Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“This is LEGO’s star product this year, the X3 spacecraft. As far as I know, they’ve only published the concept ads for it so far. Not only is it a limited edition product, it hasn’t even been officially released yet. How did you get your hands on this?”
Halston really loved the present. He asked Seraphina curiously while unboxing the LEGO set.
“You’re not the only one who’s fallen head over heels for me. That company’s boss is also one of my many admirers. It’s just a LEGO model. If I wanted it, of course he would give it to me.”
Seraphina raised her chin and said smugly.
She knew that Halston had loved Lego blocks since he was young, so whenever she saw a special edition set, she would immediately buy it for him under the guise of being his ‘homie’. Every time she watched Halston open up his present like a little kid on Christmas, she felt extremely happy.
The X2 spaceship model on his glass shelf was also a gift from her. Seeing the man build and place her gift on the most eye-catching spot in his room, she figured she must be somewhat important to him. This belief made her love for him grow even stronger.
Halston took out the tens of thousands of blocks and sat down on the floor with his legs crossed. He looked quite excited to start assembling it.
Seraphina sat down as well, hugging Halston from behind and placing her chin on his shoulder. She asked him cheekily, “If you like my gift this much, shouldn’t you give me a reward in return?”
Halston didn’t look up from the blocks, but said generously, “What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”
“What if I said I wanted you?” Seraphina gathered her courage and carefully tested the waters.
Halston frowned, visibly confused as he turned around to look at the woman. He placed his hand on her forehead and asked, “Are you sick or something?”
“Hahaha, there’s no need to be so tense. I only see you as a bro, my guy. I’m just asking you since my family is urging me to get married. I can’t think of any other way, so I was hoping you could help a bro out!” Seraphina still didn’t want to reveal her true intentions, and tried to play it off as a joke.
“Why me?” Halston asked casually, raising an eyebrow.
“Look, we’re both single, and we’re at the age of marriage. Also, we’re childhood friends, so we know each other well and our backgrounds are similar. Our families are urging us to get married anyway, so why don’t we just do it to shut them up?” Seraphina said excitedly, as if she was talking about some kind of grand business project.
Halston was facing the bed at the time, with his slender fingers randomly putting the small blocks together. He wondered what Flossie’s expression was like after hearing that, especially since she was currently hiding under his bed.
“Sounds good!” Halston said heartily, not rejecting Seraphina. “Marriage is just a legal matter anyway, so it doesn’t matter who I do it with. So why wouldn’t I marry someone I don’t hate, not to mention someone I know well?”
Flossie’s expression instantly turned icy. For some reason, Halston’s words disappointed her. She had been through marriage, and it was exactly as he said. No matter the person, all that was left at the end of a marriage was just the urge to strangle each other to death.
If she had another chance to choose, she would definitely stop herself from marrying for the so-called ‘love’ she longed for. She believed Halston had understood this from the start, which explained his hostility during their entire marriage.
Hence, choosing to marry Seraphina was the most practical decision he could make. He wasn’t wrong for choosing this option, but it made Flossie resent him, and she didn’t quite understand why.
‘I don’t get it at all! This is so frustrating!’ She thought.
“Oh my god, dude, really? You really think it’s a good idea to get married?” Seraphina was so excited that she was starting to stumble over her words, and she hugged the man tightly.
Seraphina had only mentioned marriage for the sake of gauging Halston’s opinion on it – she had never expected him to take her question seriously at all.
To her immense shock, Halston had ended up… agreeing with her.
It felt like a dream come true to the woman, as if the high and mighty star that she had loved for so long had finally fallen into her hands.
“If you’re willing to marry me, I’ll let you take over the Murphy family business too. I just want to enjoy life because I don’t have any idea on how to run a business at all. I’ll feel much better with you handling the Murphy business.”
Seraphina had already envisioned their wonderful life together after marriage. She grabbed the man’s arm, looking at the crystal chandelier above their heads as she said happily, “We’ll get a villa up west, and decorate the place however we want. You like anime and Lego blocks, right? We can have a room just for your figurines! I’ll buy you the rarest figurines and the hardest Lego sets to build…”
Seraphina looked at Halston with a grin. “We can turn our home into our own personal theme park! You won’t have to worry about our marriage being boring too, since I’m not like your ex-wife! I’ll bring excitement into our lives, unlike your cold and dull ex-wife back then. To think it was so bad that you got tired of your marriage!”
Before Halston divorced Flossie, his friends had made fun of his lackluster marriage all the time. Moreover, Seraphina could tell that Halston really did despise their relationship, and had gotten tired of his modest and gentle wife. Thus, she knew she had to show the man the joys of being married so that he would be willing to give it another chance…
“Right, my ex-wife was pretty cold. That’s why our marriage fell apart. Now that I think about it, it really was…” Halston suddenly paused.
“It really was what?” Seraphina’s eyes widened as she asked curiously.
At the same time, Flossie was trying her best to hear what he was about to say. She really wanted to know the man’s true feelings on their failed marriage.
Halston shook his head, his lips curving upwards mysteriously. “It’s nothing.”
Seraphina was disappointed, to say the least. She frowned deeply and said, “Hey now, how can you tease me like that? But tell me… do you still miss your relationship with your ex-wife? If you had another chance, would you choose to start over with her?”
She wanted to know what Flossie meant to him, which would dictate how she was going to treat the woman from now on.
Halston, however, remained silent, and just smiled.
Seraphina knew that the man wouldn’t reply if he didn’t want to, so she could only change the topic. “So, my suggestion is good, right? I told you what our married life would be like, so are you… willing to try it out with me?”
Halston was holding a Lego block, his expression solemn. He couldn’t possibly respond to Seraphina’s question, since he himself had no idea what to say either.
From an objective standpoint, marrying Seraphina would be the best choice as of now, since they would be combining two powerful families with their union. Despite knowing this…
He was holding onto a joint block at the time, which was round in shape. As his mind wandered, the block fell out of his grasp, and rolled under the bed.
‘Damn it!’ Flossie cussed in her head as the piece landed next to her arm.
Flossie’s body tensed up instantly, sweat dripping from her forehead. She didn’t even dare to breathe, thinking, ‘Oh, I’m so doomed…’
She wasn’t worried that Halston wouldn’t let her go, she just felt embarrassed about this whole ordeal. She constantly called the man a pervert, but her secretly hiding under his bed was even more perverted than his usual antics!
“Dude, you dropped one,” Seraphina sighed as she saw the block rolling away. She stood up and walked towards the bed to help him get it. “You have to be careful, you know? I had to go through a lot to get you this set… Ahhh!”
The woman had just gotten down on all fours, peering under the bed to see where the block was. To her shock, Seraphina saw Flossie hiding there, and she let out a piercing shriek.
“Under your bed, she… she…” Seraphina’s face went pale as she stammered, still pointing at Flossie shakily. She couldn’t seem to find the words she wanted to say.
Halston, on the other hand, just smirked knowingly. “Come out, then. Are you not tired from hiding for so long?”
Flossie’s heart pounded as a wave of shame and awkwardness flooded her. She thought to herself furiously, ‘He knew I was under his bed all along – he just pretended not to know so he could toy with me! All the hard work I’ve put in to be cool and indifferent towards him is nothing but a joke now… It’s all gone to waste!’
“What on Earth… Halston, you knew she was under your bed?” Seraphina came back to her senses and looked at the man in disbelief. “What twisted game are you two playing?”
Flossie clenched her fists and let out a deep sigh. She then crawled out with a stern expression, trying to hide the fact that part of her soul had just died from humiliation. Her dignity was completely crushed the moment she looked up and found Halston’s arrogant gaze on her.
“Sorry for the intrusion,” Flossie said coolly as she dusted herself off, turning around to leave.
“Wouldn’t it be rude to leave just like that?” Halston stared at the woman’s back, a fake smile plastered on his face. “As far as I know, trespassing is a serious, punishable offense.”
Seraphina finally connected the dots in her head. She scolded Flossie loudly, “He’s right – you were trespassing! Are you a pervert?! To think you’d choose to hide under his bed too! Did you hear our entire conversation? Ugh, you’re such a calculative woman! What are you doing here?”
Flossie gritted her teeth, unable to hold back her anger as she turned to glare at them. “Are you two done yet? Isn’t this enough? You truly are a cruel man, Halston Guajardo! Do you think it’s fun to toy with me?!”
Halston chuckled coldly and shrugged. “What did I do?”
“You know what you did. I don’t care if you two want to play out your little love story, but you didn’t have to make me your audience!” Flossie snapped, never having felt so humiliated in her life. She felt like a fool wrapped around his little finger, and she hated that he thought he could do whatever he wanted with her.
“Oh, now I see what you’re trying to do, you hypocrite! You’re the pervert who hid under Halston’s bed, but now you’re trying to put the blame on him?! Honestly, you should just call the cops on her, Halston!” Seraphina sneered as she took her phone out.
She then pointed at Flossie and declared, “Let’s have her arrested! The police will surely know how to deal with her!”
However, Flossie wasn’t afraid at all. She smirked at the woman and said cockily, “Go ahead, I’ll be waiting.”