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Chapter 2 Returning the Wedding Dress

There were beads of sweat on the tip of her nose. She clumsily approached him, but she was shaking all over.

Matthew's heart skipped a beat. Just when she was at a loss and wanted to kiss his lips, he suddenly grabbed her hand and pushed her away from him.

Candice was stunned. The flush on her face had yet to fade away and her big eyes were filled with confusion.

"Forget it." He looked at her. "You're tired today. Go to bed early."

"Matthew, I..."

"I think you need some time to get used to it. I won't make things difficult for you before you get used to having a husband."

As he spoke, he turned over.

Candice looked at his bare back in a daze. After an unknown period, she heard his faint snore.

Only then did she take a good look at him.

He looked very handsome when he was asleep, with a sharp profile and a pair of slender eyebrows that were particularly masculine. His strong arms were under his head, and his muscles made her blush.

Candice's heart skipped a beat and she hastily turned away.

She was sleepy and her mind was a mess, thinking of her stepmother and Catherine's sarcastic remarks about her before she got married. They told her that the George family used to be friends with them, and they did have an engagement. However, the George family declined a few years ago, and they had been hiding in the small village since then. They were poverty-stricken. Besides, their son failed them, and he was a famous gangster.

Candice woke up with a start. She discovered that the sky was already bright, and the man beside her was nowhere to be seen.

She put on her clothes and went out to the yard. She saw Matthew exercising.

He had no shirt on and he raised dumbbells with both hands in quick succession. His distinct muscles were illuminated by the morning light. He looked like Apollo from the sky. Candice's small face was slightly hot as she softly greeted him, "You woke up so early!"

Matthew turned around and glanced at her indifferently.

Candice looked around. This courtyard wasn't very big and was a bit messy. There were punch bags, boxing gloves, baseball bats, and dumbbells scattered all over the place. Her heart tightened. She didn't dare say if the rumors were true or not, but she was sure that he was engaged in quite a lot of fights.

She wondered inwardly, "How is his temper?"

Candice bit her lips and took small steps forward. She asked nervously, "Umm... Have you taken breakfast yet?"

"No," he replied coldly. "Go ahead and make some."

Candice nodded. She turned around and ran into the kitchen, quickly making breakfast.

Matthew raised his head and looked into her big smiling eyes. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. He picked up a piece of beef and placed it on her plate.

Candice was stunned. She was just about to reject him when she heard his low voice. "Eat more. You're so thin!"

"Okay..."

She pursed her lips. She had a lot to say to Matthew. For example, she wanted to apologize for last night. It was normal for them to sleep together, but it was as if he had forced her.

For example, she wanted to ask him about his plans in the future. Since they were a couple, they should have a plan for the future.

Moreover, she still hadn't figured out what his profession was and how he could support his family...

They needed more understanding of each other.

However, she saw that Matthew was busy eating with his head down. When he raised his hand, she could see the thick calluses on his knuckles, which had been ground by hitting the punch bags countless times.

Hence, she put away the things she wanted to say.

Candice felt wronged to have the first meal after their wedding in such a long silence. However, things had already turned out this way and there was no room for her to change it.

"Oh right, is there anything else you want to do today?" Candice asked.

Matthew was stunned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to the city to return the wedding dress," she said with a smile.

Matthew was stunned. He had never bothered about their wedding ceremony, let alone knowing that her wedding dress was rented. Did other women buy their wedding dresses happily since it was a big once-in-a-lifetime event of their lives? Thinking of this, he inexplicably had a strange feeling in his heart.

Candice saw that he was silent and hurriedly explained, "I'll go on my own to return the wedding dress. Go ahead with your work if you're busy. You don't have to worry about me."

"Okay," the man replied flatly.

They were overly polite with each other as if they were roommates.

Candice washed the wedding dress clean, packed it in the bag as usual, and took a few buses. By the time she arrived at the wedding dress shop, it was already close to noon.

The wedding dress store wasn't very big and the shop assistant was used to looking down on people, especially someone like Candice who rented a wedding dress and got married. She was not welcome at all.

"Miss, are you sure we can use this wedding dress again in the future?" The shop assistant spoke harshly with a look of disdain on her face. "Look at what you've done!"

"I've washed this!" Candice quickly said. "I guarantee it's clean. There's absolutely no problem!"

"Oh, you washed it?" The shop assistant sneered. "Miss, you only rent it for one day. Why do you have to wash it? You rent it for marriage, not wearing it to farm, right?"

Candice blushed greatly when being questioned that way. She was a shy person.

On the day of her marriage, her situation was indeed not much better than that of going to the farm. In the heavy rain, she walked on a muddy rural path. Her white wedding dress and shoes were dirty, and her feet were also worn out.

The shop assistant fiddled with the hem of her wedding dress and cast a look of disdain at her from time to time.

"Miss, even if you want to wash this wedding dress, you have to send it for dry cleaning!

"You know what that means, don't you?"

Seeing that she was a naive person, the shop assistant deliberately mocked her. "Alas, since we opened this shop, wedding dresses are sold one by one. It's the first time for us to rent one out... Oh, you can't even afford a wedding dress. Why did you get married in the first place?"

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