2. Display Bride

Give me just a small opening in your heart, so I can know how much I should fight to heal the wounds of your past.

***

Emily had just finished her delicious meal when Calvin emerged from the bathroom. Calvin could only stare at Emily in annoyance as she got up from her seat, displaying the silhouette of her almost bare body. Calvin took a deep breath, held it briefly, and closed his eyes. Again and again, the heat coursed through his entire body as his composure began to waver. Calvin had to stay in control, making sure not to rush over and succumb to the tempting challenge presented by the seductive girl before him.

Emily, seemingly oblivious to Calvin's irritation, walked toward their bridal bed. She was undeniably exhausted from standing to welcome guests for most of the day. Her full stomach naturally induced a sense of drowsiness that was hard to resist. However, just as Emily was about to lie down, the voice of the man who had been watching her since he came out of the bathroom interrupted her actions. She had been playfully hitting the pillows.

"You'll sleep over there!" Calvin quickly approached Emily and pulled her back to her feet.

Emily closed her eyes as Calvin's body nearly touched hers, her heart pounding like a racehorse on the track. The masculine scent emanating from Calvin instantly made Emily feel as though she were floating on air. She was momentarily lost in the charm of the man who had become her husband. Emily snapped out of it and held her breath, preventing her fingers from itching to play on Calvin's bare chest. Calvin was indeed the living embodiment of a character from one of her favorite novels. Wasn't marrying such a handsome and sexy man a blessing?

"Damn it!" Emily cursed herself inwardly when she realized that Calvin didn't intend to embrace her but was merely reaching for the pillows and blankets behind her.

"Here!" Calvin instructed as he pushed the pillows and blankets toward Emily.

"This is my room, so you sleep over there!" Calvin ordered, pushing Emily's body until she reached the small sofa in the corner of his room.

Ignoring Emily's flushed face and the fact that she was seething with emotions, Calvin went to the closet to fetch a blanket. Without a care, Calvin climbed onto the bed and nestled himself under the thick covers, his back turned to Emily.

Fifteen minutes passed in silence. Only the hum of the air conditioner seemed to be mocking Calvin. His mind, which had long been fantasizing about a romantic night on his wedding day, now felt purely fictitious. Completely fictitious, just like the reminder sentences at the beginning of a novel he often read, "This story is purely fictional, any resemblance of names, places, and events is purely coincidental."

The drowsiness that had been plaguing Emily vanished in an instant, swallowed by her frustration with the unempathetic man who now seemed comfortable in his corner. Unfortunately, Emily felt like she was just a decoration in her own bridal room. She jotted down a series of short sentences as an expression of her feelings on her I*******m story: 'A Mannequin Bride.'

After writing this sentence, Emily opened the folds of the blanket and covered her shivering body due to the thin lingerie she was wearing. Emily wasn't accustomed to sleeping in an air-conditioned room. She was just a girl born into an ordinary and simple family. She lived in the outskirts of Jakarta, in the Depok area. Her home was still in a lush and serene village, far from the pollution and noise of Jakarta. However, it didn't mean she was in a remote village. It only took a 200-meter walk for Emily to reach the city's main road.

Emily glared irritably at the broad back in front of her. She heard a faint snore, indicating that the man had fallen into a deep sleep. "Watch out, you polar doctor, wait for my revenge!" Emily shouted in her heart and then turned her body to face the back of the sofa, forcing her eyes to close. Slowly but surely, drowsiness dragged Emily's consciousness into another dimension.

The world of dreams.

***

The faint sound of a rooster crowing greeted Calvin's ears. He tried to move his body, which felt numb and heavy. It was as if a weight of tens of kilos was pressing down on his left side. Calvin hissed as he attempted to rise, but a tightening sensation in his body made his eyes widen.

Calvin struggled to get up, but a movement that felt constricting in his body succeeded in keeping his eyes wide open.

"Emily!" he muttered, then turned to the empty sofa. "You country girl!" Calvin exclaimed in annoyance, quickly getting up from his bed and roughly pushing Emily's hands away from his body. He flung aside the blanket that covered them and sat on the edge of the bed, running his hands roughly over his face.

Calvin glanced at Emily again, who was now sleeping on her side, facing him. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration when he realized what she was wearing. The thin and transparent lingerie displayed every detail of Emily's smooth body, especially her front, which was clearly visible through the white lingerie. This sight made Calvin groan in frustration. The problem was that his junior, Calvin, was throbbing in discomfort because he could only restrain his desires. He was a normal adult man, and seeing a nearly naked girl could certainly awaken his primitive instincts.