Chapter 4 With your endurance, you still dare to provoke me

"Keep your feet on the ground and stop daydreaming."

Once again, Mist was pushed away, and she could only continue to express her dissatisfaction with a hum.

Seeing her puffed cheeks, Charles knew she was intentionally acting cute to tease him, and he couldn't resist taking the bait. He playfully pinched her cheek, pressing it until she lost her breath.

"Stop humming, grab the controller."

Mist took the controller, and her face rubbed against Charles' finger, letting out another hum.

She didn't want to be too obedient; she wanted to seem weak.

Charles chose a racing game for two players. Mist wasn't very interested, but thinking of how Charles could only pursue his racing dream through gaming due to his leg injury, she tried to cooperate.

But disinterest is still disinterest. After a few moments of playing seriously, Mist began to lose focus, her attention shifting to the man beside her, thinking about his scent and his warmth.

Feeling a head resting on his shoulder, Charles shifted slightly, but when he didn't shake her off, he ignored it.

"If you want to play something, pick it yourself."

Noticing that Mist wasn't interested in his choice of game, Charles handed the decision over to her.

However, when Mist picked a dress-up game, Charles immediately took control again.

"Did you see the label?"

Mist glanced at the game's recommendation for ages 5 to 12, and instead of feeling embarrassed, she thought the game developers were being too presumptuous. This method would drive away adult customers like her who had money to spend.

"You pick the game, I'll just watch you play."

Leaning against Charles, Mist casually said. After all, her true intention wasn't the game itself, and not playing would be easier.

Charles quickly figured out her thoughts and simply quit the game screen. "If you don't want to play, pick a movie."

Movies were something Mist was interested in. She noticed Charles had quite a few movie tapes, both new and old. After picking one that caught her attention, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a bunch of snacks, and returned to Charles' side.

With Mist, Charles fully understood the meaning of the phrase "taking advantage little by little."

Earlier, she had simply leaned on his shoulder, but now, she seemed to take physical contact as a behavior he had silently accepted.

Her small head sneakily slipped into his embrace, testing his boundaries.

"Did you eat the sandwich I brought this morning?"

Mist remembered opening the fridge earlier, and her sandwich wasn't there.

"I ate it."

Charles didn't deny it. He had guessed that it was made by Mist when the housekeeper mentioned it, and he had eaten it for breakfast. "It tasted good."

"I made it myself."

As the movie started, Mist wanted to focus on the film, but she also didn't want to miss the opportunity to be close to Charles.

Her hand, hanging by her side, slowly reached out, stopping just before her thigh brushed against his. "I cut my finger while slicing the ham."

"Clumsy."

Charles glanced at Mist's hand, which had no visible injury, and criticized her unromantically.

"Ouch, it hurts, from the morning until now."

Mist spread her hand in front of Charles, making a "crying" gesture.

Her fake cry was exaggerated, but as an actress, her eyes could turn red in an instant, and even her nose took on a slightly aggrieved hue.

With her soft, spoiled demeanor, Charles felt a mix of irritation and amusement. It wasn't that he was unhappy, but the fact that she could so easily stir his emotions bothered him.

He wasn't like her. He was a reserved, pure-hearted man who adhered to traditional values.

Reluctantly, he blew on her hand. "Watch the movie."

"Meh."

Mist tightly gripped his warm breath, and her cheeks flushed as she inched closer to him.

Charles pressed her head away and moved her to a sitting position for a few minutes. However, as soon as his attention returned to the movie, her body melted like jelly back into his.

The movie Mist picked was about a woman in her middle age, who had always been seen as a cautious, stern teacher. After her husband passed away, she hadn't dated for a long time, and like many women her age, she had shied away from discussing sex, as if desire had vanished with her husband's death.

But she was different from most. After suppressing her feelings for years, she traveled to a new city and hired a young male escort.

The theme of the movie was liberation and reconciling with oneself, but Mist's attention was focused elsewhere.

If high-class male escorts could be like the one in the movie, she'd find it much more convenient to hire one. A simple financial transaction for services rendered.

Worried about the risk of STDs, she could hire a newcomer and arrange for health checks every month, ensuring her own safety.

"What are you thinking about?"

Charles noticed Mist wasn't paying attention to the movie. Her gaze had shifted away from him, and her eyes were sparkling as she looked at the male escort in the film. He narrowed his eyes, sensing she wasn't thinking anything good.

And indeed, she wasn't.

Mist replied honestly, without holding back, "I'm thinking about how to spend money."

Charles' eyes narrowed further as his gaze fell on the flushed face right in front of him. "What the hell?"

"The male lead is pretty good."

Mist blinked, but knew to hold back some of her true thoughts.

Charles smiled, his lips curling into a half-amused, half-sarcastic expression, which made Mist nervously laugh, "If money can secure a relationship, then it's a good thing. Don't you think?"

"Is that really a relationship?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

It didn't have to be love to be called a relationship. Even a connection based on money, with emotions involved, could still be called a relationship.

Seeing the huge misunderstanding in Mist's view of relationships, Charles now understood why her methods of pursuing people were so problematic.

He knew Mist was still young, and he had assumed someone her age would be filled with unrealistic romantic ideas about love, passionately direct in their approach. But he didn't expect her thoughts to be so skewed.

As someone older, he felt it was his responsibility to change her perspective.

"Sex connected by money is humanity's most primitive desire. It's disgusting and shallow. Are you telling me that your feelings for me are just about doing that?"

What else could it be?

Mist silently answered in her heart. Not wanting to confront the issue of "liking," since she didn't want to date him, she gave an honest answer.

"Charles, I have desire for you. I want to kiss you, want to hug you. I don't know if my feelings for you are just about sex, but I do want to be close to you."

Shyness spread from under her eyes to the collar of her clothes. Charles felt the heat from her, and even his finger felt the warmth on her skin, making the anger that had been brewing in his mind dissipate.

He quickly pulled his hand away and nodded toward the now-finished movie.

"Change the movie."

"Okay."

Mist responded, but when she stood up, her legs gave way, and she sank back onto the sofa.

Charles noticed her trembling legs, and when she brushed his finger with her lips earlier, he had felt the shudder in her body. How could such a timid little tomato be so bold and yet so shy?

Shifting from the sofa to his wheelchair, Charles operated it to switch the movie. Meanwhile, Mist seized the opportunity to use the restroom.

When she came out, Charles had returned to the couch, seemingly focused on the movie. But as soon as her eyes met his, he looked at her and gestured for her to come closer.

"Mist, I care about fairness."

"What?"

He tugged her by the wrist, pulling her down onto the sofa beside him.

"I need to settle the score for what happened this morning."

His actions matched his words, and as soon as he finished speaking, his lips were already on her neck.

The slightly rough hair made Mist's chin itch, but what itched even more was something else.

Countless tiny electric currents coursed through her skin, numbing her uncontrollably, and she felt the urge to escape, but her body just kept trembling.

When Charles stopped, she realized one of her hands was on his back, the other tangled in his hair.

The pain from his scalp was what caused Charles to stop. He thought she was uncomfortable, but when he looked up, he saw her dazed eyes, lips slightly parted, completely overwhelmed by the heat.

He had planned to stop, but when he saw her like this, he couldn't help but feel a rush of heat. He leaned down and kissed her neck again, his lips becoming more insistent.

Seeing the bite marks slowly form on her delicate skin, Charles paused, feeling guilty.

During this whole exchange, Mist had not once made a sound of refusal. Instead, he could hear her breath growing more frantic.

He pulled back, but she remained dazed, her eyes full of mist, like a ripe tomato about to turn into a puddle.

Charles sneered, his lips a bright red, "With your endurance, you still dare to provoke me?"