At the same time, a slender hand gently grasped her hand. The slightly cool and dry skin against her hand startled Aurora.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Is something the matter?"

They spoke in unison. Now that they were standing face-to-face, Aurora realized that Owen was taller than she thought he was. After all, she had to crane her neck slightly just to look at him despite her height of 5'6.

Aurora hastily withdrew her hand while Owen instinctively adjusted his robes, clenching his jaw slightly.

She inhaled deeply as she tried to maintain her composure. "I just wanted to tell you that breakfast's ready. I'll leave you to it."

She had prepared oatmeal, bacon, eggs, nuts, and fruits for breakfast.

Owen wasn't very picky with his meals. Due to his heavy workload, he tended to rise before the sun and return home when it was late at night. Thus, he would occasionally skip his meals even if the s

"Oh, right. Has the Klein family been pushing you to go on those nonsense blind dates recently? Do you want me to introduce you to my seniors? You could use this opportunity to take a quick break."

Helena naturally knew all about Aurora being forced to get married.

Aurora felt her actions slow. After a while, she couldn't even look at Helena as she mumbled, "It's fine. I'm married."

"What? Y-You're married?"

Helena couldn't help but grip Aurora's hand tightly as she questioned sharply, "Who is it? When did this happen? Didn't you—"

Aurora hastily answered her before she could continue rambling, "Owen Jenson of Qorix Corporation. It happened two days ago."

"O-Owen? Qorix Corporation? Owen Jenson?"

Helena wasn't a stranger to Qorix Corporation. Frankly, Helena could barely believe it. Although she was astonished, she still had the mind to keep her voice down. She whispered urgently,

Wendy let out a bitter chuckle. Her voice suddenly sounded slightly hoarse as she teased, "Aurora, here you go telling me good news while shielding me from the bad as per usual. Still, it's good that you're married now. At least they won't be able to bother you about this. 

"Jordan has already been married once. Not to mention his looks and character… It's good that you're off the market and that you've found someone who treats you right. Otherwise, you would've had to slog through that torture."

"Mom…" Aurora had no idea how to face Wendy.

If Wendy hadn't made that awful mistake back then, Aurora and Whitney wouldn't have been switched at birth.

Wendy was Ryan's wife, and her story could be considered Cinderella come to life as she was a commoner who had married a rich man.

Unfortunately, Ryan didn't love Wendy like the prince loved Cinderella. Instead, he was deeply in love with a much older woman, Sally Valcourt, a famous singer. Alas, the Klein family was strongly opposed to their union. As a result, they couldn't marry and could only remain as lovers.

Incidentally, Alexander and Whitney were Sally and Ryan's children.

After Sally gave birth to Whitney, she called Ryan to pick the child up from the hospital. It just so happened that Ryan was on a business trip then. So, he instructed Wendy to go in his stead.

That was when Wendy made a horrible mistake. When she arrived at the hospital, she happened to notice Aurora, who was left on a bench, and brought her home.

Wendy's life with the Klein family was far from rainbows and unicorns. Ryan had been constantly abusing her, verbally and physically. When the truth came to light about her mistake, Wendy's situation only got worse. Even the child she bore for Ryan, Sebastian Klein, suffered because of her mistake.

"Oh, alright. Do bring him home when you're both available. I want to meet your mystery husband," Wendy said.

"Okay. I'll try to bring him home in the next few days. By the way, I saw Stella at the party the other day. She doesn't look like she's doing well." 

Now that she thought about it, Stella was technically Wendy's niece.

"God, she isn't. It's all very complicated. I'll tell you about it when you visit."

"Sure. You should rest soon."

The night breeze was chilly, especially during early spring.

Aurora placed her phone aside as she gazed at the bustling view below, unable to shake off the lingering melancholy plaguing her heart.

After a long while, she took a deep breath and finally returned to the bedroom. When she did, she quickly saw that Owen had made himself comfortable on the couch as he flipped through a document.

Aurora took a closer look and noticed that the document was none other than their marriage agreement. It was probably the papers she signed a few days ago.

She considered her options momentarily before suddenly asking, "Mr. Jenson, can we talk?"

"What is it?" Owen didn't bother looking her way, his expression indifferent.

"I have a proposal I'd like to discuss with you, Mr. Jenson."

His slender fingers turned a page of the document, silently urging her to get on with it.

So, she forged on, "Since we're not really married, why don't we get rid of all the unnecessary bells and whistles? Let's not bother with gifts. Instead, let's just schedule a time for you to meet my family. That's pretty much all there is on my end. 

"But I'll do my best to cooperate with you to handle your family. What do you think?"

"As you wish."

Aurora made an "OK" gesture. Then, she rose to her feet in search of her clothes so that she could wash up and retire for the night. 

Alas, Owen returned the document to her and commented, "My grandmother is a wily one. So, there's a high chance she'll visit just to inspect the room. If you don't want any trouble, I suggest you deal with this document appropriately."

Aurora was quick on the uptake as she realized she had been careless. She had just tossed it aside instead of keeping it hidden.

"I don't like any trouble. Please settle things with the Kleins and the Sanders properly."

Owen couldn't help but recall the conversation she had with the couple during the banquet. Coupled with the phone call earlier, it wasn't too difficult to make some deductions on her situation.

Aurora stiffened. Then, she thought it over carefully as she responded, "Don't worry. I'll handle it. It's just that these are rather murky waters. Still, I swear I'll ensure that none of this will affect you."

Owen withdrew his gaze and got to his feet. When his oppressive figure passed Aurora by, he left her with a simple statement, saying, "That'd better be the case. I hope this will be the start of a wonderful cooperation, Professor Reed."

Aurora carefully kept the contract away before heading straight to the bathroom.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she noticed that the bedroom was far too quiet. She swept her gaze across the room and found that a pillow was missing from the bed.

Was Owen planning to sleep in the study?

Aurora felt the knot in her heart loosen. After all, she couldn't find it in herself to sleep next to a man she barely knew.

Regardless, it was nice to live with someone so understanding. Perhaps living with him wouldn't be as difficult as she thought it would be.

Aurora was a very routine-oriented individual.

She made a special effort to prepare breakfast, washed up, changed into her workout clothes, and promptly went downstairs for an hour-long run. Since she was new to the area, she also took the opportunity to get to know her surroundings better. 

Due to time constraints, she didn't exactly have the time to explore the area yesterday.

Cordia was considered part of the wealthy neighborhood within Zanzimar. It had excellent security and well-developed facilities. Since it was an exclusive area, there weren't many people. As a result, the air quality at Cordia was better than it was in the city. 

The running track went along the seaside. Thus, a full lap would take almost an hour to complete.

Once she returned home, she immediately took a shower and served herself some breakfast. 

Nevertheless, she couldn't help but hesitate on whether she should rouse Owen for breakfast. 

Eventually, she bit the bullet and decided to do so. Alas, she had just raised her hand when the door suddenly swung open, causing her hand to come in contact with Owen's chest.

To make matters worse, his robe was loosely tied, and his hair was slightly damp. So, she got a full whiff of his unique scent as her fingertips brushed across his chest.

At the same time, a slender hand gently grasped her hand. The slightly cool and dry skin against her hand startled Aurora.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Is something the matter?"

They spoke in unison. Now that they were standing face-to-face, Aurora realized that Owen was taller than she thought he was. After all, she had to crane her neck slightly just to look at him despite her height of 5'6.

Aurora hastily withdrew her hand while Owen instinctively adjusted his robes, clenching his jaw slightly.

She inhaled deeply as she tried to maintain her composure. "I just wanted to tell you that breakfast's ready. I'll leave you to it."

She had prepared oatmeal, bacon, eggs, nuts, and fruits for breakfast.

Owen wasn't very picky with his meals. Due to his heavy workload, he tended to rise before the sun and return home when it was late at night. Thus, he would occasionally skip his meals even if the staff had prepared them for him. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't had breakfast in the past we

Chapter 9