Lahat ng Kabanata ng One Night Stand With My Hubby's Cousin: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

Evelyn's POVMy phone screen glowed softly in the dark room.Julian: This lemon is unbelievably sour :(A second later, another message arrived.It was a photo.I opened it and immediately laughed into my pillow.The lemon had been absolutely obliterated by a juicer. What remained looked less like fruit and more like some tragic sea creature that had washed ashore after losing the will to live. The flattened peel sprawled across the counter like a half-dead jellyfish.I could practically imagine Julian standing there in the middle of the night staring at his own terrible life choices.Evelyn: Wait, you stole TWO lemons??Julian: Souvenirs matterAnother message appeared almost immediately.Julian: But seriously, I don’t recommend eating yoursI smiled despite myself while typing back.Evelyn: I don’t think normal people eat whole lemons directly anyway…Julian: I made lemonade!Evelyn: Did you at least put honey in itJulian: Unfortunately my home appears to contain everything except

Evelyn's POVEspecially after growing up watching someone love a dog while carefully enduring the physical consequences of loving it.My eyes drifted once more toward the faint redness along his neck before I looked back at the photos on his phone.Then I exhaled softly and set the phone down on the counter.“Julian,” I said quietly, “raising a dog isn’t something simple.”My tone became more serious without me intending it to.“Especially not a laboratory dog.”The warmth in the apartment suddenly felt softer now, quieter somehow beneath the weight of what I was trying to explain.“We already talked about this yesterday. She probably has trauma-related behavioral issues. She may really have autism-spectrum symptoms. That means she’ll need an enormous amount of patience and stability.”I paused briefly before continuing.“She might never react to you the way people expect dogs to react. She may never become affectionate in the way people imagine pets are supposed to be.”The thought t

Evelyn's POVA few minutes later, we were guided into a separate section of the store that had apparently been dedicated entirely to luxury pet products.Of course it had refreshments too.Tiny pastries appeared almost immediately beside sparkling water and coffee served in porcelain cups so delicate they looked ceremonial. At this point I was no longer even surprised. Somewhere along the way, my standards for reality had quietly collapsed.Meanwhile, different dog beds were being arranged around us with astonishing seriousness.Leather.Linen.Cashmere blends.One of them looked less like a pet bed and more like a miniature designer sofa for a retired Italian aristocrat.Each piece was carefully placed onto the floor one by one while the sales associates crouched nearby with the level of patience and attentiveness usually reserved for high-paying human clients.“This model has softer internal padding,” one associate explained warmly. “It’s especially suitable for animals during physi

Evelyn's POVOn the drive home, my brain stayed hopelessly stuck on the whole J&E situation.Which honestly said a lot, considering Julian had just casually spent fifty thousand dollars at Hermès like he was picking up groceries.And somehow that still disturbed me less than two engraved initials.The shopping bags filled the backseat while Lemon slept quietly inside her new carrier, exhausted from the morning. Every now and then I could hear the faint rustle of fabric when she shifted slightly inside, and strangely enough, that tiny sound made the entire car feel warmer.Julian, meanwhile, looked absurdly pleased with life.“Today officially counts as Lemon’s birthday,” he declared while driving, one hand resting loosely against the steering wheel. “Her rebirth day.”There was genuine excitement in his voice now, bright and unhidden in a way that felt almost boyish.Then he smiled slightly to himself.“This is dangerous,” he said. “I think I understand why people become obsessed with

Evelyn's POVI slowly lowered my hand until it rested within reach of Lemon’s nose, but I stopped before actually touching her.Then I waited.That part was important.With dogs like this, especially traumatized dogs, patience mattered more than affection. You had to resist the instinct to immediately comfort them and instead give them enough space to decide for themselves whether approaching you felt safe.Trust built far more slowly when fear had existed longer than kindness.“She probably won’t trust anyone easily right now,” I said quietly while keeping my movements slow and unthreatening. “Especially in a new environment. Her sense of safety is basically fractured.”The word sounded harsh out loud, but it was true.I glanced briefly toward Julian.“So you should keep saying her name. Let her get used to hearing it.” My voice softened slightly. “And let her get used to you too.”Julian stood nearby listening without interrupting once.He only nodded quietly, his attention fixed co