Faux Vows, True Desires

Chapter 61

The business at Serendipity Café had been going great, just like yesterday. The minute they opened the doors, the phone started ringing off the hook. Customers calling in for their coffee fix.

The staff was running around like headless chickens. Cecilia was so swamped, she didn’t even have time to gab about Owen with her friends.

The majority of the coffee and pastry orders came from Ascend Global employees. The task of delivering these orders naturally fell on Lucinda, the café owner.

There was no other option. Since their budget was tight, they couldn’t afford to hire a bunch of employees. Even with just a pastry chef and a clerk, paying their salaries brought Lucinda and Cecilia under great pressure.

Thankfully, Lucinda's book had been attracting quite a few tips, and there would be a hefty amount coming in next month. But that money was coming straight out of Stefan’s pocket.

When she stepped out, the sky was clear. Halfway through her delivery, the weather took a turn for the worse, the wind started howling, and heavy rain followed shortly.

Lucinda quickly pulled over, grabbed a raincoat from the trunk of her car, and continued on her way.

Delivering orders was just that. No matter how bad the weather got, you had to keep going, or else you’d get bad reviews from customers.

Lucinda was the café owner, delivering packed coffee and pastries to her customers. Even though it was different from a professional delivery service, she didn’t want her customers to wait too long. But the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the lower areas of the streets were starting to flood.

Although Lucinda had a raincoat, the rain was so heavy that it hit her face, making it difficult for her to keep her eyes open. When she was near Ascend Global headquarters, she struggled to move forward in the storm and had to find a place to stop and take shelter. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Despite all this, her hair, and clothes were already soaking wet.

The rain didn’t seem to let up, and the wind was strong. Lucinda was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Watching time slip away, Lucinda reluctantly dialed her husband’s number.

"Lucy."

Hearing the familiar voice, Lucinda hesitated, fearing her husband's reproach.

"Lucy, what's up?"

"Stefan, I'm sheltering from the rain near your office. The storm is too intense, I can’t ride my bike. And the coffee and pastries your employees ordered, they’ve been sitting too long, I..."

"You went out in this weather!" Stefan cut Lucinda off, his low growl startled her. She was prepared to be reprimanded, but she didn't expect him to be so angry.

"When I left, it was all sunshine and rainbows. But the summer weather changes too fast, all of a sudden it started pouring down, and it’s been going on for a while, doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon."

She wouldn’t have left the café with such bad weather. A cup of coffee, a box of pastries, didn’t earn much profit. Staying in the café in bad weather was the safest option.

"Hold on, I'm coming to get you!"

Stefan hung up the phone, immediately stood up, and pulled out his chair, ready to leave. On his way out, he instructed Iris, "Iris, tell everyone in the work group chat, if they want coffee from Serendipity Café, go there themselves, don’t make Lucy deliver."

Iris quickly agreed, then she said, "Mr. Coleman, you continue the meeting, I'm going to pick someone up."

Everyone heard Stefan's low growl. Many people didn’t know who Lucy was, but when the president left a meeting because Lucy called several times. From his reaction, everyone present understood that Lucy must’ve been a woman the president was fond of.

Stefan didn’t look back, he just left. He would personally go to pick his wife up.

Stefan quickly arrived at the place where Lucinda was taking shelter. When he saw Lucinda soaked from head to toe, his face turned as dark as a burnt piece of coal.

Lucinda was a little scared. She didn't do anything wrong.

Twenty minutes later.

In the president's office lounge, Lucinda, dressed in Stefan’s clothes, came out of the bathroom.

Stefan, holding a hairdryer, stood not far away. Seeing her come out, he ordered, "Come here, dry your hair."

Lucinda at the moment was like a meek rabbit. Whatever he told her to do, she did. She quickly walked over, trying to take the hairdryer from him, but he pushed her into the chair, and then helped her dry her hair himself.

"Stefan, I can do it."

"Shut up!"

Lucinda immediately shut up, didn’t dare to speak, or try to grab the hairdryer again, letting him blow dry her hair with a stern expression.

After a sneeze, Lucinda quickly covered her mouth and nose, mumbling, "Stefan, I’m not catching a cold."

Stefan didn't say a word. After helping her dry her hair, he put away the hairdryer.

Lucinda took advantage of him turning away to take a sneaky peek at his lounge. The lounge was a bit smaller than his bedroom, but it had all the necessary amenities.

Stefan put away the hairdryer and turned to look at her.

Lucinda knew he was angry, and she felt hurt. Who could predict it would rain heavily halfway?

Now, it was still raining heavily. The sky outside was gloomy, as if it was going to collapse.

Suddenly Lucinda's phone rang. It was Cecilia calling.

"Lucinda, where are you? With such heavy wind and rain, don’t push yourself, find a place to take shelter, come back when the rain stops, be careful on the road."

"I know, I'm okay, I'm at Stefan's."

Knowing that Lucinda was safe and with Stefan, Cecilia was relieved. She hung up the phone, not wanting to disturb them.

"Come here." Stefan said in a deep voice. His eyes were deep like an abyss.

Even though Lucinda didn’t think she was in the wrong, she felt uneasy under his gaze. It seemed he was very angry.

How would one coax an angry husband? Showing off your charm, making love to him to make him get over his anger. His mood would then return to calm!

"Stefan."

Lucinda decided to use a method often used by female characters, and that was to act cute with a smile!

She didn’t walk over; she pounced.

Straight into Stefan’s arms.

The force of her pounce was so strong, Stefan almost lost his balance, took a step back, but he still held her steady.

"Honey..."

Lucinda snuggled up to her husband and cooed, "Sweetie, don't be mad, okay? I didn't mean to worry you. The weather just changed all of a sudden. It started raining out of nowhere, no warning at all."

Stefan wanted to laugh, but then he remembered he was supposed to be angry, so he kept a straight face, unsmiling.

"Honey."

The woman in his arms called his name in a soft, sweet voice. It was so sweet, it made his bones go soft.

He wanted to push her down and get a little cozy with her. And that's exactly what Stefan did. He bent down, picked up the snuggly Lucinda, and carried her in a few strides back to the bed, gently laying her down.

Lucinda was a bit dazed until she felt the bed against her back. She tried to sit up, but her man held her down.

"Stefan, this is your office, your staff could pop in at any moment for work stuff."

"I'm angry, and I'm fuming."

Lucinda, “... are you planning to use me to cool down your anger?”