"Marrying you isn't out of the question."
Rosalind Lowell was startled. Staring straight ahead, her hand still clutched tightly around the seatbelt, she asked, "Huh?"
She was so nervous she could barely breathe, her face flushing a deep red.
"One year. We stay out of each other's way."
His father had threatened to kill himself over this, so he had originally come here intending to make the woman call off the engagement herself.
"Alright. Then thank you, Mr. Davenport." She felt a mix of gratitude and joy, along with an undeniable tension, but all things considered, it was going fairly smoothly.
Alaric Davenport frowned, then abruptly hit the brakes.
Rosalind kept her eyes forward. When she saw they'd stopped for a red light, she pretended everything was normal.
Alaric tapped the car's large control screen. "Enter the address."
"Oh, okay."
Rosalind quickly reached out, but just as she did, Alaric extended his own hand, and her fingers accidentally brushed against his.
It felt like a jolt of electricity shot through her, and her mind went blank for a moment. She hastily pulled her hand back. "Sorry."
She didn't know what to do with her hand after pulling it back, so she just let it rest lightly on her thigh.
"Your hand."
"Huh?"
Rosalind didn't understand what he meant. But then, after a moment's hesitation, Alaric suddenly reached over and took her hand.
Rosalind reflexively tried to pull away, but Alaric didn't let go. He simply said softly, "Owner recognition. Just recording a fingerprint."
WHOOSH. The faint blush on Rosalind's face instantly deepened, spreading like wildfire all the way to the tips of her ears.
His fingers were long and slender. The pads of his fingers slid effortlessly over hers as he selected one and pressed it to the screen.
A soft BEEP echoed in her ears, leaving her stunned. She had never felt anything like it.
Now she finally understood what it felt like for one's heart to race. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was simply captivated by his good looks.
'Marrying him might not be as bad as I imagined. For me, it's not a bad deal. A loveless marriage, and only for a year. Once the company is stable, I can leave this place.'
Alaric motioned to the screen, palm up, indicating for her to type in the address.
Rosalind scooted closer to the screen. His overpowering presence made her breathe cautiously as she typed in the address as quickly as she could. "O-Okay... it's done..."
Alaric glanced nonchalantly at Rosalind, who was now much closer. His Adam's apple bobbed twice. He turned his gaze back to the red light and said, "You can adjust the temperature in here yourself."
"Okay."
Rosalind just agreed verbally. She was feeling a little warm, what with her long sleeves and... everything that just happened. But she didn't touch the temperature controls.
'He probably has the temperature set to his preference. If I turn it down, he might get cold.'
As he drove, Alaric glanced at her, then reached over and lowered the temperature by two degrees.
After a moment, he saw that the deep red of her flush had begun to fade. Only then did he turn his full attention back to the road.
...
「The next evening.」
Rosalind closed Faye's livestream page, ready to get a good night's sleep.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed before an urgent knocking rang out.
Rosalind groggily opened the door to find Faye standing there with her hands on her hips. Behind her stood Herman Lowell and Yvonne Carter.
Rosalind was instantly wide awake. She remembered how Faye had forced her to watch the stream today and send gifts. It was all for some platform's charity event that Faye was using to gain publicity.
She had watched as Faye, unaware she was being filmed, declared that the charity event was "just for show." As a result, Faye immediately shot to the top of the platform's trending list—and went viral for all the wrong reasons.
'But on second thought, what does that have to do with me? Faye was the one who misspoke. Are they going to take their anger out on me again?'
"Your sister's account got banned, and you have the nerve to be sleeping?" Yvonne Carter spoke first.