---
Vino was already dressed neatly, thanks to Vira's help. The man smiled at his reflection in the mirror, patting his wife's shoulder gently. "Not bad." His words made Vira's face turn slightly sullen. She kicked out a spoiled foot before settling back onto the sofa. "You should thank me, because this beautiful girl helped you get dressed."
"Haha..." Vino chuckled at his cute wife, who was making a spoiled face while resting her chin on her hand and pouting her lips.
"Get ready. We're leaving the hotel." Vino said, then got busy with his cellphone.
"You said you were late for the office. Shouldn't I shower and get dressed too?" Vira asked lazily. She was too comfortable in her husband's oversized t-shirt.
Vino turned his head for a moment, nodding slowly to confirm his wife's question.
"Ah, hello..." he was already on a phone call. "Prepare the car, my wife and I will be out in a moment," Vino said, glancing at his watch.
Vira began packing her things into one suitcase. Oh yeah, they had bought some clothes last night. She pulled out shopping bags from the wardrobe and piled them on top of her luggage. It turned out there was quite a lot, and Vira had to carry several bags with one arm.
Vino waved his hand, signaling for his wife to follow him. Vira understood the sign, but grumbled in irritation. It seemed that her husband had no intention of helping her carry anything. She had a hard time stepping out with her hands full, the shopping bags blocking her view. She slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway before finally making it into the elevator behind Vino.
As expected, Vino was still busy on his phone, not noticing the trouble Vira was having, following behind him like a subordinate. They made their way to the hotel lobby.
The elevator doors opened.
Vino's long legs quickly took him ahead, leaving Vira behind.
"Geez, doesn't he have any empathy or initiative?" Vira muttered, annoyed.
She tried to walk carefully, her arms full of paper bags, struggling to catch up. Her husband was almost out the door of the hotel.
"Ah, he walks casually, while I..."
Vira struggled to hold up the paper bags hanging from her wrist, her view obscured by them. She was used to being treated this way—back in the day, Lisa and Aunt Tina were also mean to her. But why was it that with Vino, Vira felt the need to rebel? Was his behavior really that apathetic and troublesome, or was she overreacting?
Just as she was about to reach the door to follow Vino, someone nudged her elbow, causing all the bags to scatter on the floor.
Hazel, the man who had bumped into her, stopped for a moment. He arched his eyebrows and saw a girl kneeling on the floor. He stepped back, surprised.
Vira quickly started collecting the scattered bags, moving as fast as she could, her face resigned.
"Tsk!" Hazel clicked his tongue, clearly irritated. He recognized the girl in front of him.
"You again!" he snapped sarcastically.
Vira looked up and saw the man standing in front of her. He was wearing shiny black shoes, ironed pants, and had a tall, cool posture. His face stared at her with a mocking look, which felt strange to her.
Hazel, 23 years old, was quite popular on social media. He was a handsome, fashionable young man adored by many teenage girls.
"Ah, I thought your employer was kind enough to not be embarrassed to bring you to a luxury hotel like this," Hazel said disdainfully.
Vira didn't care, quickly straightening her shopping bags and grabbing her luggage.
"Eh, I'm talking to you, CK! Or are you... following me here on purpose?"
What the hell was this guy talking about? Vira didn't understand a word of what the handsome young man was saying. She had to catch up with her husband.
Hazel looked at Vira with a disdainful expression. "Listen, there are lots of girls chasing after me. A woman like you doesn't even count!" He flicked his hair back, showing off his smooth forehead.
Hazel waved at the hotel maid standing near the front door.
"Don't forget to clean up everything, especially anything that's been contaminated by her!" Hazel told the maid, pointing at Vira.
Vira shook her head, not acknowledging him. She just wanted to leave.
"Eh, where are you going, ugly?" Hazel's hand grabbed Vira's wrist roughly, interrupting her steps.
Vira was disgusted.
"Once more, when you appear in front of me, I'll send you to jail. You're invading my privacy!" he threatened.
Vira was trying to hold back her anger. She didn't even know who this man was, and his words were ridiculous and intimidating.
"Sorry, sir, you've got the wrong person," Vira said, pulling her arm away.
Hazel brushed his hands together as if to wipe off the dirt from touching Vira's arm.
Waving his hands didn't seem enough, so Hazel took out a hand sanitizer and sprayed it into both of his hands.
Seeing this attitude from the man made Vira's tolerance snap. Her head seemed to boil with frustration.
"You think I'm a virus?" Vira shouted in his face.
The man looked at her arrogantly. "You're not just a virus; you're disgusting trash..." he sneered, full of hatred.
Vira's face burned. She was fed up—not only had her husband ignored the situation, but now this guy was challenging her and saying all sorts of exasperating things.
"Why did you—"
Before Hazel could finish his sentence, Vino grabbed his wife's wrist and shot a deadly glare at Hazel.
Vino said nothing but quickly led Vira away from the arrogant young man.
Hazel couldn't finish his insult, stunned by the sight of a handsome man in branded clothes pulling the "ugly" girl's arm.
Vira followed her husband's lead, turning to glance at the annoying guy still behind them. There was still one shopping bag left on the floor.
"Wait... we left our shopping bag," Vira said, trying to let go of Vino's hand.
Vino let go of her grip once they reached the luxury car. He handed the luggage to the driver and opened the car door, guiding Vira inside.
Vino took a detour to the other passenger seat.
"Our shopping bag is left behind," Vira hissed.
"Leave it. We can shop again later," Vino said dryly, giving the driver a signal to start the car.
Hazel stood there, still staring at the car speeding away from the hotel lobby.
"Huh, am I daydreaming?" he muttered to himself.
He turned to the hotel maid, who had been standing next to him.
"Why would that man hold the ugly woman's hand?" he asked, his face full of confusion.
"That's his wife, sir..." the maid answered.
"Huh! Wife? Who's that man?" Hazel still didn't believe it.
"He's the young master Vino of Company X..."
Hazel's eyes widened in disbelief at the mention of the wealthy man's name.
"WHAT! SISTER-IN-LAW!" he shouted, startling everyone around him.
---