1. Not a Bad Wedding

For your frozen heart, I am the shard of feelings that always longs. Pleading to be answered by time. Nourishing hope in the embrace of the merciful.

***

Emily remained silent after successfully unraveling her shoulder-length hair and wiping off the makeup on her face. Her hand reached behind, trying to reach the neatly lined buttons on her back.

"Ugh, it's so difficult!" Emily complained as her fingers failed to reach the buttons on her back. She tried again and again, but her fingers only managed to undo a few buttons.

Emily tried to pull the dress down, successfully slipping it down to her chest, revealing her two beautiful mounds that appeared prominent due to the pressure of her wedding dress. Emily took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Soon, a rough exhale escaped, accompanied by the only sound in the room, the rhythm of a lone machine. Even the cooling machine couldn't prevent sweat from beginning to cover Emily's body due to her fruitless efforts.

Emily remained still in front of the dressing table, closing her eyes with her face resting on her hands when suddenly a finger released one of her buttons. Emily's body froze instantly as her eyes widened, finding the cold man standing behind her.

"Just say if you need help!" Calvin, the man, said as he began unbuttoning her dress.

Emily remained motionless as the dress she was wearing gradually released her breath that had been feeling tight. The dress descended unconsciously. Calvin, who was only focused on Emily's smooth back, froze momentarily as he accidentally caught a beautiful sight reflected in the mirror in front of him. However, his logic quickly regained control. He cleared his throat to loosen his constricted throat. He brought his face closer to Emily's, staring straight into the mirror, closing the gap between them, and whispered, "You don't need to bother trying to seduce me because it will never work."

Calvin's words successfully snapped Emily out of her reverie. The girl was startled, and she quickly pulled up her dress that had slipped down to her waist, covering her upper body, which was only protected by a strapless bra. Calvin smirked slyly as he withdrew from Emily's side. He then took off his jacket, tie, and white shirt, tossing them onto the bed without paying any attention to Emily, who appeared increasingly agitated. However, the situation took an unexpected turn for Calvin in the next moment.

Nonchalantly, Emily allowed her wedding dress to fall between her legs. She left her wedding dress lying on the floor and entered the bathroom with only her remaining underwear on.

Upon reaching the bathroom, Emily immediately turned on the shower to wet her hair. Her brain short-circuited instantly because, just to prove to Calvin that she wasn't a weak woman, she consciously set aside her embarrassment. "Damn, Emily, this is the craziest thing you've ever done in your life!" Emily muttered to herself while trying to calm her racing heart.

On the side of the bed, Calvin's body was still frozen after seeing how the beautiful curves of Emily's new body were displayed before his eyes. He wasn't interested in Emily at all, but he was a normal adult man who would feel hot if he saw a woman's beautiful body, especially since Emily was his legal wife who was lawful for him to have sex with whenever he wanted. "Unlucky!" Calvin cursed then threw his body on the bed. His hands ruffled the petals of the heart-shaped flower in the middle of the bed in annoyance.

Not long after Calvin managed to suppress the turmoil within him, Emily emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel that covered her chest to her thighs. Spontaneously, Calvin gazed at Emily with an unreadable expression. The remaining water that flowed from Emily's wet hair onto her smooth, bare shoulders made Calvin swallow hard. Calvin's gaze then shifted to Emily's exposed, slender legs. Suddenly, his mind began to wander, imagining Emily's body concealed beneath that towel.

"Aren't you showering?"Emily's words instantly brought Calvin back to his senses. He quickly averted his gaze, grabbed a towel from the closet, and hurriedly entered the bathroom.

A smile spread across Emily's lips as she observed how Calvin became flustered at the sight of her. "Pretending to be strong, huh?" Emily teased as she opened the wardrobe to choose the nightgown she would wear tonight. "This is just the beginning, handsome doctor!" Emily declared as she selected the sexiest lingerie available in the wardrobe. She would follow all of her mother-in-law's ideas, even if they sounded ridiculous. And, of course, Emily would willingly go along with Calvin's game plan.

Calvin's body froze instantly as he saw Emily sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands busy applying lotion to her legs. Emily offered a smile to Calvin, who remained motionless, "Are you hungry? I'm really hungry!" Emily asked, successfully bringing Calvin back to reality. She glanced briefly at Calvin and then got up from the bed.

"Isn't there any other outfit you can wear? Instead of wearing something skimpy, you might as well go naked," Calvin grumbled irritably, not intending to answer Emily's previous question.

"Go ahead and check the closet! Mama only prepared lingerie in there! Besides, it doesn't really affect you, whether I wear clothes or not," Emily said, savoring Calvin's annoyed expression. She pretended to be indifferent while her heart raced once again. She couldn't deny that the man who had officially become her husband just a few hours ago looked incredibly sexy with water droplets cascading down his well-defined six-pack, a result of his regular workouts. Emily couldn't help but want to hug him and inhale his masculine scent. Suddenly, Emily's mind wandered, imagining romantic scenes like those in the novels she had read.

Calvin's eyebrows furrowed as he saw the faint smile on the girl's lips. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Calvin asked irritably, his gaze sharp.

"You're sexy! But unfortunately, Emily has to be patient for now," Emily replied teasingly, her tone instantly piquing Calvin's curiosity about what was going on in the mind of this seemingly unpredictable girl.

"What do you mean?" Calvin asked cynically, continuing to dry his wet hair with a small towel.

"I wish I were the towel!" Emily muttered to herself, her gaze fixed on the towel wrapped around the man's waist.

"I'm hungry. If you don't want to eat, I'll just eat by myself," Emily said to divert Calvin's attention. To be honest, Calvin's intense gaze was making Emily's heart race even more irregularly.

Emily, who was comfortably seated on the sofa, still seemed to be weighing whether to continue their absurd conversation or to start devouring the food in front of her. Her eyes scanned all the delicious dishes on the table. Emily's stomach made a loud noise, clearly audible to Calvin's ears. "See, the worms in my stomach are already staging a protest, Bang!" Emily exclaimed without paying attention to Calvin's annoyed expression, and she promptly started to dig into the delicious meal.

Calvin could only sigh in frustration as he grabbed a change of clothes from the walk-in closet located at the far end of the room and then returned to the bathroom to put them on, without intending to respond to Emily's remarks.

"Beyond expectations!" Emily mumbled as she continued to enjoy her meal.

"It's not a bad wedding," Calvin finally commented, acknowledging the fact.