Julian might seem rough around the edges, but he was incredibly considerate.
He often took care of small details she overlooked without a second thought.
That’s why she never thought anything of her own small gestures.
“Don’t worry about what I do,” Julian said, leaning against the counter and tossing a tomato in his hand. “I do what I want.”
It sounded like a childish excuse.
Isabel countered, “Then why can’t I do what I want?”
Julian pressed, “So getting me slippers and making me food—that’s what you wanted to do?”
Isabel nodded. “Yes, getting you slippers and making you pasta were both things I was willing to do.”
She still didn’t see what was wrong, and the curve of Julian’s smile deepened. “You didn’t feel like I was treating you like a maid, ordering you to get my shoes and cook for me?”
Isabel really couldn't follow his train of thought. She could only say, “These are things I do naturally, willingly. You said it yourself, we’re practically married. What you can do for me, I can do for you.”
In truth, there wasn’t much she could do for Julian.
From the moment he suggested they get married, he’d claimed it was to put old Mr. Reed’s mind at ease, but in reality, it had benefited her far more.
And he had suffered such severe burns saving her from the explosion; it was a debt she could never repay.
All this time, she had been the one gaining from their arrangement.
So she never gave a second thought to these small, domestic matters.
She just didn’t understand why he was bringing it up tonight.
“You remember what you said. What I can do for you, you have to do for me as well.”
“Okay.”
Edmund, who had heard them and was about to go find Isabel, paused.
His parents seemed to be getting along so well, their atmosphere so harmonious, that he decided not to be a third wheel.
In the kitchen, Isabel was in her element. A simple pasta was ready in no time.
“You’re not having any?”
“No, I ate on the plane. I’m not hungry,” Isabel said, rubbing her lower back. “Wash your own plate when you’re done. I’m going to bed.”
Julian’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say.”
Isabel was truly exhausted. The quick round trip had taken its toll on her.

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