Filed to story: Disdained Son-in-Law, Destined Riches >>
Claire rolled her eyes at his ridiculous remark but there was a spark of delight in her eyes.
Joe really surprised her today. All the while, she thought that Joe had some menial skills in fortune telling as well as martial arts, but she never expected him to be so powerful and awesome.
He had even saved her best friend’s life at a critical moment like that! It was extraordinary!
She couldn’t help but ask, “Joe, tell me, how did you become so powerful all of sudden? You can even defeat the Butcher Brothers so easily.”
Joe grinned smugly. “It’s a secret, but I’ll tell you if you let me kiss you.”
Claire smacked her lips in slight annoyance and said with a blush, “Dream on!”
Joe was aroused by the sight of Claire’s seemingly seductive posture. He quickly turned around and opened the closet to take the quilt, but was stunned by the sight.
The closet was empty and the quilt that he always used to lay on the floor had disappeared.
“Darling, where’s my quilt?” Joe asked.
Claire gasped as if something struck her mind and said, “I threw it into the washing machine.”
Joe was speechless since he did not have anything to lay on the floor for him to sleep on. He sighed, “I can’t sleep on the floor without the quilt. I’ll sleep on the sofa, then.”
“Idiot,” Claire teased. She went to her closet, took out her quilt, and gave it to him. “Use mine.”
As Joe held the quilt, there was a faint fragrance wafting from the white quilt. Joe said excitedly, “Dear, you’re so nice to me.”
Claire shot an ambiguous glance at Joe and huffed, “Let’s go to sleep.”
Joe nodded. Hugging Claire’s quilt, he smelled the faint fragrance on it and felt jittery and excited.
If they went on like this, he would be able to sleep with his wife soon, wouldn’t he?
Then, Claire said, “Oh yes, I’m going to be quite busy with my studio for these two days. I’ve already set up the office, it’s time to go and get some projects and work done. Stay at home and keep Dad company, don’t let him go to Antique Street and buy useless stuff, okay?”
“Why don’t I help you out at your studio? You don’t have to pay me, I can perform tasks like wiping the table, vacuuming the floor, and making coffee!”
Claire smiled. “You don’t have to. There’s nothing to do at the studio anyway and if there is, it’s going to be me drawing and coming up with the design drafts. There’s really nothing you can help me with, so you’d better stay at home and do the household chores.”
Claire went to her new office early the next morning.
Meanwhile, Joe rode his electric scooter to the wet market.
As Claire was very busy with her office lately, he specially bought some nutritious ingredients in order to cook some nice dishes for her.
After he finished shopping, Joe walked out of the market and stumbled upon Loreen.
“Joe!” Loreen shouted his name, thrilled and overjoyed.
Joe was surprised. “Hey, Loreen, what a coincidence!”
Loreen looked at Joe and mumbled hesitantly, “Yes… erm, no… no, I… I…”
Joe tilted his head, confused. “Speak slowly. Have you encountered any problems recently?”
Loreen’s face turned into a bright shade of red. Actually, she had waited for him outside Claire’s house early in the morning and had been following Joe all the way.
Loreen cleared her throat, mustered some courage, and said, “I… I’m actually here to thank you for saving me yesterday.”
Joe smiled. “It’s my pleasure, I saved you because you are Claire’s best friend, that’s all.”
He found her appearance out of the blue peculiar and he got the answer.
Loreen shook her head and continued firmly, “Joe, actually… actually I know that you didn’t just save me yesterday. The other day at the Aurous Bistro, it was you too.”
Joe’s heart skipped a beat nervously. How did she know about the Aurous Bistro’s incident? He was wearing a mask then, she shouldn’t know!
He quickly denied. “Perhaps you’ve gotten the wrong person? I’ve never been to the Aurous Bistro or whatever the name of the place is, it must’ve been someone else.”
Loreen glanced at him, complex feelings flooding her eyes and emotions. There was aggrievance, passion, and a slight resentment in them.
Why couldn’t he just admit it? Was she so worthless in his eyes? Why didn’t he want to admit that he saved her?
The complex emotions were replaced with tears as she started, “When Harold invited me to dinner at Aurous Bistro the other day, some rich guy came to bother me and Harold caused some trouble with him. Then, he got some gangsters to ambush us at the entrance of the restaurant. At the critical moment, Harold dumped me there and escaped, and there was this masked hero who appeared out of nowhere and knocked everyone down and saved me from them. Besides, you…”
Loreen’s face was turning into a much brighter red. They had quite an intimate skinship moment where Joe took off her pants…
Of course, she was fully aware that Joe intended to save her life rather than to have some unspeakable and malicious thoughts.
Joe’s face, on the other hand, almost turned green. Holy crap, why would she go there and why did she touch a sore spot? Could he admit to such doings?
Of course not!
All hell would break loose if Claire found out about what happened between him and her best friend!
“Loreen, there must be some misunderstanding. Yes, I can fight very well, but that doesn’t mean that I saved you.”
Then, he quickly added, “Even if it did, I only saved you once yesterday!”
Facing Joe’s denial, Loreen sighed quietly and took out the peace and wealth pebble from her pocket.
“What about this pebble? How do you explain it?”
Joe glared at the pebble in disbelief. Wasn’t it the pebble that he had lost for some time and couldn’t find anywhere? Why was it with Loreen now?
Could it be that he dropped the pebble when he rescued her at the Aurous Bistro and she picked it up?
It was no wonder he couldn’t find the pebble after that day, he had dropped it! Coincidentally, or rather, unfortunately, Loreen had picked it up…
How could he explain it? Damn…
Joe bit his lips sheepishly and said in a casual tone, “What do you mean? It’s just some ordinary pebble.”