WHAT?!!

Katherine opened the door and the sight of the Adonis living in her house greeted her, she stood by the door and their eyes locked, after a few seconds she cleared her throat and walked towards where he was sitting.

The room was dimly lit and she noticed that aromatic candles have been lit and at the center of the table there were three giants red candles and the table had been spread with a variety of different kinds of nutritious foods.

She noticed that Xander had changed his clothes from hospital gown that the doctors put on him to casual white shirt and blue jeans, three buttons were left undone which gave her the opportunity to look at his peeking hard and chiseled chest, even though it was evident that he was unwell he still looked delicious... "control your thoughts you pervert!"

Katherine scolded herself in her head

Like a true gentleman, Xander pulled out a chair for Katherine and only left when he was sure that she was sitting comfortably, he sat opposite of her which gave him the chance to look at her beautiful face, when his eyes trailed down to her lips his little friend down there reacted, he wanted nothing but to make her fully his at this moment, he gulped at the thought and composed himself.

He heard Katherine clear her throat and say with her honey sweet voice

"So.. Did you organize all this? I remember I only told aunt Rosa my house maid to cook nutritious foods.." Katherine probed.

The setup of the room right now looks like they were on a candlelight dinner date, even though they were inside a room it looks so romantic.

They began to dig in and Xander started cutting stake and putting it on Katherine's plate, as they were eating Xander answered the curious Katherine by saying "Yes, I ordered my men to do this and I also ordered them to bring me some clothes and some necessary things since I will be living with you for the here."

Katherine chocked on the juice she was drinking when she heard Xander, he immediately went behind her and patted her back gently, he gave her a glass of water to drink and when he was sure that she was okay he went back to his sit.

"Y-you are staying here? But the doctor said that you are healing quickly so it would be okay even if you left tomorrow" Katherine was not prepared to hear Xander announce that he was going to live with her, not at all! She had never been this close with a man before and to have him living in the same house as her was definitely not something on her to do list.

"Yes I am staying here my sweet. It would be easier for both of us this way we can get to know each other better and bond well because we are spending more time together.

We can make plans on taking down BEPBU easily and execute our plans smoothly and so much more. And since this big mansion has a lot of guest houses and guests rooms available I will be shifting my most elite men here to further tighten security, and also my sweet girl I would like us to have three meals together every day since we are already living together. If you don't like this idea that's okay we can go and live in my mansion instead of here, what do you say? " Xander declared.

Xander understood that Katherine was not comfortable with him around and he knew that she was trying to get rid of him but there was no way he was going to miss this opportunity of getting close to her, now that he had found her he had no intention of ever losing her again, what if she disappears on him again? No, he must stay with so that no harm will come to her and at the same time make sure she couldn't leave him.

Katherine was absolutely shocked by Xander's declaration and shamelessness, she knew very well that they didn't need to live together for them to be able to work together. He was obviously using this opportunity to stay close to her, live with a man? Hah! There's no way I'm living with him, we are not even married yet and he's making such demands! Katherine thought to herself.

"uhm.. Xander you see the thing is that I don't want to live with a man and I'm very safe here so you don't have to worry about me, we can communicate through the phone and then once in a while you can visit me here. I don't want to bring too much attention to this place plus I don't want to live with a man that is not my husband, it doesn't sit well with me so I hope you understand" Katherine tried to convince Xander so that he can leave her alone to have some peace in her own home!

Xander didn't wait a second in agreeing with her, he immediately whipped out his phone and sent a text message to someone before he put it back in his pocket and said "You are absolutely right Katherine, living with a man that is not your husband is not an ideal thing to do and judging from the type of person you are I understand you wouldn't want that"

Katherine heaved a sight of relief and her shoulders that were stiff now turned relaxed, she was grateful for Xander's understanding so she slightly smiled at him and said "Thank you for your understanding Xander"

"You are most welcome sweet" Xander replied.

After they were done eating, Katherine was about to excuse herself and retire for the night when she heard Xander casually say "please make some time for me in the morning, the lawyer will arrive early with all the documents that we need and when we are done filling out the forms and have signed everything he will take it back and register our marriage."

*crikets

Katherine was left frozen and speechless, Xander understood her shock so he gave time some minutes to take all the new information that he had given her in.

"WHAT!!!" Katherine yelled, she then stood up and snapped at him "Xander Ling have you finally lost your mind? Marriage? Is this a joke? Please tell me you are joking because it is not funny at all! We just met again yesterday and agreed to be friends this morning and now you want us to what? Get married? I'm not signing any marriage papers so you better tell the lawyer to not show his face here!"

Katherine had lost her cool, she couldn't believe this shameless man. Was he really especting her to just marry him just like that? And so soon? Wait, that's not even the point here! How can he expect her to marry him without him gaining her full trust and before taking BEPBU down?!

She stood there with her both hand on either side of her waist huffing and puffing her cheeks, while Xander was quietly looking at her in amusement. This is exactly the exact reaction that he had expected, he was glad that he was able to bring out her true self.

Even though she puts on a cold and indifferent facade he knew that deep down the Katherine he met three years ago was still safely hidden in there. He understood that she had built all this steel walls around herself in order to protect herself from being hurt again.

The need to protect her intensified in Xander's entire being, he stood up and came around the table to stand right in front of her. He looked down at the furious tigress in front of him and said with a determined look "Yes Miss Katherine Kenneth, we are getting married tomorrow morning and that's final."

"Who do you think you are? You can't force me to marry you, do you think you can take advantage of me just because I'm being kind to you? I'm no longer that weak and stupid Katherine Kenneth anymore, I am now Katherine Lu, the founder and CEO Therine cooperations no man dares to force me into marriage not even you Mr Xander Ling!! A man might have manipulated me into marrying him in the past only for him to annul the marriage that same day and sell me off to those BEPBU monsters but i will never repeat the same mistakes again" Katherine yelled at Xander and at the end her voiced cracked a bit and her eyes become watery but she refused to cry, she held her tears and stood her ground.

Seeing the pain in her eyes Xander's face softened and became gentle, he tried to hold her hand but she rejected his touch. He looked straight into her eyes and began narrating his story to her "My parent's marriage was like a business deal, they never loved each other and they never gave me any love or attention as a child, they were always away on business trips and so I was raised by the maids. When my father's company went bankrupt my mother tried to force him to divorce her and I happened to overhear their argument"

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