The Lotus And The Billionaire

Chapter 29: Night Market

The next few days of our trip were very uneventful as we were busy dealing with plenty of things, from paperwork to meetings. Although everything went without a hitch, we were still hit by a wave of exhaustion whenever we got home.

Alvarez would often head straight to his bedroom when we got home and only wake up when it was time for dinner. Thrice during the entire week, I cooked dinner for both of us. The remaining two days, I couldn’t handle all the work and just ordered food. Alvarez was fine with it, though.

And now, it’s the last day of the site inspection. As long as everything turns out as we expect it to, we’ll have enough time to go for a stroll down the street later. I often saw food markets whenever we were on our way to the site.

Slowly, a smile crept upon my lips. I’m really looking forward to taking a look around once this is done! I’m sure Alvarez has noticed my excitement by now.

“We can extend the trip so we can visit some places,” he told me all of a sudden as we drove past the markets.

I shifted my gaze at him, smiling widely. “Really? Will that be okay? Didn’t you say you wanted to go home immediately?”

“It’s fine, Diaz. It could be compensation for having to take care of me and my mess for a whole week.”

Well, he’s not wrong about that. Whenever I entered his room to check whether he was asleep or not, I’d often find pieces of paper scattered all over the floor while he was sleeping on the table. His gadgets were all over the table, and the whole room was a mess.

I had to somehow take him to his bed as he was such a heavy sleeper! And then, I would have to clean his mess up. Although he crumpled most of the papers, I kept them organized so he wouldn’t worry whether something got thrown out or not.

Oftentimes, as I cleaned up, I wondered if that was the true essence of being a wife. Alvarez wasn’t the type to turn his wife into a maid, but putting his situation in consideration, I’d say it wasn’t his intention to tire me out like that. I guess the project really meant a lot to him for him to have no time to rest…

I sighed as my excitement immediately turned into concern. “No, it’s fine. There’d be plenty of opportunities to do that. You can just rest up. Or maybe I can have the guards accompany me.”

“No can do,” Alvarez replied, his face grim. “I’ll be the one to accompany you. As if I’d let another man do it in my stead.”

“I get what you mean—”

“You don’t, Diaz. And it seems like you don’t know how territorial I am yet.”

“Come on, it’s just a little stroll around the street.”

I saw how he clenched his jaw, refusing to give up. Right, he had already told me that he doesn’t like it when other people touch his property. Of course, he wouldn’t let me go on my own.

As long as I’m tied to Alvarez, I don’t think I can resist being owned by him. He is indeed a terribly jealous man, and it doesn’t even matter if he likes me or not. He had already branded me as his, after all.

“Alright…” I muttered as I looked out of the window. I have made peace with the fact that I have to submit to him for as long as our little agreement stands. “Just make sure you won’t pass out due to exhaustion.”

“I won’t. You’ve been taking good care of me, after all.”

“You’re probably relieved you brought me here with you.”

He smirked. “Clearly, I’m elated that I have brought my oh-so-sweet wife here to tend to my needs.”

I glared at him. “Shut up.”

Alvarez chuckled as he parked his car. “But in all seriousness, thanks for looking out for me.”

“I owe you, dumbass. Of course I would.”

Before the conversation could become cheesy, I got out of the car and started walking towards the office. From the first day, I refrained from wearing heels to the site. Although I take a pair with me and leave them inside the car so I can be prepared in case we have a sudden meeting with VIPs.

With my flats, I didn’t have to get carried around the place by Alvarez anymore. Ah, I just get annoyed whenever I remember the horrible rumors after pictures of him carrying me got onto the internet. People were complaining about me not walking on my own, that I’m acting like a damsel so Alvarez wouldn’t leave me, and more of those ridiculous made-up stories. I don’t even know how that photo was taken!

All of those rumors immediately went down as soon as both of us posted our pictures on social media. Oh, right. He gave me a chance to see the responses from his account, and damn, I caught a glimpse of both men and women trying to get with him on his DMs. Alvarez didn’t care about them, though…

Anyway, enough of that. We have a long day ahead of us, and I plan on being productive so we can have plenty of free time! Alvarez also promised me he’d try to finish early, so I was at ease.

I was.

But something terrible happened.

One of the workers fell from a high place and suffered from several injuries. Alvarez and I are in the hospital, trying to settle things with the family. We had already intended to pay for his medication, but it seems there’s one more problem.

The worker, who’s a father of two, was their breadwinner. It seems they can’t afford to pay for their bills without him, and now that he’s bedridden, they’ll have to struggle to make ends meet.

I said Alvarez is a cruel man before, did I not? But the truth is, he is not devoid of emotions like how I had described him before. Perhaps I just never saw how he was to other people before.

Yes, he promised to sponsor the kids’ education and even made a call to give the mother a job. It took quite some time to settle everything, but by the end of the day, the worker was already receiving top-tier treatment while his family can rest assured at last.

“Are you tired?” I asked Alvarez as soon as we got inside the car.

He sighed and nodded. “Sorry about that, Diaz. I just couldn’t let them be.”

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I replied as I flashed an assuring smile.

I could not bring myself to get mad at him because I was already planning how I could do the exact same thing earlier. He just beat me to it because he has more resources here.

Right now, we’ll probably just head home and rest. It’s been a long day, after all. I don’t really want to rest, but Alvarez would get worried and still try to take me out on a date to the food markets. I don’t want to bother him after all that.

Perhaps I could sneak out once he’s fast asleep. He’d get mad once he woke up, but I couldn’t pass on the opportunity. Vin told me he was lurking around the place, guarding me, so I didn’t really have to worry. Apparently, he had booked a flight after finding out about Alvarez’s plan.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked when I noticed that he wasn’t taking the road towards the hotel.

He smiled and pointed at the backseat. “Go change into something more comfortable. I bought clothes while you were in the office earlier.”

“Answer me first. Where are we going?”

“A night market. I had this planned ahead, so please don’t back out right now.”

I grabbed the paper bag and checked what was inside. It was a pair of jeans and a racerback top. There was another paper bag on the backseat, which probably contained his clothes.

I gaped at him, concerned. “You know you don’t have to if you’re tired.”

“Diaz, it’s fine. And besides, I promised.”

“You don’t have to keep your promises to me, you know.”

“But I want to.”

This guy…

Obviously, he was not taking a “no” for an answer, so I quietly moved to the backseat and changed my clothes. I caught him glancing a few times, but I didn’t really scold him for it. He’s seen everything, anyway.

Once I was done, I moved back to the passenger seat. “Do you want to change, too? I can take over.”

“I’ll change once we arrive there. Just sit back and relax.”

I just nodded and waited until we arrived at the night market he was talking about. My excitement couldn’t be contained! To be honest, this will be my first time in a night market as I was…sheltered. I never got to try them as I got older, either. And besides, I’d love to taste the food here in Singapore before we leave!

Besides the food, there’d probably be souvenirs as well. I’ll buy everyone I know a souvenir even if I know I won’t be able to give it to them. Just my parents and Vienna, I guess. I haven’t seen Vienna, though. I’m not sure if Vin has gotten the chance to buy what he wants, so I’ll probably buy him something as well.

Of course, I can’t hog all the fun for myself. I have to somehow get Alvarez to get what he likes…if he finds something interesting. He doesn’t strike me as the type to shop for things he might not use, though.

“God, I feel like a teenager…” he muttered as he grabbed my waist.

“Hmm? That’s the point, though.”

“What is? Acting like kids?”

I chuckled. “Yes. Did you ever experience this when you were in your teenage days?”

“No, I never tried.”

“See? That’s why we have to!”

He nodded, sighing. “Have you tried, though?”

“Yeah. Back in college, I had a few friends. They’d often invite me to trips to other countries to try this stuff out. I just…miss it.”

“How does it feel?”

“What?”

“How does doing this with a husband at this age feel?”

I shrugged as I approached a stall to buy food, the ones in the sticks. “I don’t know. It just feels refreshing, that’s all.”

Alvarez stopped talking after that as he focused on the food, as if he was hesitant to try. He always delighted in luxurious dishes, so perhaps that’s why he’s acting like that. Well, I’m sure he’d like what I give him!

“I might need a dessert after this,” he whispered to my ear as he pulled me closer, making sure I wouldn’t bump into anyone that was also standing near the stalls.

“There are probably desserts around here…” I muttered as I looked around. I’ve never been here, but we can ask the vendors if they sell desserts, so it’ll be fine.

Alvarez chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Huh?”

Instead of answering, he simply shook his head and waited for our food. “You can be quite dense when you’re excited.”

I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to understand what he meant. The vendor had already given me the food, but I still didn’t get it. Was that a dirty joke…?

Oh, wait.

“What the hell…!” I whispered as I smacked his arm.

He hissed in pain when I pinched his arm, but he chuckled and teased me for realizing it late. This asshole! Why the hell would he make such a joke in public?!

“What a pervert.” I shook my head in dismay as I started to eat, still looking around.

In my head, I was already thinking about what I can do to make my time here worthwhile. I simply came here for the food, but after that, what?

“You know…” Alvarez trailed off as he finished his first stick. “We can take out food from here and go for a drive around the city.”

I still hate his guts.

I don’t want to do things I like with him.

And I hate sharing my thoughts with him.

But I’ll say yes, anyway…