Serena sat next to her future husband with a flat face. In fact, she was increasingly nervous and curious about what Asher wanted to talk about, which made the atmosphere in the living room feel tense. Plus listening to the story told by Orlando about Asher's true personality, she began to be afraid of facing the killer in front of her eyes. Even though she is afraid, she must carry out the mission to conquer Asher's heart so that he wants to kiss her.
"I went to meet my family earlier. I wanted to officially introduce you to them as a future daughter-in-law." Finally, Asher spoke, although his tone sounded cold.
Serena's eyes widened. "Isn't this too fast?"
"Why are you surprised when you didn't seem to mind before?"
"Because I'm still not ready to be their daughter-in-law." Serena lowered her head while hugging the pillow.
"Weren't you always confident? Why are you suddenly feeling self-conscious?"
"Maybe your parents won't approve of our marriage. Moreover, they know that I'm just an outcast in my family. Your family is perfect in everyone's eyes, they definitely won't pick up rubbish that tarnishes the family's good name."
Asher clenched both fists tightly. "You don't deserve that nickname."
"What?" The intense look in those blue eyes looking at her made Serena even more nervous.
"Now I want to ask you. What is Lariette's view of my family? Has she ever told you about it?"
"Yeah, he said that your family treated her like their own child. Even when Lariette died, your parents looked like they had lost their biological child."
"That's why I want you to be confident at the family meeting next week. I also invited your step family as a formality."
"What if our marriage is not approved?"
"Do you really want this marriage?"
Serena nodded quickly. "Of course. Then, what about you? If your family didn't approve of our relationship, wouldn't you be sad or angry?"
"I'm not sad or angry. But, I have to marry you, Serena."
The words Asher had just said made Serena start to get suspicious. Why does Asher want to marry her so badly? If Asher had really been attracted to her from the start, why did he always refuse to kiss? Is there a hidden reason behind this marriage? The story told by Orlando previously related to Asher's wishes, Serena was very sure that these two things were related. Does Asher really want to marry her to make it easier for him to carry out evil missions?
"Were you interested in me from the start?"
Asher looked away while pressing his lips. "I just feel like I should just marry you."
"That answer doesn't make sense! Even though you're a CEO, you should be able to answer my very easy question."
Serena looked at the wall clock while rubbing her eyes. "I want to go to bed."
Asher held his fiancé's hand while lowering his head. "Did you get those wounds on your body when you were little?"
Just because Asher suddenly became considerate of her, Serena felt her heart pound. The first time anyone noticed the scars on her body besides Lariette was Asher. So far, no one has seen her body directly. Even her ex-husband never did because they never had a first night.
"So, you are satisfied looking at my ugly body? There are many scars on my body, you are actually not interested in me and will throw me away one day."
Asher shook his head as he took a paper bag on the living room table. "I want to give this to you."
Serena wondered what other gift Asher had given her. Even though they had only been in contact for three days, Asher had already given her many gifts. Was this the result of a bribe so that one day he would fall into his trap?
When she opened the white paper bag, Serena's eyes filled with tears when she saw the various creams that Asher had bought to remove scars all over her body. Her right hand trembled, holding the bottles of cream one by one. Even Lariette never bought medicated body cream for him.
"Are you crying?" asked Asher, waving his right hand.
"This is the first time anyone has bought body cream for me."
"Lariette never bought it for you?"
Serena nodded. "Actually, it was difficult for Lariette to do it because she was afraid her mother would catch her red-handed."
"Orlando too?"
"I never wear sexy clothes in front of him because I don't want everyone to see my ugly body." Serena pursed her lips, wiping the tears flowing down her cheeks. "You are the first person to see my body in person."
"This is all because you wore a sexy swimsuit this morning." Asher swallowed nervously as he grabbed the paper bag held by Serena. "I will apply this cream to your back. Your back actually has a lot of scars, you need to apply more cream."
Serena lifted the white blouse she was wearing only halfway. Her head continued to lower and her cheeks began to heat up when she felt Asher's fingers gently caress her back. Again, Asher didn't comment and just focused on applying cream to his back. Actually, Serena wanted to ask a lot of questions now. Why is Asher suddenly paying so much attention to her lately even though when he played Lariette's husband, he rarely communicated with her?
"Asher, thank you."
"Don't misunderstand. I'm just treating you as an ordinary woman. A woman should be treated properly, not treated like a slave."
"But, why should I? You can be considerate of other women?"
"I've told you many times. I'm not interested in other women who always play with me. Meanwhile, you are just an innocent woman in my eyes."
Serena lowered her blouse again as soon as Asher had treated her. This time her heartbeat was getting out of control and she had even forgotten the results of her discussion with Orlando.
"Thank you for not traumatizing myself. To be honest, every time I look in the mirror, I'm always traumatized and afraid to see myself like a monster. But, thanks to you, I'm starting to believe in myself."
Asher started to feel his heart pounding just looking at the sweet smile displayed by his future wife. Just because he saw that smile, without realizing it, he also smiled.