uncontrollably loud but, it is alright, she simply thought she heard wrong so she wanted him to express himself clearly.

Alexandro arched a brow and gazed at her. To her, it felt as though the man was giving her 'that look' again. Her green orbs glittered with suspicion but before she could react, her jaw was trapped between his white slender fingers. Maintaining their eye contact, he said to her.

"You wanted me to listen to you and send you back to school, you even tried to use honey trap on me, huh? Now I am only asking for one thing in return and I will comply with your demand. So, dear wife... Kiss me" Alexandro uttered, his devilish dark inky eyes trailed downward and lingered on her pink lips, he smirked.

If only she could facepalm or beat herself up for ending up with a man like this. Could her fate and future be any worst?

"Do you have to be so difficult?" She grunted amidst gritted teeth. She would rather bite him to death than agree to kiss him! But, she also wants to return to school, alright...

A deep chuckle sounded beside her, and she looked at him, slightly stunned. Although she had heard him laugh countless times but each time he did, the nourishing masculinity hidden beneath that deep tremble of his laugh will always make her heart skip a beat.

"This is considered difficult?" He queried, he let go of her jaw and folded his arms across his chest but his eyes never left her.

"Of course! Why on earth should I ki— I mean... That is not a polite thing to ask a lady making it a very difficult request" Lena muttered seriously.

"Oh, was it?" The man hoisted his brows in disbelief.

"Yes, yes!" She bobbed her head. "You should think of a simpler request, I am certain I will do it this time!"

"Mn, a simpler request? How about..." he paused abruptly and leaned forward, almost bumping his head into hers. Lena was too curious about his request to move away.

"How about... you sleep with me?" he enunciated.

She blinked, one second, two seconds, three seconds... Then, she reacted—

"You— Jerk!" She yelled, almost short of words for the man. She scurried away from him immediately and cocoon herself in the quilt, protecting her dignity from the monstrous man.

Alexandro resisted the urge to laugh at her attempt to escape from him. Is she not still laying in the same bed with him? As if she could escape it if he really wanted to touch her but, of course, he would not do that without her consent.

"Wifey, are you saying that sleeping with me is not also a simple request? Did you forget something, we are a husband and wife... You can—"

"Hmph!" An angry muffled sound came from her, interrupting him and he smiled.

"Okay then, none of my requests pleased my wife, I would rather sleep. Good night wifey..." he dragged his words playfully.

"Hmph!" She snorted and of course, cursed him to hell back and forth.

After saying good night, Alexandro said nothing more making the room to be enveloped in a decent silence. Alexandro's eyes fell on the figure sleeping at the extreme end of the bed and smirked.

Whether you accept it now or not, you are my wife, Lena. He looked away and lay on the bed properly, then he closed his eyes. A few seconds later, only the sound of their breathing could be heard in the room in addition to the gentle breeze that blew across the room through the French window.

Lena opened her eyes slowly, she looked around vigilantly. She slowly sat up after she ensured that the air was clear. She bit her lower lips anxiously and deliberated on her options.

She had to return to school, there was still a lot that she needed to do... The exhibition is coming soon and she had not made any preparations, she had to win that exhibition but how could she do that? The last time that she designed anything was three months ago. Since her aunt and uncle refused to let her continue schooling.

"You are going to be married away, anyway... Why waste our money any further on you. Haven't we tried? We send you to school for three years already and what did we get in return? Nothing! All you know how to do is designing those useless jewelry on paper. How many have you sold so far? You are just a useless child. Look at your twin, she is studying an honorable course! Very soon, that child would become a medical doctor. Who knows, you might end up looking up to her to get your daily meals since you spent your life drawing jewelry on paper. Why don't you lay low married to that man and watch your sister succeed?—"

These were the taunting words she heard daily. So, what if she loved to design jewelry? Must she be compared to her twin? But her adoptive parents do not care about her in the first place, this is the reason why she wished to return to school, take part in the exhibition and win it. She refused to back down, she cannot let them win against her, not anymore!

She moved her body closer to the man quietly and studied his face for five minutes. After five minutes, nothing happened, his breathing remained even as though he was deep in sleep. Was he really sleeping? She wondered. She would have discovered if he was faking his sleep because she was already an expert in faking sleep. If a person was sleeping originally, there would no movement in their eyes but if one was faking their sleep, in a while, they would blink their closed eyes which would give them away.

She looked away from his good-looking face and nibbled on her fingers. She should do it? Should she not? But, she had to return to school...

Lena cleared her itching throat, licked her lips, and thought, for the sake of going back to school and putting my family to shame, I will just do It and tell him tomorrow! After bracing herself up for the task, she bent over him, moving closer bit by bit until she was so close to his face and their breath mixed together. She puckered her pink lips and leaned closer. But at that moment, his eyes flew open and the corner of his lips curled up in a mischievous smirk.

"Agreeing to my request?" he arched an amused brow.