His Unveiled Passion

Tessa called Stephen, and the phone was quickly answered. Stephen's voice was gentle as he spoke, "Tess, did you like the three gowns?"

"Yeah," Tessa replied. "Which one do you think looks the best?"

He seemed to chuckle on the other end of the line. His voice was full of affection. "Didn't I say that if you like them, just buy all of them? I've already had my assistant order all three."

"That quickly? I just posted about them a little while ago." She was surprised.

Stephen replied, "I was worried they would sell out if we waited too long. The gowns are limited editions." "Okay. I'm sorry for the trouble, Stephen," Tessa responded.

"Tess, you're now my fiancée. We're family, so there's no need to worry about whether it's troublesome or not," Stephen reminded her.

Although his words had some truth to them, Tessa still couldn't fully embody the role of his fiancée just yet. In her heart, he was still the patient, older brother figure from next door who used to tutor her.

"By the way, Tess, it's inconvenient for you to get a cab in Haverford. So, I bought you a car," he added casually. "The paperwork has just been finished. Give me your address, and I'll have someone deliver it to you."

Tessa felt embarrassed hearing this. There was no way Stephen didn't know about how she had gone as far as to run away from home to avoid the arranged marriage with him. Samuel even froze her cards. She definitely didn't have a car or a house in Haverford, and she lived like a regular working-class person. Although her two best friends had talked about being her "sugar mommies", Tessa had turned them down. She had accepted some money from her friends for the first two months as a temporary measure. When her job stabilized later on, she stopped accepting their financial assistance.

Tessa also paid back the money she borrowed from them, little by little, after she started earning a salary. Yet, Stephen didn't blame her for running to Haverford to escape from marrying him, and now he was even offering to buy her a car.

She felt a surge of guilt and gripped her phone tightly. "There's no need. I'm fine with taking a cab. It's pretty convenient."

Stephen sounded hurt. "Tess, are you being so polite because you're still not willing to marry me?"

Tessa shook her head without thinking but then realized a moment later that they were on a call. Stephen couldn't see her expression and actions through the phone.

She explained gently, "No, Stephen. I've agreed to the marriage, so I'm definitely willing. I just thought that since I'll be back in Rivertown in a few days, there's no need to buy a car now."

He replied, "It's no problem. When you are back in Rivertown, I'll have someone drive the car back for you."

"But..." Tessa still wanted to refuse.

"Aren't you going to a neighboring city for a trial in a few days? It'll be more convenient if you drive," Stephen suggested.

Sounding surprised, she asked, "How did you know I have a trial in a neighboring city in a few days?" "I saw your Instagram Stories two months ago," Stephen said.

Tessa froze for a moment. The trial in the next few days had indeed been scheduled two months ago, for the 25th of September. It was to be at the state appellate court in the neighboring city.

She had casually posted on her Instagram Stories joking about a company-funded vacation. She said that after the trial was over, she wanted to have a plate of chili garlic linguine she had been craving in that city and visit a famous tourist spot afterward.

Stephen's voice carried a gentle hint of amusement. "It's much more convenient with a car. You can visit the nearby scenic spots after the trial."

At that moment, Stephen stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the CEO's office at the top of the corporate headquarters. He gazed down at the glittering city lights with eyes filled with tenderness.

God knew how badly he had wanted to buy her a car, a house, or send her money when he first found out how difficult Tessa's life in Haverford was three years ago.

Yet, he was lacking an official status as her fiancé then. He knew she wouldn't accept gifts from him if he gave them to her rashly.

Fortunately, the situation was different now. Tessa had agreed to the arranged marriage with him, and now he had a rightful reason to give her gifts.

Tessa paused for a moment after hearing Stephen's words, feeling a stir in her chest. It felt like a pebble had dropped into her heart, sending ripples across her emotions.

Her Instagram Stories were only visible for 24 hours, and sometimes she forgot what she had posted after

a while. She didn't expect Stephen to remember them so clearly.

Zachary had never cared about what she posted. There were times she had informed Zachary

beforehand about where she was traveling for work. Yet, on the day of the tip, he would call and ask why she wasn't in Haverford.

Tessa had mentioned several times to Zachary where she wanted to travel, but he never took it to heart. They had never visited any of the places she had wanted to go since two years ago.

So this was what it felt like to be cared for.

Tessa stopped refusing Stephen's gift and gave him the address to Zachary's villa.

Stephen said, "You'll be home tomorrow morning, right? I'll have someone bring the car over during that time."

"I'll be home," Tessa replied.

...

Zachary returned with Wendy not long after Tessa ended her call with Stephen.

Tessa was watching TV when they walked into the first-floor living room. She glanced at the two of them out of the corner of her eye and said nothing.

Zachary didn't speak either, but Wendy greeted her first, "Ms. Yates, we meet again."

Tessa was slumped against the couch with her eyes fixed on the legal drama playing on TV. She didn't respond to Wendy.

Wendy wasn't bothered and smiled as she approached Tessa. She sat on the couch and asked, "Ms. Yates, do you usually enjoy watching these kinds of shows?"

Zachary muttered an "I'm going to shower" to no one in particular and headed upstairs.

"You watched the video, didn't you?" Wendy's smile disappeared as soon as he left, and her expression shifted entirely. She said, "The person Zachary loves is me."

Tessa didn't care who Zachary loved. She just nodded without even sparing Wendy a glance, answering, "Yeah, yeah. I know."

Wendy was clearly irritated by Tessa's dismissive attitude. She couldn't hide the disdain in her eyes. "You're really good at pretending to be calm. Let's see how long you can keep it up."

Tessa replied coldly, "I'm not as good as you at pretense."

Wendy scoffed and got up to head upstairs. "Zachary, I'll shower with you."

She turned around to give Tessa a provocative smile, but unfortunately for Wendy, Tessa didn't even look at her.

At dinner, Zachary and Wendy sat together on one side, while Tessa was alone on the other side of the table.

Emma set down a plate of blanched Brussels sprouts, saying, "All the dishes are served."

Tessa frowned and asked, "Emma, why is it just these today?"

The table was laden with foods that had bitter greens in them: kale, arugula, pickled olives, Brussels sprouts, dandelion greens, and endives-everything sharp and bitter, with not a single meaty dish in sight. Zachary answered calmly, "These are all Wendy's favorites. She loves bitter-tasting vegetables." "Bitter-tasting vegetables?" Tessa clarified with a half-smile. "Sounds like you're trying to tell me I'm tasting the bitterness of betrayal."

"Tessa! What's wrong with you now?" Zachary's expression darkened. "You can eat whatever you want, but don't speak nonsense!"

Tessa's gaze locked on the marks on Zachary's neck, which stood out like a sore thumb. Wendy had deliberately placed the kiss marks there for her to see.

Tessa smiled at the furious man across from her. "You know it better than anyone whether I said anything inappropriate."

With a sour expression, he responded, "Eat if you want to or don't. Also, Wendy has no place to stay, so she'll be living here for the next few days. We might be eating vegetarian often from now on. If you can't stand it, you can cook for yourself."

Although they had Emma, Zachary wouldn't allow her to make a couple more dishes. If Tessa

remembered correctly, he wasn't particularly fond of vegetables, so this was clearly meant to put her in an awkward position.

Zachary was obviously going out of his way to make Tessa uncomfortable, even going as far as to have vegetarian meals with Wendy every day. It was truly a case of hurting himself just to try and hurt her. Tessa knew Zachary was still angry about the watch, but she had no intention of explaining herself or apologizing.

She hadn't done anything wrong.

Tessa put down her fork and stood up to leave.

It's fine if she didn't want to eat. Who can't just order takeout?

The next day, Stephen had the car delivered.