As soon as she walked out of her room, she saw Sebastian standing at the door. He slid a bank card into her bag and said, “This is my payment card. You can use it as you like.”
Natalie looked at him. Then, she took the card from her bag and placed it on the table. “No, thanks. You keep the card for yourself. We’re just a nominal couple that doesn’t get along well with each other. How can I use your money?”
Judging from her tone, it was obvious that her anger hadn’t subsided one bit.
Sebastian’s towering frame blocked her path. Sebastian picked up the card from the table and forcefully pressed it on Natalie’s palm. “Take it,” he said, closing her fingers against it.
Natalie was startled. “Why are you standing here, blocking my way? Won’t you let me go if I don’t take it?”
Looking at her cold face, Sebastian felt she was distant and aloof. He didn’t know what to do.
“I didn’t mean that.” He frowned.
“Such being the case, get out of my way. Or I will be late for work.” Natalie threw the card back to the table, pushed him away with her elbow, and walked out, closing the door behind her.
His face darkened as he slumped on the sofa. Pleasing a woman didn’t seem as simple as Garrett had claimed it to be. Therefore, he called the man right away.
“She refused my money. Think of another solution for me.”
There was a woman nestled in Garrett’s arms. He squinted sleepily and spoke in a voice that didn’t sound completely sober. “You can’t do this to me. It’s seven o’clock in the morning. Even servants should have time to rest.”
“I’m not joking. Hurry up and find a way to help me. I can’t sleep until this problem is solved.” As he spoke, Sebastian sullenly stared at the scenery framed by the window.
“Okay, okay. Just give me a minute, will you?” Garret struggled to climb out of bed and lumbered to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water. Then, when he was fully awake, he returned and said, “Buddy, I can tell from just a glance that your wife’s a little tricky. I’ve seen her a couple of times. She looked gentle and easy-going, but I could never tell what was on her mind.”
Sebastian sneered with disdain. “Don’t talk about her like that. Do you want to die, Garret?”
Garrett smiled sheepishly. “Well, anyway, my point is since money doesn’t work, then you need to change tactics. Try wooing her romantically. Girls like flowers, especially roses, lilies, and tulips. A popular trend before was to surprise a girl by leaving flowers in the fridge for her to find when she least expects it. Oh, I know! What if you fill your house to the brim with flowers? She’ll be so touched!”
Garret puffed out his chest confidently, despite Sebastian’s dubious silence. Sebastian shook his head and walked out to the balcony, leaning on the railing pensively. “Have you tried something like that before?”
“Trust me, I’m a pro at this,” Garrett solemnly swore. Although, truth be told, he never put in that much effort for a woman. He usually just took them to his bed.
But he could tell that Natalie was a conservative woman.
It’d take a lot of effort to get her in bed.
Later that evening, Natalie finally came home from work. When she pushed the door open, the strong and sweet fragrance of flowers wafted over to her nose.
To her surprise, she found the apartment crowded with countless beautiful red roses illuminated by candlelight. Even the floor was covered with rose petals. There was no place for her to step.
Gripping the doorknob tightly, Natalie’s gaze swept over the apartment, too stunned to speak.
Sebastian was standing in the living room. His handsome features were perfectly highlighted by the candlelight.
He slowly strode towards Natalie. Judging from her blank stare, at first, he thought she was too pleasantly surprised to say anything. But then, upon a closer look, he realized he was wrong.
Natalie leaned against the door as though her soul had left her body. She asked weakly, “How much did you spend on all of these flowers?”
But she already had a rough estimate in mind. There were at least one thousand flowers here. If one flower cost ten dollars…
She felt as though she wasn’t looking at flowers, but lost money.
“F… five thousand,” Sebastian answered falteringly.
The truth was, he had spent twice as much as that, but he didn’t dare say so. He could see that Natalie’s face had gone pale as a ghost.
“How could you spend that much?!” Natalie gasped in shock.
But on second thought, she realized she had no right to scold Sebastian for his spending habits. After all, she was just his nominal wife. In the end, she could only throw her arms in the air helplessly and say, “You don’t earn that much, Sebastian. You should be wise with your money.”
As Natalie spoke, she walked into the room and began to survey the damage. “Some of these flowers still look good. Maybe we can return them to the flower shop to get some money back!”
Seeing that Sebastian was stuck in a trance, Natalie tugged at the hem of his shirt. “What’re you doing? Am I supposed to put them away by myself? Go and get some bags. I wonder if we can still make it to the flower shop at this rate. Please don’t do something so meaningless yet expensive again. I can’t stand wastage.”
Sebastian scratched his head embarrassedly. He felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Finally, he managed to say, “I’ll put them away. Go to your room and get some rest.”
“We’re kind of housemates. I can’t let you do all of this alone,” Natalie protested.
Sebastian’s expression darkened as mixed emotions surged within him. He squatted on the floor and began to clear the flowers, silently cursing Garrett and vowing he’d tear that useless guy into pieces the next time he saw him.
“Do you have the flower shop’s phone number? Ask if the flowers can be returned.” After clearing the petals on the floor, Natalie laid a pile of flowers on the dining table.
Sebastian painstakingly removed all the candles from the floor and made a call to have his men take the flowers away.
It was already midnight by the time they finished cleaning.
Exhausted, Natalie leaned against the sofa.
“I was able to get this much back from the flower shop.” With one hand in his pocket, Sebastian walked over to Natalie and put a wad of cash next to her.
“Why are you giving it to me? It’s your money.”
