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Chapter 76 - 76- I'm Cynthia's husband
On the way back, the sky had already darkened. She insisted on walking home, and he didn't oppose her. It was clear that he was in a good mood today.
The cold, biting snow night had two figures slowly walking through the snow. Several times, he tried to hold her hand, but she avoided him each time. She had a small, stubborn belief: once hands were held, they shouldn't be easily let go.
And since they were bound to part ways, it seemed better not to hold hands at all.
After dodging his hand for the nth time, a slight displeasure appeared on his handsome face. She quickly searched for another topic to divert the awkward tension.
"Today was really rare, seeing Vice President Wilson smile like that..."
What happened at the orphanage today had completely surprised her. She had expected that, given his nature, he would either stand there with an air of superiority, waiting for the children to worship him, or remain cold and distant, ignoring everyone.
But to her surprise, he had patiently played with the children all day, and when they left, they reluctantly asked him to visit often, completely forgetting about her, the true orphanage "Maureen."
"I grew up in an orphanage too."
He glanced at her, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and then exhaled a puff of smoke toward the sky.
At that moment, watching his downcast profile as he looked up at the night sky, a pang of pain shot through her heart. She, too, had lived in an orphanage. She knew what it felt like to rely on each other, to feel the pain of being abandoned with no place to call home.
She also knew... the desperate longing for a happy family. In that moment, she felt like he was no longer as distant as before.
In the following days, the two of them got along well. She stopped putting up emotional defenses, and he relaxed his cold and detached demeanor. They lived like an ordinary couple, learning and adjusting together.
That morning, when they were still deep in sleep, the doorbell rang sharply, one ring after another. Cynthia groaned and curled up closer to him, then reached out and poked his muscular chest.
"Albert, could you check who's at the door?"
He grumbled unhappily, "No! Let it ring!"
With a wave of his hand, he pulled the blanket over both of their heads and continued to sleep. In this cold weather, he was not about to get up and answer the door.
But the doorbell rang persistently, and just as Cynthia could no longer stand it and was about to get out of bed to check, the ringing suddenly stopped. Then her phone on the bedside table started ringing.
She picked up the phone and saw it was Bonnie calling. Bonnie's voice was full of energy.
"Cynthia, why aren't you home?"
Still half-asleep, Cynthia replied, "I am..."
"Then why didn't anyone come out after I rang the doorbell for so long? I'm with Vivian and Nancy, and we're planning to come over and visit you for the weekend!"
Bonnie's tone was filled with dissatisfaction, and Cynthia's mind snapped awake.
"What—?"
She grabbed the phone, immediately sitting up on the bed, frantically looking for the clothes that had been scattered around from last night when someone had been too eager and tossed them everywhere.
"You—are you all outside my door right now?"
"Yeah, hurry up and open the door! It's freezing out here. Do you want to freeze us to death?"
Vivian and Nancy's voices could be heard in the background, warning her, and with a snap, Cynthia hung up the phone. She quickly jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and yanked the man, who was still in a half-awake, frustrated mood, out of bed.
His face darkened, glaring at her angrily.
"What are you doing?"
Cynthia ignored his half-naked state, throwing his clothes at him.
"Quick, quick, you need to hide somewhere!"
"What???"
He shouted as if he had heard the biggest joke of all.
The doorbell kept ringing, and even Bonnie and the others were yelling in frustration. Cynthia saw that he was sitting there, unmoving, and she was so anxious that sweat began to bead on her forehead.
"Oh no! This is bad! Laurence and the others are here, you can't let them see you!"
If those women found out she had been living with this man, eating, drinking, and... sleeping together every day, they wouldn't know how to tease her, especially Bonnie.
The worst part was that she hadn't admitted to being married yet, especially to Vivian and Nancy. If they found out, they would probably devour her with questions.
"Why can't they see me? Am I really that disgraceful?"
Albert Wilson looked at her with a frustrated expression, his anger rising. He was her legitimate husband, yet it felt like she was treating him like a secret lover. This was seriously damaging his pride!
"Well... they don't know I'm married, and now I'm being seen with you..."
Cynthia didn't know how to explain it to him, so she looked at him with a pleading expression.
"Why don't you hide in the attic for a while?"
"No way!"
He said this and, putting on his clothes, strode out of the bedroom.
"Don't—!"
With her desperate shout, the security door suddenly swung open in front of Bonnie and the others, and Cynthia quickly covered her face.
After a moment of stunned silence, there was a sharp scream. Cynthia recognized it as Vivian's voice. The usually elegant and composed Vivian had made such a sound!
Then Bonnie weakly called out,
"Nancy! Nancy! Hurry up and help me, and also check if I'm bleeding from my nose!"
Cynthia sighed, feeling embarrassed. She walked over and hid behind the tall man, awkwardly smiling,
"Ah, Laurence, Vivian, Nancy, you guys are here..."
Before she arrived, the four people at the door were standing in an awkward standoff. No! It should be said that the three beautiful women outside were awkward, while the man inside stood unfazed, his face calm, one hand resting on the doorframe and the other in the pocket of his robe. His open collar revealed a broad, tanned chest.
Vivian was the first to scream. Born into a scholarly family, she was raised with the strict codes of conduct for women, and now, seeing a half-dressed, alluring man standing in front of her, she was surprised she didn't faint right away.
Bonnie, who had no resistance to handsome men, was even more flustered. This man had a strong, muscular body, a handsome face, an extraordinary presence, and his gaze was practically electrifying... So, she instinctively thought she was bleeding from her nose again.
Nancy, who was more tomboyish, remained relatively calm, though her face was still flushed. She held the exaggerated Bonnie up with one hand, while her eyes couldn't help but avoid looking at the man inside.
Cynthia reached over and pinched the waist of the "door god" man hard, growling,
"Quick, go change your clothes!"
Albert Wilson yelped in pain, feeling totally innocent. How was he supposed to know there were three young women outside? How was he supposed to know they'd be this shocked seeing him like this?
He winced in pain from the pinch on his waist and shot an irritated glare at the woman who had pinched him out of embarrassment. He held his waist and walked into the bedroom, and only then did Cynthia manage to laugh awkwardly and invite the three ladies inside.
As soon as they entered, the first thing they did was bombard her with questions. She almost wanted to curl up and hide, but just when she was in a tight spot, that man, now fully dressed, came out of the bedroom and rescued her from the awkward situation.
At that moment, she felt like he was the Sun Wukong coming down from the seven-colored cloud to save her.
He had changed into comfortable home clothes, walked over, and elegantly sat down, casually draping an arm around her shoulder. With a warm, harmless smile on his face, he said,
"Hello, beautiful ladies, I'm Cynthia's husband, Albert Wilson!"
Cynthia instinctively tried to pull away from him. She wasn't yet comfortable with showing affection in front of so many people, especially since their relationship wasn't exactly one of true love—just a special circumstance over the past few days.
But the small sofa didn't give her much space to escape. Bonnie and the others were seated comfortably on the large sofa across from them, leaving her stuck on the single seat beside Albert.
Bonnie, however, seemed somewhat unfazed. After all, she had attended their wedding. But Vivian and Nancy stared at her and Albert Wilson for a long time in stunned silence, and then, as if realizing something, they didn't say anything further.
