Chapter 20
Kendall's troubled expression made Dylan unhappy as he looked at her, so he pinched her cheeks again.
However, she wasn't having it and slapped his hand away from her face again.
"Dylan, just say whatever is on your mind. I'll listen and remember it wholeheartedly. You don't have to pinch my face to remind me every time."
Since it would hurt, he should let her pinch his cheeks in return.
"There are a lot of women out there who want to give me presents, but I've never accepted any one of them."
Once Dylan finished, he glanced at Kendall.
Kendall replied with an 'oh' and explained, "I know that you're self-disciplined and would not play around with women."
In the past, however, the number of women who wanted to marry Dylan was numerous; he could have anyone he wanted.
When Kendall was still in the small town, she had heard of Dylan's name and seen him in newspapers and on television as well. So, of course, she knew some things about this man.
If that car accident hadn't happened, the position of Mrs. Coleman would have belonged to anyone but hers.
As Kendall thought of that, she glanced at somewhere on Dylan's body.
She thought she was looking at Dylan so discreetly that he wouldn't notice; however, her actions meant that she looked down on his situational awareness! Suddenly, his face was so close to her that she could smell the scent from his body that was different from Jackson's.
Also, it seemed familiar.
Kendall didn't think much about it as she thought the smell was familiar because she had smelled him when she bit Dylan on the first day she returned. So, that was why she figured the smell was familiar.
"Dylan?"
Kendall felt anxious as her eyes flashed with a hint of nervousness when she saw his face inches away from her. What was Dylan thinking of doing?
"You were secretly looking at my crotch. What? Do you feel it's a pity, or do you regret marrying me?"
"It is a pity, but I don't regret marrying you."
With that, Kendall placed her hands bravely on Dylan's thigh and she could feel his muscles tensing under her touch.
Meanwhile, Dylan wasn't expecting her to be brazen enough to place her hands on his thigh but instead, she was even touching him and moving further...
Although he looked indifferent on the outside, he was anxious because no woman had ever treated him in such a way.
Then, he fell into a dilemma as he felt her touch. Should he let her continue touching him or pull away and break her hand as a punishment?
Huh?
The soft hand had changed course. Instead of going further in, it now moved toward his knee.
His knee was all bones and was hard as a rock. What was there to touch? She didn't even know how to take advantage of him, even when she had the chance to.
"Dylan, I will take responsibility and help you walk like a normal person."
Just as Dylan secretly complained that Kendall didn't know how to take advantage of him, he heard her gentle, resolute, and concerned voice.
The usually merciless Dylan was now quietly looking at Kendall.
A moment later, he elaborated, "You're not responsible for me being crippled, and whether I can walk like a normal person is also not your responsibility."
"Then..." How would she be responsible for him? Help him bear a child? Since Dylan didn't have that ability anymore, it would only hurt his dignity if she mentioned that.
"After I was crippled, the maids at home saw me as a ferocious beast, and they would hide far away from me. Even my family would treat me like porcelain whenever they're with me, which is why I need a nanny."
By saying those words, Dylan meant to tell Kendall that she had forced him to marry her because she wanted to take up the responsibility. He agreed to marry her, not out of love but for a free nanny. Unfortunately, the future awaiting her was not full of sweetness but rather his capricious temper and endless ways of humiliating her.
However, Kendall wasn't angry. In lieu of that, she smiled and responded, "Dylan, I, Kendall Parker, am a person who keeps my promise. So, as long as I've promised someone, I will definitely keep my word."
After marrying Jackson in her previous life, it was akin to her wings being broken, whereby she willingly became a housewife, but what awaited her was a terrifying ending.
Even after she had compared the odds, she still decided to marry Dylan. After all, she could occasionally use his name to scare off others. She was the fox behind the tiger, and she would pave the way for her future while dealing with her enemies from her past life.
Nonetheless, Dylan merely pursed his lips, hummed a reply, and had an expression that illustrated his eagerness to see what she could do.
When they returned to the Coleman Mansion, Dylan left Kendall alone and went over to the pavilion to have his meal.
As Kendall stood in the scenic courtyard, she watched as her husband left. After a while, she rubbed her empty stomach and pulled her luggage toward one of the buildings which housed Dylan's residence at Coleman Mansion.
He lived in an entire building alone and that building was a restricted area in the Colemans' eyes.
They wouldn't enter at will because if they weren't careful, they might get kicked out of the building and be carried away by an ambulance.
When she had diarrhea after eating something spicy, Kendall discovered that this was where Dylan lived.
After she entered the building, she went upstairs to look for a guest room to store her luggage before coming down to prepare her meal.
The Coleman Mansion was massive and housed hundreds of Colemans.
The buildings closer to the main house were where members of the Coleman Family lived. They lived around the main house and had the Colemans backing them. So, even if Dylan's family were the fifth generation of Colemans, no one would dare to bully them once they went out as long as they lived here.
Moreover, there were also many maids, bodyguards, and drivers here.
There were over twenty bodyguards who served Dylan alone. Without Dylan's orders, even if the security guards here knew she was Dylan's wife, they wouldn't help her. Hence, she had to make her own meals.
After Kendall explored the entire second floor, she hadn't entered a room because they were all locked. She had no choice but to head to the third floor but discovered that it was the same as the second floor.
The building Dylan was living in only had three floors, so if Kendall couldn't enter any of the rooms on the second and third floors, it would mean she had to return to the first floor. There should be a nanny's room, and if she could open one of the rooms, she would have to stay there.
She couldn't help but think that this was Dylan's warning for his newlywed wife. A silent warning that she had to remain obedient and not think of doing whatever she wanted because she had married him and become Mrs. Coleman.
Because without his orders, she couldn't even live in the guest room.
Kendall's guess was correct as she unlocked the nanny's room on the first floor, so she pushed the door open and pulled her luggage inside. Although it was a nanny's room, it had everything she needed and was quite spacious.
However, there was a bed, but no covers or other bedroom essentials.
"Dylan, do you have to be so harsh? We're married, after all," she muttered.
It was still summer, so it didn't matter if she didn't have a quilt.
Then, Kendall set down her luggage but was not in a hurry to get her things out. Instead, she looked around the room and saw a piece of paper being held down by an ashtray.
Out of curiosity, she picked up the paper, only to see the words, "Do it yourself."
The writing looked powerful and striking, and Kendall guessed it was from Dylan.
"I can do everything myself to get what I want. Such a small problem won't bother me."
After that, she rolled the piece of paper and threw it into the trash can.
Maybe Dylan had forgotten that Kendall grew up in the countryside, and no matter how good her adoptive parents treated her, she still had to do some house chores. Since he didn't invite her to eat with him, she would cook for herself so she wouldn't starve.
Moreover, she thought her cooking was quite tasty, but when she arrived in the kitchen, she finally knew that she was being overly optimistic.