Everyone had praised his cooking throughout his entire history of mandatory cooking for others, even though he only put a little effort into it, relying on instinct.
"Why don't we make a bet?" Leah asked.
+++++
Zed stopped eating and turned to face the woman beside him, listening to her talk about the bet. "Let's finish dinner first, and I'll tell you later," Leah added when she noticed him not eating.
"Hmmm," Zed responded, following Leah's pace and starting to eat again.
After dinner, Leah helped Zed load the dishwasher and then left for the couch to continue playing with her new phone. Zed, on the other hand, went outside to check the area's security and inspect the guardhouse.
Besides Leah, Zed was the only one with a designated room inside the main house. The guards were housed in a separate building, which also contained quarters for the servants. However, these quarters were currently empty, as Zed had sent all the servants away.
Those servants are only allowed to enter the villa to maintain it once a week to once a month, depending on the tasks they need to perform.
Finished with his duties, Zed returned to find Leah lounging on the couch without care if anyone saw her half-exposed stomach. Her pants were unbuttoned, revealing a bit of her underwear.
Zed stood by the closed door, enjoying the view, when he realized anyone could see this if they barged in. He frowned and got closer. He sat cross-legged on the floor beside the couch, facing Leah's head.
His head tilted to one side, resting his left forearm on the couch.
Like a huge black husky seeking attention, he tugged at Leah's right sleeve as she lay on her back, playing with her new phone. "Wife," he said without reservation. He had been calling Leah 'wife' in his mind all day, and he didn't realize what he had said until it was too late.
"Hmmm," Leah said without thinking, and then her phone fell on her face.
"Ouch, f*ck," she exclaimed, removing the phone from her face and turning her head to see a blinding smile filled with warmth from Zed's tilted head. Receiving an unexpected positive answer from Leah made Zed over the moon.
"I did not give you permission to call me that," Leah said with a shocked expression. Then she smiled back at Zed and added, "I'll let you call me 'wife' when we are alone if you stop hurting yourself like the time you tased your thigh and put yourself in danger without my permission."
Leah's eyes formed crescents while she waited for Zed's answer. She knew he would agree immediately, but to her surprise, he stayed silent and frowned.
"Why are you being quiet?" Doubt started to form on her face as she asked again.
Zed avoided eye contact with Leah and sadly said, "But my thing won't calm down. What should I do if—" Leah, her face flushing as she remembered last night, covered Zed's mouth with an embarrassed grin. "That is indeed a problem. Why don't I inject anesthesia down there next time?" Leah seriously considered.
Looking at the cute, embarrassed woman before him, Zed nodded. "Ahh, it didn't work. They said that the more physical contact, the closer you get online. At least I can call her 'wife.' Hmm. Maybe I'll run to her for help when it happens again," Zed thought.
He wanted Leah to agree to help him next time, just like last night, if she insisted on him not using the taser to calm it down.
As soon as Leah saw the nod, she immediately removed her hand. "I missed it," Zed thought again. "I should have licked her hand when I nodded."
Zed blinked. "Focus and answer your wife immediately before she frowns!" He was trying hard not to get lost in his desire while in front of Leah.
"I'll listen to you and not endanger myself. I will ask for permission first before attempting a dangerous mission," Zed said, throwing up a white flag with a serious expression followed by an indulgent smile. Thinking about that missed opportunity made him frown again.
Zed's alternating smiles and frowns intrigued Leah. "What's wrong?" she asked, lying sideways, facing Zed with crossed arms.
"Nothing. What's the bet you wanted to talk about?" Zed answered and asked simultaneously, pulling Leah's shirt to cover her more exposed abdomen.
"Leave the shirt alone. I let it be since it's just you and me at home. I would be properly covered if it weren't. Besides, the main house's doors and windows can't be opened without your or my approval anyway," Leah said, knowing what Zed was thinking.
He left the shirt and went on to button her pants properly, looking at Leah inquisitively. "Ahh, the button just came undone by itself. It was an accident, okay," Leah defended herself, avoiding his eyes. The truth was, she ate too much, so she opened up some space to free her stomach.
"Ahem, so the bet. I'll let you prepare and make my meals and drinks for the next five days. If you satisfy all my cravings for that amount of time, I will only eat and drink what you make and what you let me eat or drink. However, if you fail to satisfy me, you will grant me one wish and follow through no matter what," Leah explained in one breath.
"How do I know you wouldn't lie just to have that wish?" Zed countered.
"You wouldn't. How about I add another prize when I win? In addition to a wish, I will let you be my only cook and let you prepare all my meals and drinks however you want, but it will depend on me if I will eat them or not," Leah made it more tempting. "Plus, regardless of whether you win or lose, I'll let you taste this whenever you want," Leah added, pointing at her lips with a seductive smile.
Gulp.
Zed nodded quickly, afraid that Leah would back out. He no longer cared about who cooked for Leah. All he cared about was that after five days, win or lose, he would have exclusive access to taste his beloved wife's lips whenever.
Satisfied with Zed's response, Leah got up, her mesmerizing smile lighting up her face.
"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow. You can decide what breakfast we'll have tomorrow," Leah said and left. She wanted to snuggle on the couch until she fell asleep, but she was still engaged, and her parents were still uninformed.
"Good night," Zed watched Leah leave until he could no longer see her, his gaze burning as if it could bore through Leah.
Sigh.
He sighed and got up to unload the dishwasher. "I didn't know enduring could be so difficult until now," he thought.
In Wang Defu's study...
"That stupid bastard. After all the opportunities I gave him, this is how he repays me?" Wang Haoran's father cursed like a sailor while destroying anything he could get his hands on. His assistant, who was almost the same age as him, quivered at the side with a bleeding forehead.
"Call that bastard right now and tell him to come here!" He ordered his assistant with a furious expression, gritting his teeth.