Sharing One Bed

Irene covered her face with a scarf when she walked out of her apartment. Whenever she opened her eyes, a dozen camera flashes were shot at her, making her head spin around and want to throw up. 

The bodyguards were walking in haste, trying to guide Irene to the parking lot. A few reporters pulled her arms and shirt because they wanted to gain Irene's attention. However, the auburn-haired woman didn't want to respond to them, even though those reporters kept asking a dozen questions.

"Miss Irene, do you feel jealous of Miss Catelyn's success?"

"I heard that you are also into jewelry design. Are you interested in following in your sister's footsteps?"

Irene kept raging in her mind because those questions sounded demeaning to her pride. Why should she envy Catelyn when her jewelry design could have rocked the world if her bitchy sister hadn't stolen her design.

Unfortunately, Irene could not clarify that because Catelyn had a good image in front of the media, many people would be trying their best to defend her.

When she got to the lobby, a black car was waiting for her in front of the apartment. She hurriedly got into the car and asked the driver to speed up.

She looked back, seeing that several identical black cars were following her. Maybe those cars were prepared to trick the reporters.

"Why don't they just give up?" Irene asked herself.

"The news about the dispute between the wealthy siblings is such a hot news. Therefore, they won't tire of hunting you down to make a drama."

Irene suddenly looked at a center mirror, noticing the gray eyes that looked familiar to her. She hesitated at first, but it was impossible for her to misrecognize an important person. "Mr. Delacroix?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Russell." Sebastian smiled through the center mirror. 

"Why..," Irene's mouth suddenly felt numb for a few moments. "Why are you here? Mr. Delacroix, I bet you're a busy man, so why pick me up in person like you don't have any job?"

Sebastian whistled. "You really know how to rub lemon into someone's wound. You're the hot topic now, so I had to accompany you before people kidnapped you."

Irene clicked her tongue. "You're too much. No one will kidnap me."

After all, they had nothing to gain by kidnapping Irene. Her family would probably just report her as a missing person but had no intention of seriously searching for her.

"Are you sure? You're the hot topic, Miss Russell."

Irene, "I'm not deaf. You've already said it twice."

"Let's think about it, Miss Russell. Wouldn't your presence harm Catelyn if the reporters knew the facts? I'm sure they won't believe a word you say now, but we can't guess the future."

Irene folded her arms. Her eyes went blank as she began to think about Sebastian's words. There were too many problems that had befallen her lately, so her intuition had become dull.

"So, you're telling me, Catelyn began to feel anxious because my name was suddenly in the public spotlight. She was afraid that I'd expose her rottenness, so she decided to kidnap me or even try to get rid of me?" guessed Irene.

"Bingo." Sebastian scoffed at her, "It's such a pity a clever lady like you has such a miserable life."

Irene ignored Sebastian's insult. "That's why I don't understand why you have to stain my name if you know the consequences of it?"

"Besides smart, you're also stubborn as hell." he slammed the steering wheel to the side of the road, then stopped so he could see Irene's face as he spoke to her. "I do nothing, Miss Russell."

Irene still had a hard time believing Sebastian's words, but his expression looked so solemn that she doubted her own thoughts. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"You can cut my tongue if I lie to you," Sebastian said confidently.

Irene nodded and sighed. "I believe you."

However, if Sebastian didn't put her name in the media, then who did? Catelyn wouldn't do such a risky thing, while Daniel didn't want to deal with her anymore.

"But to tell you the truth, I was already planning to have those reporters come to your house." Sebastian smiled. "It's such a shame, someone else has taken a step before I can do that."

Irene caught her breath and closed her eyes. The anger that had dimmed gradually rose again. If she had lived with Sebastian all these years, she would probably have high blood pressure, and all the hair on her head would turn white.

Just be patient.

After she drained his fortune and settled her business, Irene would throw the divorce papers to his annoying face. After clearing up their misunderstanding, Sebastian drove his car back.

However, Irene realized they were not heading to his residence after seeing his car navigation. On the screen, it said the car was heading to a hotel not far from Irene's apartment.

"Mr. Delacroix." Irene looked at Sebastian with suspicion. "Are we not going to your residence?"

Sebastian glanced at his navigation and said, "Ah, you must have misunderstood me. I brought you to the hotel because I wanted to trick the reporters. I'm afraid we can't go straight to my house because one or two reporters are still following us."

They had to be careful because Sebastian didn't want their relationship to be out in the open before the official announcement of their marriage. Besides, the members of the Delacroix family would hate her to death if Irene dragged them into her scandal.

"That's why you shouldn't have forced me to live with you." Irene sighed tiredly. "Our relationship is too complicated."

Sebastian chuckled. "I don't mind. Besides, I like doing something with an adrenaline rush."

"But I'm not." Irene tried to maintain her smile, though her intonation sounded sarcastic. "Please, clear my name before we get married, Mr. Delacroix."

"Do not worry, Miss Russell. I will have your name cleared within 24 hours," assured Sebastian.

Irene said nothing more after that. She looked out the window and thought that her life would never be the same again after getting married to the annoying but rich man before her.

• • •

"What is this, Mr. Delacroix?" Irene let out a heavy sigh. She held her head, which was beginning to hurt from dealing with so many problems.

"What's wrong?" replied Sebastian innocently.

Irene pointed to the bed in front of her. She tried to question Sebastian's intention to rent only one hotel room for them.

"Why not rent two rooms?"

Sebastian raised one of his eyebrows, thinking that Irene was overreacting. "Why? This room is spacious enough for two people to stay in."

Irene bit her lower lip when she realized that Sebastian's words were not wrong. He rented a luxury suite hotel room, which was ten times larger than a regular room.

Besides having a living room separate from the bedroom, the beds in the bedroom were also spacious, probably it could let five people sleep in it, so Sebastian did not need to rent two rooms for them.

Still, Irene felt uncomfortable sharing a bed with a man she didn't know well.

"I'll sleep in the living room tonight," Irene stated. She wanted to rent a regular room for herself, but she forgot her wallet when she rushed out of the apartment.

"Are you the Virgin Mary? Why are you so scared of sharing a room with a man? After all, we'll get married someday." Sebastian took off his suit and lay down on the bed. He patted the empty place beside him and said, "Here. There's enough room for you, Miss Russell. I promise not to touch you … or maybe just a bit, if you don't mind."