On the other hand, the entrance to Evan's house opens as Evan and Kevin finally return from their work. With the modified car, Evan can get off easily without help from anyone. His wheelchair sped into the house, when a pleasant, strange scent suddenly hit his senses.
"She really seems to be cooking," Evan muttered under his breath. No one could hear the man's low voice except for Kevin, who was walking next to the man.
"By the way, you seem to be insisting on getting home early today so we can get back before dinner time. Geez
... Evan, you should have told me you were really looking forward today's cooking," Kevin said, half teasing his friend.
Evan's automatic wheelchair immediately stopped when he heard Kevin's teasing. The man glared at his friend to give him a warning, but Evan still didn't have the slightest intention to denied his friend's teasing.
Previously, Evan only let Maya do whatever the girl wanted because Evan still felt that the contract they made was too profitable for Evan but detrimental to Maya. There was no feeling in his every action. Evan just didn't want to be in debt, especially when they both decided to separate after their contracts ended. Evan had always believed that the girl would not be much different from the many women he had met so far. But only the second day they lived together, and Maya had managed to surprise him many times.
Even if her body is much more fragile than Evan's, even if she gets unfavorable treatment from her own family, the girl who is present in front of Evan is always filled with confidence as if her life has always been filled with hope. The girl who looks simple but full of confidence, and completely opposite to Evan's pessimistic nature.
Maybe because Evan actually wanted to be like Maya, he started anticipating the girl's every action without him realizing it. Evan's mouth pursed slightly, as he could only continue on his way as usual after he had paused without saying anything to Kevin.
"I'm just curious to what she can do with that confidence," Evan replied casually. But soon, the man furrowed his brows to himself as he disliked his own lies. Evan increased the speed of his wheelchair, as he left Kevin who raised an eyebrow at his friend's unexpected reaction.
Arriving at the kitchen, Evan was silent when he saw Maya was busy discussing something with the chef. Their faces looked so enthusiastic, as the chef occasionally tasted something that seemed odd to Evan.
"What are you talking about?"
Maya panicked, when Evan came home sooner than she predicted. The girl unhesitatingly walked over to Evan. Her face was very bright, as she chuckled softly while pointing at the food she had painstakingly made earlier.
"You're back. Look, I've finished cooking something for our dinner this time."
Evan's emotions fluctuated slightly when Maya intimately took his hand. Unlike his usual reaction, Evan felt he couldn't just brush Maya's hand away. But even if Evan was actually shocked by his own actions right now, his face still didn't have much expression when others just saw that Evan remained as calm as ever.
Maya happily led Evan to go to the dining table. Meanwhile, Kevin, who had just entered the kitchen, was slightly taken aback by the sight he saw. He quickly glanced at Evan, who pretended not to see him and ended up just sighing in his heart.
Just now, Evan acted like he didn't really care about Maya and only came back quickly to test the truth of what the girl said in the morning. But now, Evan didn't even bother to hide the change in his expression as the man obediently agreed to lead Maya to the dining table without the slightest protest.
Taking the plate that Maya had previously prepared, the girl excitedly presented her masterpiece in front of Evan and Kevin who took a seat at the dining table.
After preparing the spoon and fork, Maya looked at the two with a proud look. "This food is very nutritious. You have to eat it and feel the effect on your body," she said confidently.
Evan and Kevin brows furrowed slightly when they saw the unnatural color of the food that was now presented in front of them. The dish that the girl made, no matter if it looked attractive from the outside, was still too strange to serve as food. The color is striking, it looks like Maya had previously put food coloring in the ingredient before finally cooking it as usual.
Both of them glanced at each other with their respective understandings. They originally wanted to get rid of the strange food. But as time went on, the tantalizing aroma emitted by the food tempted the two of them to start taking the dish into their mouths. The more they try to fight back, the stronger the temptation of the food will be to annoy them. The two of them had almost thought that Maya might have put a strong addictive substance in the food, when they saw that the girl had gone ahead of them to eat and seemed to be really enjoying her current dish.
They were clearly eating the same food this time. Because during the cooking process, Evan's chef had been given strict orders to keep an eye on Maya until it was impossible for the girl to do any evil deeds under the eagle eyes of Evan's trusted chef. Especially when they saw Maya eating happily. Kevin, who had been starving for a long time, decided to be the first to take the risk and began to feed the strange food into his mouth.
The unique rich taste immediately greeted him as soon as Kevin chewed the food. His expression clearly showed some surprise. However, that type of expression carried curiosity and a feeling of satisfaction. Kevin unhesitatingly put another bite into his mouth, before praising Maya without hesitation.
"It's delicious. I didn't expect you to be such a good cook," he said generously. Maya smiled happily after hearing Kevin's compliment. "I'm glad you like it. I made it to improve your health. Eat a lot and you'll feel the difference in the morning."
Neither Evan nor Kevin knew that the food they ate was a precious treasure in Maya's past life. People are willing to trade a lot of things, even the lives of other people to be able to eat this extraordinary food. Maya is truly grateful that she is alive again with such rich resources. She could make the food as much of as she wanted, and use it to heal her currently ailing husband-to-be.
Maya would think of it as payment for the comfortable life the man had given her for a while. Maya is not a person who likes to be in debt. He will repay the kindness of others with kindness too, if he is given the opportunity to do so.
Evan, who saw Kevin eating voraciously couldn't keep quiet and started eating his own food with doubts still hanging in his little heart. Evan's expression didn't change as drastically as Kevin's. But if one looked closely, they could tell that Evan also started to like the dish after he finished taking a few mouthfuls.
"Evan, is my food tasty?"
Even though Maya already knew very well the answer that the man would give, the girl still couldn't stop herself from asking so she could hear the answer from Evan's own mouth. The man in question took another bite casually. Evan nodded, his lips forming a faint smile as he answered Maya's question after he had completely digested the food in his mouth.
"Not bad." Evan answered curtly in a rather kind tone. But that answer alone was enough to make Maya happy. The girl nodded with a smile. "Thank goodness you like it too," she said before the girl returned to focusing on her own food. There was no other sound until each of them started to finish their meal. Evan calmly wiped his mouth, before looking at Maya who was still eating with an expression that clearly looked happy.
"So happy?" Evan muttered as he watched Maya seem to be so happy today. Not only did she take the initiative to prepare the food, the girl was also smiling all the time. At first, Evan was a little worried because Kevin reported that the girl didn't seem to be in good shape in the morning. But, seeing her so happy right now, Evan thought his method of letting Maya out was working to bring positive results to the girl.
"What major would you like to take in the college?"
Maya stopped eating when Evan suddenly asked her about her future. Now that she recalled, she did hear some of the maids say that her stepsister was preparing for the university entrance exams while she was getting ready to leave to go to Evan's house earlier. If Maya really wanted to enroll as a student this year, that meant she didn't have much time left to prepare and study for her entrance exam.
Maya really didn't think about it. She thought she just wanted to go to college in the future, but she didn't know that she don't have many times left.
Seeing Maya's blank face, Evan took a deep breath before putting back the handkerchief he used to clean his mouth.
"There's still a month to go. You can still catch up if you're serious," Evan said calmly. But, while Evan was talking, Maya had made her decision in that short amount of time. Her marriage with Evan will take place soon. If she had been busy preparing for his study when they just got married, what would people say about their relationship?
They might just pretend to be married. But Maya still doesn't want Evan's name to be bad just because of her wish.
"It's fine. I'll just be taking college exam for next year. There's still a lot of things I want to do first."
Actually, Maya's words were also based on the fact that she hadn't really learned much about how her new world worked. Maya wants to know more about this world first, before she decides to go to college as she wants.
However, Maya's words were misinterpreted by Evan after the girl finished saying it. The man thought that the girl's family was so bad that it couldn't provide proper living facilities for his future wife. Finola had obviously just graduated from high school like the family's legal child. But even the university entrance exam, the girl didn't know until he finally brought up the matter.
Finola's family was even worse than Evan's according to the man. His grip on the armrests on his wheelchair tightened, as Evan's mood suddenly worsened at this moment.
"I understand."
Evan suddenly left after he said those short words. Neither Kevin nor Maya knew why the man was suddenly in such a bad mood. Maya thought that Evan was angry because he didn't want to go to college this year. The girl scowled a little, even though Maya felt she was doing it for Evan's sake too.
"Whoever is making him angry right now, it's definitely not you Finola. Don't worry, he's probably only worried about you right now. Evan is a tough person, he always finds it hard to convey his feelings to other people."
Maya looked up again when Kevin suddenly spoke after preparing to leave as well. The handsome man smiled, as he looked at Maya with a more sincere look this time.
"The food was delicious. Thanks for cooking for us, Finola."
While the man was smiling sincerely like that, Maya's feelings were also involuntarily lifted as she smiled back at the man.
"You're welcome," Maya replied as she watched Kevin also leave to return to his own room.