A good deal.

Ethan held her hand for a moment, rubbing it gently before leading her into the subway station.

Inside, it was much warmer.

The evening rush hour had already passed, so the train wasn't crowded.

Plenty of seats were still empty.

The two of them sat side by side, their hands still linked.

After a moment, Claire subtly pulled her hand away.

Ethan glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Across from them sat a young couple.

The girl leaned against the boy's shoulder, smiling sweetly as they chatted and laughed together.

Claire glanced at the man beside her.

Ethan was silently staring at the advertising screen above.

They didn't speak the entire ride.

—

When they returned to the apartment, Ethan said, “You shower first."

Claire didn't stand on ceremony.

She quickly grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom.

After she finished showering and came out, Ethan went in.

Claire slipped under the covers and opened a novel on her phone.

The author had been stockpiling chapters for several days and had suddenly released ten updates.

Before she could finish reading, the blanket was lifted slightly and the mattress dipped.

Ethan lay down.

Tumning his head toward her, he asked,"Sleeping?”

Claire no longer misundorstood what he meant. 

When Ethan said “sleep", he truly meant sleeping.

She had simply overthought things before.

“Don't worry about me," she said.“Turn off the light."

Ethan reached over and switched off the light.

Claire dimmed her screen further, finished the remaining chapters of her novel, then watched a few short videos.

Her eyes soon felt unbearably dry.

She turned off her phone, set it aside, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and closed her eyes.

—

The next evening, Claire still had to work overtime.

When she left the industrial park after work, she saw Ethan again.

After they borrowed a shared bike, Ethan took out a pair of fluffy gloves from his pocket.

Opening the packaging, he took Claire's hand and carefully helped her put them on.

Claire looked at the overly cute gloves, a smile spreading across her lips. 

“Where did you buy these?" 

“A supermarket near the company.They were the last pair."

“Were they on sale?"

"Half price."

“That's a good deal."

Winter items were all discounted this season.

Then Ethan pulled out a mask and placed it over Claire's nose and mouth.

His long fingers, the knuckles clearly defined, brushed lightly across her face.

Claire could clearly smell the fresh scent of laundry detergent on him.

Clean and Warm like sunlight.

It made her feel as if she could lean on him...even become addicted to that feeling…

Her heart suddenly began to pound leaving her a little flustered.

To ease the awkwardness, Claire smiled and asked, "How many more things can you pull out of your pockets?"

Ethan stepped back slightly and said in a low voice, “Nothing."

With gloves and a mask on, Claire no longer felt so cold while riding.

She turned to glance at the man riding beside her.

Unlike her, he had taken no precautions against the cold.

His gaze was steady, his back straight.

For some reason, he gave off a strange sense of security.

That night, the two lay in bed.

Claire took the initiative to speak.

"Ethan, are you asleep?"

A deep, magnetic voice came from beside her.

"No."

Claire turned her head to look at him.

"Tell me about your family."

Ethan also turned slightly and their eyes met in the darkness.

“Why do you suddenly want to know about my family?"

Claire casually made up an excuse.

"We're married. Is it too much to want to know about your family?”

Ethan fell silent for a moment.

“Not at all."

He turned his gaze to the ceiling and spoke slowly.

“My family consists of just me and my mother. My mother lives in City Z currently."

“And your father?"

Claire already knew about himn, but she asked deliberately.

Ethan paused for a moment before answering.

“I've never met him. My mother says he's dead."

Claire recalled the plot from the novel.

In the original story, the male lead's parents had once been deeply in love.

They were forcibly separated by the male lead's grandfather.

Pregnant at the time, the male lead's mother fled and raised the child alone.

The male lead's father never married again.

At this point in time, however, the male lead's father had already died from illness.

Later on, the male lead's grandfather would discover that he still had a grandson in this world which was the male lead himself.

One year later, Ethan would be taken back by the wealthy family and inherit a vast fortune.

The male lead's mother had loved his father deeply.

But she had given their child her own surname, Reed.

Raising a child alone all those years must have been incredibly difficult.

Of course, Claire couldn't tell Ethan any of this.

He would probably think she'd gone insane.

After hesitating for a moment, she asked tentatively, “If one day you found out you were actually a rich young master, what would you do?"

Ethan turned and looked at her intently.

The room was dim, and Claire didn't notice the faint melancholy in his eyes.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. "If you regret marrying me, I agree to a divorce.You can choose again."

“But not in the way you described."

Claire rubbed her forehead.

This man had clearly misunderstood.

“That's not what I meant. I was just asking casually."

Ethan's voice was low.

"Your true thoughts don't matter."

"Ethan, I really didn't mean that. Don't overthink it."

Ethan turned away, ignoring her.

Claire scratched her head helplessly.

She really shouldn't have asked.

Origimally,even though Ethan hadn't mentioned Noah's actions at the company entrance, he had clearly been bothered by it.

Then there were Roseline's words.

And now her question.

At this point, she couldn't explain herself even if she wanted to.

Ethan probably thought she looked down on him for being poor and regretted marrying him.

Although she didn't have feelings for Ethan yet, she didn't want a divovce either.

At least not now.

She would only leave after Ethan returned to his wealthy

family, reunited with the female lead, and generously gave her a large sum of money.

After all, working herself to death wouldn't guarantee financial freedom.

All she needed to do was endure for a while.

Once Ethan returned to the wealthy family, she could retire gracefully with a huge payout.

She reached ou t and poked Ethan's back.

It was rock hard.

“Ethan..."

The man ignored her.

Claire could only lie back awkwardly.

She assumed he was just sulking and would calm down in a few days.

—

The next day, when Claire returned home from work, she found a table full of dishes waiting for her.

Seeing her enter, Ethan said, "Wash your hands and eat."

Looking at the fish and meat spread across the table, Claire asked in surprise,

"What's the occasion today?”

Ethan replied calmly.“lt's been two wecks since we got married."

Claire: "..."

She hadn't expected Ethan to be so romantic.

Celebrating their two-week wedding anniversary?

He should be over his anger now...right?

She went to wash her hands before returning to the table.

“Ethan, who did you inherit your cooking skills from? It's so delicious."

Ethan glanced at her, recalling his mother's rather mediocre cooking.

“Probably from my father."

He had never met his father, but his mother always said he had been an excellent and remarkable man.

Ethan respected the father he had never known.

Claire tilted her head slightly.

In the novel about the male lead pursuing his wife, his father had rarely been mentioned.

She hadn't known he was such a good cook.

After Claire had nearly finished eating.

Ethan suddenly said,“Let's go finalize the divorce Tomorrow.”

Claire: ”...”

Da fuck!