Chapter 5 — Forever Your Good Boy

Thẩm Nghiễn Bạch came to visit.

He told me the driver who'd caused the crash had turned himself in.

He'd also identified the mastermind: one of my business rivals.

“Your eyes still haven't recovered?”

His eyes reddened.

“Didn't the doctor say it would be quick? Why can't you see yet? This is all my fault... If you really never regain your sight, I'll be your eyes for the rest of my life...”

I patted his shoulder to comfort him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trì Kính behind him.

Proud, aloof Trì Kính was silently mouthing insults.

“Your eyes, my ass.”

“...”

Thẩm Nghiễn Bạch discussed a few projects with me.

Ignored throughout, Trì Kính sat opposite us, pointed childishly at his back, and secretly urged Nguyên Bảo on.

“Bite him. Go on, bite him.”

“...”

After Thẩm Nghiễn Bạch left, Trì Kính received a message.

I glanced at it.

“Mr. Trì, both the driver and the mastermind have been arrested. Can we pull back the men protecting Thẩm Nghiễn Bạch?”

His reply was curt.

“Withdraw them. Don't let my wife find out.”

I stood frozen in the doorway.

He wasn't the mastermind.

He'd found the real culprit.

And he'd secretly arranged protection for Thẩm Nghiễn Bạch.

What a relief.

He was hopelessly in love. I'd thought he was a pervert.

He liked me?

Since when?

Why pretend otherwise?

I pondered this while eating potato chips.

I licked my fingertips and glanced sideways.

Trì Kính was watching as though he wanted to devour me.

Like a wolf that hadn't eaten in a long time.

A little frightening.

Holding half a chip between my lips, I deliberately addressed the empty air.

“Nguyên Bảo, want a bite of Mommy's enormous potato chip?”

It was wasabi-flavored.

One sniff sent Nguyên Bảo fleeing several meters away.

Trì Kính, however, looked eager.

I carefully avoided looking at him and offered the chip.

He paused.

Then obediently bit the other end.

The chip was so thin that I could feel his breath and the tiniest movements.

The atmosphere turned painfully awkward.

When we'd finished it, I took another.

“Want some more, Nguyên Bảo? Make a sound and Mommy will give you one.”

He said nothing.

His eyes answered for him.

Then that wicked owner had an idea.

He beckoned the dog over and lightly squeezed his paw.

Nguyên Bảo yelped.

I swallowed the chip.

“Never mind. No more.”

Trì Kính looked instantly crestfallen.

That evening, I deliberately made plenty of noise in the bathroom.

Sure enough, the door opened.

Trì Kính came in, looking worried.

I bent to pick something up, then straightened with a smile.

“Nguyên Bảo? Want to have a bath with Mommy?”

His expression froze.

His ears turned scarlet.

He hastily backed away.

I advanced one step.

He retreated one step.

I moved closer.

Blushing furiously, he practically fled the room.

The formidable business tycoon had become a thoroughly bedraggled puppy.

Holding the doorframe, I laughed until my stomach hurt.

When an opportunity actually presented itself, he didn't dare take it.

All enthusiasm for the idea, terrified of the reality.

At bedtime, I pretended I couldn't sleep.

I patted the pillow.

“Nguyên Bảo, will you come and help Mommy sleep?”

Nguyên Bảo gave my cheek a perfunctory lick, flopped down, and went straight to sleep.

No sense of duty whatsoever.

Trì Kính gave the dog a dissatisfied look.

After some hesitation, he leaned closer.

Warm breath brushed my ear.

I obligingly shrank my neck and laughed.

“That tickles...”

He paused, apparently encouraged.

I could feel him trying to contain his emotions.

“Good boy.”

I pointed to my cheek.

“Lick here.”

He obediently did.

Then I pointed to the corner of my mouth.

Trì Kính: “...”

When he finally gathered the courage to approach, I abruptly turned my head.

He landed right on my lips.

His face went scarlet.

The bewildered Nguyên Bảo was chased off the bed.

Trì Kính suddenly stood, his voice a little hoarse.

“That's unhygienic. Don't let pets lick you anymore!”

Then he hurried into the bathroom.

The door closed.

Water ran for a very long time.

It took me 0.01 seconds to work out what he was doing.

At my next hospital appointment, I told the doctor I could make out blurry outlines.

He sighed in relief.

“Mrs. Trì, if your sight hadn't started returning, I was genuinely afraid Mr. Trì would make the whole hospital go down with us.”

Oh, right.

He did own shares in this hospital.

Once he knew my vision was gradually recovering, Trì Kính became much more restrained.

He stopped pretending to be Nguyên Bảo and no longer dared to lavish quite so much personal attention on me.

He left everything to the butler.

But whenever he was near, he still couldn't bear to look away.

Again and again, he silently mouthed:

“I love you.”

One day, I happened to see him posting online.

“Advice, please. How do you confess your feelings after discovering you're in love with your wife?”

People thought he was joking.

“In love with your wife, and you still need to confess? That's a new one.”

“How did you two get married?”

Trì Kính replied:

“It was an arranged marriage. No feelings involved. I was even forced to attend the matchmaking date. But the moment I saw her, I fell for her.”

The thread immediately erupted.

“Quick! Has anyone got that meme?”

“Right here! [Penguin meme: You're my wife!]”

“The cold exterior, warm heart act is outdated. Men who won't admit their feelings are the worst!”

Trì Kính explained:

“I'm not like that. When we married, my wife signed an agreement saying this was purely a business partnership and there was no need to develop feelings. I thought respecting that boundary was the best way to make the marriage last.”

Someone asked bluntly:

“Does your wife have someone else?”

“At first, I thought so,” Trì Kính replied. “People said she was very close to a junior from university. They worked together all the time. That's why I was unpleasant to her throughout our first month of marriage. I wanted her to understand where her lawful husband stood.”

“...”

I'd thought he was cold and arrogant.

It had all been... jealousy?

The replies poured in.

“Come on. A smart husband learns to turn a blind eye.”

“As long as your wife remembers the way home.”

But Trì Kính answered:

“You're celebrating too soon. I've recently discovered I was mistaken. My wife doesn't like him. She simply values his talent.”

The entire thread groaned.

“Congratulations, I guess...”

“You could have kept that to yourself. No need to make us jealous.”

“Just tell her you like her!”

“Don't give him bad advice. His wife made it clear: business, no feelings.”

I immediately switched to an alternate account and quietly replied:

“Then don't confess. Win her over through your actions.”

There really were lots of good people online.

Trì Kính took everyone's advice seriously.

To celebrate my recovery, he gave me a yacht.

The card read:

“Duệ Thanh, may you always brave the storms and sail fearlessly ahead.”

I absolutely loved it.

Because that yacht was the prize I'd campaigned for under my alternate account in the forum poll. It had ultimately won first place.

My new project needed funding.

Trì Kính volunteered to invest and introduced me to the people I needed.

Everything went better than I'd expected.

After it succeeded, I returned to the forum with my verdict.

“Mature men really are wonderful.”

For every anniversary, large or small, Trì Kính prepared an extravagantly valuable gift.

Once, at an auction, I looked at a piece of jewelry a few seconds longer than usual.

He bought it immediately.

That night, it appeared on my bedside table.

It was worth over a hundred million yuan.

I was so moved that I couldn't keep pretending.

I cupped his face and kissed him lightly.

Fierce joy flashed in his eyes.

Still, he asked cautiously, “Am I... allowed to fall for you?”

I laughed.

I was a businesswoman, after all.

And this man treated me so well.

Why shouldn't he?

I opened my bedside drawer, took out our marriage agreement, and tore it up in front of him.

Trì Kính stared in delighted astonishment.

“Oh, it's the contract... I thought...”

“Thought what?”

I gave him a meaningful look.

His smile seemed to fill his eyes with stars.

I leaned closer and gently kissed his lips.

“Actually... I've liked you for a long time, too.”

Happiness left him dumbstruck.

“Really? Since when?”

I smiled.

“Since you started secretly taking care of me and thought I didn't know.”

At last, we'd told each other how we felt.

— THE END —

A Short Extra — Trì Kính's Point of View

I swear.

I do not enjoy pretending to be a dog.

My wife had lost her sight. She was unhappy.

And Nguyên Bảo, my idiot son, didn't know how to comfort his mother.

So...

I reluctantly filled in.

My wife couldn't see.

Yet she still urged me to go to work.

Did she dislike me that much?

Even at her most vulnerable, she didn't want me around?

I picked up my car keys.

But I regretted it as soon as I reached the door.

I shut it.

I wasn't leaving.

My wife called Nguyên Bảo over.

The stupid dog wouldn't come.

Seeing her disappointment, I angrily dragged him over and placed his paw in her hand.

She immediately smiled.

Normally, she was so strong and decisive.

With puppies, she became impossibly gentle.

Ah.

Being a dog really did have its advantages.

My wife was incredibly stubborn.

I'd hired a female carer for her, but she flatly refused.

That evening, she fell in the shower.

I swear.

I didn't see a thing.

I only bent down, picked things up, and handed them to her.

My eyes were closed the entire time.

A gentleman doesn't look where he shouldn't.

Unfortunately...

I couldn't cover my ears.

My wife's singing was truly...

Awful.

So awful I dropped the basin.

Even love has its limits.

So my wife really didn't like that junior of hers.

Wonderful.

I could finally stop tormenting myself with pointless jealousy.

Nguyên Bảo still couldn't recognize an opportunity.

My wife held out her hand for him.

He wagged his tail and left.

Utterly incomprehensible.

After we properly got together, my wife often told me I was just like a dog.

Whenever I was with her, I wanted to cling to her every minute of the day.

To hold her.

To stay beside her.

To share every little happiness life offered.

She would always look at me with a helpless smile.

And every time she did, I felt like the happiest man in the world.

The End.