Chapter 3: The First Time

At 11 p.m, Becky Scarlett, who had been busy all day, finally took her boss home. The house was oddly familiar that she dropped her boss on the sofa.

Elias smelt a waft of fragrance in the room, which made him comfortable. Then, he sprawled languidly on the sofa while she went to the kitchen, squeezed juice from a lemon, and added three tablespoons of honey. Hot lemon juice and honey were just the thing for a drunk.

"Sir, wake up… Here, have a drink of lemon juice and honey… Huh? Want to eat? Okay, wait here. I will go to cook." Unfortunately, Elias was too drunk to reply. She took his silence as agreement, and then she said, "So I'm going to cook porridge… Hey! Where are you going?"

"Take a bath." He narrowed his eyes, took off his coat, loosened his tie, stripped off his clothes, and a moment later, he was in the bathroom.

"No sir, you look exhausted. Let's lie down and relax for a while." She brought him back, "Let's take a bath after eating, okay?"

"Okay." Elias replied. Then, he snuggled up to Becky, his head on her shoulder. He was wheedling his wife, "My leg hurts."

"The weather has been very mixed recently. Therefore, from tomorrow onwards, you must wear warm clothes." She helped him to lie down and have a rest. She gave him a glass of drink. He took and drank it with a straw, and then he swallowed it in one gulp.

She went into the kitchen again. She opened the fridge and peered inside. Then, she got a bowl of rice, two eggs, and some green onions out of the fridge. When she was ill, Elias used to cook porridge for her. So now, she thought she might cook this basic part of making rice porridge using white rice. First, she brought the liquid to a boil and added the rice in, and brought it back to a boil. Next, she stirred it now and then to prevent the rice from catching at the bottom of the pot. It would continue to get thicker as the starch released from the rice grains. Finally, she added a protein like ground pork, eggs, and cooked until she cooked the meat through. She also seasoned it with salt.

Unfortunately, the food tasted more awful than it looked. The porridge was a little too salty.

It was strange when Elias Sophronia, who got used to living in the lap of luxury, cooked so well. And Becky Scarlett, who was born into a poor family, was a terrible cook.

She seemed terrible at cooking, the complete opposite of her usual cool self. For twenty years she had lived and breathed, her requirements for food were just eatable. About the taste? She really did not care.

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The dinner was almost ready. Becky had set the table for the family dinner. Then, she went to the bedroom and woke him up, but she saw Elias had laid down on the soft bed and fallen asleep. He was not a sleeping beauty, but he woke up as good-looking as when he went to bed. Women like her somehow deteriorate during the night.

Elias worked and worked and worked all the time. He did not have a rest. He could work ten hours without a brief respite. He nearly busted a gut trying to get the job finished on time. And he was definitely a workaholic.

His life as a workaholic made Becky hurt, so she did not want to wake him. Then, she helped him change clothes. She went to the bathroom, tipped water into a basin, and went out with a basin of warm water and a towel. She quickly brought them to him. She bathed his scar on the right leg with a wet towel and attempted patiently to wash him.

Elias had a vigorous body and a broad chest. He was smart, and handsome, too, she thought, and so very grave and courteous. Everyone was stunned by his beauty. Unfortunately, he had a socking great scar on his right leg, which destroyed his physical perfection.

His scar on the right leg took her back ten years and brought many happy and sad memories to her. Many years ago, he had broken his leg once. He was beaten black and blue by his dad because he was in love with an inappropriate girl. However, that old wound was causing him intense pain every time it rained.

After taking good care of his wound, she covered him with a warm blanket. Then, she went to the kitchen and ate the food that was served on the table. The porridge was cold, and it tasted completely awful. She felt an aching feeling in her stomach. So, she quickly removed dishes from the table, rushed into the toilet, and vomited food from her stomach out of her mouth.

The dirt was washed away. She leaned on the sink and wiped her face with one hand. She saw herself in the mirror with bloodshot eyes. Her face was as white as a chalk and speechless, as if she had returned to the hospital room ten years ago. Elias wore a bandage around his leg and looked thin and pale. He rimmed his eyes in red, and all the blood drained from his face.

Then he said, "Becky, can you do me a favor?"

"Yes. Whatever you want." She replied.

"... Marry me."

She couldn't believe what he said.

Ten years ago, as a poor student, Becky Scarlett had little financial support, except for her grandmother, who could only provide a meager sum for her studies. Even though she tried her best to pass the exam to the university she was hoping to get into, her life was hard. She lived on her student grant and used to save as much as possible to live in the city. She sometimes had to eat instant noodles the whole week to survive. Therefore, she found a part-time job. Part-time jobs helped her pay off her tuition fees, so she had three or four more jobs lined up.

Relatively speaking, the best job that provided a good salary was working at an art exhibition near her university. The owner of this exhibition was Susan Smith, who was older than her. Susan was pretty and very open-minded. She was a woman with an artistic temperament. She was very generous to people who had less than she did.

Susan lived in the lap of luxury. The other girls were jealous of Kim because she was extremely rich and pretty, so was Becky. Susan was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She was the youngest child in a happy family, headed by a mother of great beauty and a father of unfailing good cheer. Her father wanted her to be a doctor, but she wanted to do her own thing and run an art gallery. Her paintings were being shown at a gallery in New York City. On opening day, the showroom attracted many visitors and buyers. However, she opened the art exhibition, not for profit. She just wanted to pursue her dream.

Becky Scarlett, who was born in a poor family, lived on the other side of the tracks. Every day, she was mad at money and food, so this was the first time she had rubbed shoulders with some very wealthy people. Becky liked her job here. Her job was so cushy, she did next to nothing and earned a fortune. She only had to go to the exhibition five days a week and worked about 15 hours a week.

She had known Elias for ten years. At that point, there were many guys pursuing Susan, and he was one of them. He had been going after her for quite a while. He had courted Susan for one year but was unsuccessful. His pursuit for her had been the talk of the university. However, he was the only one who had the least contact with her. Nine times out of ten, she slammed the door in his face.

Elias attempted to chase Susan. Although she slammed the door in his face, he was still very patient to visit the art exhibition. Susan always refused his amorous advances. She had a look of annoyance once she saw him and always fled from him.

Therefore, somehow Becky became a messenger girl between the two of them. Day by day, gradually she and Elias became good friends. Every time Susan refused to meet Elias, he was not in a hurry or sad. He would wait until the exhibition closed, and then he took Becky out to lunch or dinner.

Elias was a connoisseur of fine food and drink. The restaurant he went to did not have to be classy or fancy, but it had to be delicious. He took her to the Rabbit restaurant. Rabbit was a restaurant that the emphasis was on heart healthy, low-fat, gourmet cuisine.

When they sat together at the same table and ate the same food, somehow she forgot the man sitting next to her was a handsome, rich man, who was in the chase of her mistress. She hated to think about times like these. But that was an extremely great time when she was the closest to his heart.

At least she could call his nickname "Eli" and he did not call her "Miss Scarlett" or "Assistant Scarlett".