Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

Winner stepped out of his father's study. He was resentful for receiving no monetary assistance from his father. He hadn't imagined that he would leave empty-handed. Being scolded by his father had irritated him more.

Suddenly, Winner's cell phone rang. He took it out from his rear pocket and glanced at the message. It was from the woman's family. The message was quite clear. Winner had to pay for his cynicism and cruelty. He had forced a girl to have an abortion. The sender was the woman's brother who had threatened him the last time. Winner sighed and re-read the message. "Believe it or not, if you don't take responsible for my sister, I will definitely make you pay the price for your stupidity."

Winner was afraid that he would be accosted by a member of the girl's family. He was so paranoid that he had stopped leaving the house. He was worried that they'd find him walking on the streets and confront him if he didn't give them a large amount of money. "Damn it!"

Winner stood by a window and thought over his options. His anger was noticed by his sister Shirley, who had just returned home. Shirley sneered hearing Winner curse. She was able to tell what was bothering him.

"Just look at yourself. I can tell from your expression that you have gotten yourself into trouble again. What's wrong with you? Which poor girl is having your child this time?" Shirley spoke sardonically.

Winner was always getting into trouble with women. And so, it was easy for Shirley to guess why her brother was upset. Since she enjoyed watching other people's misery, Shirley gloated and tried to make the situation more unpleasant for Winner.

Winner raised an eyebrow and turned to face his sister. He looked her up and down. He noticed that Shirley was wearing heavy makeup, a tank top, and a denim mini-skirt. Her long wavy blonde hair straggled over her shoulders. She looked no better than a streetwalker. Just as Shirley knew Winner well enough to guess what kind of trouble he had gotten into, Winner knew enough about Shirley to assume where she had been. She had probably spent her time drinking at bars or somewhere noisy and crazy. It was also highly likely that Shirley had lured a random stranger and shared pleasure with him.

"Why do we have to provoke each other when we are two birds of the same feather? You know, I'm still trying to figure out why you're so different from Jean. She is leading a decent life. But look at you."

Jean!

When Shirley heard Winner say her half-sister's name, it was like Jean herself was standing in front of her in the room. Just the thought disgusted Shirley. She absolutely loathed Jean and could not even bear to hear others mention her. "Don't mention that bitch!" Shirley spat out.

"What did she do? Tell me everything!" Winner said with great curiosity. He had happened to hear his parents talking about Jean before he had entered the study. His father had flown into a rage before they could finish their conversation. Winner had not been able to figure out what Jean had done to evoke such fury from their father.

"Why should I tell you? What will you do after you find out about our parents' problems? Will you be like Zed? Will you help? The only thing you can do is make trouble. You are totally ignorant and don't even know what industries dad's company involves. You are just daydreaming about being a business genius. Í advise you to continue living your privileged life and indulging yourself in dissipation while you still can. Now, I have better things to do. So, if I were you, I would leave and go to find several beautiful girls to flirt with," teased Shirley. Winner curled his lips. He smiled instead of becoming infuriated. He replied," I have long been aware that all of you look down upon me. However, if taunting me satisfies you, then go ahead and do what you like. Perhaps one of these days you'll figure out that you are not as perfect as you think. You have always been jealous of Jean. Finally, you succeeded in throwing her out of this house. But what happened to her then? She married a handsome žillionaire. Maybe now she is the one laughing at you."

"You..." Shirley didn't want to argue with Winner. In her eyes, her younger brother was just a playboy and an idle good-for-nothing. Sooner or later, their father's business would be ruined by him.

"What is the matter with me? Let us make a deal. As our dad is angry now, so I dare not ask him for money. I know that in all these years, you must have saved some money. If you give me the money to help me settle this problem, whenever you need my assistance, I will come to your rescue at once. What do you think of this deal?" Winner interrupted with the hope of getting money from her.

Winner had no intention of keeping up his end of the bargain. He only wanted to get enough money as soon as possible to get out of the situation in which he had found himself. His safety was the only issue that he was really concerned about. To him, it didn't matter where the money came from.

"Zed said that he would sue our father. Do you have any ideas of how to change his mind? Zed is planning to indict our father. And the only reason Zed is doing is to please Jean. That vicious woman." said Shirley in hatred.

Shirley could not conceal her envy of Jean. Even Winner sensed her jealousy.

Winner narrowed his eyes and looked at Shirley. A scheme formed in his mind.

After considering his plan, Winner walked up to Shirley and lowered his head to whisper something in her ear.

At first, Shirley was surprised, and then worry crossed her face.

"Will it be successful? If it fails, Zed will definitely punish us. What's worse is that we are likely to lose our lives." Shirley said with uncertainty.

"Put yourself at ease. I will do it secretly without leaving any evidence that would suggest our involvement. Since I'm confident of my plan, you should take out some money and be prepared to pay me." Winner knew Shirley was tempted. Shirley gave Winner a blank stare and said nothing. Winner rejoiced when he realized that Shirley had acquiesced to his scheme.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

In order to prepare for the dinner, Jean spent three hours at the farmer's market shopping for the things she would need.

Since Zed had mentioned that he wanted to eat braised fish and sweet and sour fillet, Jean ensured that she picked up all the correct supplies. He hadn't been clear about what else he would like to eat and had left the decision to Jean. And so, Jean walked around the whole market searching for ingredients.

Maybe... If Zed enjoys the dinner she made, miracles might happen again. Jean found herself driven by this thought. She figured she could convince Zed to give her the key to his safe box just as easily as she had acquired the land transfer contract last time. As Jean thought over that idea, she felt it would be better to get her Residence Booklet directly from Zed.

Once she had the Booklet, she could get divorced from Zed. With such positive thoughts and high hopes, Jean felt energetic and delighted. She returned to Zed's villa with many bags of ingredients. Then she charged into the kitchen and began her preparations. First, Jean cleaned the fish and then she used some cooking wine to suppress the unwanted smell...

Jean was a very skillful cook and it didn't take her long to complete her preparations.

As she put pots on the stove and sprinkled herbs and seasoning, Jean found that the feeling of preparing dinner for someone was not so bad. Since she was cooking with a specific purpose in mind, she didn't feel tired. She seemed happy.

Jean didn't know when Zed would come home. She had hoped that the dinner would be finished just before his arrival. Seeing a table full of delicious dishes would please him and start the evening on a good note.

Jean was shocked when she realized what she was thinking and expecting.

Could... Could she be content with this? Jean wondered if she would be happy passing every day planning and cooking meals for Zed and then spending the evening enjoying his favorite dishes together.

Jean was simmering with happiness as she imagined such a life.

It was a pity... Thoughts of her inevitable divorce with Zed filled Jean's mind. She also thought of Eva and Zed's relationship. She couldn't be sure of how Zed felt about Eva. But it was likely that they still had feelings for each other. Such thoughts dampened Jean's mood as she felt that her imagined life would never be a reality. Jean couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

When Zed returned home, he saw Jean in the kitchen. She wore an apron on top of her day clothes. Her long brown hair was casually tied up.

She was busy cooking in the kitchen and hadn't noticed Zed's arrival.

Zed enjoyed watching Jean. He leaned against the kitchen doorway and folded his arms over his chest. A tiny smile danced on his lips as Jean danced to and fro between the stove and counter, chopping, peeling, and putting ingredients in simmering pots. Zed surprised himself when he thought that Jean was a good wife and would make a good mother.

Zed's smile turned into a grin when he remembered being teased by his colleagues earlier that day. He had rushed through several meetings and refused invitations to dine with his partners and clients. He had asked Jean to cook for him and he intended to keep his promise of having dinner together. Upon learning of his homely evening plans, Zed's partners and clients had playfully remarked that he was afraid of his wife. Zed didn't mind at all. He had even driven home quickly to avoid keeping Jean waiting.

And it had been worth it! Zed could feel the warmth Jean brought to his villa. Just like the sunshine, Jean's presence had begun to thaw the ice and snow in his heart. He could feel that his heart was becoming softer and softer.

Zed thanked the circumstances that had brought Jean into his life. Gone was his usual cold expression. Now, his eyes gleamed with the happiness he felt.

The next day, Jean was awakened by the persistent ringing of her phone. As she rolled over to check her phone, she was astonished to see that it was midday. However, she was even more surprised to see that Eva was calling her.

Cautiously Jean answered the call. Eva, however, began in an aggressive tone. Somewhere in all of Eva's blabbering Jean was able to understand that Eva wanted to meet as she had something important to discuss. Jean knew what Eva wanted to talk about. So she consented without hesitation. After agreeing on the time and place, Jean ended the call.

The meeting had been scheduled at SD Coffee House in the heart of the city in an hour.

Since there wasn't much time before the meeting, Jean rushed to the bathroom to dress.

When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, Jean was surprised to see that she looked tired and haggard. She even had dark circles under her attractive hazel eyes. She frowned when she realized that she looked rather terrible.

Jean cursed Zed for her appearance. She had been naive in thinking that dinner would go the way she had planned. If she had known that Zed would go rogue, she might have been better prepared. Jean had truly believed that a good home-cooked meal would satisfy Zed.

Last night, Jean didn't know Zed was standing behind her until she had finished sautéing the final dish of green vegetables.

When she noticed that he had reached home, Jean cheerfully went to fill a bowl with rice for Zed before putting food onto his plate. The service offered by Jean was extremely thoughtful.

Jean had expected light dinner conversation. She wanted to bring up the divorce topic. However, from the beginning to the end of dinner, Zed just smiled and did not say anything. He enjoyed the food quietly, and neither gave praise nor criticism to Jean. Meanwhile, Jean was anxious and nervous throughout dinner. She did not know what Zed was thinking. With his continued silence, she doubted whether she would get her Residence Booklet.

Many times, Jean was about to ask Zed whether he would give the Residence Booklet back to her after dinner. But as she saw that Zed was focused on eating, she didn't have the heart to spoil his mood. So Jean waited patiently for Zed to finish his dinner. On seeing Zed put down his chopsticks, Jean asked eagerly," I have cooked the braised fish and sweet and sour fillet just as you asked. Although the taste may not be as good as the delicacies you have had before, at least, I have prepared them with all my heart. So..." "So, I decide to reward you with a hug!" said Zed seriously.

And he actually did so! He stood from his chair, walked toward Jean, and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Jean was shocked. It took a long time for her to gather her composure. What was going on? Just a hug? That's all?

No! Jean had worked so hard to prepare this supper. How could it end like this? She still wanted to get her Residence Booklet from Zed.

So Jean immediately poked her head out from under Zed's arms, managed a smile, and said," I don't want a hug. I just want..."

"Oh, one is not enough? Then I will hold you all night when we go to bed!" Zed interrupted before Jean could finish her sentence.

"No, I don't..."

Zed raised his eyebrows and interrupted Jean again. "What else do you want? I am afraid that I can't meet your needs today as the wounds on your body have not healed yet!"☐☐☐☐