Elizabeth shot Alexander a quick glance, her eyes filled with doubt.
But thinking about how cold and serious he usually was, she figured he probably wasn’t lying, so she let it go.
She turned toward the front.
“Peter, when did you get back?”
Peter had still been replaying what he might’ve said wrong in his head when he heard her voice and quickly replied, polite and formal, “Ma’am, I got back last night.”
“Did everything get handled?”
“Handled…” Peter started to speak, but the chill in the car hit him mid-sentence.
He looked up at the rearview mirror — and yikes, Alexander’s face was as dark as a storm cloud.
His grip on the wheel slipped slightly, and the car gave a sudden jolt.
Elizabeth noticed Peter hadn’t finished answering and immediately picked up on the weird atmosphere.
She turned slightly to glance at Alexander, just about to say something when the car bumped again.
Startled, she instinctively grabbed onto him.
Alexander wrapped his arm tightly around her, then lifted his gaze sharply toward Peter again.
“You bribed your way into a license, didn’t you?”
“No, no, I definitely passed it fair and square.”
“Yeah?
Looks to me like you need to take the test again.”
Peter finally got what was going on.
Damn, so this morning he goes to Halden University to pick up Mr.
Blake, and suddenly Mr.
and Mrs.
Blake are all chummy?
Last he heard, she ran away and Alexander emergency chartered a flight back to chase her down.
Been abroad handling the cleanup this whole time, and he comes back to…
this?
Before he could gather his thoughts, he realized Alexander’s icy gaze had zeroed in on him like a sniper’s scope.
Peter panicked and blurted out, “Mr.
Blake, I was wrong.
I’ll retake the test, right away.
“For the sake of my own safety, I’ll sign up immediately.”
He was about to say more but clammed up the second he saw Alexander’s expression had dropped a few more degrees in temperature.
Man, life was hard enough.
The only reason the car jolted was ’cause Mr.
Blake stared at him like he was about to eat him alive — his hands shook, of course the car slipped a bit!
But did he dare admit that?
No way.
When your boss pays your bills, survival mode kicks in.
“Yes, sir.”
Elizabeth sat up straight and looked at Peter’s pitiful expression in the front seat.
“Honey, maybe Peter’s just overworked?
His driving used to be super stable.”
As soon as she said that, Alexander’s face tightened.
He cut a sharp look at her and asked, slow and deliberate, “When exactly did you ride in a car he drove?”
Crap.
She wanted to smack herself.
How could she forget?
Since she got reborn and married Alexander, she hadn’t even been in Peter’s car once.
“Just now,” she said, trying to stay calm.
“He’s a really good driver.
I used to get carsick, but this time, I didn’t feel a thing.”
Alexander gave her a long, thoughtful look.
“Is that so.”
“Honey, if you make Peter retake his driving test, wouldn’t that leave you without help?
I don’t want to see you running around exhausted.
He’s really useful to have around, you know?”
Alexander lowered his head slightly and studied her.
His lips pressed into a line for a few seconds before saying, “Alright.
If that’s what you want.”
Hearing that, Elizabeth lit up and leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek.
The sudden move left Alexander completely stunned.
He hadn’t expected her to kiss him — again.
Since bringing her back after she ran, she’d been so different.
No more disgust in her eyes.
Her smile was the real deal.
The way she tucked herself into his arms — none of it felt fake.
Elizabeth noticed Alexander zoning out at her and blinked in confusion.
“Honey, what are you thinking about?”
Snapping out of it, Alexander’s expression remained calm.
“Nothing.” On the surface he looked composed, but deep inside, his thoughts were a chaotic mess.
Up front, Peter saw the whole exchange from the rearview mirror, completely floored.
To keep his license intact, he kept repeating to himself silently, “Chill.
Just drive steady.”
The car finally pulled up at Sunbath Garden.
Elizabeth got out after saying goodbye to Peter.
Alexander stared at her back as she walked away, a strange glint flickering in his dark eyes.
After a few moments of being stunned, he caught up after her.
“Mr.
Blake, your wife’s stuff.”
Peter handed over the bag without further comment.
Glancing down at it, Alexander took the bag without a word and followed after her.
Back at the villa, he handed the bag to Elizabeth.
“Yours.”
“Thanks, babe.”
With the bag in hand, Elizabeth headed into the bedroom and pulled out the gift Emily had sent her.
The second she opened the box and saw what was inside, her face changed completely.
Elizabeth spun around towards the doorway.
Seeing Alexander standing there, her face instantly went through a kaleidoscope of awkward colors.
She hurriedly shoved the thing behind her and gave a stiff laugh.
“Haha, honey, what’re you doing here?”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed her trying to hide something behind her back.
“This is my room.”
“Oh—right, yeah, your room,” she laughed nervously.
“Um, I was about to shower.
Want to grab your clothes and maybe sneak into the guest room for a bit?”
He stepped closer, gaze landing on her.
“What did you just hide?”
“N-Nothing.
Really, nothing.
I’m about to shower, want to give me some space?”
“Okay.”
He nodded, then headed into the walk-in closet to grab his pajamas and left the room.
Once the door closed, Elizabeth let out a huge sigh of relief, pulling the stuff out from behind her back.
She quickly called Emily.
“Em—”
Before she could even get a sentence out, Emily interrupted, “Surprise!
Well?
Pretty amazing, huh?
Do you love it?”
Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth snarled under her breath, “You’re seriously the worst.
I had just opened it when my husband walked in.
I had to hide it behind my back so fast I nearly had a heart attack.
Thank god he didn’t ask anything else.”
“Oh, come on, Elizabeth.
That right there is a perfectly curated gift from yours truly!
With a body like yours, you could totally knock your man off his feet.
He’s rich, hot, and practically a walking temptation—don’t you dare slack off.
Time to go on the offensive.
“You better not waste this chance.”
Ignoring her, Elizabeth pulled out the DVD and set it aside, then picked up the black, sheer lingerie that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Just picturing herself putting it on made her face twitch.
“Emily, when did you turn into such a perv?
Seriously, how did you not feel embarrassed buying this in public?”
“Oh please!
If sacrificing my dignity can get you a happy married life, I’m all in,” Emily replied without shame.
“You better wear that tonight or my sacrifice will be in vain.”
Elizabeth clicked speaker and set the phone down while trying to stuff everything back into the box.
As she folded the tiny piece of clothing, she muttered, “No way I’m wearing this.
I was planning to give it back to you once you get a boyfriend—”
Right before she could finish the sentence, a low, deep voice from behind her made her whole body freeze.
“What are you doing?”