Chapter 3

This was interesting. I had spent a fortune on Riven, feeding him and clothing him, showering him with all sorts of luxuries, and granting his every request.

After all that, he still told me that he couldn't accept me touching him, and I never laid a finger on him.

However, none of that seemed to matter compared to a single line Teresa said in his defense.

Teresa was still being her annoying self and chattering non-stop at the table. I soon got sick of her voice and said, "Can you just shut up?"

The table fell into an awkward silence at my words.

Dad frowned and looked at me, wanting to tell me to behave properly. Meanwhile, Teresa's mother, Gwen Whitmore, continued eating her dinner as if nothing was happening at all.

Teresa looked at me with an aggrieved expression. Then, she looked at Riven with tears welling in her eyes.

Then I heard the clatter of utensils against the plate. Riven's cold, aloof voice sounded across the table.

"Can you not be so aggressive with your words?"

Everyone at the table was shocked. After all, nobody had ever dared to talk to me that way ever before, not even my family members.

Dad slammed his hand on the table and jumped to his feet, his face red with anger.

"Tracy Ashford! Look at how much you've spoiled him! I've never ever seen an incubus speak to his master like that!"

On the contrary, I wasn't mad at all. I just looked at Riven thoughtfully.

Riven had been acting indifferently with me ever since I bought him. He acted like an emotionless robot whenever he was with me.

I thought that it was just his personality, but I realized that it wasn't the case anymore. Something felt off.

Wasn't he overreacting a little too much? I had simply chided my stepsister at the table.

Riven always looked at me with dark, hollow eyes, but I could clearly see the sparkle in his eyes every time he looked at Teresa.

Dinner was unpleasant. That night, Dad refused to let Riven sleep in the same room as me.

"Starve him for a night. Show him who's boss!"

I didn't dare to tell Dad that Riven had never been fed like that ever since his arrival. I also did not disclose that it was because he simply refused to feed.

It was just too embarrassing to admit that.

I got up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and went downstairs for some water. However, I suddenly heard movement from the room next to mine.

I froze.

Was that a woman's voice coming from Riven's room?

I walked closer to the door, my eyes slowly turning cold.

I hadn't been hallucinating. It really was Teresa's voice, and it was exceptionally clear in the quiet of the night.

"Thanks for speaking up for me at the table, Riven. You probably don't know this, but nobody in this household is ever on my side. I purposely came here to thank you."

The voice Riven replied her with was gentle and tender, and I had never heard anything like that before.

"Tracy has quite a terrible personality, but she's not a bad person at heart. If she tries bullying you again, you should stand up for yourself and fight back. She can't do anything to you anyway."

A hint of mockery flashed in my eyes. Riven had only lived with me for a month, and yet, he sounded as though he knew me very well.

Right at that moment, I suddenly realized that Teresa was the one who had opened my parcels for me a month ago when he arrived in the box.

It finally dawned on me that I hadn't received a faulty or malfunctioned incubus from the company. It was just that my incubus had already fallen in love with someone else before getting bound to me.

No wonder Riven never let me touch him like that.

I recalled the conversation I had with the customer service representative. So, I went back into my room and brought the chat back up.

"My incubus still hasn't recovered yet. I don't think I want to send him in for servicing anymore. Please just replace him instead."

The reply was almost instant, as usual.

"Understood, Ms. Ashford. I'll put in the order for you and send out your new incubus tomorrow. It should take a week for him to arrive."

After thinking for a bit, I asked the customer service representative another question.

"Then what do I do with this current one?"

This time, the customer service representative took a long time to respond.

"You don't have to worry about it, Ms. Ashford. Incubi who are returned faulty or with negative reviews will be recollected when we have the time before getting resold for a lower price."