With Brian's tall frame pressing on top of her, it was impossible for Joanne to move. In her mind, there were only his previous words, which were spiraling endlessly.

Feeding him with her... Feeding him... with her...

A momentary blankness formed in Joanne's mind. It took a long while and for her to react to what Brian had said. She gulped and said timidly, "Um... I don't taste good. But my braised chicken with butter and steamed fish taste pretty good!"

"You've got to be kidding me. She still hasn't got it yet?" Brian thought.

Brian stared at her silently as he lay on top of her.

Joanne kept staring at anywhere other than Brian. She did not have the courage to meet his gaze. Another long moment passed. All of a sudden, it hit her.

Feeding him with herself. Brian meant that?

"Pervert!" she said, glaring at Brian. Then, she pushed at him. "Get off me. I'm going downstairs."

In truth, Joanne had been right to worry about him just now. Brian's gastric problems had indeed relapsed. When she shoved him, her hand had landed on his stomach. Brian frowned when he felt the force behind her push.

Joanne hesitated. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Brian removed her hand. Then, he smiled in a way that exuded an evil aura. "Mrs. Lambert, right now I'm the one lying on top of you. It's better if you worry about yourself."

Joanne was practically grinding her teeth when she growled out that same word, "Pervert!"

Brian smirked and released the Little Monster beneath him. He moved to the nightstand and opened its drawer, where he took out a white bottle. He poured out two white-colored pills and placed them in his mouth. Joanne took the white bottle and saw that it was indeed medication intended for gastric pain.

His drawer contained not only gastric medications, but also sleeping pills.

"Brian," she asked hesitantly, "you have insomnia?"

Brian closed the drawer. "Occasionally."

He did not wait for Joanne's response and before pulling Joanne up by her hand. He led her downstairs into the dining room.

Billows of steam rose from the food that had been served on the dining table. There were three dishes altogether: braised chicken with butter , steamed fish, and tomato egg soup. Admittedly, these dishes seemed rather cheap and shabby compared to the luxurious dining table and chairs.

"I was in a rush, so I couldn't make more," Joanne said sheepishly, "Well, here you go. Consider this meal my apology."

Brian's foul mood had long since dissipated, but since the Little Monster had taken the initiative to please him, he figured he would at least try to accept.

"By the way, how many vacation days have you requested for me?" Joanne asked.

She had not set foot into the morgue or touched any cases for at least half a month. She was starting to feel a bit unaccustomed to it all.

"You'll return to work after the company's anniversary dinner," Brian said.

"Oh, you mean Lambert Group' tenth anniversary dinner?" Joanne paused in thought. "But... what's that got to do with me?"

Brian's interest was piqued. He glanced at Joanne, who was still confused. "How did you know that it's Lambert Group' tenth anniversary?"

"..." Err, how was she supposed to tell Brian that she had been following any news related to Lambert Group since the day it was established?

However, Brian did not seem too interested in Joanne's answer. He stared at her, and his eyes were ablaze like two burning torches. "You're Mrs. Lambert, the wife of Lambert Group' President. So, you tell me. What does the company's tenth anniversary have to do with you?"

Putting it that way, would she be considered as... the hostess?

Brian had practically built his company from scratch. No outsider could imagine the hardships he had gone through and the amount of time and effort he had poured in to make Lambert Group into the way it was today. Today, Lambert Group was a powerful force whose roar could shake the entire business world. "To him, the tenth anniversary must be an important event, right?" she thought.

Joanne had never once thought that in their two years of marriage, she would have the chance to stand beside him during such a memorable and meaningful event.

"Do you need my help over at the company?" she asked. "I've got nothing to do at home anyway."

Now that Freya was undergoing training in preparation for her debut, Joanne would most likely end up spending her free time hanging out with Shawn at the hospital.

Brian raised his brows. "Come with me to the company the day after tomorrow."

Joanne had known about Lambert Group ages ago. Even before she married Brian, she had driven past Lambert Group' headquarters countless of times. Every time she drove past, she would glance towards the top floor and imagine the way Brian would look like sitting in that office.

Back then, she had been dying to enter the building, because she knew that Brian was there. The man she had been secretly in love with for over a decade was right inside that monolith.

However, that impulse would always be suppressed by rationality. Now that Brian had asked her to follow him to the company, she was trying everything in her power to hold back that same impulse lest Brian noticed anything that would give her feelings away.

"Okay! I'll go with you!"

Brian smiled. "After lunch, drink your medicine."

"Okay! I..." Joanne instantly became aware of what she had just agreed to. She stared at Brian wide-eyed. "Huh?"

"I said drink your medicine," said Brian in an easy-going tone.

As if on cue, Martha brought out the medicine. "Young Madam, it's a little hot. Please wait for a while before you drink it."

"Mm," Joanne said in agreement, though she was close to the point of weeping by then. She was considering pulling a whoops-my-hands-slipped-by-accident stunt while Brian was not looking, but Brian did not give her that chance. Brian's hand suddenly reached out and took the bowl.

He scooped a spoonful of the dark liquid before letting it pour back into the bowl. Steam rose from the bowl as he repeated the same action. After a while, the medicine cooled down.

He pushed the bowl towards her. "It's cool now. Drink."

The thick, herbal scent entered her respiratory tracts. At that point, Joanne could pretty much taste the bitterness at the tip of her tongue.

Shaking her head, she gave Brian a piteous look. "Can I not drink it? I'll do whatever you ask the day after tomorrow!"

There was not even the slightest bit of hesitation in Brian's answer. "You can't."

"Brian..." She begged.

"Drink it."

"Brother Brian..." Time to take a softer approach.

Brian smiled. "Be a good girl. Drink."

"..." Joanne felt as if her heart had been clogged up from all the grievance that filled it.

Brian noted Joanne's expression, which was solemn and serious, as if she was right in the middle of an unsolved case. Gently, Brian coaxed. "Come on. Just drink it all at once. It won't be that bitter."

After bouts of hesitation, Joanne helplessly accepted that there really was nowhere out of this. So she schooled her expression into that of someone about to face an honorable death, pinched her nose, picked up the bowl, and gulped down the dark liquid in huge mouthfuls.

Bitterness overwhelmed her taste buds and swiftly pervaded her entire mouth. She was practically at the verge of tears by the time she was done. She shot Brian a resentful look. "Liar!"

Just now, Martha had brought over some candied fruits. Brian picked one and held it between his fingers. "Open your mouth."

Joanne parted her pink lips slightly. Brian fed her a piece of candied fruit. The candy's overwhelming sweetness helped suppress the medicine's bitterness. Finally, the frown in her brows eased.

"I'm going to bed. Call me if there's anything." Brian stood up and was about to head to the stairway. Joanne called out to him, wanting to ask if his stomach was still hurting. In the end, she failed to get the question out despite having stuttered for a good half day. Brian raised his brows. "You want to come with me?"

Joanne's face darkened instantly. "You! Go upstairs!"

If he could still act like a pervert, then he probably was not in too much pain.

She brought the empty medicine bowl and the bowl containing the sweets into the kitchen. Then, she opened the fridge and began rummaging through its contents.

She had nothing planned for the afternoon, so she decided to bake a few pastries for afternoon tea. She figured that was the best way to spend her time.

She found a lot of ice creams in the fridge.

Vanilla-flavored ice creams, strawberry-flavored ice creams... All of them were packaged in small paper boxes. The boxes had English words printed on them. To confirm her suspicion, she took out a box and read the words.

-Abel Hand Made Ice Cream.

She had once told Brian about the one place in the United States that she missed the most. It was a store outside her university that sold handmade ice creams. That store's ice creams had stolen her heart, especially its vanilla ice cream.

She had told Brian all that before he left for his business trip to New York. Before he left, Brian had promised to give her a surprise when he returned.

Afterwards, the rumors between Brian and Rosalyn popped up. Then, she got kidnapped and they were not on speaking terms for a while. She thought Brian had long forgotten about his promise. Naturally, she was too embarrassed to bring it up again.

But now that Abel Hand Made Ice Cream had suddenly appeared in the house, she could not help but feel suspicious.

When she found Simon and asked him about it, he answered, "These are handmade by an American Chef named Abel, who came all the way here to make it."

Joanne stared at Simon. "When did the chef come? Do you still remember?" Joanne asked anxiously.

"I do," Simon said, smiling. "It was the third day after Young Master's return. The same day both of you left for G City."

Brian's business trip was meant to last 7 days. If he had not returned ahead of schedule, that was supposed to be the day of his return.

These ice creams were meant to be Brian's surprise for her. She had mentioned before that it was impossible for Brian to bring the ice cream back all the way from the United States. So he brought the maker of the ice cream back instead.

"Why didn't he tell me?" she thought.

"Young Master had instructed us to keep it from you." Simon cleared his throat. "He said that you shouldn't be eating them now. He was worried you wouldn't be able to resist the temptation."

Feeling awkward, Joanne stared at the ice creams. Well, her taste buds were feeling kind of tingly, that much was true. For a while, she wrestled with her thoughts. In the end, she shut the door of the fridge.

Fine. Brian did know her well. Keeping it from her was... truly a wise decision.

Nevertheless, deep in her heart, she felt undeniably happy.

The ice creams were inexpensive. In fact, their packagings were rather homespun and seemed to be made using recyclable materials. And yet, Brian had brought the chef here across thousands of miles just because she had made a passing remark about liking the ice creams.

She knew very well just how lucrative that store's business was. The owner was also a highly principled man, so Brian must have spent quite a sum if he could get the man to temporarily close up shop and come here.

She was happy, more so than if he were to give her a piece of expensive jewelry, a branded bag, or a voguish outfit.

She did not know what Brian's true feelings for her were. She could not even be sure whether Brian actually liked her.

What she did know was that Brian cared about her and was willing to put in the effort to be nice to her.

At the very least, it meant that Brian did not hate her.

What if she tried to fight for him?

What if she stopped feeling depressed over their impending divorce? After all, he had told her that there never was anything between him and Rosalyn. Also... he would always be needing a wife, right?

What if she tried to make Brian fall in love with her? What if she tried to extend this contract marriage so that she could stay by his side forever?

At the thought, Joanne found that her palms had turned sweaty.

With that decision, she was challenging herself. Throughout so many years, she had never had such intentions toward Brian. Before marrying Brian, even the time she spent alone with him would feel like a form of luxury.

Before, she had loved him in secret. She had loved him humbly and unpresumingly. Now that she had decided to fight for him, she felt as if she had transformed into a little giant, one filled to the brim with strength and might.

She and Brian had known each other since they were children. Iris was especially fond of her, too. Besides, they were married to each other, which meant that a lot of things would come naturally to them. These circumstances were all in her favor.

Surely, it would be relatively easier for her to pursue Brian compared to other women?

"That settles it!" she thought.

From today onwards, she would massacre those who dare approach Brian, men or women alike.

A long time from now in the future, Joanne would look back upon this day and realize that it was a bunch of ice cream that had given her the courage to pursue Brian. Joanne would come to realize just how impulsive she had been in her younger days.