Chapter 28: This Dog Man Has No Gallantry At All

Meanwhile, in the guest bedroom.

After entering the room, Alaric Vane went straight into the bathroom with his pajamas to change.

Seren Thorne had let him in thinking he was just borrowing toiletries again like he had that afternoon. When she saw him emerge in pajamas and lie directly on the bed, she couldn't help but frown.

"Who gave you permission to sleep here? Get out!"

Alaric glanced at her and said calmly, "The rooms outside are flooded, and Grandpa won't let me stay elsewhere. If you don't want to see me, you can go stay in a hotel yourself."

"Fine, I'll go out." Compared to sharing a room with this dog man, Seren would rather spend a few hundred to stay elsewhere.

She turned and walked to the door, preparing to push it open and leave. However, after several tries, the door wouldn't budge.

Clearly, it had been locked from the outside.

To ensure the young couple had their "alone time," Arthur Vane had clearly made thorough preparations. With the door stuck, Seren could only turn back into the room with great reluctance.

Alaric was sitting propped up on the bed scrolling through his phone. The collar of his pajamas was slightly open, revealing the perfect collarbones and smooth lines of muscle beneath.

Seeing her return, his dark eyes lifted slightly. "What? Not leaving anymore?"

His tone was flat, yet Seren inexplicably detected a hint of schadenfreude.

Seren shot him a glare, pulled back the covers, and climbed onto the bed.

The bed in the guest room was somewhat narrow. Alaric stood nearly 1.9 meters tall and took up most of the space; once Seren lay down, it was inevitable that their skin would touch.

She frowned, pushing him away with disdain. "Move over a bit, I’m about to fall off on this side."

Alaric remained unmoved. "There’s no room on my side either. If you’re not used to it, you can sleep on the floor."

{Dog man. He has no gallantry at all.}

Seren pursed her lips and, in a fit of pique, lay on her side and squeezed toward the man, attempting to shove him over. However, her strength was ultimately too small; he remained as steady as a mountain. Instead, she was the one tossing and turning until she was flushed from the exertion.

Realizing she couldn't win the struggle, she eventually gave up and settled in to sleep.

In her past life, Seren had been someone who slept under bridges. Despite the limited sleeping space, she drifted off very quickly. From the moment she closed her eyes to falling into a deep sleep, less than two minutes had passed.

Alaric watched this in amazement. This woman’s heart was truly large enough that she could fall asleep in seconds while still being angry with him. He had seen people who didn't dwell on things, but never someone so heartless.

Alaric turned off the bedside lamp and lay down to sleep as well.

However, not long after he lay down, a "thud" sounded from beside him. He frowned and opened his eyes, only to find the spot next to him empty.

He switched on the light and realized Seren had fallen off the bed. Fortunately, the house had been carpeted a few days ago, so she hadn't come to any harm. Otherwise, with the way she fell head-first, she would have at least suffered a mild concussion—hardly the state to be sleeping so sweetly.

"Truly stupid," Alaric muttered dismissively. He threw back the covers, got out of bed, picked her up from the floor, and gently placed her back on the bed.

However, the moment he picked her up, she reverted to her "koala" instincts, hooking her arms around his neck and refusing to let go. He remained bent over the bed, trying to pull her arms away, but he couldn't pry her off. He had no choice but to lie down in that position.

Once he was down, Seren seemed to follow an automatic homing program; she tangled herself around him, holding him with both hands and feet, and instinctively rubbed her head against his chest.

The spot on Alaric's neck where she rubbed felt itchy. He looked down at the woman in his arms. From his angle, he could only see the top of her fuzzy head, with a few strands of black hair sticking up haphazardly.

Though he couldn't see her face, he could still clearly picture that sweet, overly fair, and beautiful face in his mind. He had to admit, when this woman wasn't speaking, she was indeed a top-tier beauty.

Unfortunately, her temper was far too foul and unlikable. Any man who actually liked her would have to be blind.

Lost in his scattered thoughts, Alaric soon fell asleep as well.

Over the next few days, Arthur Vane found various excuses every day to force the two of them into the same room. Initially, they put up a fight, but seeing the old man’s stubbornness, they eventually quieted down and moved back into the master bedroom together.

After all, it wasn't as if they hadn't slept together before. They had only lived apart because of a recent conflict; now that several days had passed, the emotions had faded, and they weren't as resistant to each other's presence.

By the time they moved back to the master bedroom, the water system in the old manor had been completely replaced. Mr. Edwin was staring at Arthur every day waiting for his bonus, making the old man feel immense pressure. Once the young couple was back in the master bedroom, Arthur went to Alaric to discuss unfreezing his bank cards.

Arthur had previously put all his own money into an investment for Alaric's second uncle. Currently, everything he spent belonged to Alaric. If Alaric didn't restore his cards, Arthur wouldn't even have the money to play Mahjong with the other old men.

Alaric looked at Arthur coolly and said, "If you need to buy daily necessities, tell the finance department directly and I'll have someone buy them for you. Anything else is off the table."

Arthur wanted to argue further, but was choked by Alaric's next sentence: "No one knows if you'll take that money to buy some strange medicine to put in my food. I don't dare give you money to spend freely."

The brat was clearly being sarcastic about the old man's threat to drug him and send him to Seren's bed. Arthur gnashed his dentures. This brat really holds a grudge.

With no cash on hand and his Mahjong addiction flaring up, Arthur thought it over and finally decided to support his granddaughter-in-law in making money—so he could take a small commission. With her skills, as long as they hit a few "big fish" clients, wouldn't they be making millions in minutes?

As for whether she would run away after making enough money, that wasn't his concern right now. He had worked so hard to play matchmaker only to have his bank cards frozen. That brat Alaric was so arrogant every day; he deserved to have his wife leave for a while to make him regret it!

The more Arthur thought about it, the more excited he got. He immediately told Seren his plan: he would take her to the company to find some "sucker" executives for fortune-telling to earn some extra cash.

Seren wanted to save up five million as soon as possible so she could run away and live a leisurely life, so she hit it off with Arthur immediately. They picked a workday and set off for the company, setting up a stall in the first-floor lobby.

Under Alaric's leadership, Vane Corp had been expanding continuously over the past few years. There were many new faces among the staff, but a small portion of veteran employees still remembered Arthur Vane.

Seeing the old master and the President's wife sitting on two small folding stools in the corner, with a large flag for face-reading and divination hanging in front of them, passersby were curious. A few bold ones approached directly.

"Mr. Vane, what are you and the Young Mistress doing?"

Arthur wore a kind and genial smile. "My granddaughter-in-law has learned some face-reading skills, so I’m here with her to set up a stall for divination. Would you like a reading?"

The male employee was stunned. He hadn't expected these two prominent figures to actually be here to tell fortunes. Since they were direct relatives of the highest leader of Vane Corp, everyone had to show them some respect.

The employee asked, "Young Mistress, how much for a reading?"