'Do not be afraid.' Lilian thought to herself as she slowly touched the edge of Kayden's shorts. 'Don't be shy. Just think of it as a cabbage you needed to open.'

Warmth and electricity spread through Lily's skin, but it didn't feel like the texture of the shorts. That was why she opened her eyes. Kayden's frown and clear annoyance greeted her, and when she looked down, his hand was already holding hers.

"Fine. Don't take this one off," he said, his voice laced with irritation.

A deep sigh of relief escaped Lily's lips. "O-okay."

She stood up, her cheeks filled with blush, and assisted Kayden into the bathtub.

"I'll grab your waist. You should hold my neck," Lilian said, and without saying anything, Kayden gently encircled his arms around her neck.

"Are you sure you can carry me?" Kayden asked, doubt filling his head.

However, the woman carried him swiftly into her arms. It looked like Lily didn't even sweat, as if she was used to the weight. Kayden's mouth went into a thin line. He didn't expect his wife to have the strength to carry his total weight; he thought that she would ask for help from their maids.

Lilian glanced at Kayden and giggled when she saw his expression. "I may be thin, but I'm not a tree branch that could easily break. I used to work at Holmes Group's storage area, you know? I was used to carrying boxes that weighed fifty kilograms."

Kayden stared at Lily, observing the woman's smile. He noticed that Lilian had two canine teeth; it didn't bother him; instead, he found it even cuter, especially whenever she was smiling.

A struggling sound came from Lilian's lips as she tried to put Kayden down into the tub. She was about to continue, but another groan came out of her due to the man's heavy weight.

"Forget it. If you continue that, I'll be completely disabled," Kayden uttered and removed his hold on Lilian.

Kayden put his two robust arms on the bathtub's edge, used a little force to pull himself into the bathtub, and sat steadily. His quick movements seemed like he was used to getting into the tub that way.

Lilian stared at Kayden blankly. She wanted to ask Kayden why he asked her to marry him and if he could do that, but no words came out of her.

She only returned to reality when a handful of water splashed on her face. She groaned and wiped the water away as she heard Kayden's chuckle.

"What are you doing standing there? Pass me the bath sponge," he said.

Lilian's brows furrowed; she stomped her feet on the ground, annoyed as she went to grab the sponge nearby. She wanted to throw it in Kayden's face but decided against it, thinking it would not do her any good.

"Here's your sponge."

Kayden raised his arm to grab it. However, just before Lilian could let the towel go, Kayden grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the bathtub. He dragged her entire body and placed her directly on him.

"AH!" she yelled, her body now soaked with soapy and steamy water. Lilian immediately pushed herself away from Kayden, only to discover that her hands were resting on the man's muscular chest.

"What are you afraid of? I won't eat you, you know." Kayden looked at her panicked expression and smiled with a bit of evil charm on his face. She clung to him as soon as he grabbed her arm and pulled it.

The only thing separating them below was Lilian's thin skirt and Kayden's shorts.

"Hey!" Lilian struggled as she tried to escape his grip. "I have my period, remember? Aren't you afraid that blood will fill your tub? I can even smell it already!"

Lilian knew Kayden had no feeling from his waist down, so she was not afraid of what he would do to her. Her main concern was that blood might turn the water red. Instead of feeling refreshed in his bath, Kayden might experience dirt and sticky blood.

Fortunately, Kayden let her go, and she finally went out of the bathtub. Thanks to the wet skirt, Kayden's eyes followed Lilian's exquisite figure as she pulled herself free. With Lily's flushed face, the woman looked like a mature honey peach hanging on a branch, albeit a lovely one.

"Why would I be afraid? You're cleaning the bathtub anyway; it's your job." Kayden's Adam's apple rolled up and down. He paused before grabbing Lilian's wrist and pulling her closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"Help me massage my legs," he said in a low tone.

"Okay." The numb feeling in Lilian's ears spread all over her body. She quickly put distance between them and squatted in the water to massage her husband's legs.

Her heart was thumping loudly on her chest as her skin made contact with the man's legs.

She couldn't believe that she had done the craziest things in one day. She married a man she had just met and stayed in the bathroom with him. She knew it was not malicious because Kayden was a disabled man who needed help, but still, she felt weird and nervous.

Kayden looked at Lilian near his feet before he closed his eyes and spoke, "Okay, you can go out now. There are clothes Emma prepared for you. Go and get dressed. I will take a bath myself. "

"O–okay!" Lilian immediately stood up from the water, took her shoes, and walked out of the bathroom barefoot without looking back.

Looking at the small figure that seemed to run away, Kayden clenched her fists and slammed into the water, causing a huge splash. He closed his eyes tightly, wanting to bang his head into a wall.

'I have endured being away from that girl for years. When did I become so impatient?' Kayden thought, his brows furrowed. 'God, if I scared her away after that, everything I did would be in vain.'

Meanwhile, Lilian was astonished when she saw that the clothes in the room fit her well. Her mood also got lifted when she saw that the maids and Emma, the head housekeeper, were friendly towards her.

"Madam, these are Mr. Kayden's rules and preferences. You'd find everything you need to know about him in this file. Please keep them in mind." Emma handed her a document when she got to the living room.

Despite feeling shocked, Lilian nodded. "Okay." She opened the document and took a deep, calming breath as she realized five pages were in the file. And everything was in a small font.

The document contained Kayden's diet, clothes, living habits, and even his likes and dislikes. It turned out that Kayden didn't eat anything with onions, ginger, and garlic. He also didn't like the color black and had the excellent habit of watching the sunrise in the morning.

Aside from this, Lilian also saw that Kayden had different types of wines, and he would drink them according to his mood.

Lilian looked at the dense words and felt her head go numb.

Kayden soon came downstairs by himself using the elevator. He was moving towards the dining area when he passed by Lilian in the living room. The woman was standing still, a file of papers in her hand.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, his brows raised. "Come."

"Yep, coming." Lilian quickly put down the file on the center table.

After a long day, not only did she skip her meal, but she also vomited several times, her stomach churning after she witnessed Benjamin be romantic with a man.

Her stomach was empty, so when they sat at the dining table, she immediately grabbed the utensils and stuffed her plate with numerous dishes served in front. She even forgot that Kayden was with her for a moment due to hunger.

Kayden frowned, his eyes locked on his wife, who was busy eating. "Have an early rest after dinner. We'll visit my family tomorrow."

"Sure," Lilian replied casually, her mouth filled with delicacies. She regained control of her senses after swallowing a mouthful of food.

"Your family lives at Ben's grandmother's house, right?" she asked as she finally realized she would meet that family again. Thinking about it, she now felt her appetite decreasing.

"Ben, huh?" Kayden asked as he placed a piece of vegetable in his mouth. "That's such an intimate call name."

Lilian bit her bottom lip. "No… I just… I was used to calling him that. I guess it's not appropriate anymore," she whispered, her voice filled with sadness and grief.

She remembered what her best friend, Bella, used to say to her. "You don't even need to eat or sleep anymore. It looks like just saying Ben's name gives you enough energy."

Lily could not decide whether it was good that Bella had to leave for business on her wedding day. She couldn't imagine what Bella's expression would be once she discovered that Lilian did not marry Ben but married Ben's uncle.

As Lily was consumed by her thoughts, Kayden could not help but stare at her with a calculating gaze. Slowly, he peeled a shrimp and placed it on Lilian's plate.

"It's okay. You can still call him Ben. He would have to call you aunt, anyway."

"Aunt?" Lilian asked in confusion, but after a few seconds, her face brightened.

Lilian had already forgotten that she was now Molly's sister-in-law, and Benjamin should address her with respect. Why was she afraid to meet with them in the first place? How could she forget that the sole reason she married Kayden was to anger and take revenge on the Holmes family.

Regaining her appetite, Lilian grabbed her spoon and fork again and continued eating with a smile flashing on her face. She popped the shrimp that Kayden gave her into her mouth, and as she chewed, she gave him a bright smile. "Thanks, hon," she said.

Kayden's mouth gaped open. He didn't expect Lilian to call him 'honey' willingly. Still, he was glad that the woman was in a good mood.

He shook his head gently and thought to himself, 'She's still a little girl with such a simple heart. Everything could be seen in her expression; it was obvious what pained and joyed her. No wonder Benjamin and their family bullied her.'

***

After dinner, Kayden went directly into the study room while Lilian took a bath and went to bed early. Her husband didn't need her to warm the bed; she could simply relax and sleep soundly without worries of someone harassing her.

Lilian bathed herself peacefully, and tucked herself comfortably in the bed. She was looking forward to the moment when Benjamin would call her' aunt', which was why she fell asleep with a light feeling.

When Kayden entered the room and found Lilian sleeping soundly, he opened the window to let the cold wind gush through. The moonlight streamed in, illuminating Lilian on the bed. Her body was curled up, and the blanket had slipped down her legs, but she slept peacefully.

Kayden's wheelchair slowly approached the bedside. He stared quietly at the woman's charming face. A faint smile gradually rose from the corners of his mouth as his thoughts drifted back to a memory twenty years ago, when he was a ten-year-old boy.

A young couple brought a cute three-year-old girl to their home. His father received them warmly and asked Ben, who was only three years old then, to hold the little girl's hand and play. Kayden's father, who was over sixty years old at that time, looked at the two little ones and said to the little girl's mother that Benjamin and the girl should get married when they turned eighteen.

Kayden's father also said that the marriage would make their father's wishes come true.

"I am older than Ben. Why will he have a wife first? Leah should be my wife in the future," Kayden remembered saying to his father.

But the old man didn't budge. Instead, he became angry at Kayden for interfering and being selfish.

"You are Ben's uncle. How can you marry her? You're older than both of them."

Kayden didn't agree with the decision, but he had no choice. However, he saw how Benjamin pushed Leah to the ground. Kayden had no idea where he got the courage, but he went straight to push Benjamin, which made his nephew stumble.

He could still remember his father's hard slaps on him that day. Kayden even went a day without food as his father's punishment for hurting little, innocent Benjamin.

Kayden had long forgotten what the girl looked like in his memory because he never saw her again after that encounter. Later, Kayden discovered that the girl and her family had vanished without a trace.

He only remembered that her surname was White and the little girl's name was Leah.

However, the woman in front of him…

Kayden knew that Lilian was not the little girl who caused his father to beat him up. However, when he saw Lily's picture before his flight to attend the wedding, he made up his mind.

He knew he wanted Benjamin's woman to be his.

Kayden did not care how long it would take, as long as he could find the White family and the little girl that Benjamin was supposed to marry. He could get what truly belonged to the Brown family once he found Leah White.

Too many years had already passed, and he wanted to get them back as soon as he could.

Kayden raised his hand and gently covered the falling blanket on the sleeping woman. After adjusting the air conditioner's temperature, he left the bedroom silently.

Lilian slept until dawn. When she woke up and looked around, she was greatly relieved to see that the bed was the same as it had been before she fell asleep. Kayden kept his word by sleeping in separate beds.

She hoped that in the following year, they could live in peace and end this absurd marriage early. She could be free again with only a year left of holding on.

When Lilian came downstairs after cleaning herself, Kayden was already sitting at the table, reading a newspaper. His face was fully covered, but he put it down slightly as soon as he heard Lily approaching.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Kayden glanced at her faintly. He was about to glance back at the paper, but he couldn't help looking at her more.

It was the first time he had seen Lilian without any makeup. Although the woman didn't have the charm of a bride like yesterday, her naturally fair skin, clear eyes, and exquisite features made Kayden stare longer than he had hoped for.

Lilian didn't look like a 23-year-old woman. She was like a college student who hadn't graduated yet, young and lovely. Any man would have stared if given a chance.

"Yeah, I slept well." Lilian was about to ask whether Kayden had a good sleep in his study room, but the man interrupted her before she could speak further.

"We'll visit the Holmes after breakfast," Kayden said.

"Oh, okay." Lilian glanced at the maids and bit her bottom lip. It was good that she failed to ask Kayden because if she did, the maids might have heard that they were sleeping in a separate room.

They had to pretend everywhere that they were an intimate couple. If anyone finds out that they were only a husband and wife on the paper, their image and reputation would be ruined.

After breakfast, the two made their way to the Holmes' house. Along the way, Lilian's mind wandered through her memories and everything that had happened with Benjamin over the years.

She felt sad that they ended up like this. Until now, she couldn't accept that Benjamin was gay. How could he pretend like that? Lily was sure that Ben cared for her; he was sweet and gentle. But if his preference was a lie, did that mean that his care and concern were lies, as well?

Lilian stared out of the car window, the city's scenery passing through her eyes in a quick motion. There was sudden warmth on the back of her hand on her lap. She looked down and saw Kayden's hand was in her hand.

"You need to ask Molly for wedding gifts. She's stingy, but you needed to make sure that she'd give us an extravagant gift."

Kayden didn't give her a chance to free her hand from his hold, but she stopped struggling when she saw her husband's devilish grin. They needed to act sweet and lovely, so she had no choice.

"Okay, fine, I'll request some expensive ones," Lilian said in defeat.

***

The Holmes mansion was located in the hillside area on the outskirts of JC City. The always peaceful-looking house, however, was filled with yells and quarrels inside.

"You're not going to look for Benjamin? He has been missing all day! Do you want to lose your son?" Molly said angrily while pointing at her husband, Martin Holmes.

"Don't you feel ashamed? Why would I look for him? Do you know that our family name is in the news today? He disgraced us!" Martin was usually quiet and good-tempered, but the current events made him erupt like a volcano.

He threw the newspaper he was holding on the center table and glared at Molly. "You spoiled him too much, and it's all your fault. Sooner or later, this family will be destroyed, and it will be your and Benjamin's fault!"

The shouting came to a stop when a housekeeper hurriedly came. "Sir, Mam. Sir Kayden is here."

"Just in time!" Molly said, her anger spilling out like coffee. "I'd like to ask what disdainful things the bitch Lilian did. She made my son so angry that he didn't even want to marry her. He didn't have an explanation, and he didn't go home, either!" Molly immediately turned her direction, smoothed her hair, stepped on high heels, and walked out of the living room with her head held high.

Martin shook his head in disbelief, a heavy sigh coming out of his mouth. "This is embarrassing. Damn it!"

"What are you two doing here? You just got married, so you should have just stayed in bed, kissed each other, and whispered sweet nothings to one another," Molly said sarcastically, her disdainful eyes falling onto Lilian's.

Kayden frowned slightly, but he didn't say anything. He waited quietly for Lilian to respond.

"Oh, Mrs. Holmes—I should call you Molly now, right?" Lilian gave a forced smile. "Kayden and I are here to visit his family. I know it's sad that we didn't end up as a daughter and mother-in-law tandem, but I think a relationship between sisters-in-law is closer, don't you think?"

"That's a load of crap," Molly spat. "You're simply a little bitch girl. You will never be my equal. Maybe you could be in your next life, but for now, quit calling me Molly and address me with damn respect."

"But she is, Molly," Kayden interrupted as soon as Molly finished. He pushed his wheelchair forward, his piercing gaze directed at his sister. "She's your equal. In this life, the next life, and the following lives. As long as she's my wife, you'll treat her as such."