Chapter 39: More Than A Gentleman (2)
Forget about the quest or the reward, I had truly messed up today.
I slowly leaned away from him, resting my body against the car door. My eyes followed the blur of streetlights flashing past the window, my heart sinking lower with each one.
Then his voice suddenly filled the silence. "Do you ... want me to call you beautiful?"
My lips parted, but no words came out. The system’s warning echoed in my head, chaining my voice down. I couldn’t say yes, even though every fiber of me was screaming it.
Lando watched me for a moment. I didn’t answer, but my silence seemed to be enough for him to understand what I wanted.
"You’re beautiful," he said at last. "You look so beautiful tonight, Helcia."
[Ding!]
[You have successfully completed your quest: Invite your HUSBAND to dinner and make your HUSBAND compliment your beauty.]
[Reward: $10,000 has been credited to your account.]
[Remaining Balance: $67,915]
I widened my eyes, stunned that I had actually managed to complete this ridiculous quest. Penny had even cut me some slack, letting Lando’s compliment count even though dinner was already over.
But beneath my happiness, one question still burned in my chest. "Why ... why didn’t you say it earlier? Was it really that hard to just say I’m beautiful?"
Lando’s gaze lingered on me before he finally spoke. "It’s not that it was hard," he said gently. "It’s that I don’t think beautiful is enough to describe you. You deserve more than just that word."
For a moment, it felt like time had stopped. I held my breath, but my heart pounded so loudly I could hear every beat echoing in my ears.
How could he say that so easily and still look so calm?
Oh, wait, no. His ears ... his ears were red!
It was subtle, but I saw it clearly. Lando Brixton, the man who always tried to look calm, was actually blushing.
"I didn’t know you were such a sweet talker, Mr. Brixton," I teased with a giggle. "So tell me ... did you have a lot of ex-girlfriends? Or maybe you already have one now?"
Lando held my gaze. "If I had a girlfriend, wouldn’t it have been easier to just marry her," he said patiently, "instead of agreeing to this arrangement?"
I sighed, a little too dramatically. "Fair point," I admitted. "But honestly, you could have any woman you wanted if you tried."
I mean, he was so damn handsome and his bank account was nothing to laugh at. If he ever stopped hiding the fact that he was a billionaire, women would probably form a line around the block for a chance at him.
"I don’t need many women," Lando said suddenly. "One is enough for me."
My head lolled against the seat, heavy from the wine and exhaustion. I turned my face toward him, blinking slowly.
"That one woman would be so lucky," I murmured, struggling to keep my eyes open. "I just hope she’s kind to you and ... treats you gently."
Sure, it was easy for rich men to find someone willing to marry them, but finding someone sincere was another story, especially for someone like Lando. Many women would only want his family name or his money if he ever revealed who he really was.
There was nothing wrong with marrying for money. But mocking him, insulting him behind his back, or treating him as less than human just because he couldn’t walk, that was cruel. He deserved better than that.
"She is indeed kind and gentle," Lando said softly, maybe the gentlest tone I’d ever heard from him. "Honestly, I think I’m the lucky one to have that ’one’ woman."
"Oh?" I was already slipping into sleep, so his words were blurring together in my head. "But didn’t you just say you don’t have a girlfriend?"
"I don’t," he said quietly, catching my head as it slipped to the side. Then, with surprising care, he reached for the small pillow in the car and tucked it beside me, making sure I could rest comfortably.
His voice dropped even lower, almost like a secret meant only for me. "But I do have a wife."
For a second, my heart forgot how to beat. Did he really just say that? Or was I already too drunk and hearing things?
I wanted to ask him again, just to be sure, but my eyelids betrayed me, slipping shut no matter how hard I tried to fight them.
"Your wife ...," I murmured, my voice fading as sleep pulled me under, "... she must be beautiful."
Through the haze, I barely caught his reply, "She is beautiful, more beautiful than the sun."
After that, I completely drifted into sleep, too far gone to hear his voice anymore.
However, not long after, or rather when the car finally stopped at the mansion, I felt as if I was floating somewhere between dreams and reality.
My eyes were still closed, yet I could clearly feel someone lifting me, carrying me from the car toward my room.
That person felt so warm, and when I leaned closer, I caught a familiar scent, the same cologne that clung to Lando.
Was his cologne really that common? Could it be that someone else was using the same fragrance?
I forced my heavy eyelids open just a little, the world blurring in and out of focus. For the briefest moment, I thought I saw Lando’s face, hovering above me as he carried me in his arms.
My heart skipped, but I quickly shut my eyes again. No, that was impossible. Lando couldn’t carry me. I must have been too drunk, or maybe I was already dreaming with my eyes half open.
Convinced it was nothing more than a trick of wine and exhaustion, I let myself sink fully into the darkness of sleep.
Once I opened my eyes again, I was already in my bedroom, and sunlight was streaming through the gaps in my window.
The clock showed eleven—almost noon—which meant I had slept for so long!
I immediately sat up in bed and grabbed my phone, quickly checking the social media I’d ignored all night.
The moment the screen lit up, my eyes widened in shock. The first video that popped up on my feed had my name plastered across the title in bold, ugly letters.
"Madeline’s Victim or Whore’s Daughter? The Truth About Helcia"