"I can keep myself busy with anything, just let me go to work!" Evie said, lying on the bed out of sheer boredom.
"How about working at Dad's company?" Victoria asked curiously.
Truth be told, she had always admired her sister's bold personality.
Unlike her, she was timid in everything she did.
Marrying Alexander was the bravest decision she had ever made in her life.
But back then, she was at the end of her rope, with no other way out.
You could say that being backed into a corner forced her to be brave.
"I'll get used to it as I endure it!" Evie replied.
Victoria was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "What do you mean, endure and get used to it? Dad won't mistreat you!"
"He won't mistreat me. He just piles a ton of work on me, trying to mold me into a strong woman. You tell me, if I were a strong woman, would I have failed to get my diploma in the first place?" Evie couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Being good at studying doesn't equal being a strong woman!" Victoria responded.
She thought she was a pretty good student herself, at least her grades were excellent, but she had nothing to do with being a strong woman.
"But at least I'm a strong-willed person! My personality is basically mud that can't stick to the wall!"
"Sis, how can anyone talk about themselves like that!" Victoria said, half laughing, half crying.
"Don't talk about me, that's enough. But you need to know how to hold onto the people around you," Evie reminded her.
Victoria could only nod with a dry smile.
How was she supposed to do that?
Could she turn Alexander straight?
She seriously doubted she had that kind of charm or skill.
Their mother called from upstairs, telling them to come down for dinner.
After washing their hands, they entered the dining room. Evie sat down in the empty seat next to Alexander.
She was surprised to see the lavish spread in front of her.
Sure enough, Alexander got special treatment.
It had been a long time since she'd seen such a big dinner at home.
Just as Evie was wondering whether to eat the lobster or the crab first.
Alexander had already dipped a piece of lobster meat in the sauce and placed it in her bowl.
Embarrassed, Evie secretly glanced up and saw that everyone seemed not to be paying attention to them. In reality, their peripheral vision was fixed on them, but they quickly looked down as if they hadn't seen anything. She said to Alexander, "Thank you!"
Next, Alexander began a full-on display of affection.
He served her vegetables, fish, and soup, and spoke to her in a soft voice, telling her to eat more and not to be picky.
In Victoria's words, it was killing her as a single dog, making her want to find a male animal to be her boyfriend!
After dinner, they stayed for a while.
Then Alexander left with Evie.
"Aren't you staying home tonight?" Amelia blurted out.
The next second, Victoria stealthily tugged at her clothes from behind. Amelia realized she might have said something wrong and quickly shut up.
Evie turned her head to look at Alexander. He didn't speak, just looked down at her with a smile.
Evie's eyes clearly asked—Can I stay home tonight?
Alexander's eyes replied—What do you think?
Evie was at a loss—Is that a yes or a no?
Alexander continued to smile.
Finally, Evie gave in and could only explain awkwardly.
"I have an exam tomorrow, so I'll go back to school tonight."
"Exams are important. Do your best!" William said.
"I will!" Evie replied obediently.
"Evie, aim for a perfect score!" Amelia chimed in.
Evie nodded with a smile, then said goodbye to her parents and sister, and followed Alexander to the car, leaving home.
Evie sat obediently in the passenger seat. It took her a long time to muster the courage to say, "Can I go back to my dorm tonight?"
"Your exam is tomorrow morning?" Alexander looked at her and asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon!" Evie answered.
"I'll take you back to school tomorrow."
"But I didn't bring my books, so I can't review tonight." Evie found the best excuse.
"What are you testing tomorrow afternoon?"
"Financial Derivatives," Evie replied.
"I'll help you review tonight."
"Ah?" Evie thought she had misheard him.
"Is there a problem?" Alexander looked at her again and asked.
"Did you study it?" Evie asked cautiously.
"I haven't studied it."
"..." Evie was speechless for a long time.
He was messing with her!
If he hadn't studied it, how could he help her review!
"But teaching you is more than enough," Alexander added.
"..." Evie was speechless again.
How was she supposed to understand that sentence?
Was Alexander saying she was too stupid, like using a bull's knife to kill a chicken?
Or was Alexander just overconfident?
Alexander didn't intend to explain and drove straight back to the apartment.
Then he went straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
Alexander was a clean freak. The first thing he did when he got back to the apartment was take a bath. Evie was used to it.
Now it seemed she could only rely on herself.
Luckily, there was a computer here.
She could ask Emily to help her with the review. If she didn't understand something, she could search for answers online.
Alas, the campus intranet was the intranet. As the name suggested, it could only be used inside the school.
The internet speed was almost as slow as a snail, crawling at a few kilobytes per second, transferring the review outline.
Evie could only wait patiently for the document to be received, resting her chin on her hand.
It took nearly twenty minutes to receive the review outline, and she had just opened it.
Alexander came out of the bedroom after his bath and said, "Take a bath first!"
"I'll review for a while, then take a bath!" Evie looked up to answer.
"Do you know how bacteria die?"
"?"
"They die of disgust! Review after you take a bath!" Alexander said.
Evie immediately replied with a smoke trail, "Oh!"
Then she got up and walked towards the bedroom.
What a lame joke!
After taking a bath, Evie went back to the living room, sat in front of the computer, moved the mouse, and pressed the keyboard, but the computer screen didn't respond at all.
"Is the computer broken?"
"I turned it off!" Alexander came out of his study and said.
"Ah?" Evie looked at Alexander in shock, not quite understanding.
She wanted to review, and he turned off her computer. What did he mean?
"Come in, I'll help you review!" Alexander said, then turned back into the study.
Evie was even more confused, but she still obediently followed Alexander into the study.
For the next hour, besides Alexander's voice reviewing for Evie, there was also an angry remark from time to time—
Why are you so stupid? Even a pig has better comprehension than you! Repeat what I just said! Even a fish's memory is a few seconds longer than yours!
Evie didn't dare say anything from beginning to end.
She was afraid that if she talked back, Alexander would get angry and strangle her.
It was so sad!
Evie sneaked a look at Alexander, always feeling that the Alexander at night was completely different from usual, like a different person.
Was it really her stupidity that had stimulated Alexander to lose his nature?
Or was he possessed? Was it evil?
Should she invite a priest to exorcise him!
Just as Evie was wandering off into space, she was jolted back by Alexander's glare the next second. Then she lowered her head and said, "I'm really stupid, otherwise, don't waste your time reviewing for me!"
"If you're stupid, you need to study more! What did I just say? Go on!" Alexander replied with a blank face.
"..."
Evie continued to review with Alexander. The more nervous she got, the less she understood what Alexander was saying. The less she understood, the angrier Alexander became.
So it fell into a vicious cycle.