Chapter 35: You and I, From Fake to Real

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: You and I, From Fake to Real

Ryan Sterling didn’t have to say that last part.

But he said it deliberately, just to remind Evelyn Grant.

Sure enough.

After hearing it, she was too embarrassed to object.

After a few seconds of silence, Evelyn Grant’s voice rose in confusion. "You mean, you want us to make this act real?"

Ryan Sterling nodded, making sure to add, "Only for as long as the marriage lasts! Once we’re divorced, we’ll go our separate ways."

’Of course—’

’If that day ever comes.’

"..."

"Evelyn Grant, you aren’t trying to back out and not repay the favor you owe me, are you?"

"I’m not!"

Ryan Sterling smiled. "Alright then. It’s settled."

He gave Evelyn Grant no time to react. The moment he finished speaking, he opened the door and walked straight into the villa.

She stood stunned for a long moment, then hurried to catch up and question him.

"Ryan Sterling, you... don’t you have a girl you like? If you and I make this act real, what about her? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get angry and jealous?"

"The only thing I’m afraid of is her *not* getting angry and jealous."

He was already inside and had changed his shoes by the time Evelyn Grant finally processed what he had just said.

’So, he wants us to be a real couple just to make that "special someone" of his jealous?’

...

Evelyn Grant still wanted to talk to Ryan Sterling about his "proposal," which, after all, seemed rather absurd and rash.

But as it turned out, she ended up spending the entire night in his bedroom!

Because Ryan Sterling had suddenly come down with a fever.

He’d been full of life and energy just moments earlier, but shortly after returning to his room for a shower, he emerged with a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius.

"Maybe we should go to the hospital? Are you going to be okay like this?"

But Ryan Sterling stubbornly refused. "I’m staying home. I’m not going anywhere."

"..."

"You’re my wife. This is your chance to repay me."

’She really had to hand it to him!’

’So sick, and still running his mouth.’

But one look at him—his searing temperature, his handsome face flushed with fever—was enough to prove he wasn’t lying or faking it. He was genuinely sick. Resigned to her fate, Evelyn Grant stood up.

"Lie down for a bit. I’ll go get an ice pack for your forehead."

As Evelyn Grant was about to leave, Ryan Sterling stopped her. "Evelyn Grant... back when my older brother was sick, didn’t you make him some kind of soup?"

She was taken aback. "How do you know that?"

"Never mind how I know. I want some now, too."

How could he have known?

Of course, Florence Morgan had told him.

The most conflicted Ryan Sterling ever felt during his years in Eldoria was when he called his mother.

On one hand, he wanted to hear from her about Evelyn Grant and his older brother. On the other, he couldn’t help but feel jealous and miserable.

Every time he heard about another foolish thing Evelyn Grant had done for his older brother, he wanted to just buy a plane ticket, fly home, march right up to her, and shake some sense into her.

If a man truly loved his wife, how could he bear to let her suffer? And he certainly wouldn’t make her cry in secret so many times!

His older brother clearly didn’t love her.

But in the end, Ryan Sterling never once actually flew back to Kyro.

Because he knew, all too clearly, just how much Evelyn Grant loved Julian Sterling.

She wasn’t stupid.

How could she not have understood what was going on?

She just refused to see it.

"But... you might not like the taste of that soup."

Evelyn Grant remembered the disgusted look on Julian Sterling’s face every time she’d served him the soup and he’d pushed it away. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to give Ryan a word of caution.

"I want it."

"..."

"Evelyn Grant, I’m your husband too. You can’t play favorites."