How to be a devoted lover

Matthew Xi was left with tons of questions as he dragged his feet back inside. As he walked, he knitted his brows and picked up the phone she lent.

He examined it around to see anything weird in it, but he found none. Relieved, he turned it on and perched at the living area.

When the screen brightened up, Matthew Xi's brows twitched. What welcomed his eyes was Zoey's selfie used as the wallpaper. Why was he even surprised?

"Let's see..." He murmured as he opened the phone and see whatever surprised she put in it.

Going through the contacts there's only one person contact number saved in it, obviously. She saved it as My Darling — great. Matthew Xi then checked the photo gallery and as expected, there are a few photos of her that she just took earlier; she wore the same clothes.

"Huh," Little did he know, the corner of his lips curled into a subtle smile as he watched the only video of Zoey. She was smiling for several seconds and cursed after realizing it was a video. How silly.

Matthew Xi had never been enthralled at things that were not work-related. Yet, exploring this pink colored phone she gave, he was amused and entertained, somehow.

Zoey seemed like she was trying to train him on how to be a devoted lover, which he couldn't do. Until now, he could not understand why she was so persistent.

After all, he didn't reveal his real identity and even if he willed to do so, Zoey had been seducing him the moment he regained consciousness.

Matthew Xi leaned his back as a sigh escaped his mouth. He absorbed in trying to analyze Zoey's train of thoughts that he forgot that Paul Qian was hiding inside the bedroom.

He only remembered his subordinate's existence when he glanced at the laptop on the small table. "Paul," called Matthew Xi, which made the bedroom door silently creaked open.

"Password." Flat as ever, Matthew Xi demanded as he turned on the laptop his assistant owned. He didn't glance at the puzzled Paul Qian as he readied his fingers to enter its password.

"Capital PQXC1985" Knitting his brows, Paul Qian still gave his device's password for his boss to gain access.

To him, his boss was acting very unusual and weird. He never touched other people's things; Matthew Xi preferred to use his stuff, especially if it's about business.

No matter how important it was, everyone needed to wait for Matthew Xi to get on his devices — he's as weird as that. All they could think was that their boss has OCD, but no one really confirmed it.

Unaware of his subordinate's thoughts, Matthew Xi typed Zoey Zhou's name. Although Zoey didn't directly introduce herself aside from using "My Darling", Matthew Xi wasn't dumb not to know her name.

He recalled that Cora Ma called her Zoey many times, and then the doctor addressed her as Miss Zhou. Regardless, Matthew Xi wasn't expecting any results to appear.

He perceived her as a con, and he wouldn't be surprised if the name Zoey Zhou was fake. However, after entering her name on the search engine, he arched his brows as different results came; her photo was one of them.

Surprised, Matthew Xi carefully clicked her photo, and it redirected him to an article. Young Entrepreneurs was the title that was posted years ago. He only read the section about her and came to know a part of her.

On the other hand, Paul Qian peeked at the monitor. He was intrigued about why his boss was unusually silent — though he was always quiet. The moment he glimpsed a smiling woman as Matthew Xi scrolled down, Paul Qian's eyes widened.

'A woman?!' Utter shock struck him to the core as red alarms rang inside his head. Darting his gaze from the monitor and to Matthew Xi's solemn side profile, Paul Qian nearly gasped in disbelief.

Just then, the living area that had nothing but the silence was disturbed by the sound of a woman's seductive voice. "I'm here, darling~" was what they heard.

Paul Qian instinctively turned his shaking eyes to the source. 'Darling?!' Did he hear it right? He was utterly shocked at this turn of events because he already gave up on his boss's love life.

Meanwhile, Matthew Xi's brows twitched as he looked at the pink phone.

'This phone offered more surprises than I thought,' Matthew Xi thought internally as he picked up the phone and saw one unread message, causing the corner of his lips subtly curl.

[My Darling: Goodnight *wink*]

He doesn't know why, but since this phone came from her, he expected more stressful messages and unending harassment. But if she kept it simple like this, he had to shrug any lawsuit idea.

"She's really odd…" He whispered.

"Yo— young master, are you..." Paul Qian's curiosity overwhelmed him and gave him the courage to inquire. However, he paused as Matthew Xi raised his blank gaze on him.

"She's the person who saved me. She paid for my medical bills and everything I needed when I am vulnerable." Guessing his subordinate's thoughts, Matthew Xi flatly explained before he closed the article tab.

"I see. Should I prepare a cheque—"

"No need." Matthew Xi waved his hand as he slowly stood from his seat. "We already had a deal." He vaguely clarified before he turned and headed to the bedroom as if the place was his.

Matthew Xi could have paid Zoey back ten times and it wouldn't even dent his wallet. However, he was curious about the lady — the very first woman he had taken interest with.

Who wouldn't? After all, she was a businesswoman who started her company from scratch all of her own. Yet, the Zoey he met wasn't even close to how she was described — it was a complete opposite of one's expectation.

Moreover, aside from the initial attraction, Matthew Xi was somewhat intrigued at how her mind worked. He was curious, hence he wanted to have a clearance.

"Uh, young master…?" Seeing that Matthew Xi was heading to his bedroom instead of asking him to drive him home, Paul Qian was confused.

"By the way, I'll rent your place for some time — move to my place until then or book a room in the hotel." Without turning his back, Matthew Xi stated and entered the unfamiliar bedroom.

It wasn't as fancy as his place, nor it offered the same comfort just like his own room. However, Zoey knew this was his place and if he wanted to keep having her around, Matthew Xi needed to adjust to this place.

"Thank you." After closing the door behind him, he responded to her chat and saw that his reply was immediately put on read.