Faux Vows, True Desires

"How far is your place from here?"

"About 500 meters away."

"To the left or the right?"

"Just go straight ahead, I'll let you know when we're there."

With that, Stefan hopped onto his bike, carrying Lucinda as they went.

Upon reaching Lucinda's apartment building, she instructed Stefan, "Just stop here, Stefan. You can leave your bike downstairs. Do you have a lock? Make sure to lock it up so it doesn't get nicked." Stefan obediently locked his bike at the entrance of the building, taking in the sight of the apartment complex as he followed Lucinda.

It was a nine-story building built in the 90s, without an elevator.

Lucinda's place was on the sixth floor.

They chatted and climbed the stairs, surprisingly not feeling tired.

Once they reached the sixth floor, Lucinda led Stefan to the smallest apartment at the end of the corridor. "This is the place I rent, at the very end. After dinner, I'll get a copy of the key made for you." "Okay."

Apartment 608 was Lucinda's small apartment.

After unlocking the door, Lucinda stepped aside to let Stefan in before closing the door.

It was a one-bedroom apartment and to Stefan's eyes, it was even smaller than his study.

The living room had a small table and a few stools, with several boxes in the corner. It was a bit messy.

Lucinda's place was really simplistic!

At least the floor was spotless.

"Stefan, you can sleep in the living room for a few days. Once the money come, I'll get a bed for you."

She would receive her payment on the tenth, while she needed to pay the shop rent on the fifteenth of every month.

The money she earned from her writing would only stay in her bank account for a few days before being transferred to the landlord.

It felt like she was slaving away at her writing just to pay her landlord.

Fortunately, her business was getting better.

Once she paid off her debts, things would be a lot easier.

Stefan's eyes twinkled as he nodded in response.

Lucinda said somewhat awkwardly, "Stefan, my café isn't profitable yet, and I'm in debt by tens of thousands. After subtracting the costs and paying my employees, there's nothing left. My living conditions aren't great right now, but don't worry, I won't owe you any money."

She decided that starting tomorrow, she would update her novel by 20,000 words every day.

Her editor said the data from her works' trials were good, the more she updated, the better it sold.

She could also check her daily earnings in the back-end.

Once her royalties surpassed the minimum guaranteed payment, she wouldn't need to update so many chapters every day, and her earnings would increase significantly, and her financial difficulties will be alleviated.

"It's okay, if you're really strapped for cash, you can owe me for a while. I have a job and my salary isn't low, I'm not in a hurry for money."

Stefan didn't care about the $500 rent at all.

He was loaded.

In fact, he could buy the bed himself.

But he'd rather sleeping on the same bed with Lucinda...

Stefan placed his bag on one of the stools and said to Lucinda, "Let's go grab a bite first."

He added, "I'll pay for dinner this time."

Lucinda laughed and agreed, "Alright then, I'll thank you in advance."

They left the apartment together.

"Lucinda, I'm going to meet your parents with you tomorrow, so you'll have to be more affectionate with me."

Stefan said this calmly, as if he was really fulfilling his 'husbandly' duties.

Lucinda looked at him sideways.

He said, "Even though we're pretending to be married, we can't let your parents know that. Normal newlyweds are very affectionate, if you keep your distance from me like you are now, do you think your parents will believe us?"

Lucinda was speechless.

Just then, a large hand suddenly gripped hers.

Lucinda instinctively tried to shake it off.

"You see, I try to hold your hand and you want to shake it off. How will your mother believe you? If she finds out that you hired me to be your husband, she'll be angry and scold you, then continue setting you up on blind dates."

Lucinda opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't.

Because Stefan was right. Even if they were pretending to be a couple, they needed to act like one.

Her mother was very perceptive.

"We need to practice now, so you can get used to me. That way, it'll be more convincing. Even if your mom has a keen eye, we need to make sure she can't tell."

Stefan's words made a lot of sense, leaving the usually eloquent Lucinda speechless.

Her hand was held tightly by him, and she didn't dare to pull away.

Even though they had known each other for eleven years, Lucinda didn't know him very well.

His hand was warm against hers, making her face burning hot.

She said helplessly, "It's getting hotter these days."

Stefan tilted his head and looked at her deeply. Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkled like stars in the night. He was most attracted to her red lips.

They must be soft.

"It is quite hot."

Stefan replied gently, pulling his gaze away so as not to make her uncomfortable.

She was shy.

Even though Lucinda had dated George for many years, it was only a campus romance, and she was very stubborn in love. George never received any concessions from her.

"Lucinda."

When they reached the first floor, they ran into someone they knew.

A middle-aged lady greeted Lucinda with a grin. Her gaze quickly landed on Stefan, and seeing them holding hands, she joked, "Lucinda, is this your new boyfriend?"

"Yes."

Lucinda answered confidently.

"He's a good-looking fellow. No wonder you're not interested in anyone else."

Lucinda laughed, "Abbey, do you think I'm the kind of person who only cares about looks? I care more about character, that's what really matters."

"Looks are important too, at least it's pleasant to look at every day." Abbey clearly placed a lot of importance on looks.

Among all the residents of the apartment, Lucinda was the most attractive. Abbey would always share some good food with her because she was so pretty. "Where are you guys off to?"

"My boyfriend is planning to treat me to a meal."

"Well, off you go then, enjoy your evening."

Abbey left with a spring in her step.

Stefan maintained a smile, not uttering a word.

Once Abbey was out of sight, he casually asked, "Lucinda, do a lot of guys have a thing for you?"

"No, not really, no one's into me. If anyone did like me, I wouldn't be avoiding going home because of my mom's nagging about marriage." When it came to 'no one being into me', Lucinda felt pretty annoyed.

Ever since she turned fourteen, even though she was getting prettier and prettier and lots of boys would gush over her, no one ever pursued her. During college, she started dating George, but this was all because she was the one who made the first move, leading to them becoming a couple. However, while most people in relationships hope to be together all the time, she and George maintained their relationship mainly through texting.