Chapter 3

I thought Austin would say something, but he said nothing. I couldn't tell if he believed what I said.

"Let's eat," Austin said, his voice icy.

His tone was so cold that I broke out in a cold sweat.

After breakfast, Austin was lounging on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

He wore a crisp white shirt, and the watch on his wrist flashed with a cold, luxurious shine. He looked so high-class, like he was totally out of my league.

According to Helen's notes, this was the moment I was supposed to snuggle up next to him, rest my head on his shoulder, and read the magazine together.

He wasn't acting strict or anything, but something about him felt distant and dangerous, making me nervous.

I wanted to run away from him.

Maybe Austin noticed my unease, because he finally looked up from his magazine, his voice deep and quiet. "So, what do we usually do together?"

I thought back to Helen's notes. They would hold hands, hug, and kiss each other on the forehead.

"We cooked fried fish," I blurted out.

Austin got changed and dragged me off to a big shopping mall.

He told me to make fried fish for him for lunch.

When we got out of the car, my legs felt wobbly and my face looked awful.

"Not feeling well?" Austin asked, his voice low.

I looked down at his hand holding mine and forced a smile. "Guess the car is going too fast. I'm feeling a little carsick."

Austin, who'd never played chauffeur before, paused. "Next time, I'll have the driver pick you up."

Instead of letting go, Austin squeezed my hand even tighter. My body went rigid for a moment, and I kept telling myself to act like Helen.

Thinking of Helen, I quietly straightened up and walked hand-in-hand with Austin to the basement supermarket.

The polished floor reflected the two of us holding hands. There was almost nobody else around, except for a couple of store employees.

My eyes landed on a tiny box of cherries sitting on the shelf.

They were a thousand dollars.

I had to double-check, so I bent down and counted the zeros myself.

By the time I realized that I was not wrong, I swallowed hard. That price was about the same as what I made in a month delivering food.

I wondered if anyone would be dumb enough to buy these.

The next second, a long, elegant hand reached out, picked up the cherries right in front of me, and dropped them into the shopping cart with a soft thud.

I looked up, startled, and met Austin's gaze.

We didn't say anything.

Austin's face was hard to read. He paused for a moment, then continued walking ahead.

I was shocked that he didn't care that the cherries were one thousand dollars.

I couldn't help but gasp quietly and hurried to catch up with Austin.

My eyes caught six strawberries for 30 dollars, a tiny bag of fruit candy for 150 dollars, and a gift box of vinegar priced at a jaw-dropping 8000 dollars.

Before I could even double-check those insane price tags, Austin's elegant hand was already dropping them all into the cart.

I wondered if he was going to buy anything I looked at.

Even though I knew it wasn't my money, I couldn't help but feel the pain in my chest watching him spend like this.

I kept my eyes glued to the cart, too scared to glance around in case I spotted something else with a five-figure price tag.

Noticing how I was fixated on the shopping cart, Austin paused, then said, "Wait till we check out before you start eating."

I looked up, baffled.

I wasn't even planning to eat anything.

When we got to the seafood section, Austin paused for a couple seconds.

Then, with a totally blank face, he dropped a big yellow croaker, a sea bass, a turbot, and a coral trout into the cart. He was so quick that I didn't even get a chance to react.

"Actually, for fried fish, you can get a carp or..." I started to say.

Before I could even finish, Austin had already told the staff to pack up a carp and drop it in the cart.

My mouth twitched. I wondered if this was how all bossy CEOs would operate.

At the checkout, I quietly slipped off to the side. When I spotted the price for the shopping bag on the screen, my jaw dropped all over again.

It was 15 dollars.

I was the kind who'd pinch pennies over a 10-cent shopping bag.

I realized why this place was so empty.

The driver, who'd been waiting outside, hurried over as soon as he saw us and took the shopping bags from my hands.

I trailed behind, my eyes glued to the pattern on the bag. I wondered what made it so expensive.

As I was thinking that, I heard a sigh from above.

Austin called the driver back, then pulled out the bag of fruit candy from the shopping bag and shoved it into my arms.

"Eat up," he said.

I looked up, totally baffled.

I really wasn't planning to eat anything.

*****

On the way back, Austin stopped holding my hand. Maybe he realized that holding hands wasn't enough to bring back the memories he'd forgotten.

He was pretty quiet, but his attention was soon drawn to the plate of fried fish I made.

I brought the fried fish to the table, a fruit candy still in my mouth.

As soon as we got back, Austin had someone wash the fruit and put it in my room, then handed me that ridiculously expensive vinegar and told me to use it for the fish.

I stared at him, dumbfounded. I felt that using a bottle of vinegar that was worth 8000 dollars for fried fish was wasting money.