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.

Charlotte stayed in Elijah's room after he left. She had a terrifying dream where Elijah's actions replayed in her room. It felt like she was back in her room while Elijah was doing something. She was even more scared when she woke up in the position he had left her in earlier while trying to wake her up. Perhaps it was because she was lying next to Elijah and she didn't realize that he had already carried her into the house and placed her inside the car. She glanced at the clock, it was already six in the morning.

She stood up and looked at what she was wearing. She hadn't changed clothes, so she wondered why she was still lying in Elijah's bed, especially since he didn't like dirt or changing clothes.

Surely, the bedsheet, blanket, and pillowcases would be changed later.

She went to the bathroom to look for an unused toothbrush. She opened the cabinet above and found one. She took it out of the plastic wrapping brushed her teeth and washed her face. Then she went out with a wet face. She couldn't find a towel inside. Didn't Elijah wash his face? Why wasn't there even a tissue?

She went out with her face still wet, thinking it would dry eventually, so why bother looking for a towel?

She went downstairs to the kitchen to make coffee. She paused at the door when she saw Elijah looking at his phone. He glanced at her briefly, then returned his gaze to his phone screen.

She quietly went inside while he was still busy. She even tried to mix the coffee quietly, although it was difficult. She paused. Why was she doing this? Whatever, if Elijah gets annoyed by the sound of a spoon, it'll take a long time.

"You're taking too long to mix your coffee. Is that a whole pitcher? No wonder you're having a hard time mixing it."

She glanced at Elijah, but he wasn't looking at her, he suddenly turned to see what she was doing.

"It's already cold from stirring so much, drink it while it's still hot."

Elijah said so much, but she was the one drinking the coffee, even if it was already cold.

When she finished, she put the spoon she used in the sink and sat opposite Elijah, with a narrow table between them.

"You're leaving now, right?" She nodded. "What time will you be back?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know."

"Give me the exact time you'll be back because I need to go to my company, I have something to check there."

"I don't know."

"You should be back before 5 pm if you don't want to give a time."

She turned her head, her face wrinkled. "I'll be back, even if I don't give a time."

He looked into her eyes. "You don't know what could happen outside, Charlotte. You can't come home late."

"I always come home late even before we got married, at my mom's house."

"In my house, if you're not coming from school, you can't come home late."

"What if my friends and I have plans and it gets late?"

He leaned back in his chair. "I'll pick you up, but don't come home with your friends."

"Why?!" She asked, annoyed.

"Are all your friends female?"

She shook her head. "There are guys too."

"So, just follow what I want so we don't argue. So we can treat each other nicely."

"You're not forbidding me from what I want, are you?"

"As long as you're okay with it and you'll follow what I want, you can do what you want. But just don't come home late, and if you do, I'll just pick you up. But if you're afraid of people finding out you're already married, just tell them that I'm your brother's friend and Christian is busy, so I'm the one picking you up."

She stared at Elijah as he spoke while looking at the screen of his phone. If nothing bad happened, Elijah would be okay to be a friend or even a brother, given their age gap. She was eighteen, while Elijah was 27 years old, the same age as her brother.

She lowered her gaze to his lips, they were red as if he had lip balm with color on them. Her eyes squinted.

"Do you like using lip tint?"

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Like... lip balm, lipstick... stuff like that." She said while moving her hands and raising her eyebrows slightly.

She saw his eyes widen. "Are you saying I'm using women's products on my lips?"

"W-Well, I just noticed?"

"Tsk... My lips are naturally red. Why, are yours dark that's why you're admiring mine?"

Her eyes widened, while her mouth hung open. "Hey! My lips aren't dark!"

He stared at her lips for a long time, so she covered them with her hand to remove his gaze from her lips, it was taking too long.

"Okay, it's fine, but because you're drinking coffee, that's why they're not very red."

"You're also drinking coffee."

"I don't know, but maybe even if I drink it, they won't darken."

It's unfair, if you think about it, Elijah's lips are prettier than hers.

He took her half-filled cup of coffee. "You have creamer in your coffee." He drank from her cup, paused, and looked at her.

"Why?"

"The taste of your blend is familiar."

"Huh?"

"Do you prepare it every time the maids give us coffee in your parent's house?"

She nodded. "Yes, it's me, the maids just serve it to you."

"You have a future in coffee blending, the taste never changes no matter how many times you brew it, it's always the same."

"I've estimated the amount to use, that's why."

"You're studying engineering, right?"

"Yes."

"This one's probably cold now, here."

He stared at the cup for a long time, then drank it all and left nothing behind when he placed it in front of her.

She didn't react and just looked at Elijah.

"Sorry, I finished it. My saliva might be in there, maybe you don't want that, it would be a waste if you just throw it away."

"N-No... I'll still drink it even if you drink from the cup."

His eyebrows raised. "Really? Just make a new one if you still want coffee."

"No need, maybe later."

He stood up. "Do you want to come with me? I'll drop you off at your friend's."

"I'll just commute."

"Okay, please just wash my cup, include it with the cups and spoons you'll wash, so the maids won't have to do it." He left while she looked at his cup, Elijah didn't make that cup earlier. Her cup was empty when she arrived in the kitchen.

She stood up and took the two cups to wash, she didn't have clothes either. She might just borrow something from Elijah that fits her.

Charlotte went upstairs to ask Elijah about clothes. She just opened the door without knocking. She didn't see Elijah inside, he seemed to be in the bathroom, so she went to the closet to see if there was anything that would fit her, she would figure out the styling later.

She opened two cabinets, but none of them had anything suitable for her. Only the last cabinet was left unopened, maybe there would be something, so she opened it but frowned because all the clothes hanging and folded at the bottom were women's clothes.

Why are there women's clothes here?

The bathroom door opened, so she looked. She looked away from Elijah because he was only wearing a towel around his lower body.

"Why are you poking around in that cabinet?"

"I just wanted to see if any of your clothes would fit me, but in this last cabinet of yours, why are there only women's clothes?"

Elijah approached her, so she slightly moved away from the cabinet.

"These belong to my sister, whenever she stays here."

"Does she sleep here too... besides you?" She glanced at the bed and then at Elijah's face.

"No."

She was a bit confused; there were no beds in the two rooms. Where does his sister sleep?

"She stays here at my house all day. She just changes clothes and then stays at a hotel at night."

"Why didn't you put stuff in your two rooms? You're making it difficult for your sister to keep coming back to your house."

He went behind her, probably to get his clothes.

"She rarely comes home here, so I didn't plan on putting anything in the two rooms. Even my friends are not staying here to sleep."

Elijah's logic was unclear, even though no one sleeps here, even his friends. What if it's for an emergency, and there's no choice but to go home? Where would she sleep, on the floor?

"Maybe you have some small clothes, can I borrow some?"

"I don't have any small clothes that would fit you. Just choose from my sister's clothes."

"Is that okay?"

"Yes."

Elijah left with the clothes he would wear to the bathroom.

She held onto clothes, all of them were sexy, there were dresses but still sexy, and there were T-shirts but too tight. Elijah's sister had a sexy body. She was still staring at the clothes hanging when Elijah came out of the bathroom.

"Are you still not done picking clothes?"

"Not yet."

She heard him sigh softly. "I'll choose for you, you'll take forever to find something. Get out of there for now."

She went to the side, and he started rummaging through his sister's clothes, but some fell, so she picked them up. He was too rough with the clothes, not even being careful despite their apparent value.

"You're taking too long."

"Shut up!"

She just glared at him without looking. Even he couldn't pick something that wasn't too sexy.

"I think, this one is okay."

He held up a T-shirt and high-waisted pants. It was a better choice than what she saw earlier.

"Thanks." She took them from Elijah's hand. She checked the waist size, it fit her, she had the same waist size as Elijah's sister.

"Before you shower, tidy this up."

From the look of the inside of the cabinet, it seemed like someone was looking for something important inside, so all the clothes were messy. There were a lot, and some even fell on the floor.

"Okay."

She took all the unorganized clothes and placed them on Elijah's bed, and as she started cleaning up, Elijah just sat on the bed, looking at his phone.

"Aren't you leaving yet?"

He glanced at her briefly. "I will after you."

"Aren't you in a hurry?"

"Would I be sitting here if I were in a hurry? I should have left earlier."

"I'm just asking," she muttered.

"Hurry up so I can leave."

"You go, this will take a while."

Annoyed, he grabbed the pants beside her, and Elijah started folding them. Turns out he knows how, he didn't even help her earlier.

When they finished folding and organizing inside the cabinet, she quickly went into Elijah's bathroom. She showered quickly because it was already late for her meet-up with Mary.

After coming out of the bathroom, she was blow-drying her hair, but Elijah still hadn't left.

"Aren't you planning to leave?"

"I am."

She frowned as she walked towards the bed. "Can I borrow a comb?"

"I don't have a comb."

She looked at Elijah in confusion. "Even guys with short hair still comb their hair, and you don't have one?"

"I just use my hands to fix my hair."

She looked at his hair; it was fine, but it was still better to use a comb. She just used her hands on her long hair, drying it more to prevent dripping.

She stood up and hung Elijah's towel back in the bathroom. "I'm leaving."

"Wait a moment."

She stopped walking. Elijah stepped in front of her. "This is your allowance for today." He handed her some money.

Her eyes widened. Did she leave her family's money in Elijah's room, the money their family gave them pinned in their clothes on their wedding day?"

"Is this the money I separated from our family?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"This is from me, my own money."

She moved his hand holding the money away. "Where's the money? I'll just get my fare from there."

Elijah's gaze locked onto hers, not even blinking or moving his lens. She blinked, so she took the money he was giving her.

"Once I give you something, take it. I'm your husband, so even though we got married under strange circumstances, we're still married. What's mine is yours, from now on. Do you understand, Charlotte?"

She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded.

"I put aside the money you're talking about, so don't worry about where it is."

He stepped closer to her, so she raised her eyebrows slightly. But she was more surprised when he touched her cheeks. "I made you blush, are you okay going out with your cheeks all red?"

Why was he so close?

"I-I'm... I'm fine even if my cheeks are red." Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears.

He nodded and removed his hand from her cheek, then stepped back two steps.

"Let's go, I'll accompany you. I'll drop you off near where you're going, but remember what I said, you're not allowed to come home late if you decide to go home alone."

"Yes."

"Let's go."

Elijah left the room, leaving her standing there, still holding onto her chest, trying to calm her heart before following him. She seemed nervous about Elijah approaching her.