What She Rides

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Cecil lowered his head and apologized. "I'm sorry, Mr. Blanchard. It was my fault. Hazel, please don't fight with him over me. It's not worth it."

He could tell that I was angry because of jealousy, but he quickly steered the conversation toward our status gap instead, and I had to admit that he was smart.

I looked at his reddening eyes and couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud.

"You like horseback riding, don't you, Cecil Wilcox? I can give one to you, and you'd be free to ride it whenever you want."

Cecil stared abruptly at me with an incredulous look in his eyes.

I continued coldly, "But you had better know your place. You're just an assistant. You should never accept what doesn't belong to you."

Hazel could tell that I was genuinely angry this time, and she hurried over to calm me down.

"Come on, Dylan. We're sorry. It's our anniversary and your birthday today."

She then stood on tiptoe and whispered in my ear. "But I didn't prepare a birthday gift for you this year. I thought… I thought of giving myself to you as a present instead."

She bent over slightly to show me the ribbon on her neck.

I had known Hazel for ten years, and we'd dated for eight of them.

This was what she would always do every time she forgot my birthday, and it had happened seven times in the past eight years.

I thought that it was going to be different this year because it was the final year of dating before getting engaged, as we had promised each other.

But as it turned out, I was just overthinking it after all.

From the start till the end, I was the only one who gave anything at all in this relationship.

…

I remained silent for the rest of dinner.

Hazel would still try to coax and comfort me at first, deliberately chatting with me and trying to make me laugh. However, she quickly lost her patience after a short while.

It wasn't until we got back home that she finally regained her usual cheerfulness.

After kissing me on the lips, she said, "I'm going to wash up. Just wait here to open your present later."

I followed her into the bedroom and saw that she had laid out a bunch of adult toys and props on the bed. Obviously, she was planning on using them later on, and this was also the main reason why I'd stayed devoted to her for years.

She always knew the right way to calm me down after pushing my buttons.

My eyes dimmed as I grabbed some underwear and went to wash up in the guest bathroom instead.

However, I'd only taken one step in when I realized something amiss at once.

There was a single men's disposable underwear in the trash, and it wasn't mine because I never used them.

My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.

I ended up sitting by the bed, waiting for Hazel to come out.

She was wearing a thin gauze-like material on her body, and she grabbed the cat-ear headband from the bed before putting it on.

"Wanna help me put my tail in, Dylan?"

I held the tail, but I didn't move afterward. Instead, I asked, "Why is there a men's disposable underwear in the guest bathroom?"

Hazel was stunned. Panic rose in her eyes.

"About that… I-I don't know either. Let me… Let me ask Kelly tomorrow if she was the one who accidentally threw it there."

Kelly Hill was our housekeeper.

"Kelly's already 60 years old. Why would she have men's disposable underwear on her?" I countered.

"I…"

Hazel got up from my lap in a fluster, wanting to explain herself, but she just couldn't think of a suitable excuse for it.

Her phone rang all of a sudden.

She answered it and listened for a short while before her expression fell at once. Then, she yanked off the ears from her head, put on a coat, and headed for the door.

I grabbed her hand. "Where are you going?"

"Cecil got into an accident on the way back. He doesn't have any relatives or friends here. I'm going to check on him."

I still refused to let go.

"Tell someone else from the company to check in on him. You don't have to personally see to this yourself."

Hazel's face turned dark at once.

"Dylan Blanchard! Can you stop thinking about yourself for once? Don't you know how hard he has it here, working in a foreign city all on his own? I'm just trying to help him out here. Why must you get jealous about something as minute as that! You're so immature!"

The way she rushed out of the door in a rage made me feel like my attempts were just pathetic, and the last sliver of hope died out in my heart, turning into disappointment instead.

I watched her leave the villa. Then, I dialed Dad's number.

"Dad. I'll agree to the arranged marriage."