Chapter 2
Before long, William emerged from the bathroom and walked to the other side of the bed. The mattress dipped slightly, and a corner of the blanket was lifted.
Scarlet caught a faint, cool scent. It was clean, sharp, faintly woody, and edged with tobacco. It was unmistakably William’s scent.
The faint light from the floor lamp didn’t reach the bed. The night was so quiet she could hear their steady breathing. The couple lay on opposite sides of the large bed, separated by a cold, invisible barrier.
After a while, she looked at him. Perhaps due to the darkness, his features seemed deep and distant. “Have you fallen asleep?”
Silence followed. William’s voice was low and tired, tinged with annoyance. “Be quiet.”
Scarlet touched the lucky charm around her neck and turned away.
…
When Scarlet woke up in the morning, the space beside her was already empty.
She got out of bed and freshened up. When she walked into the living room, she found William already dressed, sitting at the dining table and scrolling through real-time stock prices on his iPad.
He looked up when he heard footsteps. “Where’s Ruth?”
Scarlet opened the refrigerator. “I dismissed her.”
William’s brows drew together, but he didn’t say another word.
Scarlet hastily fried two eggs. After a moment’s thought, she added ham, lettuce, and cheese and made two sandwiches. Then, she carried them to the dining area.
William glanced at them. “Is this what you usually eat?”
What was wrong with it? It was already much better than her usual breakfast. Scarlet was always pressed for time in the morning and usually made do with two slices of toast for breakfast on workdays.
“Eat it or leave it,” she brooded.
Just then, a cat’s meow sounded from behind the couch. Scarlet turned around and noticed a calico female cat cautiously poking her small head out.
Not long ago, after days of heavy rain, she had found a litter of newborn strays at the hospital. The kittens were soaked and shivering, while the mother cat was skin and bones.
Scarlet couldn’t bring herself to leave them, so she took them home, planning to keep them until they were a month old and then find someone to adopt them. She hadn’t expected William to return to the country all of a sudden.
William didn’t allow Scarlet to keep cats. When he had gone to Amriva for a year, she had once rescued a stray and wanted to take it home. She called to ask his opinion, and he rejected her.
Scarlet had clearly shut the cat in an empty room. She hadn’t expected it to be smart enough to open the door and sneak out.
Sure enough, he frowned. “Where did this stray come from?”
The disgust in his tone made her uncomfortable. Scarlet walked over, picked the cat up, and muttered, “I gave birth to it.”
William scoffed. “In that case, you should apply for a prize.”
Scarlet put the cat back in the room. When she returned, he already had his coat on. The sandwiches she made were still on the table, untouched.
William adjusted his tie in front of the mirror and, without looking back, pronounced the cat’s sentence. “Get rid of it before I come back.”
Scarlet ignored him. The villa was huge. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t room for a few kittens.
Why did he have to be so merciless to animals that were only trying to stay alive? He had more money than he could spend, yet so little mercy.
William caught the look on her face in the mirror. “What are you bad-mouthing me in your head this time?”
Scarlet was stumped.
“Who would dare badmouth you? I’ll keep them locked up. They won’t run out again. I’ll also disinfect the house every day and send them away once I find someone to adopt them.” Scarlet was in a hurry to get to work, so she wrapped the sandwiches to take with her.
“If it bothers you that much, go stay somewhere else. You have a home everywhere anyway,” she added.
William sneered, “Your temper sure has grown. We haven’t seen each other in half a year, and the first thing you do when I get back is try to kick me out.”
Ignoring him, she lowered her head to change her shoes.
Scarlet dressed for comfort at work. Under a loose sweater, her skinny jeans hugged her long, well-shaped legs. When she bent over to put on her shoes, the curve from her waist to her hips was impossible to miss.
William fastened the buttons on his suit and lifted his gaze, letting it drift lazily over her. “What did you want to say last night?”
This time, she didn’t have the time to talk. “I’m late for work. Let’s talk when I get back.”
…
After finishing her rounds, she spent the entire morning in the ophthalmology clinic. It was a busy day, and she didn’t finish until 2:00 pm. By then, there was barely anything left in the cafeteria, so she simply grabbed a bite to eat.
While she was having lunch, she received a call from William’s mother, Justine Lawson, asking her to return to the Cooper residence that day. Scarlet agreed and ended the call. Then, she poked at the pasta in front of her and suddenly lost her appetite.
After work, the Coopers’ personal driver, Lester Gray, came to pick her up, and Scarlet got into the car.
The courtyard was nearly 100 years old. Scarlet was familiar with the place because she’d grown up here.
After her parents were killed, she spent years in foster care before being taken in by the Cooper family. It was called adoption, but in reality, it was just a sponsorship.
If the city’s social hierarchy were a pyramid, the Coopers would sit at the very top, a level most people could never reach.
Scarlet was just an orphan. She was incredibly lucky to be taken in by the Cooper family. There was no way she would be officially added to their family tree.
No one expected her luck to strike twice. Later, she married the heir of the Cooper family. In the end, her name was officially added to their family.
Scarlet waited in the living room for a while. Justine descended the stairs in an elegant dress. “I heard you dismissed Ruth.”
Scarlet wasn’t surprised in the least. “Did she come crying to you?”
After she married William, the Coopers sent them a housekeeper. Ruth Mills was efficient and meticulous in her work.
William was rarely home, so it was usually just Scarlet and Ruth. Scarlet treated her well, allowing her to take home leftover premium ingredients and supplements and presenting her with gifts during the holidays.
Ruth’s job was actually quite easy. Scarlet was busy and rarely home, so she tended to let small things slide.
There was one time when the hospital needed some paperwork, and Scarlet couldn’t find one of her certificates anywhere. Scarlet needed it urgently, yet Ruth wasn’t home, and her phone couldn’t be reached. In the end, she found her at a poker table.
One of her friends said, “Look at the time. Aren’t you heading back? Aren’t you afraid your lady of the house will chew you out?”
Ruth had lost quite a bit and was fully absorbed. There was no way she was getting up from the table. “She’s busy at work. She won’t be back at this hour. Besides, my paycheck comes from the Cooper family, not from her. Even if she finds out, what can she really do to me?”
“But she’s still the lady of the Cooper family. All it takes is a word in her husband’s ear, and you’d be fired.”
“Give me a break,” Ruth scoffed. “Mr. Cooper is only home about once a year. Who exactly is she supposed to tell, the air?”
Middle-aged women thrived on gossip. “Oh? Do they not get along?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Mr. Cooper ran off to Amriva shortly after the wedding. I heard he went to pursue his childhood sweetheart.
“This wife was forced on him by his family. He can’t even stand the sight of her.”
People instinctively treated others according to their status. Scarlet, however, hadn’t expected to hear such cutting words from the very housekeeper she had always treated kindly.
Ruth was enjoying herself a little too much. When she turned around and saw Scarlet standing right behind her, she nearly dropped her cards. Then, she panicked and apologized profusely.
Scarlet didn’t utter a word at the time. She had only told Ruth to go home and find the certificate she had misplaced. That same night, she dismissed Ruth.
Justine sat down. “Ruth was just talking behind your back. It’s tasteless, sure, but hardly a real offense. You’re William’s wife, the second lady of this household. If you can’t even keep a housekeeper in line, people are bound to look down on you.”
Scarlet tugged at the corner of her lips. She had no idea what Ruth had told Justine, but it didn’t matter. No matter what happened, whether it was her fault or not, Justine was always dissatisfied with her. It had been that way since she was a child.
Scarlet had long gotten used to not explaining herself. Even if she did, Justine would never take her side. She’d simply humiliate herself.
“I could turn a blind eye if it were just you. But now, William is back. You can’t cook or clean. Are you planning to sit around and wait for him to come home and serve you?”
“It’s not like he’s never served me before,” Scarlet thought to herself. However, she didn’t dare say that out loud in front of Justine.
End of the Contract,Start of His Obsession
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