Loriel was dying to kiss his wife. Her luscious lips brushed his cheek and felt so soft when she gave him a peck. It made Loriel's heart palpitate.

The man had to swallow his drool and looked away, trying to divert his attention to their two cats, so he would stop thinking about Elise's lips.

The former king couldn't possibly kiss her back. He had to exert his self-control and wait until Elise became his again.

At the moment, she was just a… friend to him.

"Don't mention it," Loriel said with a smile. "I don't have much to do anyway in December. It will be fun."

He went to the fridge and took out a bowl of ice cream and served them each two scoops of ice cream for desserts.

"Tell me about the gala and what I should be wearing to go there," he said.

Elise took her ice cream and excitedly told him what she knew. It was an annual celebration held by the company to show the employees how much they were valued.

It was not a formal event, but attendees were expected to dress up and look good.

The CEO will announce the company's achievement for the year, their plans going forward, and he would give awards to employees who had done excellent works in the respective year. He would also announce the end-of-year bonus that would be received by each employee.

Alex told Elise that last year, in addition to their paid holiday bonus, every employee received an additional $500 together with their salary for the month. It was a really exciting time.

And of course, the moment that many people were waiting for was music performance, quizzes, and raffles. The door prizes prepared, ranging from holidays in Europe, the newest gadgets, to self-driving cars.

Loriel listened to Elise's explanation with a big smile on his face. From her expression, he could guess that Elise hoped she could win one of the door prizes.

Hmm… maybe he should make it happen. What could she possibly want now?

A new car? She didn't need it because her workplace was within walking distance from home. But, maybe she could sell the car for money. She seemed to like money. Didn't she secretly wish to open a bakery once her skills were good enough?

Hmm… Loriel would think about it.

***

"Loriel, I will be coming home late today," Elise informed Loriel before she left for work. "Don't need to wait for me to have dinner."

Loriel just finished packing her lunch and handed out her Hello Kitty lunch box to her. The man furrowed his brows when he heard her. "You don't have any baking class tonight."

Elise nodded. "That's true. Wow… you know all my schedule."

She smiled sweetly, feeling happy that this handsome man was so attentive.

Loriel pretended to shrug nonchalantly. "I just have a really good memory."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for the lunch," Elise accepted her lunch box and put it inside her bag. "Yeah, I don't have any baking class tonight, but I will be shopping for clothes with my office mates. You know… we need new dresses for the company year-end gala."

Loriel was so happy to hear that. That means Elise would finally use her $10k gift cards. He didn't give them to her for nothing.

He felt sorry to see Elise only had a few office clothes. Maybe she was feeling uncomfortable shopping with him back then, so she only bought a little. But now, if she went shopping with fellow women, she might feel more excited about getting tons of new outfits.

"Ah… sounds good," Loriel nodded. "You should use the gift cards. I think they will expire if you didn't use them right away. Didn't the girl at BLoomingrose said it's valid for the year? 2045 is almost over."

"Wait.. didn't she say the gift cards are valid FOR ONE YEAR? Not for the year…" Elise looked confused. "Maybe I am wrong."

"Well, just spend it and buy a lot of things as soon as possible." Loriel schemingly persuaded Elise. "You don't want to regret losing the points if they really expire this year."

"Ah.. you are right," Elise nodded. She tip-toed and kissed Loriel on the cheek and bid him goodbye. "Thank you for the advice. I will do as you said. Bye!"

The handsome man only smiled as he saw his wife walk through the front door and left. He had stopped following her to office secretly after the first week.

He realized Elise could manage on her own and he shouldn't smother her. He should let Elise enjoy life at her own terms in this time and age..

Loriel was happy to see Elise started making friends. He thought it was best that she went shopping with the girls from the office.

***

Elise and her colleagues went to Bloomingrose to buy clothes for the year-end gala. Christmas was just around the corner and it was time to buy gifts, clothes, and other things essential for the holidays and gatherings.

There might have been sudden events like Tessa and Julian visiting the company, the jokes about Elise being the mistress of their boss--but at the end of the day, Elise was still a well-liked person in their company.

Almost everyone liked being around such a sweet, wholesome, and kind woman.

"It's a good thing that we work at Sanderman, employees get a small discount here," one of the women said.

"But it's still so expensive usually," another of them complained.

"Well, if we want to look our best at the end-year gala where people in the higher-ups and special guests all arrive in what looks like A-list outfits for a runway model, then we have to buy here."

"What about you, Elise? Don't you agree that it's expensive here?"

All of them thought that she would say yes.

Instead, Elise picked up an envelope from her purse. "Ah, I actually brought some gift cards with me."

When she presented all of them with $10k gift cards, her colleagues were dumbfounded and rendered speechless.

They had never seen such a big amount for spending on gift cards before, and they wondered where she got them from.