Chapter 15: You’re Such a Bastard!

Hearing Aurora's outraged words, Barron stretched lazily and smirked.

"But you enjoyed it at the time, didn't you? You even asked me to—" He waggled his eyebrows. "Look, some of the finest delicacies require effort to prepare, and in the end, isn't the taste worth it?"

Aurora groaned, covering her face with a pillow. "For the love of God, I must've been out of my mind, Barron! You weren't this strong before. It was… overwhelming! If it's like that every time, I swear I'll be broken!"

Ah, yes. The kind of praise that men secretly thrive on. Barron smirked to himself, feeling a little too pleased.

Frankly, he had surprised even himself last night. He'd always considered himself a… knowledgeable scholar in such matters, but last night? That was some next-level learning.

At first, he thought it was just the natural robustness of his new body, but with his past-life memories intact and Aurora's stunned reaction, he began to wonder if this was just another mysterious perk of his reincarnation.

Well, if the universe had seen fit to grant him a few upgrades along with his second chance, who was he to complain?

---

It was past noon by the time Aurora finally dragged herself out of bed, looking like she had fought in a war (and possibly lost). Still, she managed to make it to the dining table, where Barron was already enjoying his meal.

"Wow, is this all Chinese food?" Aurora asked, rubbing her eyes. "I don't remember you being into this stuff, Barron."

"It never hurts to expand one's palate," he replied. "So, what do you think?"

Aurora picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and chewed thoughtfully. "Mmm. Okay, the ribs are amazing. The rest of it is… how do I put this? Unique. This is nothing like the Chinese food I've had before."

That was because the usual Westernized Chinese food had been adjusted for local tastes. But the restaurant Barron had found was run by a chef from China's Lu Province, meaning the dishes were authentic—which, to Aurora, meant confusing.

"Yeah, the ribs are fantastic," she admitted. "Honestly, English food is tragic, so I'm just glad we have French and Italian cuisine to save us. But from now on, I need to have this sweet and sour pork at least once a week!"

Barron chuckled. Given how much energy she had burned last night, it was no surprise she was eating like a soldier returning from battle.

---

As they finished their meal, Aurora set down her chopsticks and suddenly gave Barron a sweet, almost suspiciously gentle smile.

"Honey, are you free this afternoon?"

Barron instantly felt a disturbance in the force. "...What's the matter?"

"My father is in London. I thought we could meet him and have dinner together."

Barron almost choked on his tea. Meet her father? Was she out of her mind?

Sure, last night had been fun, but he had not signed up for this level of commitment. He had zero plans to enter a serious relationship right now. Aurora was beautiful, charming, and intelligent—but she was also his ex, and last night had been nothing more than an impromptu reunion.

Besides, there was one tiny detail that made things even more awkward…

"Aurora," Barron said calmly, setting his teacup down. "Don't you already have a fiancé?"

Aurora stiffened for a second, then quickly recovered. "I mean… technically no. My parents are trying to arrange something, but I haven't agreed yet!"

Last night, in between the reminiscing and other activities, Aurora had ranted about how her family was trying to marry her off to some rich guy in the shipping industry.

"Look, Bob is nice, I guess. He's polite, educated, well-mannered… but I feel nothing for him," she huffed. "And then, yesterday, I met you again and realized… I still have feelings for you!"

Barron sighed. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid.

"Aurora," he said carefully, "I think this is moving too fast. And you do realize that I'm currently drowning in family issues? You've seen the news—I'm practically trying to prevent my family from going bankrupt. I don't have the time to think about relationships right now."

Aurora blinked at him. "Wait… you mean all those articles are real? I thought they were just tabloid nonsense! I mean, come on, Barron, half the time, those reporters write fantasy novels disguised as news!"

"I wish that were the case," Barron muttered. "But unfortunately, things are bad. And my priority right now is fixing this mess."

Aurora's hopeful expression wavered. "But last night—"

"Aurora," Barron cut in, rubbing his temples, "we're adults. I do consider you a good friend—"

Her entire face froze.

"…Excuse me?"

Barron felt the temperature in the room drop.

"You consider me a good friend?" she repeated, her voice eerily calm.

"Well, yeah. A very good friend, of course—"

Aurora suddenly stood up, eyes blazing, her chest rising and falling with barely contained fury.

"You bastard! No—Barron, you've always been a bastard!" she snapped. "I actually thought—Ugh! I am such an idiot!"

Before Barron could react, Aurora stormed off toward the bedroom, grabbed her coat and handbag, and marched toward the door.

"Aurora, maybe we should talk about this calmly—"

SLAM!

The door shut so violently, Barron was surprised the hinges didn't fall off.

He let out a deep breath, shaking his head.

"Well," he muttered, sipping his tea. "Hopefully, she'll cool down eventually."

Then he glanced at the plate of sweet and sour pork left on the table.

"...Guess I'll have to eat this by myself now."