Wen Ran was startled and asked in a panic, "Who?"
"I am!"
A man's deep, magnetic voice came through the white maple door, and Wen Ran's face changed as she noticed the time displayed in the lower right corner of her computer—it was already very late.
"Wait a minute!"
Her voice wavered as she snapped her laptop shut with a "pop," gathered the clothes, and leaped off the bed, planning to go to the wardrobe to change them.
But barely had she jumped off when the door was pushed open. Mo Xiuchen's tall, imposing figure appeared in the doorway. When his gaze fell on her standing by the bed, his eyes suddenly grew profoundly intense.
In that instant, time seemed to freeze.
The bright crystal chandelier flooded the room with light, illuminating the woman at the foot of the bed in all her delicate allure.
In Mo Xiuchen's eyes, it was as if all the blood in his body began to boil.
Inside the room, Wen Ran wished she could vanish into a crack in the floor.
Still holding two additional sets of sleepwear and two sets of candy lingerie—especially with the candy lingerie conspicuously on top—it was nearly impossible for the man at the door not to notice them.
Mo Xiuchen's gaze swept over the laptop on the bed and then rested on her. With long, graceful strides, he walked toward her.
Wen Ran's face flushed a deep red, as if it might bleed; her mind went blank for a long moment. Clutching the items tightly in her arms, she stammered, "Um, um..."
A flash of burning heat passed through the depths of Mo Xiuchen's eyes. His beautiful eyes squinted slightly as he parted his thin lips, and his magnetic voice cut through her stuttering explanation:
"Just now, who were you on video with?"
"Ah?"
Wen Ran's eyes widened in shock. She quickly looked over at the laptop on the bed and hastily explained, "I was video calling with Bai Xiaoxiao. She bought these things for me this afternoon and insisted I bring them back. She even said she'd check up on me, worried I might toss them aside along the way. I really didn't want these things..."
"Please don't be angry. I'm going to change them right now," she added, hoping to clarify that she wasn't sneaking around with another man.
"You look very nice in that nightgown," Mo Xiuchen said.
His comment took Wen Ran completely by surprise, and she struggled to keep pace with his rapid shift in tone.
His large hand still held her wrist; the gentle warmth seeping into her skin seemed to kindle a string of tiny flames, making her body heat up, while her head drooped lower than ever.
Fixated on her red, almost bloodstained cheeks, Mo Xiuchen's eyes grew even more enigmatic.
For a brief moment, he seemed to long to pull her into his embrace and savor that exquisite beauty.
But now wasn't the time. He inhaled deeply, suppressing his inner thoughts, and with his eyes fixed on her, he asked softly,
"Do you really want to fulfill your marital duty?"
Wen Ran felt as if she had been electrocuted. She abruptly looked up at the man before her.
Had someone else said those words, she would have been furious—but this was Mo Xiuchen. His eyes were deep, dark, and solemn, and somehow they made her heart skip a beat.
Instinctively, she denied, "No, it's not that—I was just fooling around with Xiaoxiao."
Mo Xiuchen's dark eyes swept over the other items she held close to her, and in a low, resonant tone he said,
"I am your husband. Since we are married, it is your duty as my wife."
"No, I—it's not that I need you to fulfill any marital duty... I mean, I really don't mind... um, I'm not in a hurry..."
Wen Ran realized that no matter how she tried to explain, it would all come out wrong. Seeing Mo Xiuchen's handsome face shrouded in a brooding expression, she felt as if she wanted to bite her own tongue off."