Chapter 5 chapter Five

Karen woke up to screams on Christmas morning.She thought the house was on fire and she was about to get out of bed as soon as the quilt was lifted, but Aili's strong hand stopped her. "Kid," he murmured into his pillow. The screaming grew harsher, and she broke free of his grasp, but his hand slid up her arm, pulling her down beside him.The pillow between them had been slid (or pushed) close to their knees. Ali ran his hand through Karen's hair.His face was still buried in the pillow, still not looking at her, but she could see his shiny black hair and feel his warmth.The room was dark and the noise outside the door seemed very distant.

He pulled her closer, his face close to her, and when his lips touched hers, he whispered, "Christmas, you know it's like this, kid." "I'm an only child, and I always open presents after breakfast." He hummed, then kissed her tenderly. His lips seemed to take her back; lying in bed with a sleepy man, in his arms, was so familiar, and so good.She slid down effortlessly, next to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back eagerly. The door of the room opened suddenly, and two children rushed in with toys in their hands, waving them over the heads of the two on the bed.Karen looked up inexplicably at the toy the child was waving.The little girl holds a Barbie doll in an outrageous dress and some equally outrageous accessories, while the little boy holds a box of trains.

Even so, Ali kissed Karen on the neck as she tried to see the new toys clearly. She didn't have time to make a proper comment, because Ali was kissing her throat, and another child with an airplane in his hand rushed in through the door, bumping into the two original children.Dolls, trains, and children all flew up—and fell on Ali's head. The little girl immediately yelled that her doll was in pain, and the two little boys huddled on the ground, arguing about who hit whom.Karen crawled out of bed looking for the broken toys, but it took several minutes before she could put them back together and calm the children.

"Wait a minute," she said to Ali as she picked up the toy. "It looks like you have a red high-heeled shoe in your ear." "It's not the first time," he murmured, annoyed to be disturbed by the children. Karen gave him a reassuring look, and returned the things to the children before sending them away. After the two of them were left again, Ali put his hands behind his head and watched her go around the room picking up her clothes. "Our children will definitely not behave like this." Karen is looking for her belt. "I wish our kids were as lively and happy as they are—" She blushed and stopped, peeping at him grinning at her, and hurried to the bathroom to change.

But Ali jumped out of bed and caught her before she could close the bathroom door. "Okay, only child, don't change your clothes, or you'll miss the fun part." "I can't just go downstairs in my pajamas and nightgown!" "Everyone does," he said, dragging her outside, grabbing a shirt as he passed the chair. Allie was right.There was a mess under the Christmas tree, with torn wrapping paper and children everywhere.The adults just sat in the middle of the mess, trying not to mind the kids around them, laughing and exchanging presents. "Ah, the lovebirds are getting up," someone yelled. "Come and see what Santa has prepared for you."

"They look like they've received presents from Santa Claus," another yelled.When Karen heard that, she hurriedly let go of Ali's hand, which she had been holding tightly. She threw herself quickly into the crowd, sitting on the carpet beside a red carriage with a bow tied to the handle.She was glad that no one had opened the presents from her and Ali, and she could see their faces when they received them later.She was taken aback, though, when everyone began to pile presents onto her lap.Each gift had a small card indicating who had given it, but when she thanked those people, everyone looked surprised and looked at Ali.

It didn't take long for her to figure it out.He sat beside her unwrapping presents with the innocent expression on his face of a sleeping baby. "You weren't idle while I was getting my hair done, were you?" she asked softly, only he could hear.Apparently he bought all the presents she received, and he packed them all up, added small cards, and pretended to be from his friends. He didn't bother to refute, just smiled, half drooping his thick eyelashes. "Do you like these presents?" On and around her legs were beautiful things: a cashmere sweater, a music box, a pair of gold earrings, three pairs of thick wool socks, and a silver picture frame.

"What did I give you?" Steve asked.He and his bride postponed their honeymoon until the day after Christmas. Karen smiled. "Let me see," she said, looking among the cards. "You gave me a super mini bikini." "What?" Ali blurted out, then blushed and everyone laughed. "Forget it, forget it." He smiled, but still held Karen's shoulder possessively. Stey's cousin looked at Karen thoughtfully. "You know, Karen, I've met all of Ali's fiancées, and now I can tell him I don't like any of them, but Karen, I like you. Only you are the first look at Eli with the same eyes."

"I actually forgot to put my contact lenses on," Karen said. "And—" Everyone's boos made her unable to continue, and she blushed and looked down at her knees.Allie tightened his grip on her shoulders. "When did you get married?" someone asked. Eli didn't hesitate. "We'll be married as soon as I can convince her to marry me. You see, she won't even wear the engagement ring I gave her!" "Maybe it's broken because it's been worn by so many women," Stey yelled, and everyone laughed again. That's when Stie's mother, Linda, came in from the kitchen. "You all stop talking, Karen is so embarrassed! And I need someone to help in the kitchen."

Everyone scattered immediately.In less than half a minute, all the men, young and old, were gone, leaving only the women and girls, and mountains of presents and torn wrapping paper. "It works every time." Stey's mother grinned, showing her teeth. "Come on, ladies, let's go on talking." The ladies went upstairs to change and returned to their errands.Karen went back to the room she shared with Allie alone, threw all the presents on the bed, and watched.It doesn't take any great detectives to deduce that since she came here, all the gifts have been given by Eli.She had been curious to know what gifts the other bridesmaids had received, but it was said that everyone had received them last week.They also asked Karen if she didn't receive it?

After further questioning, she found that the bridesmaid gift was not a pearl necklace and earrings at all. "If you mean those pearls you wore yesterday," said a woman. "Since it's a gift from Eli, you can bet your bank account that it's all real." Karen blinked. "Then I guess the bride didn't give everyone a full set of silk underwear." She told it to herself rather than to the others, but they heard it anyway and laughed until Karen blushed. Looking at these gifts from him alone in the room at this moment, she knew that she was willing to do anything in exchange for one more hour of spending time with Ai Li.We're going back to Denver tomorrow, and they won't have anything to do in the future.At least the distance between her desk and his office in the company alone doesn't count, she thought. She turned and noticed an envelope on the pillow.After removing the silk scarf that had just been thrown on the bed, she saw "Merry Christmas, Karen" written on the envelope. As soon as she opened it, she saw that it was a short contract signed by Allie, and Stey was the witness.She skimmed through it quickly, and the content was to give Lawson's department store to her sole presidency.Allie provided the funding, and she provided the expertise.She could run it any way she wanted, and start paying him five per cent interest on the second anniversary of opening. "It's outrageous," she exclaimed. "I don't want to—" She saw a letter besides the contract. After reading this letter, Karen suddenly felt dizzy.It wasn't the business proposal that made her swoon, it was the "you're beautiful and funny and a great company and I love being with you" that struck her the most. "Enough!" she ordered herself. "He won't be yours. He has a lot of women, and besides..." She walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "And you, you complete idiot, you're in love with him." She turned her face away and turned on the shower head. "Business. Just do business with him, and nothing else will be discussed." However, this is not easy to do.She put on the red cashmere sweater and jeans that "Linda" had given her, and the pearls she couldn't resist touching so often, and went downstairs.Of course she would give him the pearl back, for it was too precious. Karen was one of the people lounging around, some cleaning the living room, some out playing ball with the gentlemen, and some helping out in the kitchen with the Christmas dinner. In the past few days, she had heard that Sidi's mother and Aili's mother were close friends in the boudoir.Of course it's none of Karen's business, but don't good friends talk about everything?Didn't about thirty-five people mention that Elaine would be here this afternoon? Karen wanted to know if Linda knew the inside story of Ali and Elaine's breakup. She spent hours washing, chopping and chopping in the kitchen, and she also heard many wonderful anecdotes about Stey's family, some of which had to do with Allie.From the kitchen window she could see Ali, in jersey slacks and a sleeveless T-shirt, playing touch football.Several times he looked at her from the window and waved to her after scoring or losing.Karen waved happily at him too.She hasn't been with her family for a long time, but she hasn't seen such battles even when she was reunited with her family in the past.Children were running about in the kitchen, laughter could be heard everywhere, and there was still Christmas carols being sung in the living room.Small families just lack this kind of liveliness. She nearly jumped when Linda spoke up behind her. "You like the vibe, don't you? Surrounded by wrapping paper, with kids screaming next to you, stuffing onions in the belly of a poor turkey, it makes you happy, doesn't it?" "Yes, I like it very much." Karen replied honestly. "Eli is a great guy." Karen didn't respond.Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't, she just knew he wouldn't be hers. "Do you know the truth about what happened to Elaine?" At this time, the work in the kitchen was almost finished, and there were only her and Linda left here. Linda looked at her for a while, as if considering whether to tell her. "I swear to secrecy," Linda said, looking down at the kitchen knife in her hand. Karen took a deep breath.Just getting a woman to admit that she does know a secret is half the battle.Now Linda just needed a little encouragement, but Karen was hesitating.She wanted to know and was afraid to know at the same time.Why did that woman turn against him on the wedding day?What had Ali done to her? "I really want to know," she said affectionately. Linda stared at Karen for a long time, and finally she smiled and looked down at the kitchen knife again. "You really love him, don't you?" "Yes." Karen could only say these two words, and she didn't dare to let herself say more. "Elaine is madly in love with a poor painter, and it seems to us on the sidelines that the kid is not so much interested in her as in her trust fund. It's just that love is blind, Elaine By all means to be with him. Her father wrote a letter to the so-called painter—God knows what he painted—that if Elaine married him, her trust fund would be cancelled. He Included in the letter was a check for 20,000 yuan, which could only be cashed after the man left Elaine. Elaine returned home that night to find that her artist had disappeared. She blamed everything on her father, saying Since her father only wants her to marry a rich man, she must satisfy him." Linda pursed her lips and paused for a moment, looking at Karen. "Eileen systematically approached Ai Li, who was the oldest unmarried boy in the Tan family. She was beautiful, versatile, and confident, and Ai Li could not resist. As a result, on the eve of the wedding Her painter is back, and when Eli returns to the apartment, he finds them both in bed." Linda gave Karen time to absorb the words before continuing. "Ally refused to marry her again, but because he was a gentleman, he made everyone think that Elaine dumped him. He has avoided marriage since then. He wants to get married and have his own family. , but I think he deliberately picks out women who only want his money, and then tests them with a ridiculous prenuptial agreement, which of course they won't sign, which makes him more convinced that women only want His money. I'm also relieved to see his old wounds close to healing now. I'm glad you and him are getting married soon because you are the one who truly loves him." Without looking up, Karen chopped celery for salad. "I'm telling you this because Ellie will definitely save Elaine's face and won't tell you the truth. There are only two other people who know what happened - only his mother and me." "Are you telling me this because I love him?" "Because he loves you too." Linda answered simply. Karen smiled slightly. "No, he doesn't love me. We're not really engaged. He hired me as his chaperone to accompany him to the wedding—" Linda's teasing smile stopped her from speaking. "Don't be silly, Karen. He doesn't have to hire women for this kind of thing. He has women who are willing to put him around wherever he goes. His mother used to complain about the women who worked under him, and it is said that he has The two female executives are crazy enough to think he's proving his love for them by leaving things to them. His mother wants him to fire those two women, but Ali can't do that kind of thing. He pays them for nothing Ridiculously high salaries and then taking care of everything myself." "And those women went around complaining that he didn't let them share the work for him." Karen said softly. "Probably! But Ai Li has always preferred to take the blame and not embarrass women. His mother wanted to make Elaine's affairs public, but Ai Li refused. Ai Li is a very old-fashioned person." "Yeah!" Karen agreed. "I believe so." "Say everyone is here," Linda said. "A car just stopped at the door. It's Elaine. Karen, you look so ugly. Go outside—" Karen looked out the window.The arrival of Elaine interrupted the game, because all the men ran to wait for the elegant, beautiful, and delicate Elaine to get off the car, a long black limousine.It was Tan Aili who ran ahead. "Sorry, excuse me, I have to go...go..." Karen couldn't think of anything she had to do, so she turned and ran out of the kitchen, upstairs to her room.