Chapter 9

• VALERIA
• The morning sun shine through the glass windows and curtains to land on me. It was my cue to know that a new day had come.
• Roused from my sleep, I rolled from one side of the bed to another a few times before sitting up on the bed. I then stretched my body lazily for a few minutes before finally getting off the bed and head to the bathroom.
• In the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror looking at the reflection of myself while brushing my teeth and before I knew it my thoughts drifted away.
• Three days. It has been three days since I arrived in Mr Devil's house yet I haven't got to meet this mysterious husband of mine and at least confirmed what he actually looked like. What I was told was that he was on a business trip with no definite time of return but ironically enough, we are already legally married.
• All I had to do was hand over some documentation to Mr Devil's exclusive assistant, Assistant Michaels whose first name I had come to know was Zane and the next thing I knew was being presented with a marriage certificate.
• Hassle free, wasn't it?
• However, there was one huge problem I was currently facing - Zane Michaels was living with me, in this same house!
• Poor me had thought that I wouldn't be getting the opportunity to interact with him after that day and even if we had no choice but to, it would still be to the barest minimum.
• But here we are. Being housemates with him.
• At first, I didn't understand why he had to live here with me or was even left behind by Mr Devil who obviously didn't consider this farce of a marriage that important and had asked. I was then made to understand that because Mr Devil didn't like outsiders in his domain, he hadn't hired any long term helper except for the hourly cleaner that comes to clean the house every day.
• This meant that if I wanted to eat and do other stuff,s I had to do it all by myself which was why Mr Devil had left his assistant behind to help with some of these miscellaneous tasks.
• But this action of his made me even more confused. One moment I was thinking he don't care about this marriage but the next moment, he is doing something that makes me misunderstand that he actually does.
• Or could it be that he likes that pretentious twin sister of mine and thought I was her?
• But that shouldn't be it after all if it was really Vanessa that he planned to marry, he should have made it known clearly from the start. That way, it wouldn't have been me marrying him since my parents and Aaron wouldn't have had the guts to deceive him and at the same time, Zane wouldn't have been so calm after seeing me and knowing my full name.
• Arrgggh! Thinking about the whole thing was seriously driving me crazy!
• I suddenly thought of something. The first day I arrived after I was told that my 'husband' was currently unavailable, I had no choice but make Zane inform him about my intention to negotiate with him and what exactly I was offering. Even now, I still remember how surprised Assistant Michaels had been when I told him about it.
• He probably never dreamt that I wasn't as useless as my ex-family and the whole Meteor City thought I was, right?
• For some reason, I took pleasure in that fact.
• That wasn't the point. The point was that today was the day he told me he would give feedback on my nominal husband's thoughts on it.
• Thinking of this, I sped up the brushing of my teeth and after that took a bath, dressed up and hurried downstairs.
• ....
• The moment I steeped down from the stairs, the heavenly smell of pancakes, coffee and chocolate rushed into my nose. Without even thinking about it, I walked in the direction of the open kitchen while subconsciously keeping my footsteps faint and not surprisingly, saw Zane in an apron working his magic in front of the cooker.
• It had been two days but I still find unable to get used to seeing this sight.
• I mean, how many women would have been able to control their hearts from feeling something when all they wake up to every morning was to the sight of their ideal type of man cooking breakfast for them in the kitchen?
• At least, I can't. I mean, I am trying to. Trying to stop myself by telling myself that he was my nominal husband's subordinate, one he had sent to help me yet the reality was that I was failing miserably at it.
• Why would even feel confident enough to leave the two of us in the same house, alone? ! Was it because he felt that I wasn't beautiful and charming enough to attract Zane or that Zane wasn't downright my type and hot as hell enough to attract me?
• Or else, could it be that he trusted Zane enough to the point he believes that he wouldn't betty him because of me?
• Or... was Zane... gay?
• The thought of the last possibility being true put me on the verge of breakdown. I really wasn't broad-minded to accept that the one and closest time I had ever come close to be really interested in a guy turned out to be a mistake.
• My gaze must have been too intense because he finally turned around to look at me with a smile.
• "Good morning, Miss Hale."
• Terrible. The man was terrible. If not, how could I feel that even his smile was seducing me?
• Still, I replied with false calm, "Good morning, Zane."
• He had been the one to suggest I call him by his first name by the way while he still kept on calling me formally and probably to keep some sort of boundaries between us, I allowed him to instead of reciprocating by making him call me by my first name as well.
• But if there was one strange thing, it was that although I was now technically married to his boss, for some reason, Zane still insisted on calling me Miss Hale.
• I just wasn't sure if that was him acting on his boss's intention or on his...
• In the next second, when my favorite blend of coffee - mocha was placed in front of me, I quickly put aside all those distracting thoughts and grabbed the mug by its handle to take a sip after which I let out a satisfying sigh.
• The flavours of the Espresso shot and chocolate combine perfectly, giving a deep, sweet, luxurious taste. The mouth-feel was also velvety smooth and coats your mouth, very similar to a hot chocolate.
• "You really shouldn't drink coffee on empty stomach." Zane reminded me softly to which I only hummed to, unwilling to put down the mug in my hands even when I knew that he was right.
• In the middle of savoring the drink, I finally remembered that I had something to ask him and had no choice but to put down the mug in my hands reluctantly.
• "What were your boss's thoughts on my proposal?" I asked straightforwardly.
• Zane didn't reply to my question a first. Instead, he placed a plate piled up with pancakes topped with maple syrup in front of me.
• Only then did he speak in a gentle but unquestionable tone, "We'll talk after you are done eating."
• I opened my mouth to refute him but when he gave me that expressionless look, I obediently kept my mouth shut and picked up the cutlery while muttering to myself in my heart that he really was two-faced.
• When he had that gentle smile on his face, you would definitely feel that he was a warm and polite person however when he was not smiling, that was when you realize that his features were actually that cold and hard.
• If I didn't know better, I would have thought that he was someone used to be in a position of supreme authority.
• Heh.
• That was definitely a joke.