Morgan covered his head.
“Your clothes are wet.
Go change so you don’t catch a cold.”
Maya realized she had misunderstood him.
A smile touched her lips as she turned to get clean clothes from the closet.
“You’re actually quite caring.”
After lunch, she took Morgan to open her shop.
Her shop was just a few blocks down the street from her rented apartment.
The storefront wasn’t very large.
Inside were two beauty beds and many beauty and nail products.
As Maya organized her merchandise, she said to Morgan, “You’re not allowed to touch anything in the shop.
And don’t speak when customers are here.
There’s a TV, so if you get bored, you can watch it.”
Morgan obediently said, “Oh.”
Soon, a customer came in.
Maya greeted her with a smile.
“Hailey, are you here for your nails or a facial today?
We just got a new super-hydrating mask.
Want me to let you try it later?”
The woman named Hailey looked over at Morgan, who was sitting obediently to the side.
Her gaze was drawn to him.
“A facial.”
“Alright.
Please have a seat while I get things ready.”
Maya went to get Hailey’s personal facial products and prepared everything needed for the cleansing and massage.
Hailey sized up the exceptionally handsome Morgan and took the initiative to ask, “Are you Rivers’s boyfriend?”
Morgan shook his head and said seriously, “I’m her husband!”
Hailey’s mouth fell slightly open in surprise.
“You two are married?!”
She turned and yelled to Maya, “Rivers, just half a month ago I offered to introduce you to my nephew and you said you weren’t in a hurry, and now you’re married?
I give you so much business, and this is how you treat me!
If you don’t tell me the truth, I’m not coming back next time!”
Maya came over, wiping her hands, and said with a smile, “Hailey, it’s not what you think.
The situation is very unusual.
Please don’t be angry.
Everything’s ready over here, let’s start your facial.”
Hailey glanced at Morgan again and finally noticed that his expression was a bit dazed and uncomprehending, not quite normal.
She pointed to her own head and quietly asked Maya, “Is he…
up here…?”
Maya nodded, rolled up her sleeves, put on a mask, and guided Hailey to lie down on the beauty bed.
As she started removing her makeup and cleansing her face, she began to explain, “Hailey, you’re a regular, so I won’t hide it from you.
I went home recently, and my parents were pressuring me too much.
So, in a fit of pique, I deliberately found a man like him.”
Hailey opened her eyes, full of regret for her.
“Oh, dear, how can you do something like that out of spite?
What were you thinking!
My nephew has a good job and he’s good-looking!
And he’s an only son.”
Maya said helplessly, “I’m still in debt from opening this shop; I really hadn’t thought about getting married so soon.
I just lost it yesterday.
My dad wanted to marry me off to a twice-divorced, abusive man with two kids.
Look, my face is still swollen, isn’t it?
My dad hit me.
If things hadn’t gotten to this point, there’s no way I would have dragged a fool into a marriage.”
Her face was indeed still a bit red and swollen, and the faint mark of a handprint was visible.
As a fellow woman, Hailey sighed for her.
“A wonderful girl like you, truly wasted by your parents.
You’re just too young.
You can’t do things like this, no matter how impulsive you feel.
Look at you now, saddled with a man like that.
Life is going to be hard!”
Maya washed her face conscientiously.
“Every family has its problems.
It’s better now, actually.
My dad said I should never come home again for the rest of my life.
For me, that’s actually a relief.
It’s a good thing.”
‘As for the fact that her marriage to Morgan was fake, she was the only one who needed to know.
There was no need to tell anyone else.’
‘Telling Hailey all this now was just a business tactic.
Making appropriate small talk while serving a customer, especially about family matters, could build rapport and improve customer retention.’
‘She had been knocking around in the world by herself for years.
Speaking half-truths had become second nature.’
‘She didn’t see anything wrong with it.
A mix of truth and lies was fine, as long as she wasn’t hurting anyone.’
By the time she finished applying the mask, Maya’s wrist was aching.
She turned to Morgan, who was watching TV, and instructed, “Morgan, get Hailey a glass of water.”
Morgan quickly stood up, poured a glass of water, and brought it over.
Maya stood up to teach him.
“Hailey is lying down, so it’s not convenient for her to sit up.
She needs a straw to drink.
Here, you just put it in like this.”
Morgan held the glass with the straw in it and offered it to Hailey with both hands, his voice flat.
“Drink water.”
It was hard for Hailey to speak with the mask on, but she couldn’t help but praise him.
“He’s quite well-behaved.”
After delivering the water, Morgan returned to his seat and continued watching TV.
Maya glanced at the screen.
“Oh, watching the finance channel?
Can you even understand it?”
Morgan’s eyes remained on the TV.
“Don’t know.
It’s nice to watch.”
‘He was very familiar with the questions the host was asking.
It was as if the answers were on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn’t get them out.’
‘The feeling was agonizing.’
Morgan was very observant.
Maya only had to teach him once, and from then on, whenever he saw a customer with a mask on, he would bring them a glass of water.
Maya was secretly surprised and a little pleased.
‘She couldn’t help but think that even though Morgan’s intelligence wasn’t that of an adult, he was very smart, obedient, and so protective of her.
Even if he were to become her real husband, it wouldn’t be so bad.’
‘After all, plenty of men with normal intelligence in the world probably wouldn’t treat her as genuinely well as Morgan did.’
‘In life, the most important person to please is yourself.
As for what other people think, you can’t live on their opinions.’
Whenever she was pleased, she would praise Morgan, and whenever he was praised, he would try even harder.
The two of them got along quite harmoniously.
A little after eight in the evening, all the customers had left.
Maya was cleaning the shop, with Morgan helping out.
Seeing how quick-witted he was with his tasks, Maya decided to give him the jobs of sweeping and mopping while she went to tally up the day’s earnings.
‘Based on how business was going, she could pay off her debt in a year and a half.’
‘Another two years after that, and she could rent a storefront in the city and expand.’
‘There was hope for the future.’
‘Maya had been poor and miserable, had felt helpless and had been forced to compromise.
She swore she would live life on her own terms and take her destiny into her own hands.’
After they finished cleaning up the shop, they walked home, carrying a newly purchased electric fan.
Maya happened to look up and found Morgan, who was holding the fan, staring at her intently with a smile in his eyes.
Being stared at so intently by such a handsome man, even knowing his mind wasn’t right, still made Maya’s face flush and her heart race a little.
She asked, “What are you looking at me for?”
Morgan answered seriously, “You’re pretty!”
“Not as pretty as you!” Maya laughed, amused.
She praised him, “You did very well today.
The customers all liked you.”
‘Of course they did.
What woman wouldn’t like a handsome, eye-catching man who even serves them drinks?’
Being praised, Morgan gave a shy smile.
The two of them walked home slowly.
Maya said, “But you need to be a little more polite.
When you see the customers, you should call them ‘Sister’.”
‘If those customers heard ‘Sister’ from Morgan’s lips, they’d be over the moon.
It might even get them to spend more.’
‘The beads on Maya’s abacus were clacking away in her mind.
Thinking of the fortune she could make in the future, a huge smile spread across her face.’
Morgan said seriously, “They are ‘sisters.’ You are ‘wife’!”