Chapter 8: Chapter 8

<Azaria>

I looked up.

I did not notice that I was crying already.

"Who made you cry?" Nick asked me with his jaw set and he approached me.

I cried even more at his reaction.

"Tell me who made you cry!"

I just shook my head in response.

"Don't you like me too? Am I scammer? Am I a bad person? Why does everyone hate me?” I asked him, crying.

He stopped.

I tried to change, eh.

"Who told you about those things?" Nick asked angrily.

I just shook my head at him.

"Azariah! Tell me!” He shouted angrily.

"They say I'm artistic. Then he said that I’m just after your money, that's why I married you. They say the company will collapse because of me," I cried to him.

I really cry. Because they don't pay attention to me, they make me cry.

His jaw clenched and his vision darkened.

"Tell me who said those to you!"

He forced me to tell him those things.

"Those housemates," I answered crying. My face is full of tears.

After I answered his question, he left in a hurry.

"Where are you going?" I asked confused. I chased him.

"Manang, call all the maids right now!" Nick ordered angrily, addressing the housekeeper of the mansion.

Manang wanted to ask why but chose to obey her employer.

"Nick," I called out to him as I approached. He was visibly upset.

"S-sir," the household staff said nervously, feeling the tension in the air.

"Azaria, tell me who said those things!" Nick demanded, his voice becoming more intense.

"Nikolai, son, what's happening? Why are you angry?" Manang asked calmly.

"And why is your wife crying?" she inquired, concerned.

"These maids are talking about my wife! Saying bad things about her!" Nick shouted in frustration.

The other household staff members flinched as they stood in front of us.

I noticed one of the maids nudging her companion.

"If no one tells me who is spreading rumors about my wife, all of you will lose your jobs!" Nick threatened them sternly.

Manang gasped at his statement.

The innocent maids appeared scared by Nick's words.

"What's going on?" I overheard one of them whisper.

"I heard you earlier. You're in trouble," they whispered.

"Just confess already," another voice chimed in.

"Yeah, you're just gossiping and yet you make it so hard to admit."

"You're just making things worse."

They continued to murmur among themselves.

"In the count of three, if no one confesses, all of you will start packing! One!"

"Sir, it was us," all three of them said, raising their hands simultaneously.

"Did I give you permission to gossip about my wife?! I'm paying you to clean the house, not to gossip about her!" Nick's voice boomed with anger.

The three of them trembled in fear.

"S-sir, we're sorry," one of them stammered in apology.

"The three of you are fired! Pack your things and get lost!" Nick yelled at them, pulling me close. He looked like he could explode with rage.

His jaw clenched, and his eyes were filled with fury as he led me into our bedroom. I was on the verge of tears.

"Stop crying, hush," he said, trying to calm me down as we entered the room.

"Come to me if someone says bad things to you, I'll make his life miserable," he still had a stern expression as he said those words.

"What they said might be true. The company might suffer because of me,"

The last thing I knew was that the company was not in a good state.

"Don't say that," I said, feeling irritated.

His face remained dark.

"Don't be angry. You scared the housekeepers too much. Even Manang was frightened by your shouting earlier."

"They should be. So they are aware that they can't bully and say nasty things about you. You're my wife, and I won't let someone bully you," he said seriously, looking into my eyes.

I didn't respond. I felt butterflies in my stomach from his words.

"What time are we going home?" I changed the topic.

"We'll go home any moment. I'm just waiting for Grandpa. You can sleep in the meantime; I'll wake you up when we're at home."

He smiled slightly.

Perhaps they still had something important to discuss.

"I'll wait for you then," I told him.

His eyes sparkled, or maybe it was just my imagination?

"Are you sure? This might take a long time, grandpa, and I are still talking about the company. I left him to check on you," he said with sweetness.

I nodded. "I'll come with you, is that okay? Please," I did a puppy eyes even though it didn't really suit me.

I didn't want to be left alone. I was scared of him earlier.

"Tell me if you feel sleepy so we can go home," he said.

I gave him a slight smile in response.

He brought me to grandpa's office where the old man was waiting for him. Grandpa was surprised to see me with Nick.

Grandpa smiled and shook his head.

They talked about the project that Nick was working on.

I dozed off while they were discussing and woke up in the morning already at home. He didn't wake me up. Maybe he carried me to our room.

I didn't even wake up when we got home. I just woke up now, and the first thing I checked was the groceries we bought yesterday. They were neatly arranged on the side.

What a beautiful morning it was.

I had a wide smile on my face as I looked at each item we bought.

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily when I saw the bag I've been longing for. I hugged it tightly.

"Isn't there someone else who deserves a hug?" Nick suddenly appeared in our room.

Because of my joy, I ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you! Thank you!" I expressed my gratitude while embracing him tightly.

"You're welcome, wife," he hugged me back tightly.

Awkwardly, I pulled away from the hug. But due to my happiness, I found myself hugging him again.

Nick smiled at me, showing off his perfectly white and even teeth. He must have had his teeth whitened, they were so bright. I kind of wanted to do the same.

"Are you happy?" he asked.

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's go downstairs," he said with a smile.

I was the only one feeling awkward. It seemed like the hug meant nothing to him. He was the one who told me to hug him, after all. So, what was I feeling guilty about? It was just for fun.

"Don't you have work today?" I asked, noticing his outfit.

"Nope, we'll attend Noah's birthday tonight," he said, holding my hand.

I furrowed my brow in confusion.

We headed towards the kitchen.

"Good morning, sir handsome. Good morning, ma'am beautiful," Marie greeted both of us.

"Who's Noah?" I asked while looking at the food.

I was getting hungry.

He pulled a chair for me and sat next to me. He also served food on my plate. I just watched him as he did it.

"He's my friend. We'll attend his birthday party tonight," he replied briefly.

"Eat a lot," he added.

"Did you cook these?" I could tell the difference in the smell and appearance of the eggs and hotdogs. I mean, they were cooked differently, not overcooked.

"Yeah, eat a lot. You're losing weight," he said, handing me a glass of milk, but I took his coffee instead.

"You should drink that, not me. Here, this is what I want," I teased him with a smile, successfully catching him off guard.

He just shook his head and remained silent.

"Nick, what color is prettier? Blue or pink?" I asked as he went into the room. I was done getting dressed.

"Pink," he replied softly and approached me for a hug. I tightened my embrace as our skins touched, but I didn't feel any butterflies in my stomach. Those were just corny things that people believed in.

I decided to go with the blue handbag, it was a recent purchase.

"What perfume did you use?" he asked while smelling the back of my neck. His actions sent shivers down my spine. His hands rested on my waist. I tried to move away to free myself from his grip, but it was no use.

"Nick, I'm not done getting dressed," I informed him. I was still choosing my clothes and planning to put on makeup. I was excited to use the items we bought.

He had already dressed up and had been waiting for me for an hour. This was the second time he came into the room to check if I was done, but to disappoint him, I still needed more time.

He faced me, and his eyes looked intense.

"Let me go," I threatened, glaring at him.

He just grinned at me and cupped my face.

"You're beautiful, wife," he said huskily, and suddenly, I blushed. His face was too close to mine, and the warmth of his hand was overpowering.

"Leave, I need to get dressed," I told him, attempting to push him away.

He groaned, "You've been dressing up for a while now," and glanced at my entire outfit, "aren't you ready yet?" He seemed a bit annoyed and rolled his eyes.

I needed to change again; I wanted my clothes to match the color of my bag.

"How am I supposed to finish? You've been coming in and out of the room," I replied irritably.

"Can you hold off on getting dressed for a bit?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at his request. I was about to ask why when he suddenly silenced me with a kiss.