A Contract Marriage With My Boss

Stopping at a traffic light, Charles suddenly remembered Sarah's words back at the restaurant. He looked at her and asked. "While you were talking with Daniel, I overheard you said you weren't happy..." "No," Sarah quickly interrupted him.

Seeing her nervous reactions, Charles grew more suspicious and insisted. "You don't have to lie to me. I want you to be happy."

She looked at him and murmured. "I...I..."

Holding her hand in his, Charles looked her in the eyes and said. "Sarah, aren't you happy? Why?"

Hearing the worry in his gentle words, Sarah felt a little guilty and shook her head, saying. "It's not because of you. On the contrary, you always make me feel happy. Charles, you are my strength. After we got married, I have had a hard time adapting to the differences. But no matter what happens, you always make me feel comfortable and supported.

Hearing her explanation, Charles frowned as if he wasn't convinced with her answer and looked at her with an inquiring look. "What makes you unhappy, and why can't you tell me?"

Sarah didn't reply but lowered her head to look at his hands. She didn't know what to say. Not ready to let it go, Charles insisted. "Is it because of my mom? She bothered you, didn't she?" "No!" Sarah raised her head and continued, "Don't overthink!"

"It's not a misunderstanding. I've seen my mom's attitude toward you these days, even from before we got married. I'm not blind. I can clearly see that something is wrong."

"Charles... Please stop!"

"Ever since I promised my mother to move back, you have been melancholic. If it makes you so unhappy, we'll not go back!"

"Charles..." Sarah was so surprised to hear his side with her that she didn't know how to respond.

Clasping her hand, he reaffirmed her. "You're my wife now, and I want to see you happy because I love you. I didn't marry you just to satisfy my selfish desires, but to protect you and provide you with a reassuring life and to make you happy. So, if my mother is treating you wrong, we should avoid her. I'll talk to her tonight, and no matter what she says, we won't move in with her."

"Charles, your mom will be unhappy!" Sarah was nervous, wondering if Christina would blame her for Charles's decision, which would make their relationship even worse.

"I don't care whether she is happy or not. I care about your happiness now. She mistreated me when I was a child, I feel no obligation toward her. What's more, she is such an unreasonable person, and you don't need to care about her feelings, either!" Charles said arrogantly, just like a rebelling teenage boy. His disappointment in his mother was evident, given how indifferent she had been to him during his childhood. After so many years, he still hadn't overcome the way she treated him.

Sarah wanted to say something, but the traffic light turned green, and Charles turned back to focus on driving. She stopped herself from talking, afraid it would affect him and just kept looking at his face. Seeing his determined expression, she knew he wouldn't change his mind, no matter what she said. She turned to look out of the window.

She suddenly felt the urge to cry because she had never met a person who respected her opinion and considered her as inferior before. She had thought that Charles was overbearing, like the time he wanted her so badly, but to her surprise, he was also very considerate toward her feelings.

Although she didn't want to worsen her relationship with her mother-in-law, she was glad and happy to see Charles's reaction. She suddenly burst into tears but quickly wiped them away because she didn't want Charles to see her cry.

Charles had been paying attention to her and saw her wiping her tears and asked in a warm tone. "Why are you crying, you can tell me. I'm your husband!"

Sarah knew she couldn't lie to him anymore, so she turned to him and said with a smile, "I'm all right. I just feel very touched by you."

"You're a delicate and sensitive person and have suffered too much. It's the least I could do for you. If you continue like this, you'll be touched often when I do something of real importance for you. Why would you cry?"

Arriving home, they found Mrs. Thomas sitting alone in the living room, watching the business news, and eating fruit. Emma had gone back to the hospital to take care of Mr. Thomas. Walking in, Charles said in the way of greeting. "Mom, we're back!"

Christina raised her head to look at them and asked, "Why did you both come back? No wonder when Emma went back to the hospital no one was taking care of your father. How can you leave him there alone? What if there was an emergency? So irresponsible!"

Although Christina was talking to both, it was apparent that she was directing her anger toward Sarah because she left Mr. Thomas alone. Charles had given Emma a ride, who had needed to take care of some things in the city, and Sarah had stayed at the hospital to take care of Mr. Thomas, then had later left him to go out with Daniel for dinner.

Dismissively, Charles replied to her. "He has a nurse in case he needs anything."

"Can a nurse help him as a family member?" Christina's tone was still hostile.

Charles didn't want to argue and said to Sarah. "You go upstairs first, I need to talk with my mom."

Knowing that it probably was better not to listen to their talk since Mrs. Thomas may blame her for Charles's decision, she just nodded and was about to go upstairs when she suddenly heard Christina say. "Come back here. Today the housemaid asked for sick leave, so nobody is doing the housework. Go wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. Remember to put the dishes in the sterilizer after you're done!" Charles was furious. "Mom, why don't you do the dishes?"

"Have you ever seen me doing house chores? I never do housework."

"Then, why should Sarah? She's my wife, and she doesn't need to do domestic chores for you.

"You..."

Not wanting them to argue because of her, Sarah patted Charles's gently on the shoulder and said. "Well, it's ok. I often do housework when I was alone."

"You see, it's her fate." Christina ridiculed her.

"Mom!" Charles sneered angrily at his mother.

"Charles, calm down, there's not much to it." Sarah tried to persuade him.

Then Sarah turned to Christina. "Mom, I'll go and clean the dishes!" Even though she felt a little wronged by her mother-in-law, seeing Charles's reactions, she thought he deserved it to avoid further aggression from his mother.

Seeing Sarah leave, Charles said coldly to his mother. "I need to talk to you!"

Was a war going to break out? The situation was complicated!