CHAPTER 7 – A PRIMITIVE MAN

CHAPTER 7 – A PRIMITIVE MAN

As soon as the door closed, Chatrine stood alone in Liam’s workspace, which looked more like a psychopath’s hideout. She set her bag down, took a deep breath, and muttered to herself.

“Alright, Chatrine. The challenge begins. If you can survive working in this room without losing your mind, you can survive anywhere.”

Before opening her laptop, she carefully began tidying up the items on the desk. A man’s workspace could be full of unexpected hazards. She had to stay alert.

“Hopefully I don’t find anything weird in here.”

Meanwhile, upstairs, Chatrine was busy cleaning. Down in the gallery warehouse, the sound of wood machines roared again, echoing through walls coated in sawdust.

Liam, his arms already covered in wood dust, focused on cutting the edges of a large classic dining table ordered by Tobias Harlot, a billionaire who had entrusted all the interior furniture of his new luxury home in London to Liam’s gallery.

Other workers were polishing and assembling pieces. Yet somehow, their attention kept drifting toward Liam, who was working in a neatly pressed shirt. It looked unusual to them.

Finally, one of them, Carlo, spoke up while wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Boss… is that blonde woman a new employee?”

Liam didn’t turn. He just pressed the wood harder against the planer.

“Yes. She’s replacing Eva.”

Just hearing that name shifted the mood slightly. Another worker, Marco, leaned in curiously.

“She’s really beautiful. Is she single?”

BRAAK!

Liam abruptly shut off the machine. The warehouse fell silent. Sawdust hung in the air as if holding its breath.

Liam looked at them with a cold expression.

“Just focus on your work. A woman like that belongs to a different world from this place. Don’t let your imagination run wild.”

His tone was sharp, but there was a faint bitterness beneath it, as if the words were meant for himself as well. The workers immediately fell silent. Carlo quickly grabbed a hammer and pretended to be busy, though he was clearly holding back a smile.

Liam added, this time in a lower voice, as if to end the topic entirely.

“She’s just an intern. An art student from the city. Eva’s friend. I’m not even paying her.”

“Oh… a student.” The workers nodded, their expressions like an audience reacting to a plot twist.

“No wonder she’s so beautiful,” Marco whispered.

Liam shot him a glare. “Marco!”

“Yes, boss. Focus.” Marco immediately pretended to hammer nails, though the nail bounced off awkwardly.

Liam scoffed and turned the machine back on. But his rhythm was off now. Not because of the wood, but because his mind was filled with thoughts of Chatrine.

She had been silent for a while. No complaints, no shouting about the heat, no asking for water. Nothing at all.

Silence.

Too much silence.

For a city girl who should have been fussy.

Liam started to feel uneasy. He tried to focus, but his hands slipped and cut the wood unevenly.

“Damn…” he muttered.

He kept glancing at the stairs. His thoughts grew restless. What if she had fainted from the stuffy air?

Finally, with a heavy sigh, Liam put the wood down, lowered the machine guard, and wiped his hands with a cloth. Then he walked up the stairs to the second floor.

The door to his workspace was slightly open. He pushed it casually, but the moment it moved—

His eyes widened.

The room had changed.

The messy, chaotic workspace filled with scattered papers and sketches had transformed completely.

The large wooden desk was now clean, with only Chatrine’s laptop sitting neatly on top. Books were arranged vertically, pencils gathered in a glass, and even the drawer that used to jam was somehow closed perfectly.

It seemed Chatrine had a natural talent for fixing furniture.

“What is that smell?” Liam frowned.

It wasn’t wood. It wasn’t dust or paint.

It was… fragrance. Fresh and pleasant, like the room had just been sprayed with boutique perfume. Liam almost sneezed.

He quickly looked at a small shelf in the corner.

Nearly all his perfume bottles were open.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding…” he muttered.

Chatrine sat calmly in his chair, legs crossed, typing on her laptop with a focused expression. Without looking at him, she said casually,

“I just cleaned your workspace.”

Liam pointed at the perfumes. “You… you used all of them?”

Chatrine turned with a composed smile, as if presenting a business strategy.

“Just a little. I was testing which one could neutralize the smell of wood dust. Turns out… all of them.”

Liam stepped closer, staring at the neat desk. “Where are all my sketches?”

“I sorted them. The ones with artistic value are in the green folder. The ones that looked like random scribbles… sorry, I threw them away. Safer that way before they turned into fossils on your desk.”

Liam looked at her, half annoyed, half amused. “You do realize this is my workspace?”

Chatrine smiled sweetly and stood, fixing her hair. “And now it’s mine too. Don’t worry, I didn’t ruin anything. I just… improved your living standards.”

Liam exhaled slowly, looking up at the ceiling. “God, give me patience. Or at least earplugs.”

He didn’t want to hear any more explanations. This was already getting out of control.

He stood in the middle of the room, now unfamiliar to him. The scent of perfume filled the air, the desk gleamed, and everything was arranged too perfectly. It made his head spin.

Chatrine sat in the chair, confident, typing on her laptop while occasionally glancing at him, clearly noticing his dissatisfaction.

“You’ll get used to this,” she said calmly. “Tomorrow I’ll call a painter. We’ll change the color of this office, then the entire gallery. Maybe off-white or matte gray. Those tones are more elegant.”

Liam, already irritated, felt his patience thinning.

“That’s enough!” he cut in, his voice low and firm, drawing a clear boundary.

“I can’t stand this!”

Without warning, he began unbuttoning his shirt.

Chatrine’s eyes widened. Her heart skipped unexpectedly.

She was clearly startled.

“Hey… don’t do that here…!” she said, flustered.

“You’re making it too hot in here.”

Liam continued unbuttoning his shirt and took it off, revealing a strong build marked by the signs of hard work. The sunlight streaming through the window made him look even more intense.

Chatrine held her breath, bracing herself for something awkward.

But instead, Liam turned away and walked into the bathroom in the corner. The sound of the shower soon filled the room.

Of course, he was overheated after working in a shirt that didn’t absorb sweat well.

Unfortunately, the bathroom was only separated by a slightly frosted glass panel.

Chatrine blinked, stunned.

“…Seriously? He’s showering right here?” she whispered, both relieved and annoyed. “That man is… unbelievable.”