Chapter 5: If You Keep Acting Crazy, I'll Take You Right Here!

Ghost? Then he was going to give her a proper scare. "Hah… have you ever seen a ghost this handsome? Hmm?" Liam Hawksford sat down beside Sia Thubron. He angled his body toward her, propping one arm on the sofa, boxing her into the corner. That low, magnetic voice slid straight into her ears, almost too pleasant to hear. Yet all Sia felt was a prick of familiarity. Trembling, she lifted her head. In the wash of moonlight, she finally made out his face. It was him! The man from last night. Oh God. Was he human or a ghost? How did he end up in the Yoxal family? Was she dreaming? No. Her cheek still burned like it was real. Sia jolted, her delicate brows knitting tight. Her heart hammered in her chest, and anger flashed across her small face. "Why are you here?" she snapped, her voice soft with a leftover sob, but the bite in it was unmistakable. "Little fairy, you didn't pay up. Of course I had to stick to you wherever you went." Liam couldn't see her face clearly in the dark, but her bright eyes were sharp with fury. "Pay? What pay?" Sia curled into herself, watching him lean closer, guilt crawling up her spine. "Oh… that money." She swallowed hard, then forced herself to sound tough. "I forgot. You scared me just then. I almost died of fright. Let's call it even." She needed every cent for her grandma's treatment. She was broke. She had even lost her last fifty yuan somewhere. She was poor to the bone. She couldn't pay him. Liam nearly laughed from sheer irritation. Call it even? "Five times. That doesn't cancel out with one stroke. That's five strokes…" Trying to out-scheme him? She was still too green. Five times… What kind of filthy, feral line was that? "W-What do you mean, I… I… five times!" Sia's tongue tied itself in knots. The words wouldn't come out right. Heat rushed to her face until she felt like she was about to boil. Thank God the night hid it, or she would have looked like a cooked shrimp. "Don't remember?" His voice turned velvet-smooth, a pleasant magnetism that somehow sounded like a devil whispering. "Want me to help you recall?" Sia's ears went hot. Her mind turned to mush. She snatched the throw pillow she'd been hugging, gathered every ounce of strength she had, and slammed it over his infuriatingly perfect face. "Bastard! Bastard! I'll smother you! You think you can act that shameless in my dream?" She didn't just flip on him, she wanted to pretend nothing had happened at all. She was married. If this ever got out, she'd be finished. Besides, she had only asked him to take a few photos. He was the beast who had slept with her. She hadn't even had time to settle that score yet. Silence him. She had to silence him. This jerk, flirting with her even in her dream. He didn't deserve to live. Sia ground her teeth. "…" Liam froze for a beat, his face muffled by the pillow. This woman changed personalities by the day. Yesterday she was a little fairy. Today she was a full-on wildcat. He snapped back, yanked the pillow away, and tossed it aside. In the same motion, he caught both her hands, hauled her over, and sat her on his lap. Sia: "…" Bullying her in her own dream? Fine. She'd fight him to the end! "Woman, if you keep acting crazy, I'll take you right here!" Liam's handsome face turned abruptly cold. What a little lunatic. When she went off the rails, she rewrote everything he thought he knew about women. What kind of wife had his brother found him? Someone specially assigned to scam him? Sia fought like a tiny lion that had just exploded, all claws and stubborn fury. Even with her hands restrained, she refused to quit. Liam lost patience. He shifted and pressed her down onto the sofa. In the darkness, it was obvious who was weaker. With his weight pinning her, Sia thrashed hard, her pale little face full of defiance. Liam's breathing grew heavier as he forced her flailing hands above her head. As if she would submit. Her limbs were trapped, but her temper was iron. She clenched her teeth and drove her forehead up like a crazed calf. She'd fight him! "Thump!" Liam felt something brutally hard slam into him. No warning. "Mm… that hurts…" Sia mumbled, instantly dazed. The world spun in rings above her head. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she collapsed back onto the sofa. Everything fell silent. Even Liam's rough breathing sounded unnaturally clear. "Hiss…" Pain flashed white, and his vision went dark for a few seconds. Dizziness rolled through him. The hand gripping her wrists loosened. "Little lunatic!" he snarled through clenched teeth. Sia had even worse luck. She had knocked herself out cold. "Hey. Wake up!" Liam couldn't believe it. This woman never followed any rule of common sense. She didn't stir no matter how he pinched her cheek. In the dark, Liam braced a hand on the sofa and suffered his first real setback in life. "She fainted?" He pinched her soft cheek harder. Nothing. With a frustrated breath, he sat up, thinking to call the butler and have a doctor come over. But that scream earlier had definitely caused a commotion. And with her passed out like this… Liam didn't want to be a beast. In the end, he grudgingly lifted Sia into his arms, stripped off that annoying wedding dress, and tossed her onto the bridal bed. Yes. Tossed. The kind of toss that screamed pure disdain. Then he lay down as well, eyes closed, forcing himself to calm. A few seconds later, he rolled over and pulled the unconscious little woman into his arms anyway, unwilling to let it go. "Little lunatic," Liam murmured against Sia's ear, his voice low and dangerously charming. "We've got all the time in the world. I'll let you off tonight." The words had barely fallen when he still lowered his head and kissed the pale, delicate curve of her neck… Sia would never have imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that what she did yesterday had provoked a calculating, vengeful… husband.