The Mastermind

Even though she asked, Naomi already knew the answer. After all, this room was filled with men’s belongings, and compared to the warm tones of her own room, this one had a more monochrome black-and-white theme.

Sure enough, the man holding the hairdryer responded with a simple ‘Yeah.’

“Atty, why are we sleeping in separate rooms?”

Atlas’s back stiffened. “You were the one who insisted on it back then.”

Of course, this ‘back then’ was not the one Naomi had in mind, but it didn’t change the fact that Atlas was telling the truth.

“That’s impossible!”

She blurted out without thinking. How could she possibly have chosen to sleep separately from Atty? A man this handsome should be held tightly in bed every night—otherwise, wouldn’t that be a terrible waste?

But seeing the man remain completely unfazed, Naomi started feeling guilty. No way… Did she really say that?

She didn’t want to feel guilty, but she had lost her memories and didn’t remember anything!

“Atty, was our relationship bad after we got married?”

Hearing this, Atlas shot her a cool glance. “What do you still remember?”

Naomi nervously clenched the hem of her dress. “Well, I remember that we grew up together and then got married.”

After a brief pause, she looked at the man drying her hair. “But I noticed most of my sleepwear is this style. However, there’s a voice in my head telling me not to wear revealing clothes. Atty, was that you?”

Atlas’s eyes darkened with a dangerous glint. “No.”

Thinking back, he realized that ever since he returned to the country, her style had indeed become much more conservative. He had assumed it was because she was married now.

Naomi had only asked out of curiosity, subconsciously feeling that the voice wasn’t Atlas’.

“Atty, then why did we fight?”

“It was my fault. I left for a business trip without saying goodbye in advance,” Atlas said, turning off the hairdryer, his voice steady and deliberate.

Naomi: “...”

Was she really that petty before she lost her memory?

Just because he left without a word, she decided to sleep in a separate room?

As if reading her thoughts, Atlas added, “You almost thought something happened to me and were heartbroken. And I didn’t return in time to reassure you.”

At this moment, Naomi felt like Atlas was enveloped in a deep sorrow and despair, as if he truly regretted it.

“Atty, even though I forgot the past, I do know that you’re very, very important to me. Aside from my dad, you’re the person I love the most. So I definitely wouldn’t ignore you—I was probably just upset.”

Naomi thought carefully and answered according to her feelings.

Atlas stared at her intently. “You wouldn’t ignore me?”

“Of course! I’ll cling to you for the rest of my life. I was your little shadow when we were kids. You didn’t shake me off back then, and you won’t now that we’ve grown up.”

She even clenched her small fists in determination.

Atlas looked at her. ‘But before… Naomi, you wouldn’t even spare me a glance.’

“Alright, remember what you just said. But for now, we’ll keep sleeping in separate rooms. This is my way of punishing myself.”

Naomi: ‘Are you sure this isn’t punishing me?’

Not being able to hug her husband to sleep—what a tragedy.

“Then kiss me, okay? Kiss me, and I’ll go to bed.”

Atlas’ eyes darkened instantly, flickering with a fiery glow. His gaze locked onto her soft, pink lips, and his throat tightened. The heat inside him flared even more intensely. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he finally lost control—

He kissed her hard, claiming the lips he had long wanted to make his own.

...

In a private hospital abroad, Danna gazed at Kael, who was sound asleep on another hospital bed, her eyes flickering with an unreadable darkness.

She had been infatuated with this man from the very first time she saw him during their university years. If it weren’t for Naomi relying on her family’s wealth, the position of the Rhodes family's daughter-in-law should have been hers.

Her phone screen flickered twice in the darkness. Danna thought of something and curled her lips into a cruel smile, making her look particularly sinister.

Since Naomi wanted to play the role, then Danna would make sure she wouldn’t live to do so.

But the message on her phone was far from what she had expected.

[That woman’s luck is too good—she’s still alive. We couldn’t get into the hospital; she’s under protection. But we did our part, so make sure the 50,000 is in our account.]

Alive?

She actually survived?

Just before she could throw her phone in anger, Danna suddenly remembered Kael was still in the room. Suppressing her temper, she quietly lay down and forced herself to sleep.

...

The next morning, Danna woke up to find Kael caring for her, and all her previous resentment vanished.

So what if she wasn’t officially the Rhodes family’s daughter-in-law? Kael loved her.

"What's wrong? You've been distracted these past two days."

Kael set a bowl of warm oatmeal on the small table beside the hospital bed, his voice soft and steady—like he was speaking to someone he held close to his heart.

Snapped out of her thoughts, Danna quickly masked her emotions and softly replied, "Kael, I was just wondering... Don’t you need to go back and accompany Miss Swift? It’s all my fault—if I weren’t so unwell, you wouldn’t have had to trouble yourself coming here."

Her voice even carried a slight sob, her expression pitiful.

Kael frowned slightly. Looking at the frail woman before him, he suddenly recalled the way the woman at home had yelled at him without a shred of dignity before he left.

"It’s fine. This marriage is in name only."

Danna’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, the corners of her lips curling up. But when Kael looked at her again, she had already returned to her usual expression.

***