Chapter 2

I felt my heart aching as I looked at Riven. Why was he sick all of a sudden? He seemed perfectly healthy to me.

Riven's hands suddenly froze whilst he was drying his hair. His eyes were dark and empty, and there was no emotion in them whenever he looked at me. He certainly wasn't acting like any of the incubi I'd seen in those advertisements, whose eyes would lit up as soon as they saw their owners.

"If you still can't accept me a few days later, I'll bring you in for servicing," I said.

Riven seemed to sigh in relief and nodded.

I felt a slight pang of resentment. After all, he was exactly my type, but I could only stare at him without even laying a finger on him. It was truly unbearable and tested my patience.

I decided to get up and leave the room instead.

The reason why I even bought an incubus in the first place was because I liked it.

Dad suddenly called me then, and I answered the call rather impatiently.

"Tracy? Your grandma's missing you again. When are you planning to come home?" he asked.

I knew that this was just an excuse. Obviously, he was the one who missed me more than Grandma did.

Dad was my biggest, number-one fan. He doted on me a lot, and at times, it felt as though going a few days without seeing me would cost him his life or something.

I massaged my temples and said, "Fine. I get it. Later, I'll—"

I turned around just then and stopped short. Riven was already starting to pack.

I asked him, "Do you like going back to the Ashford villa?"

I hadn't even hung up on the call before Riven began packing. I noticed Riven's hand freezing for a split second, but he said nothing in response, and I didn't think too much about it.

I really didn't want to go back to the villa, but I couldn't stand Dad's constant nagging and moral blackmail.

"Grandma's not going to be around any longer. Is it wrong for me to ask you to come home and see her more often?"

So, I hadn't even left the villa for three days before I was summoned back there again.

As soon as I arrived, however, a young woman ran up to us.

I frowned and quickly stepped aside, casting her a cold glance.

It was my stepsister, Teresa Ashford. She looked at me with an aggrieved expression on her face and spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"You're finally back, Tracy! Did you know how much I missed you over the last couple of days?"

I found it a little hilarious. Even though Dad loved me very much, transferred all of the shares to his company under my name, and swore that he couldn't live without seeing me again every other day, that didn't stop him from marrying another woman and having another child.

I disliked Teresa not because of Dad, but because of how fake and pretentious she was.

I had caught her trying to sabotage me many times in the past, and she hadn't even managed to straighten her face each time I caught her red-handed.

She didn't feel awkward when I barely acknowledged her. Instead, she turned to address Riven behind me with a huge smile on her face.

"Hello, Riven! Aren't you tired of carrying so many things for her?"

Teresa then shot me a reproachful look and said, "How could you do this to him, Tracy? Riven is your incubus, not your butler! How could you make him do such tiring work?"

I scoffed. "Are you going to do it, then?"

Teresa's expression froze for a second. Riven just looked at me with a dark look in his eyes, but he didn't say a thing.

I felt irritated and headed straight for my room. I didn't want to deal with Teresa and her fakeness at all.

That was why I never noticed Riven smiling and nodding at Teresa behind me.

At dinner, Dad didn't look pleased when he saw that Riven was seated next to me at the table.

"He's just a toy. Why are you bringing him with you wherever you go like he's your baby?"

Riven stiffened next to me. I simply looked at Dad with a helpless expression on my face.

Before I could defend Riven, however, Teresa shot to his defense first.

"Dad! You can't say that about Riven! He might be an incubus, but he still has his dignity!"

Riven stirred. I turned my head around and looked at him.

His eyes were fixed on Teresa unwaveringly, and they were filled with emotion.

I scrutinized him closely with a frown on my face. Was I imagining things? Why did it look as though Riven's eyes were sparkling when he looked at her?