Charlotte sat at the table, leaving two seats between her and the guests. Being the only one on her side, she indulged freely in the food she took, while Elijah sat next to her.

"Eat properly, Charlotte."

She paused, glancing at her plate. Everything was neatly arranged, but she had a small appetite and wasn't particularly hungry.

"I'm eating fine, Elijah."

He pointed to a drop of sauce on the tablecloth. "Is that fine? No, Charlotte. If you're going to eat, do it properly."

Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the small stain on the fabric. His attention to detail was impressive; despite her plate being covered, he still noticed.

She pulled her plate closer, ensuring no food fell, and continued eating.

"We both agreed that no one would know we're married, right?" She nodded, still chewing. "That night was before our wedding."

She stopped eating. "This is the first time we've talked alone. I'm sorry for that night, Charlotte. I don't know what came over me."

She could never forget what he did, especially when he punched her in the stomach. Elijah was a different person that night, and the memory haunted her.

"We got married because of that, Elijah. We don't love each other. Your actions bound us together without love. You can do what you want, and so will I. Let's continue living separate lives as if we're not married. After all, we're only married because of your mistakes."

She resumed eating, and Elijah remained silent until she finished. Leaning back in her chair, she removed the hairpin from her hair.

"Charlotte, you and Elijah, go to the center. Dance—a romantic dance," her mother said as she approached their table.

"A romantic dance, how?" she asked.

Her mother smiled. "Like this, dear. Elijah, come here first." Elijah stood up and followed her mom's instructions. "Place your hand, Charlotte, on your spouse's shoulder while he holds your waist, then just sway slowly. We have a gift for you while you dance."

"Is that necessary? Why not just give us the gift without dancing, Mom?" she suggested.

Her mother's eyes widened slightly. "That's not possible, dear. Even if you only had a civil wedding, you still have a celebration, like dancing in the middle. You didn't even cut the cake to feed each other. Are you not going to dance?"

She bowed her head slightly and closed her eyes. It seemed her mother forgot that their marriage was forced because of what happened, yet insisting on these things felt like guilt-tripping.

"No, Mom. It's a waste of time."

Her mother's enthusiasm faded, so she avoided her gaze. She was surprised when Elijah pulled her toward the center of the living room. As she furrowed her brow, she looked at Elijah, who had a serious expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Dancing."

"But I don't want to. Why did you bring me here?"

He glanced at her mom, who was smiling while looking at them, and other family members stood beside her to watch.

Elijah placed both her hands on his shoulders, while his hands were around her waist. Music filled the room. She didn't move, and neither did Elijah.

"Sway, you two!" her mom shouted.

She secretly grimaced, but she felt Elijah slowly starting to move, so she followed. Her family gathered around, and as they swayed slowly, some of them pinned money to their clothes. She glanced at the money pinned near her shoulder, all in denominations.

It was something she often saw in wealthy families, so it felt normal to her since she could handle it, but it was different this time. Those were gifts because she was now Elijah's wife.

Elijah paused and looked at her. "If you want to hurt me, just punch or slap me."

"Huh?"

He bent down, so she followed his gaze downward. She was surprised to realize she had stepped on Elijah's shoe; nearly half of her shoe's sole was on top of his. It didn't have heels, but the whole shoe was heavy, so it was painful.

"Sorry, I didn't notice."

He just smirked before refocusing on their dance.

Her mother approached, pinning money to their clothes. After her mother finished, she suddenly held their backs tightly, forcing them closer, almost as if they were about to embrace each other.

"Mom!"

She looked at both Elijah and her. "Come on, this is a one-time thing; be sweet."

She closed her eyes at her mom's playfulness.

"Okay, Mom," Elijah replied.

She furrowed her brow at Elijah's response, but she was even more surprised when he pulled her closer.

"Just pretend, Charlotte."

They continued to dance slowly, with Elijah holding her tightly, her hands still on top, while Elijah's hands were clasped around her waist at the back.

"Move; you look like a stick," he teased.

She reluctantly followed his movements. With the heavy cloth draped over her, it felt like a burden.

When the two songs ended and the money-pinning was done, they sat down. While removing the money pinned to her, she counted secretly, and her eyes widened slightly, seeing that the cloak placed on her was worth one hundred thousand pesos, aside from the others pinned around her waist, which were made like a skirt.

"Here, put this aside."

Elijah suddenly placed the money on the table in front of her. It was thick. Their families were generous.

She shifted her attention to the sweet dessert prepared by one of the helpers. It was creme caramel, so she gave Elijah the money-covered cloak.

"For you to have a purpose, remove these one by one from the plastic."

"What? In front of our family?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"Yes, you could've done it later and quietly. Not now, Charlotte."

With the wealth they had, he didn't mind the money. Elijah could take care of it; she could set it aside for the future. She took the money again and placed it on the other seat.

She'd eat the creme caramel first; she rarely had a chance to eat it, only during big occasions at her parents' house. She noticed her brother looking at them; he smiled at her, but when he looked at Elijah, the smile disappeared. She then looked at Elijah, who was also staring at her brother.

ElijahAs Elijah sat quietly, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the side of his stomach. He looked over at Charlotte, who was staring blankly at his abdomen.

"What are you doing, and why are you moving around so much?" he asked.

Charlotte held up the money she was trying to count.

"I told you to focus on that later. Why are you so restless?"

"I have nothing else to do, so I started counting the money, and I've finished eating."

"Aren't you ashamed of what you're doing? You look like you're counting money."

Charlotte stopped what she was doing and turned to face him, wearing a serious expression on her face. "I'm starting this now because I have classes tomorrow," she explained.

"But you had time the other day," he pointed out.

"I have somewhere to go that day," Charlotte replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

"Just to see a friend," Charlotte reassured him.

"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes," Charlotte replied, ignoring his doubts and continuing to separate the money.

As time passed, both Elijah's and Charlotte's families were ready to leave. It was getting late, so they needed to go home.

They were now standing in front of the door, ready to leave.

"We're leaving now; be happy together," his mother said. She looked at Charlotte and continued, "And you, Charlotte, take care of your husband, look after him, and cook for him."

He looked at Charlotte's face and noticed that she slightly frowned. He sighed at her reaction, but his mother didn't seem to notice.

"Take care on the way home, Mom."

"Alright, then we'll leave you." She smiled at both of them before getting into the car. Charlotte's family waved at them before leaving.

They remained at the door, looking outside.

"What are we going to do?" Charlotte asked.

He walked back into the house. "Get dressed, and if you want, clean up all the mess inside. You can also wash the dishes."

"Huh? Isn't this supposed to be catering?"

"No."

He glanced back and noticed Charlotte staring at the table and the dishes there. He raised an eyebrow as she walked towards them.

“Go upstairs and get changed. There’s a maid who will clean up,” he said.

Charlotte appeared hesitant. “Should I? What if I change my mind and ask you to do the laundry on the tablecloth?”

Without a second thought, he immediately walked towards the stairs, passing by Charlotte.

Their house had three bedrooms on the second floor, one for him and the other two were empty.

He entered one of the rooms and Charlotte followed him.

“Is this my room?” she asked.

“No, this is our room,” he replied.

Her eyes widened as she looked around the room.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

"I'd rather sleep in the other room. Anyway, we don't like each other," she said.

He looked at her and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Okay, follow me," he said and led her to the other room.

"This room is for you. Do you like it?" he asked.

She peeked inside the room and noticed that it was empty. "Why is it empty?" she asked.

"No one uses it, so there's nothing in it, not even a cabinet," he explained.

"What about the other room?" she asked.

"Didn't you hear? Only one room is furnished, so the third room remains empty as well," he said, avoiding eye contact.

She rolled her eyes and walked inside the room, standing in the middle.

"Come on, let's go to our room, and you can change there," he said.

“I think I'll sleep here," she said.

He frowned. "Didn't you see? We entered here first. Use your eyes sometimes so you don't ask too many questions."

"Are questions not allowed now?"

"Yes, especially since you know the answers. Just follow me."

When they entered his room, he took off his barong and ended up wearing just a T-shirt. Charlotte looked around for her suitcase.

"Where's my suitcase?" she asked.

"Suitcase?"

"Yes, all my clothes are in there."

"No one brought a suitcase down here."

Her eyes widened before she left the room in a hurry. After a few minutes, she returned.

"My brother didn't bring my suitcase down from the car."

He looked at his cabinet. "If you want, you can use my clothes first."

"No, I'll just stay like this. I won't change anymore."

He shook his head. "No, you're sweating, and your clothes have absorbed the smoke. I don't want you to sleep on my bed wearing that."

"You're so picky."

"You're not the one who does the laundry, so don't be picky."

Annoyed, she slammed what she was holding on the small table beside the bed. "Where are the clothes you're talking about? Now!"

"Are you raising your voice at me?"

"It's obvious. Why are you still asking? If you don't want me to get dirty, then I'll sleep in the other room, even if it's just on the floor!"

"Can you? Go ahead; nothing's stopping you."

She clenched her fists before turning away from him and leaving the room. She closed the door loudly, causing him to squint.

He thought to himself that she was stubborn. He stepped out of the room to follow her to the other side, but she was nowhere to be found. He went downstairs and searched there.

"Cara, where's your madam?" he asked.

"Your wife?" Cara replied.

"Yes. Did you see her downstairs?"

"She's in the kitchen."

"Alright. Thanks."

He went to the kitchen and saw Charlotte rummaging through pots. "What are you doing?" he asked.

She dropped the lid of the pot she was holding, making a loud noise. "Charlotte!" he called out.

She took some rice and the leftover dish from earlier, sat down, and started eating.

"Can you hear me?"

She just continued eating without looking at him. Irritated, he left the kitchen and went back to his room, locking the door behind him. He thought to himself that Charlotte was headstrong as well, sticking to her decision. He wondered how long she could endure sleeping on the cold floor. He took a shower, then sat in front of the table to read some papers. He grabbed his eyeglasses before starting.

After Elistaring at what he was reading for a long time, he blinked multiple times. He glanced at the clock, which was already eleven at night, but he didn't hear anyone trying to open the door. He put down the papers he was holding, as well as his eyeglasses, and stepped out of the room. It was obvious to him that his household staff were already asleep in the house, and the downstairs appeared clean when he peeked.

He went to the adjacent room, slowly opening it and peeking inside, but Charlotte wasn't there, nor was she in the third room.

Where could she have gone again?

He descended the stairs and checked the entire house, but Charlotte was nowhere to be found. He was about to go to the servants' quarters to see if she was there, but he refrained, not wanting to disturb them. Now he stood in the middle of the living room, contemplating, but when his gaze drifted to the row of car keys, one was missing.

He approached and looked at the keys. Would Charlotte be capable of driving? It didn't seem likely, based on what he saw whenever she came home, just commuting, so he randomly grabbed a key and hurriedly went outside, but he paused in his steps because the car that was missing the key was still parked inside the yard.

He slowly approached the car with a frown on his face. He inspected the front of the car; the engine was running. He quickly stepped closer and tried to peer inside to see Charlotte, but was unable to do so because of the tinted windows and the lack of visibility inside. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.

What could this woman be thinking of locking the door while she was inside his yard?

He attempted to awaken Charlotte by knocking on the window, but she remained asleep like a log. She didn't even flinch when he knocked on the window. He believed that Charlotte's presence would make his quiet world chaotic.

Charlotte couldn't stay inside the car because even with the engine running and the air conditioning on, there was still a risk of the car stalling, especially if it ran out of gas. She might have even set the air conditioning to a high level, which would consume more gas.

He left the car and went back inside the house to retrieve the duplicate keys for his car, which he remembered now because he hadn't lost the original keys of his car yet since he was meticulous. He had duplicates made just in case they got lost, and he kept them in a drawer for easy access whenever he needed them in a hurry.

He opened the drawer containing all the duplicate keys for his cars, obtained the key for the car where Charlotte was, and returned outside.

He quickly unlocked the car door and opened it. Charlotte was fast asleep, not even waking up from the noise he made earlier when knocking on the window. He had intended to wake her up, but his hand clenched into a fist, irritated, as he opened the driver's side door to turn off the engine. He would just carry Charlotte back into the house.

As he entered the car again, he struggled to lift Charlotte, so he simply grabbed her hands to make her sit up and lifted her from there.

Instead of sleeping at this hour, he went looking for the missing woman.

He laid her down on the bed to make her comfortable, but Charlotte insisted on not changing her clothes. He just shook his head as he tucked her in. He would change the sheets and pillowcases tomorrow.

He yawned, then lay down on the other side of the bed. He was slowly closing his eyes when he suddenly felt something pressing on his stomach. Irritated, he removed it and looked at Charlotte with annoyance. He wanted to wake her up, but he felt sorry for her, so he just placed a pillow between them when she couldn't move closer.

He yawned yet again, feeling very sleepy, so he closed his eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.

Elijah was awakened by a scream at four in the morning.

He stood up but clung to the bed due to the room's sudden spinning. After everything was back to normal, he gazed at Charlotte, who was still asleep.

Did Charlotte let out a scream? Was there someone else?

He headed toward Charlotte's side, but she was still asleep. He was about to leave, but she screamed again. He quickly looked at her face, but she was still sleeping with her eyes closed. Charlotte appeared to be having a frightening dream.

He went back to bed and tried to sleep again; he had two more hours to rest. His head would hurt if he didn't sleep again. But it seemed like he wouldn't be able to because Charlotte was now thrashing around on the bed.

"Char, wake up!" He shook her body, but she continued to thrash around as if possessed by some entity. "Wake up... hey... Charlotte!"

Her soul seemed to separate from her body when he shook it, but she did not wake up. She may be having a nightmare.

"Hey!!"

He noticed tears streaming down her cheeks, so he continued what he was doing, but he had no choice, he gave Charlotte a strong slap, which immediately woke her up, and looked at him as if frightened, moving away from him.

"I'm sorry. You wouldn't wake up." She breathed quickly, looking like she had a terrifying dream. "Are you okay now?"

"Why... am I here?" She looked around the room.

"I took you from inside the car."

He was about to approach Charlotte, but she raised a hand. "Don't come near me!"

He sighed and arose; he was unable to sleep anymore, so he wouldn't go back to bed.

"Just continue sleeping, sorry for what I did, I just woke you up, that's why I slapped you."

She took the blanket and wrapped it around herself, seeming to know what she had dreamed about.

"I'll go out now; you go back to sleep."

He turned away and left the room, not walking right away after closing the door. He also heard Charlotte crying inside the room. If she remembered what he did, what would be the consequence for them?

To make sure, he would just buy things for Charlotte's room. It seemed like they couldn't sleep side by side or together in one room because he didn't know what was going on in Charlotte's mind. She might even get sick every time they were together in one place that wasn't spacious. He left the front door and went downstairs for coffee, but his head was already hurting because of lack of sleep.