Chapter 8: What Right Do You Have to Be Mean to Me?

This time, it was Clara who interrupted him. "I just thought that I have poor sleeping habits and I've been staying up late lately, so I might be disturbing your rest. That’s why I considered moving next door. If you don't agree, fine, but why use such harsh words to pressure me?"

"I know this is a political marriage and that the stakes are high. I know my place. I haven't done anything out of line, so what right do you have to be mean to me?!"

She grew angrier as she spoke.

She was born the pearl of the Jiang family; when had she ever faced such accusations?

Unfortunately, she had a low threshold for tears and tended to cry when emotional. Feeling that this put her at a disadvantage, she wiped her tears away with two quick swipes and glared at him huffily.

Julian’s mind was a mess of complex thoughts. He remained silent.

"Say something!" Clara snapped.

Yet her voice was soft; even when she was angry, it sounded like she was acting spoiled.

Julian’s gaze landed on her eyes, which were even brighter due to her anger. He pursed his lips. "I'm sorry."

"..." Clara hadn't expected him to apologize so quickly. She blinked in confusion.

She had been prepared for a massive argument and was determined to win, but the opponent had just shut down and raised the white flag?

He looked at her without blinking and apologized sincerely: "I didn't know you were afraid of disturbing me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things just now."

Most of Clara’s anger dissipated, but she still tried to keep a straight face. "Next time you don't know something, just ask, okay?

You have a perfectly good mouth; you don't know how to speak properly, but you're great at sniping people."

Julian: "..."

Receiving no response, Clara asked again, "Okay?"

Julian gave a habitual hum of agreement.

Clara frowned. "Would it kill you to use more than one word?"

When this man was with her grandfather, wasn't he quite well-spoken? Why was he so stingy with his words around her?

After a long pause, she heard: "Alright. I've noted it."

Clara rolled her eyes speechlessly and turned to go upstairs.

Julian followed close behind her. He wanted to say something to lighten the mood but didn't know how to start; his tall frame somehow looked a bit pitiful.

If the employees of Mid-Sovereign Group saw their decisive CEO trailing piteously behind a woman, their jaws would hit the floor.

Although Clara won the argument, she still felt bothered. Back in the room, she went to shower with a cold face. After coming out, she didn't give him a single look, let alone a "goodnight." She climbed into bed hugging her rubber duck, leaving Julian with nothing but the back of her head.

The next day, Clara had an 8:00 AM class and left home very early.

Julian watched her leave. Mrs. Martha sensed the subtle atmosphere between them and asked, "Is Clary unhappy?"

"...Yes."

"She's young; you should yield to her more. If she's unhappy, you should coax her," Mrs. Martha advised.

Coax?

Julian was skeptical.

He had never coaxed a woman in his life, not even his mother.

After a cup of black coffee, he drove to the office.

During the third-quarter financial forecast meeting that morning, Julian kept a cold face throughout. The CFO felt uneasy and pulled Felix aside after the meeting. "Felix, the Q3 financial indicators are all good, but Julian looks quite dissatisfied. Does he have other instructions?"

Felix shook his head. "I haven't heard Julian say anything."

"Then why the cold face the whole time? He looks quite unhappy."

Felix thought about it and also felt something was off. "I'll go look into it and let you know."

"Thanks, man."

After the lunch break, Felix delivered an invitation to the CEO's office. He took the opportunity to check Julian’s face and found it was indeed colder than usual.

Just as he was about to ask subtly, Julian suddenly spoke: "Felix, if you say the wrong thing and the other person becomes unhappy, what do you do?"

Felix nearly choked on his own saliva.

So the boss was agonizing over

this

.

Felix’s desire for gossip spiked, but he answered steadily: "I would apologize."

"I apologized, but the person is still unhappy. Then what?"

"Then you coax them a bit."

Julian didn't respond.

Just as Felix thought he wouldn't continue the topic, he heard: "How do you coax someone?"

Felix suppressed his internal screaming and said formally: "I would give a gift. Like a bag, jewelry, or something like that."

Julian tried to hide it. "I didn't say it was a woman."

Felix accommodated the boss’s ego immediately. "My apologies, Sir. I habitually thought of my girlfriend. Whenever I make her angry, I buy her a bag, say some soft words to coax her, and she’s not angry anymore."

"A bag?"

"Yes. Bags cure all ills; girls all love bags. Jewelry works too. Basically, just give them what they like."

Julian looked thoughtful. "I see. You can go."

Felix took two steps back before turning around, his mouth curling up uncontrollably.

When Clara came home that evening, she saw a line of Hermès bags standing at attention on the living room floor.

She asked Mrs. Martha: "What are these?"

Mrs. Martha smiled. "They are all gifts from Julian."

Clara arched an eyebrow, walked over, and casually opened one. It was a Birkin 25 in "Chick Yellow," fresh and cute.

"Clary, there's some jewelry here too, also from Julian."

Clara turned her head. A row of Boucheron boxes were lined up on the coffee table, all containing jewelry that sparkled brilliantly under the crystal chandelier.

"Mrs. Martha, help me put these in the master walk-in closet. Leave this bag out; I want to use it tomorrow."

Mrs. Martha agreed and went to do it.

When Julian came home, he saw Clara sitting at the dining table eating and chatting happily with Mrs. Martha. A tense corner of his heart relaxed slightly.

"Julian is back," Mrs. Martha stood up and smiled. "Come, join Clary for dinner."

Julian washed his hands and sat across from Clara.

On the fifth day of marriage, the couple had their first dinner together.

Clara tilted her chin. "Why did you send me bags and jewelry?"

He didn't answer but asked instead, "Do you like those things?"

Clara teased him on purpose. "What if I said I didn't like them?"

"Then I'll call the store and have them send more over for you to choose yourself."

"Until I'm satisfied?"

"Yes."

Clara stopped teasing and smiled beautifully. "No need. I like them very much. Thank you~"

Julian was dazed by her smile, a faint warmth blooming in his chest.

"Do you have plans for tomorrow?" Clara asked. "If you have time, shall we go see your parents?"

"Okay," Julian nodded. "And the day after, I'll go see your grandfather with you?"

Clara laughed happily. "That sounds great."

Under the warm yellow pendant light, the young couple ate dinner across from each other, something quiet flowing in the air.

Mrs. Martha saw all of this and quietly retreated.

After dinner, Clara curled up on the sofa to watch TV while digesting.

She was watching a historical drama, and the male lead’s appearance was so handsome it made her smile ear to ear.

However, a certain someone kept passing in front of her—going to the island to pour water one moment, going to the rack by the coffee table to get a magazine the next.

Clara finally looked up and asked: "Aren't you busy?"

The person said calmly, "Work for this week is finished. Nothing to do."

Clara patted the sofa beside her. "If you're not busy, sit down and watch TV with me."

Anything to stop him from walking back and forth in her way.

Julian immediately walked over and sat down, about half an arm's length away from her.

On the ultra-HD screen, a man in red robes and black fur walked alone in the snow holding an umbrella.

Julian caught a glimpse of her; her eyes were practically glued to the man on the screen, and she didn't spare him a single glance.

He cleared his throat and checked his watch. "It’s getting late. Go to sleep. We have to go to the old family residence tomorrow."