The Supreme Boss In Disguise

Chapter 6: Distant Neighbors

The car ride back to Raymond's house was quiet. Although Julia had not acted like a typical young heiress, he was certain she couldn't endure his house, yet Raymond had no intention of changing houses. After all, he would be ruining his plans by doing that.

So when they got to his house, and he opened the door, he turned to her, "The house is clean, but since the marriage was on such short notice, I would only try to do some renovations tomorrow," he explained politely.

Julia nodded in understanding, "I'm going to be in school often. You don't have to change things around here,"

Raymond stared down at the expressionless woman right in front of him. She was totally different from the girl in his research. Could she be pretending or something? Raymond disputed the thought and stared back at Julia, whose eyes were roaming around the small old house.

"Let me just show you to your room”, He added.

Julia nodded lightly.

Raymond took her box and led the way.

She reluctantly followed him.  Raymond stopped in front of one of the doors and pushed it open, revealing a small room.

"If you need anything, do well to call for me”, He added in an instant.

Julia nodded quietly, and with that, Raymond left. She watched his retreating figure as it walked completely out of her sight.

She walked deeper into the room with her eyes scanning through the whole place. Just like she had expected, it was nothing compared to her room in the Brooks Mansion. It couldn't even be compared to their basement, but she felt it wasn’t too terrible. It was plain and cosy. She could work on it.

She sat at the foot of the bed and used that moment to gather up her thoughts. If this were a year before now, she would not have agreed to marry a man that seemed like he was close to dying. She had, after all, lived as a rich heiress all her life. Also, she had always held plans for a grand wedding.

However, just one day had brought everything that she wanted crashing down, and Julia had started to understand that there was so much more to life than being a rich heiress. When she had sensed how desperate her sister was to set her up with Raymond, she had decided to go along with the plan.

She had decided to go along with it. To her, she had felt like this was something that she could agree to. When she was done with school, it would be easy for her to come out from it.

Also, it felt nice not to have to deal with her mother and sister for one night. As her mind drifted to Raymond, she slept off.

By the time she woke up, it was already dark. She shuffled her feet into her slippers lying at the foot of the bed and found her way out of the room. She was welcomed by the sweet aroma that hung thick in the air. She knew the cooking was done by Raymond since there was nobody in the house apart from the two of them.

Raymond happened to walk out of the kitchen with a tray in his hand. He had changed from the clothes that Julia last saw him in. He was wearing a casual V-neck shirt and black pants.

"You are up," Raymond said casually and placed the tray on the small rounded dining table.

Raymond must have checked in on her and found her asleep. Julia never bothered to say a thing, but rather she grabbed the nearest chair and took a seat. She grabbed the cutlery lying on the knitted cloth and shoved the spoon into the porridge, which surprised Raymond.

He hadn’t asked her to join him yet, and he also never expected her to eat a meal that was this bland, especially when it was porridge. He thought she would only be interested in eating steaks and all the likes.

Raymond took the seat across from her, watching her every minute. Something was wrong, but he couldn't point out what was specifically wrong.

Julia ate quietly without looking at the man in front of her, and that got Raymond more curious. The Julia he researched about was a pampered heiress. She had lacked love from her family and used to transfer that anger to the people around her. But this Julia was different. She didn't seem to care if she was loved or hated by anyone, not even the dying man she had married.

Instead of the ill-tempered and obsessive woman that he thought he had married based on his investigations, he felt that she was nothing close to that.

The whole house was quiet, and only the little faint sound of cutlery clacking the plates was heard.

Even though it was their first night together, it didn't feel that way. They were just like neighbours.. like distant neighbours.

Raymond started to talk in an attempt to try to cover up the awkward silence while also trying to gather more information about her.

"Why did you agree to live with me?

She raised her face and looked at him with a blank expression, and muttered just four words, "I just want to,”

That reply bothered Raymond even more.

Is she trying to play games with me? Raymond thought. Or probably she was acting rude and tough. One of the general traits of the Brooks family is pride. He thought Julia would be different but seems like she started showing her true colours.

She finished up her porridge and started to walk in the direction of her room without even muttering a simple Thank you.

Raymond was left speechless as he watched his newly wedded wife rudely walk out after finishing up her meal.

Did she just leave the dishes for him to wash?

Raymond didn’t mind washing the dishes earlier, but seeing her being rude suddenly provoked him.

"Are you not going to do the dishes? He stopped her in her tracks.

Julia, who was almost at her door, tilted her head at him and stared at him for less than three seconds.

 Without saying a word, she walked into her room, leaving Raymond hanging.

Raymond had always been treated like trash by the Winstons, but he never expected that he would be treated the same by his wife. After all, he got married into the Brooks family, so right now, Julia is the head of the family. He took the dishes and dumped them into the old sink, and began to wash.

Raymond began to wash in anger but suddenly slumped. Luckily Julia found him on time. Julia didn't seem to be moved by the fact that Raymond was lying unconsciously on the kitchen floor. Rather, she dragged him out of the small-sized kitchen with the little energy she had.

She took off his shirt, allowing him to have access to some fresh air. She proceeded and did some little medical work on him. After some minutes, Julia was done. She stared at the digital wall clock, and in five seconds, Raymond's eyes gradually opened.

Raymond's eyes were weak and blurry, but he knew that the reason was that he just had another seizure. His blurry eyes got clearer, and he saw a familiar figure in front of him,  it turned out to be Julia.

Did she just wake me up? He was startled but kept it to himself.

"What did you do? He sat upright, grabbing his shirt that was lying casually on the floor.

He never expected Julia to know anything about his sickness or his medical care. Julia waking him up was a shock to him. Did the Brooks know she had this ability?

Julia stood quiet without bothering to say a thing. Rather, she stared closely at the dying man in front of her. His organs were getting weaker, and he could give up anytime soon if he didn't receive proper care.

"I think I just asked a question. What on earth did you do to wake me up without any earlier lessons? His voice was stern and harsh, but Julia never seemed to be bothered by it.

Instead, she muttered casually without a stain of fear on her face. "You are going to die soon".

Her husband would be dying, and she would become a widow at a very tender age, but she didn't seem to be bothered by that.

Raymond, on the other hand, looked calm since he already knew about it. His plan was to use his remaining one year to get revenge on all the people that had hurt him and his mother. The poison in his body was far too deep in his bones and organs to be cured.

After spending the last three years searching for a cure, despite the vast wealth he had amassed in the last five years, Raymond had been unable to find a cure or someone that could cure him, and so Julia’s next words shocked him out of his mind.

"You have less than a year left, but I know someone that can cure you and, in return, divorce me, Mr. Raymond Winston"