Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

Chapter 40
Zachary and Serenity were merely a married couple on paper anyway. Even if the alcohol was getting to Zachary’s head, he did
not need Serenity to tend to him. God knew if she would take advantage of him while he was intoxicated.
At the age of thirty, Zachary had not lost his first kiss to anyone.
Much less, had the sanctity of his modesty violated.
Romance had never been in the cards for Zachary.
Nana often called him a loveless and passionless man, but because of his lackluster expectation toward love, Zachary married
Serenity to get Nana off his back.
Despite searching all his pockets, Zachary could not find his house keys. He said, “... Jim, maybe you should wake the missus.”
It appeared that he had left home without his keys.
The bodyguard immediately pounded on the door.
Although Serenity was asleep, she was a light sleeper, and the pounding woke her up. She pricked up her ears and realized
someone was at the door. As she got up to see who it was, it dawned on her that she was in her pajamas. Serenity pulled out a
winter jacket from the
wardrobe to put on before proceeding to open the door. With the door swung open, Zachary and Jim were stunned to see
Serenity in a thick winter jacket.
It was October right now. Sure, the mornings and nights were breezy, but it was still sweltering during the day.
It did not seem like the right occasion to put on a winter jacket.
“Hello, I’m the designated driver from a chauffeuring service. Your husband is drunk, so I walked him up.”
It was a good thing Jim was quick to think on his feet and come up with a lie. He handed Zachary along with the car keys to
Serenity.
Serenity thought she was knocked over by a mule. Zachary was heavy!

“Thank you, Mister.” Serenity said to Jim. “No problem.” Jim stole a glance at Mr. Zachary before slipping away. After closing and
locking the door, Serenity steadied Zachary’s staggering footsteps as they walked into the house. She nagged at him, “Why did
you drink so much? You stink of alcohol.”
Zachary remained quiet but whined inwardly instead, Whose fault was it anyway? You!’
Tossing the car keys on the coffee table, Serenity helped
Zachary up to his bedroom door before letting go. She uttered, “It’s written in the contract that your bedroom is off-limits. This is
as far as I can go. You’re on your own. Wait until tomorrow to take a shower. I fear you might drown in the bathroom in this
state.”
Zachary opened the door to his room and stumbled in. He stopped after a few steps and slowly turned around to ask, “... Why
are you wearing such a thick jacket on a hot day?”
He thought the alcohol was making him imagine things.
“I didn’t have time to get dressed, so I put on a jacket to open the door for you.”
Serenity explained and shut the door for him.
Following a bang, the door cut the husband and wife off from further communication.
Having returned to her room, Serenity eagerly took off the jacket and murmured, “The heat’s killing me.”
Once she was gone, Zachary stayed put in the silence for a while before tottering his way to his bed and dove headfirst into
the soft sheets. He needed to get back to the comfort of his bedroom to rest his head.
Drowsiness quickly swept him away.
It was in the afternoon by the time he woke up the next day.
Since Zachary slept the whole night without turning on the air conditioner , he awoke to a stench of alcohol and sweat. Due to his
bordering neat-freak tendency, he rushed to the toilet to throw up.
He immediately took a bath.

Zachary came out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed. He was himself again.
With his mind harking back to his drunken night, Zachary vowed to never get himself intoxicated again.
Fortunately , he had signed an agreement with Serenity before going out. Serenity kept to her word and did not prey on him
while he was vulnerable. Now, Zachary wondered if he was in the right to draft the contract.
Nevertheless , they might just have to roll with it since both parties already agreed to it.
Having retrieved his peace of mind, Zachary realized that he was hungry. He walked out of his room, expecting a piping hot
breakfast spread to be ready on the table. To his dismay, Serenity left a note on the dining table, telling him that she went to work
and that he should deal with his own meals. Zachary crunched the note in his hand. “...”