8.
1250 Words
Lyra frowned, “Really? You didn't notice that I was disgusting the other night.”
A smirk crept on Harrison's face. He huffed, “You don't have to bring this up. I paid for your miserable service, didn't I?”
Lyra's grip on the spoon tightened as she pressed her lips. “Service?” she scoffed.
Lyra rose and watched him take steps away. “Since I'm the reason you can't eat here, would you eat in your room?” she questioned. She doesn't care about him, she only wants another opportunity to insult him.
Her words made Harrison's eyes move back and forth rapidly. It reminded him of his long-lost lover, she said those exact words that very day before she was murdered by a veiled man.
The wounded memories of about four years ago were still new. A tear fell to his cheek unchecked, but he promptly wiped it off before anyone noticed.
He ordered, “You don't have to act like my wife, Lyra. I lost my appetite because the food was bitter.”
Lyra took a spoonful from Harrison's plate and gave a negative nod. The food tasted great. “The food is bitter or you've been bitter all your life?” she asked, crossing her arms.
Her words caught Harrison unaware, her eyes widened as Harrison shot her a disgusted glare, “Shut that gutter, woman.”
Lyra stood and pointed the cutlery at him “What if I don't? Hmph… It's time you start treating me like I'm human else I will make your life a living hell,” Lyra threatened.
She wanted him to blurt out his mind, especially about their sudden contract marriage.
Harrison couldn't hold his tears for long, he ran out of the dining hall and hurriedly wiped his tears.
A bodyguard, Adrian sighted him from a corner. “Mr. Harrison,” he called as he hastened his footsteps.
“Does she discomfort you? Should I get rid of her?” Adrian inquired, awaiting his master's command.
Harrison forced a smile “Not at all. Protect her at all cost, she's my only key to the royal seal of Monroe's empire.”
Adrian gave a positive nod, “As you command, Sir”
Harrison walked up to his bedroom and tossed himself on the bed.
“Sophia, I will shed the blood of your murderers on your table. I promise,” he whispered, his eyes focused on her framed picture hung on the wall.
His room door flung open and Lyra appeared at the door. Harrison aggressively runs his hand in his hair.“What happened to knocking? You are fired,” he declared.
He thought it was his new mannerless employee.“You can't fire your wife,” Lyra sweetly said, pulling her luggage into his room.
Harrison sat up, his eyes balled at Lyra
“W-What are you doing?” he rolled out of bed and stopped the wheeling luggage.
“I saw these dresses in the room opposite yours so I decided to bring them to our room,” Lyra said with a smile plastered on her face, she unzipped the bag and brought out some expensive dresses.
“Immediately I saw these, I knew you bought them for me,” Lyra uttered, admiring the dresses and hanging them in his closet.
Harrison's mouth widened, crunching up his face. “These are Sophia's dresses,” he whispered. His heart pounded in his chest as he removed the dresses from his closet and snatched the ones with Lyra.
“How dare you touch my stuff? It's like you forgot your place the minute I inserted a ring in your finger,” Harrison hastily grabbed her hand and removed the wedding diamond ring.
“Oww," Lyra winced immediately the tight ring was pulled from her finger. She covered her bleeding finger as tears welled in her eyes.
Harrison raised the ring to her face and shouted, “This doesn't belong to a gold digger, Lyra. Don't try to own things you don't deserve.”
“I thought they were mine,” Lyra muttered. An ache started deep in her stomach, her heart sank in her chest. She turned away, walking out of his room.
“This isn't marriage but b*****e," Lyra thought.
She dragged her feet to the guest room which is a mile away from Harrison's and spent the night with her eyes opened. Thoughts of Harrison's behaviors flood in her head and she can't sleep.
“Why do I feel so guilty? Hmm… I can't deny that I made a terrible mistake by walking down the aisle with that arrogant man. He has no heart,” Lyra said, attending to the cut she had on her finger.
Lyra returned the packet of cotton wool to the first aid box and stood quiet for a moment. “I guess he bought those for his concubines. I'm just a contract wife, I shouldn't be bothered,” Lyra silently said.
Dawn turned to dust and Lyra was still snoring on her bed like a bear. She spent the whole night thinking about Harrison and she forgot she had to get ready for work.
“Isn’t she out yet?” Harrison asked the Head maid and took another glimpse at his watch.
The Head maid took a bow, “I knocked at her door but she didn't respond.”
Harrison's face contorted in annoyance as another round of her loud snores echoed. “Ugh! I can't take this anymore. Go get me a bell, ”Harrison yelled.
“Sir?” The head maid raised her eyebrows, she was uneasy about Harrison's demand. Harrison's glare drove her to order a bell.
Shortly, the head maid brought a bell and handed it to Harrison, who snatched it. He took quick steps to Lyra's room and started ringing the bell.
The bell rang in Lyra's ear from her sleep. She scrambled to sit up on the bed, clasping her hands on her aching head.
The bell worsened her aches and her eyes scanned the room, searching for the source of the noise. “Is the world going to end?" Lyra rolled out of bed.
She rushed out, the bell noise grew louder from outside her room.
Her eyes narrowed as she sighted Harrison close to her door with a bell in his hand. A surge of anger rose in her.
“What do you think you are doing?” she shouted, her lips parted to take in a deep breath.
Harrison smirked, the corner of his mouth twitching upward, “Do you think you can sleep all day? You can't live here rent-free.”
“How dare he wake me up like this? He thinks so much of himself.” Lyra thought.
“What's the price for putting up with you as my landlord and husband? Millions? Billions?”
“As of today, you would pay me five million dollars weekly. If you can't afford it, you should be ready to do chores,” Harrison ordered. He knew she couldn't earn a quarter of the amount in years.
Lyra felt the blood drain on her face. “W…what?” she stammered, her heart sank as she thought of a way to make more money.
“Pay me my money then," Lyra shouted, she opened her hands elongated to Harrison.
A man in a black suit walked into the mansion and announced with his hands clasped behind his body, “The Chairman is here.”
- Writer
