They also heard how Ariel sounded when she spoke on the phone earlier.

Nancy frowned slightly and remained silent.

Matt let out a chuckle. “She’s quite good at acting, isn’t she? She’s suddenly acting weak to try and catch your attention now?”

“Perhaps she’s really fallen sick,” Nancy put down the cards in her hand and said flatly.

“Still, she shouldn’t overstep her boundaries. You’re right here with Jayson, after all.” Matt shrugged. Just as he had expected, Ariel would definitely try to pull some sort of tricks.

Jayson glanced down at his watch. It was a little past 8:00 pm.

“I’ll go and check on her for a bit.”

Matt understood why Jayson was doing that. “Right. If you were to ignore her, Ariel might complain to Mrs. Larkin Senior afterward and things might get tricky for you.”

Nancy pursed her lips without making any remarks.

Jayson remained expressionless as he replied, “You guys should continue playing. I’ll be back in a while.”

Nancy’s expression softened a little. “Alright.”

Matt grinned. “Fine, we get what you mean. You won’t let her hold you back for long.”

When Jayson arrived outside her room, Ariel opened the door and found him standing by the door with one hand in his pocket. He stared down at her and scrutinized her face for a while. Then, he stepped into the room. “Which part of your body is hurting?”

Ariel had no choice but to step aside and make way for him. She caught a whiff of women’s perfume as he passed by her. Jayson had probably stayed with Nancy in the same space for an extended time.

She covered her nose discreetly and replied calmly, “My throat.”

Jayson took another glance at Ariel and noticed how she looked tired and sluggish. She was not pretending to be sick.

Jayson narrowed his eyes. He helped her boil some water. Then, Jayson said monotonously, “I brought three types of medicine. One is for bronchitis and one to help reduce a fever. I also got some throat lozenges.”

Ariel frowned at him. She was quite surprised that Jayson took her words seriously and brought her the medicine.

“Thank you.”

Jayson turned around and looked at her with those cold, deep–set eyes. He said after a brief pause, “Are you going to go back to sleep later?”

Ariel lay on the bed. Her head was still spinning. She just wanted to stay put. “Mhm.”

T

The water was still boiling. Ariel planned on taking the medicine once the water was fully boiled.

As she was thinking about it, Ariel opened her eyes and looked toward the electric kettle. She noticed that Jayson

THE

+25 BONUS

was still standing there and staring pensively at her.

Ariel hesitated for a bit. “You’re still here?”

Jayson smirked. He probably thought it was amusing. “You’re good at discarding someone once you’re done using them.”

Although that was what he said, Jayson had no intention of lingering around. He placed the medicines on the table and left the room.

Ariel did not think much of what he said. She slipped in and out of consciousness while lying there. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

To Ariel’s surprise, the hotel had sent food to her room. There was a bowl of porridge and some light snacks. The food looked bland and simple.

“I didn’t order food. Did you make a mistake with the room number?” She asked.

The attendant replied, “Mr. Larkin had instructed us to send this here.”

As she realized what had happened, Ariel pulled the cart into the room.

Jayson was a strange man. He could be either very detached or extremely considerate. If it weren’t for that, Ariel would not have felt so confused and struggled so much in their marriage.

Anyway, she was feeling quite hungry. She had been lying down since she came back. She was famished at that point.

When she lifted the cover, Ariel saw a bowl of vegetable porridge. Fine chunks of vegetables could be found in the porridge. Some scallions were sprinkled on the porridge, giving it a nice finish.

Unfortunately, Ariel was allergic to scallions.

Every time she prepared Jayson’s meals, Ariel would add some scallions depending on his taste and preference. Usually, she would avoid eating those dishes. If she had to eat them, Ariel would pick out the scallions first.

The two of them had dined together so many times in the past. If Jayson had paid any attention, he would have noticed it by now. Yet, he never seemed to care about such details.

Perhaps he had already noticed it. After all, Jayson was smart, and he had excellent memory. He had no trouble memorizing Nancy’s taste preferences. It was just that Ariel did not matter to him as much.

Just like her situation now, Ariel had to spend a lot of effort picking out the scallions before she could eat the porridge. However, Ariel no longer wanted to waste her time or energy tolerating and catering to others.

She put the cover back on calmly and ordered something else for dinner instead.