Chapter 29 You Are Living In My House And Eating My Food

Carla tensed up when she felt Terence hug her from behind. He rested his head against her shoulder. She looked down and saw two strong hands appear from under hers as he helped her pick up the tea leaves.

"Relax. Don't get yourself all worked up. I just want to talk to you for a moment. I promise I won't eat you,"

Terence teased. He continued to pick up the tea leaves and put them into the jar with her. When they finished he screwed the lid shut. "Carla, shall we take a walk outside?"

"What did you want to talk to me about? We don't need to go anywhere." Carla pushed him out of the way and took a cup from the cupboard and dropped some tea leaves in.

Every time he got close to her, she would lose her mind.

"Carla, please think about my suggestion carefully. Come with me and give me a chance to take care of you and Sean, okay?" Terence implored her.

It was only a matter of time before Terence would have to leave BH City. They both knew that JA City, where Terence lived, was far away from them. He worried if something were to happen to them, he wouldn't be able to get to them in time to help.

So, he thought the best way to deal with that problem, was to ask Carla and Sean to come and live with him in JA City where he could watch over them.

Carla filled her cup with hot water and turned to face him. "Go with you? And what shall I go as? The heroine that saved your life? I'm afraid that several months later you would become sick of us and we would end up hating each other. Then my brother and I would end up in a much worse situation than we are in now."

'In JA City, only dignitaries and very wealthy people lived there. People who were accustomed to living a life of luxury. It is the most prosperous city in our country.

What could I possibly do in that city?' Carla thought bitterly.

"Carla, Don't reject my suggestion on a whim. Think it through first. JA City really isn't as terrible as you might think. I know that you are fearful about your future there. It's true, there are many wealthy people that reside there. But, there are middle-class people that live there as well. But most importantly, JA City is much safer for you than it is here. If you were living there, Sean would be able to have a much better education. It's what you want, isn't it?"

Terence said with his hands on her shoulders.

"You still haven't answered my question. What are you going to introduce me as to your family and friends? When they ask you who I am, what will you say to them?" asked Carla as she looked up into his deep eyes.

Terence took the cup from her hand and put it aside. He then took both of her hands in his and placed them on his heart and gazed down into her eyes.

"Well, you tell me," he murmured.

Carla lowered her head and smiled bitterly.

"Will you tell them I am your girlfriend? Your lover? Or the other woman? I know so very little about you. I don't know whether you have a girlfriend or even if you are already married in JA City,"

she said after pulling away from his grip. She took the cup in her hands and blew on the tea to cool it down, took a sip and then placed it on the table behind her.

'Women shouldn't just blindly accept everything that a man says, ' thought Carla.

Terence frowned and replied, "No, I have neither a girlfriend nor a wife. I am the youngest son in my family. My older brothers haven't married yet. How can I marry before them?

Since you know so little about me. Then I would like to give you as much time as you need to get to know me better. But first of all, you should give me a chance, right?"

Carla sighed and wanted to change the topic.

So, she said, "Well, I think we have spent too much time talking. Sean is waiting for you, downstairs. Don't keep him waiting too long."

Terence looked at her for a moment and then left without saying another word.

By the time Terence and Sean came back, Carla had already taken a bath and was sleeping in her bedroom.

Sean, whispered goodnight to his sister before he went into his own bedroom.

In the dark of the night, Carla lay in her bed awake. She just couldn't get to sleep. Before she had met Terence, she never had a problem with sleeping. In fact, she looked forward to hitting the sack after a hard day's work. But later, she had had more and more things on her mind.

She twisted and turned but to no avail. Finally, after hours of tossing and turning trying to sleep, she felt that she needed to go to the toilet.

She tried to hold it in, but after several minutes had passed, she couldn't hold it in any longer and had to get up. Carla put her slippers on and walked to the bedroom door. Opening the door quietly, she peered through the crack and

found Terence lying still on the sofa. It appeared that he was sound asleep.

Carla exhaled quietly. Then she tiptoed down the hall and past the sofa where Terence lay asleep and entered the bathroom.

She closed the door behind and stared at herself in the mirror patting her cheeks.

'Carla Ji, what are you afraid of?

This is your house! You don't have to be so careful, in your own house! Come on Carla, are you really that afraid of him?' Carla murmured.

Carla took a deep breath and felt full of courage when she opened the bathroom door to walk out.

"Oh, my gosh!"

The moment she opened the door, there was a tall black figure leaning against it.

Carla was so scared that she jumped back against the wall.

"Terence! What's wrong with you? What are you doing standing there at this time of night, like some sort of creep? You scared the living daylights out of me!" With her hand on the chest, Carla yelled at Terence in a trembling voice.

Carla got quite a

fright. She didn't even hear when he had gotten up from the sofa and stood in front of the bathroom.

Terence moved in closer to her and placed his hand on the wall above her head. It was dark in the room, so she couldn't see his facial expression clearly.

"You're scared because you have feelings for me."

Carla stared back at him angrily. Then she ducked under his arm and went to the dinner table and gulped down a glass of water to calm her nerves.

Terence followed and stood close behind her. He trailed his long fingers lightly along the back of her neck and gently moved her hair to the side as he nuzzled her neck. "I have a request. Can I sleep in your bed with you tonight?" he whispered in her ear.

Carla nearly choked on the water. "Well, finally you are showing your true colors, aren't you? Just look at you! You are living in my house and eating my food. But that isn't enough for you, is it? Now you are making requests to sleep with me in my bedroom!

Do you take me for a fool?"

Carla put the glass down on the table and gave Terence a disgusted glare.

Terence chuckled when he saw her cute angry face.

"Well, if that's the case, we can go to my home. You can live in my house, eat my food and sleep in my bed. So it doesn't cost you anything. What do you think?" he said in a calm voice.

Carla was left speechless after what Terence had said. She was so angry that she stomped on his foot as she turned in a huff and went back to her bedroom.

Seeing Terence follow her, she sprinted to her room and quickly locked the door before he caught up to her.

"This is my home and not yours! The sofa is good enough for you to sleep on. If you think the sofa is not a good place for you to sleep on, then you can go to your hotel. There are plenty of comfortable and big beds waiting for you there!" she called out from behind the door.

Carla smiled, pleased with herself. Now she could have a good sleep.

Terence stood in the hallway on the other side of the door. He shook his head smiling and went back to the sofa. Fluffing up the pillows he lay back down and went to sleep. He got up early that morning. While Carla was busy with her work during the day, he went to a store and bought some new cushions and put them on the hard sofa, so even though he couldn't have a decent bed to sleep on, he could at least have a good night sleep.

"Carla, you are such a stubborn girl," murmured Terence.

The house was so small that every little noise and movement could easily be heard.

Terence could hear how restless Carla was at night so he deliberately played a joke on her to help her relax and sleep better.

In the afternoon of the next day—

"Carla, tomorrow is Sean's birthday. How about celebrating it in a restaurant? His birthday is only once a year. I think it is kind of boring to celebrate it at home,"

said Terence, looking at Carla.

Carla had an apron on and was cleaning a window. She had asked for half the day off work so she could prepare for Sean's birthday. She turned back and glanced at him, "It will be too expensive for me if we eat out. I think it'll be okay to celebrate it at home. We can decorate the house with some balloons and streamers. It will save me a lot of money this way."

Terence sighed with a smile, "I think you know that I would pay for it, don't you? I understand that you are trying to save money. But it will be Sean's tenth birthday. It is very important to him. We should make it fun and special for him. Don't you think so?"

He knew how she was and if he wanted to carry out what he was secretly planning then he would have to get Carla to agree on some things first.

Otherwise, the surprise he had planned would backfire on him.

He was planning to, hire out the whole amusement park for the day, invite all of Sean's classmates for a big birthday party and then get a table at the best restaurant.

But if he did all of that without Carla agreeing, it would only make her think about the enormous difference between them. What was worse, she might even think that she was absolutely out of his league.

Thus, he had no choice but to put a lot of effort to persuade her.

Carla stopped what she was doing and turned around to face him, "What exactly is it that you want to say?"

Terence took the rag from her hand and tossed it aside. He put his arm around her waist and drew her closer to him.

"I'd just like to spoil you and Sean a little bit. Otherwise, your man can't get any sense of fulfillment even if he does earn a lot of money," he said as a little joke. "Besides, I'm just suggesting having a meal at a nice restaurant with a comfortable atmosphere and affordable price. I would like to invite a few of Sean's friends. But the house isn't big enough to fit so many people. So what you think?"

Terence smiled, for he saw a hint of hope in her eyes.

Carla stared at him for a moment while thinking it through in her head. She removed his hand from her waist. 'It will probably be a good idea, ' she thought.

"Let's do it, okay? I am going to make a reservation right away." Terence was so excited to finally be able to make them both feel special that he read her silence wrongly. He thought her silence was an acceptance to his plan, but he didn't read the other emotions in her eyes. Terence leaned over and kissed her on the forehead with a big smile on his face.

Then he turned and left the house.

Carla lowered her eyes and watched as Terence left. She stared at the door for a while and thought to herself, 'Well, let him.

Anyway, this birthday party will also be Terence's farewell dinner.

After Sean's birthday, there will be no reason for him to stay with us anymore.'