Trevor Moore stretched after finishing his emails, glancing over at Layla Evans. The mischievous little woman was lost in her game on the iPhone he had bought for her.

"Layla, are you ignoring me again?" Trevor's temper flared. Was it really so hard for her to focus on studying and practicing her handwriting?

"I finished the six pages and reviewed my lessons. Look!" Layla waved her textbook, which she had hastily marked with a few squiggly lines earlier. "I really did my prep.”

"And the six pages of writing?" Trevor demanded, knowing full well that, given Layla's slow pace, there was no way she had actually completed the task properly.

"I finished those too," Layla replied, her voice small and lacking confidence.

"Show me." Trevor held out his hand, curious to see what she had done.

Reluctantly, Layla handed over six sheets of A4 paper. "I wrote the six pages—completely filled," she muttered under her breath.

Trevor couldn't help but laugh when he saw the result. "Layla, what am I going to do with you?"

Layla lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

Trevor tossed the "masterpiece" onto the desk. The first page was neatly half-filled, but the remaining five and a half pages were covered in massive, exaggerated letters, with each word taking up almost an entire page.

"You told me to fill six pages. You never said how big the writing had to be or how many words per page," Layla muttered, her voice barely audible. She felt she had a valid point, but Trevor's unreadable expression made her nervous.

"Layla, it’s the first time I’ve seen you use your brain like this." Trevor tapped her forehead playfully. "You’re usually clumsy with everything, but when it comes to slacking off, you’re full of clever ideas. Why can’t you put this energy into something productive? How do you expect to get by in the future if you stay so lazy?”

Trevor lectured her like a parent scolding a child, hoping to steer his clever but lazy wife onto the right path. However, Layla misunderstood his concern and, with a frown, mumbled, "Don't worry, even if we get divorced one day, I won’t starve. I won’t be a burden to you.”

Trevor hadn’t been angry before, but Layla’s words about divorce triggered his fury.

He was trying his best to help her succeed, yet she brushed off his efforts and even brought up divorce. It seemed like she needed a serious lesson.

Trevor pulled Layla into his lap, positioning her face-down over his legs.

"Since you clearly don’t understand who’s in charge around here, it’s time to teach you a lesson," Trevor said, grabbing the steel ruler from the desk as Layla struggled, refusing to let him remove her shorts. But her resistance was futile, as always.

"Ah!" Layla cried out as a sharp pain spread across her backside, her tears flowing freely as the sting intensified.

"It hurts! It really hurts," Layla sobbed, her voice filled with sorrow.

A bright red mark appeared on her skin, and Trevor immediately regretted his actions. He hadn’t meant to hit her so hard. His intention was only to give her a light warning, but it had gone too far.

Trevor quickly dropped the steel ruler, overwhelmed with guilt. "Baby, I didn’t mean for this to happen. Please don’t cry, don’t cry..." He was flustered now, scooping Layla up in his arms and gently carrying her to the bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed, careful not to aggravate the pain.

But Layla continued to cry, partly from the pain and partly from the humiliation of being spanked like that.

Trevor grabbed the first aid kit and found a healing ointment. He applied it as delicately as he could to her sore skin.

"Ow! That hurts!" Layla whined and cried, her tears starting afresh as Trevor struggled to soothe her.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Trevor finished applying the ointment. Layla’s pain began to subside, and her loud sobs faded into soft sniffles.

Trevor was not good at comforting others. Although he wanted to do that for her, he still scolded her, “This is the lesson for your disobedience. Now you know it hurts!”

At that, Layla cried out at once with lots of grievances. He spanked her with reasons, but it was she who did the wrong thing in the end. It was not fair!

Seeing her crying, Trevor felt very guilty.

“Fine. Since I hurt you, I allow you to take a rest at home tomorrow, and you don’t need to go to school. But if you fail the final, I’ll punish you all the same.” Trevor really couldn’t bear it and finally compromised, and he gave her the promise she wanted the most.

Trevor Moore, as usual, wasn't great at comforting people with words. Despite wanting to soothe his upset wife, his mouth still shot off with, "This is what happens when you don’t listen. Does it hurt now?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Layla Evans burst into tears, feeling deeply wronged. He had hit her, and yet, somehow, it was her fault? It was downright unjust!

Seeing Layla's tear-streaked face filled Trevor with guilt.

"Fine," he finally relented, softening his tone. "Since you're injured because of me, I’ll let you skip school tomorrow and rest at home. But if you mess up your finals, I’ll still punish you." Despite his stern demeanor, Trevor couldn’t bear to stay strict and ended up giving her what she wanted most: a break.

"Really?" Layla wiped her tears with her arm, her disbelief showing on her face.

"Really." To prove his point, Trevor pulled out his phone and called the principal of Dervay Saints Academy himself to request the day off for Layla.

The principal didn't know about Layla's connection to Trevor, but it wasn’t surprising for students at the prestigious academy to have ties with powerful figures like Trevor Moore. Since Trevor, a key investor in the school, was requesting it personally, the principal had no choice but to comply. Besides, a student requesting a day off was a minor issue, especially when many students skipped class without even notifying the school.

"Believe me now?" Trevor hung up the phone and sat beside Layla, his heart still heavy with guilt as he noticed the drying tears on her cheeks.

Layla quickly wiped away the sadness, breaking into a smile. "Tomorrow’s Friday, and then it’s the weekend, so I get three days off!"

Trevor let out a relieved sigh as her mood lifted, but he didn’t want her to get too cocky. "Don’t get too happy. If you make another mistake, I’ll spank you again," he said, tapping her still sore bottom lightly.

"Ow! That hurts—domestic abuse!" Layla yelped.

"Call it whatever you want. Same rule as before: misbehave, and you’ll get spanked. But I’ll promise you one thing—I won’t use the steel ruler next time, I’ll use my hand." Trevor spoke calmly, though deep down, he felt terrible about hitting her too hard earlier. He had never intended to leave such a painful mark on her delicate skin, and just thinking about it made his heart ache.

That night, Trevor didn’t push Layla to finish her homework or study. He knew she was feeling upset, so he simply held her close, and they both fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Trevor let Layla sleep in, quietly getting up to buy her favorite breakfast. He wanted to make up for last night's mishap, but he quickly realized that he didn’t actually know what Layla liked to eat. In the end, he settled on something he figured most girls would like—chocolate cake—based on his younger sister's preferences.

As much as Trevor wanted to stay and spend the day with Layla to make up for the trouble, he had no choice but to head to the office. He kissed her gently on the forehead before grabbing his laptop and leaving for work. He was the CEO of Moore Group, and responsibilities awaited him. Still, he promised himself he’d finish as quickly as possible and try not to work overtime during the weekend. He wanted to spend time with his adorable, frustrating little wife.

Layla woke up late, groggily stretching before she noticed the tray on the nightstand. Her eyes lit up when she saw the fresh chocolate cake and a carton of milk next to it. Without wasting a second, she dug in, her hunger taking over. The cake was delicious, but Layla was eating so fast that she nearly choked, hastily gulping down half the milk to recover.

Once she finished breakfast, she noticed a note beneath the tray.

"Baby, eat the cake slowly, don’t choke," Layla read aloud. She was amazed at Trevor's foresight—he had guessed exactly what would happen. She really had choked.

"You hurt your bottom, so order takeout for lunch. I’ll bring dinner home. Remember, stay out of trouble and don’t tear the house down. Rest in bed, watch TV if you want, but no computer or going outside. If you don’t listen, your bottom will suffer again."

Layla crumpled the note and threw it into the trash, pouting. "All he ever does is hit me—such a brute. Hmph!" she muttered to herself.

However, knowing that Trevor wouldn’t be back during the day gave her a sense of freedom. She hurried through her morning routine and then ran straight to the study to get on the computer. Normally, she wouldn’t dare use it so openly with Trevor around, but now that he was gone, she could do as she pleased.

Ignoring Trevor’s strict warning to avoid the computer, Layla believed she could easily turn it off before he returned, and all would be fine.

Despite her sore bottom, she placed a cushion on the chair and lost herself in a game of Dance Dance Revolution, completely unaware of the passing time. When her stomach finally growled with hunger, it was already 3 p.m.

Realizing she needed food, Layla tried to order takeout, but then remembered she had no idea how to do it. Trevor had always handled it, and she hadn’t needed to order anything herself since they started living together. Plus, she wasn’t comfortable ordering from the place she used to work, especially after leaving on bad terms with the manager. Not to mention how expensive that restaurant was—no way was she wasting money there.

With no food in the fridge due to her preference for fresh groceries, Layla searched the kitchen in vain. "I should've stocked up on snacks," she muttered to herself.

Though her bottom still hurt, her hunger won out. Layla decided to ignore Trevor’s order about staying home and planned to sneak out to buy some food. In her mind, as long as she was back before Trevor, he’d never know she had left the house.