No one knew exactly how long they had been waiting, but finally, Asher Land and Sophie Smith made their way downstairs, taking their sweet time.
Sophie’s face was flushed, clearly a bit unnatural, and there were some obvious red marks on her neck.
Everyone there were adults, and it was clear what had happened without needing to spell it out.
The atmosphere became awkward as Sophie lowered her head and pulled a chair several seats away from Asher before sitting down.
Compared to her shy reaction, Asher’s demeanor was perfectly natural.
He cut the steak on his plate, intending to pass it over to her, but suddenly realized that she was sitting quite far from him.
She usually sat next to him, but today...
Did she think that sitting farther away would distance her from what they had just done upstairs?
Heh, she was being a bit too naive.
Sophie glanced up at him without responding, merely playing with the food on her plate with her fork.
"Miss Smith, the young master is asking you to sit over here," Nanny Garcia hinted at Sophie.
"Oh." Sophie responded, wondering why he was being so controlling—did it really matter where she sat?
But despite what she thought, her body still moved over.
She wondered if she had grown used to being under his thumb, as her previous resolve and stubbornness seemed to be slowly worn away by Asher.
Asher didn’t say anything about her slow response this time; he just placed the already sliced steak in front of her. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI[F]ire.net
"Nanny Garcia, bring a bottle of wine," Asher said, not having much of an appetite, to the nanny standing on the side.
"But..." Nanny Garcia shifted her gaze to Sophie, and Sophie remembered what Nanny had told her the night before—to persuade Asher to drink less...
But at this moment, she didn’t know how to start. Should she really meddle with Asher’s preferences?
Hmm, it required some courage and boldness.
"What are you waiting for?" Asher’s tone carried a hint of impatience.
"You should drink less," she spoke softly, so softly that he wouldn’t have heard if he weren’t sitting next to her.
He looked at her thoughtfully, trying to figure out what was on her mind.
"Drinking too much isn’t good for your health. You already have to socialize a lot and can’t avoid drinking, but maybe at home, you could ease up a bit." Having started, she could only brace herself to continue.
When Asher first heard her words, he showed no expression, but after a few seconds, he came around.
She was definitely showing concern for him.
He curled his lips into a smile, looking earnestly at her.
"Sophie, you’re growing more and more like a virtuous wife and mother," he joked.
Virtuous wife and mother?
His words were a bit exaggerated, weren’t they? She’d never be a virtuous wife and mother to him; at most, she was just a mistress who continuously annoyed her patron.
Sophie didn’t respond to his remark, which left him a bit unhappy. Didn’t she know that showing care required a bit more effort? Saying just two sentences seemed a bit insincere.
"Sophie, can’t you persuade me a bit more?"
"Persuade me not to drink."
"..." How childish could this man be?
Sophie remained silent for a few seconds before finally letting out a few words.
Damn, how could this woman be so unromantic?