Viona was still wearing her wedding gown, sitting at the edge of the king-sized bed in the honeymoon suite.

She couldn't believe she had married the man of her dreams.

He was a cold man, not one for many words, always keeping to himself and avoiding crowded places.

His face was always expressionless and considered extremely intimidating by most people.

Many women were afraid to be near Bernard, his piercing gaze giving them chills.

When he wore short-sleeved shirts, his tattooed body would be visible, making the girls very scared.

And now, here she was, in Bernard's room, now her husband.

She felt extremely nervous.

Seven years ago, she had harbored a crush, thinking that it would fade away.

But it hadn't. Viona still liked and loved Bernard.

She hadn't seen her beloved man in six years since quietly observing him during her lunch breaks at a nearby cafe near her campus.

Bernard always ate alone in a corner of the cafe. His messy appearance showed how indifferent he was to the gazes of those who considered him a thug.

In fact, it was Viona's older sister, Naira Natasya, who was supposed to be betrothed to Bernard. Naira shouted angrily at their father.

Naira threatened to commit suicide if she were to be married to a trash like Bernard.

Viona and Naira's father owed a debt of gratitude to Bernard's family and had promised Bernard's grandfather to repay it someday.

And Mr. Pilhip, Viona's father, felt it was time to repay the favor since his daughters were of marrying age.

He had promised to marry one of his daughters to the Antonius family.

Since Naira was the oldest, she was supposed to marry first.

But Naira refused to be betrothed to Bernard Antonius, a man everyone considered to be trash. A worthless, unreliable man.

Of course, Naira was outraged by the arranged marriage. She threw a fit.

Viona also didn't expect that the man to be betrothed to her sister was the man she liked.

As soon as Naira rejected the marriage to Bernard, Viona immediately offered herself to marry Bernard Antonius.

Her father, of course, didn't want Viona to accept the arranged marriage. Viona was obedient and beautiful, and he couldn't bear for her to marry a man like Bernard.

But Viona convinced her father that she would still marry Bernard.

Finally, the arranged marriage took place.

Bernard's face remained expressionless and cold when he met Viona for the first time.

And when they signed the marriage certificate and during the blessings, Bernard's face remained unchanged and emotionless. Very cold.

Viona still remembered when the priest declared them husband and wife, Bernard's sanctioned kiss barely touched her lips.

Viona longed to press her lips against his.

But she didn't dare do it, feeling awkward because of Bernard's cold demeanor.

Does he truly not like women? Viona wondered.

Viona didn't feel that her marriage wouldn't be happy. She only thought about how happy she was to marry the man she had loved since her teenage years.

The bedroom door opened. Bernard entered without looking at Viona, he went into the walk-in closet. He took a change of clothes and brought them into the bathroom.

Viona watched her husband without him even glancing at her.

Viona sighed, it's okay, I'll try to slowly get closer to him, whispered Viona to herself.

She knew her husband was a quiet man. She remembered that Bernard never had any friends.

Bernard always went alone wherever he was when Viona saw him.

Viona remembered seeing Bernard sitting alone by the river, looking far into the middle of the river, his gaze empty.

Viona wanted to approach Bernard and talk to him. But she didn't do it for fear that he would leave as soon as he saw her.

The bathroom door opened, Bernard came out in pajamas. He walked towards the sofa in the corner of the room.

Then he lay down on it.

Viona stood up from her seat and slowly approached Bernard. She spoke carefully.

"My... my husband," she replied softly.

Bernard immediately turned to look at Viona, his sharp eyes staring at her as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Why are you sleeping on the sofa? The bed is so spacious, sleep on the bed," Viona said with a sweet smile.

Bernard's sharp eyes blinked, he stared at Viona for a long time who was still smiling at him.

"No need... you sleep on the bed, I'll sleep on the sofa!" Bernard's baritone voice finally came out of his mouth.

"Your body will ache if you sleep on the sofa, with your long legs bending like that, tomorrow morning you'll feel sore."

"It's okay... I'll sleep here!" Bernard turned his body back and went to sleep again.

Viona gave up, it seemed that Bernard was not used to being cared for. He seemed disturbed by Viona's presence.

Viona then went to the bathroom and opened her wedding dress herself.

It took a long time for her to unbutton the back of the dress. Her hands had a hard time reaching the buttons.

She kept trying until her hands hurt from trying to pull the buttons.

Viona was sweating just from unbuttoning the dress.

Suddenly she felt her dress loosen, it almost slipped to the floor if she didn't grab it quickly.

It turned out that one of the buttons of her wedding dress had been undone. Viona turned her head back.

Bernard was standing tall behind her. It turned out he had undone it.

Viona's face blushed as she looked at Bernard, her bare back clearly visible to him.

Viona quickly turned her body, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Thank you," Viona said, "Aren't you already sleeping?"

Bernard didn't answer, he just stayed silent.

He glanced at Viona for a moment, then turned and left Viona in the bathroom.

After Bernard left the bathroom.

Viona then locked the bathroom door.

Behind the bathroom door, Bernard stopped and listened to Viona locking the bathroom door. He didn't know what he was thinking as he stared at the closed door.

Inside the bathroom, Viona took off her entire dress and placed it in the laundry hamper.

Then she turned on the shower and washed her tired body. She had been standing all day and her feet were very sore.

She took a long shower to relax her body. The soap she used had a lovely scent. Viona repeatedly rubbed her body because she liked the smell of the soap.

Almost an hour passed and Viona finally finished showering. She took a towel and wrapped it around her body.

Then she reached for another towel for her wet hair.

Still wearing a towel, she walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the walk-in closet.

A pair of eyes that had not been sleeping this whole time finally closed after seeing the bathroom door open.

To be continued...

After putting on her pajamas in the walk-in closet, Viona dried her hair.

Viona saw that her husband was sleeping on the sofa. Viona grabbed a blanket and covered him with it.

Viona stared at Bernard's face, his closed eyes made him look even more handsome.

Bernard's handsome face looked so calm, with his sharp nose, thick eyebrows, and lips...

Suddenly, Bernard's eyes opened.

Viona was surprised to see Bernard's open eyes, and their close proximity allowed her to clearly see his black pupils.

They briefly locked eyes.

"What do you want?" the lips that Viona had been gazing at opened, producing a deep baritone sound that was filled with coldness.

Viona snapped out of her reverie, her face blushing.

"Oh, n-nothing, I just wanted to give you the blanket," Viona nervously swallowed her saliva.

Then she walked towards the bed and crawled under the blanket.

Bernard stared at Viona intensely, taking his time to observe her curled up beneath the blanket.

After seeing that Viona seemed to have fallen asleep, he closed his eyes once again.

The next morning, when Viona woke up, Bernard's place on the sofa was empty. Viona felt the bed next to her, and it felt cold.

So Bernard indeed slept on the sofa. It was their first night as newlyweds, and they slept apart.

Viona looked at the neatly folded blanket that she had put on Bernard the previous night on the sofa.

Viona got out of bed, then went into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and cleaned herself up.

After finishing her shower, Viona heard a knock on the bedroom door.

Viona hurriedly opened the door, and outside stood a servant of Bernard's family.

"Miss...Madam is asking you and Young Master to have breakfast, they have been waiting for you in the dining room!" the servant said to Viona.

"Oh yes...alright, I will come down," Viona nodded.

Five minutes later, Viona, dressed and with her hair and makeup done, went downstairs.

In the dining room, her in-laws were already waiting, as well as her brother-in-law and both her sisters-in-law.

But she did not see her husband there.

"Where is your husband?" Viona's mother-in-law asked sarcastically.

Viona did not know how to answer, because since she woke up, she didn't see her husband in the room.

Before Viona could respond, Bernard appeared behind her.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you...we were waiting for you to have breakfast...do you think we're here to serve you?! Do you think you're some important person we have to wait on?!" Viona's mother-in-law shouted at Bernard, banging the table.

"You're old but still brainless!" Viona's brother-in-law scoffed.

Viona was shocked by her brother-in-law's words.

Was this how they treated her husband? Viona felt offended by her brother-in-law's words; it was not proper to speak that way to someone older.

"Sit down quickly, your father wants to go to work...it's already midday, not like you who lounges around every day without any work to do!!" Viona's mother-in-law retorted.

Viona's other sister-in-law remained silent, busy chatting with her own wife.

Bernard's father also remained silent, not responding; he was still engrossed in reading the morning paper.

Viona pulled out a chair and sat down.

Bernard pulled out a chair next to her and then sat down.

Breakfast was served by a servant. And when it was Bernard's turn to be served, it was very different from the others.

Viona felt choked in her chair, Bernard was really being treated differently. Viona felt a pain in her chest, she felt that this was going too far.

To be continued...