Last night, he made me cry. I haven't cried in a very long time but he managed to hurt me with his words. Did he hate me that much? I have been nothing but patient with him and he said all those bitter words, as if my feeling doesn't matter.

Right now, I was contemplating between going into the dining room or running out of the house. The latter wasn't exactly an option because Cara was still in the bathroom and she would be out any minute now.

Gathering all the courage, I finally made my way to the dining table and when I saw him already sitting there, my mood soured. I dragged myself to the seat beside him and sat down, without acknowledging him. If he thought he could insult me just because I am a sweet person, he had another thing coming.

"Good morning." His voice reached me and it took me a lot of power to not reply like a courteous person. I just kept my eyes focused on my empty plate, waiting for Kelly to give me something to eat.

"Good morning, Scarlet," he repeated and I turned my face away.

"Don't be a child, Scarlet. Look at me." he ordered this time and my anger peaked.

"Now I am being a child?" I seethed. "Anything else you would like to add to my personality traits."

"Scarlet---"

"I don't know why you think that marrying you was a dream come true for me. No, it was not. I am not exactly elated but you don't hear me complaining. That's because I know that if I am a sad pessimist all day, it would make the people around me sad as well. And I don't want my bad mood to affect anyone else. If that means I need to have a permanent smile plastered on my face, then I will." I don't know why but I just exploded at him. His face told me that he hadn't expected me to say all this, and neither had I.

"Are you done now?" he said, staring deep into my eyes. I kept myself silent in response. "I just wanted to tell you that I have kept a card of a party planner on the night stand. Call her and don't worry about the expenses. I'll deal with that later."

Embarrassment filled me first on listening to his words but it was then replaced by excitement, previous anger evaporating. "So are we planning a party for Cara?"

"No, you are. I won't be joining. I have some work that day." he said and half the excitement lost. It would mean so much to Cara if his father would join it too but I knew better than forcing him to come. So I just nodded and continued eating.

..........

It was Saturday, the day before Cara's birthday. All the plannings were completed. The plan was that Catheryn would take Cara to her house and then the team of our party planner would decorate the whole house.

Right now, Liam, Helena and I were sitting in the food court of the mall to buy gifts for Cara. The initial plan as to bring Liam but my friend who was apparently in love with Helena Grey, insisted me to invite her as well. I bought a dollhouse for her and they said it would be delivered to our house by tomorrow.

"I'd gift her a Louis Vuitton mini handbag." Helena said and both Liam and I turned to stare at her.

"You do know she's turning five?" I grinned.

"Who says she can't turn five in style."

Helena chuckled. My eyes darted to Liam who had a hint of pink on his cheeks. I have never seen him this quite before. He was just being silent and catching glances at Helena every now and then.

"You are a genius," I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

"Am I? What do you think, Liam? Am I a genius?" she asked him with a smirk.

"Huh?" Liam asked, looking disoriented. Helena's smirk widened at this. She knew the poor boy had a crush on her and she was enjoying it a lot. "Yeah. Of course."

"Aww, you are a cutie." she leaned towards him and pinched his cheeks. The pink on his cheeks changed into dark red and he coughed to clear his throat. "Why don't you and I hang out some time? Call me." she said to him and a smile broke on his lips.

Why do I feel that Liam was in for a heartbreak?

"Okay, I need to buy few other things for myself. Care to join me." she asked me.

"Sure." I said and turned to Liam.

"You go. I should go back and open the bakery." he said and excused himself.

After he left, Helena tugged me along to buy some clothes for her. She bought everything from designer shops and each piece of her clothing was worth more than my entire closet.

Evan had given me a credit card the day we got married, despite my constant refusal to keep it. I haven't used it since that day and I wasn't intending to change it anytime soon. As far as my own earnings were concerned, I couldn't afford these branded things.

"One last thing," she said as she tugged me along to the nightwear shop. Entering inside, my eyes moved out of their orbits when they landed on the rather revealing nightgowns. Most of them had lace that would definitely show more than it would cover. The idea of wearing anything like that while being in bed with Evan caused a deep blush on my cheeks.

"This one," she pointed towards a royal blue satin nightgown for herself. "Don't you want to buy anything?"

"I... I have a set of pyjamas." I said, thinking about my polka dot pyjamas. They weren't sexy or attractive, but well comfort matters too.

"You wear pyjamas in bed?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah," I said, not sure why it earned her confused glare.

"Sweetheart, you just got married. Don't you want Evan to look at you with desire?" she asked.

My cheeks became warmer, if that was even possible. I didn't want to imagine Evan looking at me like that because the thought would just make me feel giddy in my stomach.

"Come on, choose something. It is on me. Consider it a wedding gift." she said.

"No, you don't have to." I hesitated.

"Please, let me buy you a sexy one." she pouted, making a very cute face. "In return, you can make your famous banana bread for me."

"Well," I sighed. Knowing Helena, she won't stop until I agree to her. "Okay."

I looked around and my eyes landed on a particular nightgown. It was a silk red nightie that would probably reach my thighs. It had a matching silk robe that looked soft and comfy to wear.

"This one," I said.

"Nice choice, my dear. Let's give Evan a stroke." she smirked.

.........

Evan hadn't returned yet and it was about 11 at night. It looked like he was aiming to pull another all-nighter. After I finished the book I was reading, I went into the closet to change into my pyjamas. Once I stripped out of my dress, my gaze landed on the shopping bag that I had pushed into my cupboard.

What's the harm in trying? With that thought, I changed into the small silk dress that felt unbelievably soft and fragile against my skin. Gripping the robe in my hand, I walked back into the room and looked at myself in the mirror.

Without the robe, it definitely looked scandalous. The silky cloth hugged my figure and ended just below my butt, failing to hide any dip and curve of my body. The neckline and the way it was constructed made my chest look bigger than it was. For the first time in life, I actually looked desirable.

My face became a beetroot as I ran my fingers through my hair, making them look messy. I didn't want Evan to see me in that but a very tiny part of me wanted to see his reaction. I wanted to see the desire that Helena talked about.

No. Bad, Scarlet. Very bad. Stop thinking like that. The marriage between Evan and you isn't like that.

With that thought in mind, I turned around to pick up the robe from the bed to cover myself when the door suddenly opened and Evan walked in.

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