Claudia still acted arrogantly and tried to reach the buttons on her lower back. If Harry had helped, maybe before traveling, they would have done quite a long exercise while in the room. Claudia’s cheeks turned redder because in her heart she kept grumbling and wanted Harry not to take the initiative to help her.
Harry’s patience was almost running out when he saw his wife trying to reach the buttons on her lower back. He got up from the sofa then walked over to his wife who was like a child.
"Why don’t you ask me for help?"
"Because... I can do it myself."
"Are you sure you can? How long do I have to wait?"
"But-"
"Even though I can help you make it faster." Harry fastened the buttons on his wife’s dress nimbly as he walked backwards.
Claudia looked down in shame while holding her chest, feeling her heart pounding. Meanwhile, Harry was actually tempted to stare at his wife’s curvy back, even if only briefly. He tried to restrain his desires because his principle was not to want to tarnish a woman’s body until he was truly willing to give his heart to her.
"By the way, can we go now? Don’t let President Howard wait for us too long."
*****
Upon arrival at the Ainsworth family residence, Claudia and Harry’s arrival was greeted with respect by the servants in this house. They walked into the luxurious house nervously because all these servants treated them as if they were a newlywed couple.
The dining room was attended by the host and his children. President Howard got up from his chair and welcomed the arrival of his two special guests with a happy smile.
"You’re finally here! I haven’t seen you in a long time."
Harry bowed politely. "It is our honor to be able to meet uncle again after so long."
"Even I didn’t think you two were meant to be together." Howard shook hands with Claudia. "I didn’t realize you were so grown up now, Claudia. "You used to often play with Clarissa."
"Playing what? Claudia is actually very quiet, Dad!" Clarissa interrupted while chewing the duck meat hungrily.
Once again, Claudia felt the feeling that she was getting increasingly uncomfortable looking at the faces of all the members of the Ainsworth family, who were people she knew in the real world. Clarissa is also one of her best friends. However, when she saw Carlos’ face, Claudia was immediately shocked. Because the real world version of Carlos is one of his classmates at college who confessed his feelings. However, she was rejected outright because Carlos was not her type.
Claudia still wore a friendly smile, because no matter what, she still had to follow the storyline of the novel. "Am I really quiet? "Then, how will I behave while you join the Scarlet Community?"
"It’s not bad that you’re active. But, you still..."
"Why me?"
Clarissa got up from the chair for a moment. Walk slowly towards Claudia then hug her tightly. Claudia widened her eyes at the warm treatment from her best friend in this world. In fact, she wasn’t used to it because her best friend in the real world had died in an accident.
"I missed you, Claudia."
"Me too." Actually, it’s more likely that Claudia really misses her friend in the real world.
Immediately looking at Harry’s face, Clarissa’s expression turned gloomy. She let go of the hug for a moment then returned to her chair. Claudia is increasingly curious about what Clarissa and Harry are hiding like a cold war. However, what made Claudia even more curious was that Carlos didn’t welcome her at all. Even though Carlos’ personality is not much different from Harry’s, he must at least show a polite attitude.
Claudia and Harry sat next to each other and faced the two brothers. Clarissa’s gaze sharpened at Harry as if she was holding a lot of grudge.
"By the way, thank you for inviting us to your house today, President Howard," said Claudia, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
"Actually, it just so happens that it’s my birthday today, that’s why I invited you two here. I also want to apologize for not being able to attend your wedding ceremony."
"It doesn’t matter. We know you were on a business trip at that time."
"In fact, I regret not being able to see you in a wedding dress, Claudia," concluded Clarissa.
"I won’t scold you just because you didn’t attend my wedding."
Howard snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, since you guys haven’t seen each other for a long time, how about you take a tour of our garden? Moreover, gardeners will harvest a lot of strawberries today."
*****
Clarissa took Claudia for a walk around her family’s strawberry garden. Actually, the current atmosphere is very suitable for Claudia to dig up information about Clarissa’s relationship with Harry. Moreover, now Harry was busy chatting with Howard and couldn’t possibly want to do anything troublesome in the garden.
Clarissa picked one of the strawberries then gave it to Claudia. "This is your wedding gift from me."
Claudia chuckled as she put the strawberry in her mouth. "It turns out that even now you are still good at choosing good strawberries."
"Of course, because my father always scolds me every time he picks sour strawberries." Clarissa patted Claudia on the shoulder enthusiastically. "I still regret not being able to attend your wedding. I still didn’t expect you to marry that annoying man."
Claudia furrowed her eyebrows, for a moment she sat on a long bench with Clarissa so they could chat more freely. "Why do you think Harry is an annoying guy? What is your relationship with him?"
"You didn’t know why my relationship with him was awkward all this time?"
"Is it because Harry treated you rudely?"
Hearing her best friend’s guess, Clarissa laughed so hard that her cheeks turned red. "In fact, I think it’s the opposite. Harry is very kind in my eyes even though he seems very cold and indifferent."
"But, why didn’t you two talk to each other earlier if you felt he was good? Has he ever done anything wrong to you?"
"In fact, he once made a mistake that makes me annoyed with him to this day. In fact, he did it in front of so many people that everyone laughed at me."
Claudia raised her head while holding Clarissa’s hand tightly. "What did he do wrong to make you angry with him?"