?<strong>Chapter 183:</strong>


    Startled by the unexpected sound, he straightened abruptly and inquired with a frown, “Why are you here?” As he spoke, the finality of the door closing and locking reverberated ominously through the room.


    With a helpless smirk, Kristopher responded, “It seems Grandma has her own ns…”


    “Hmm?” Carrie’s expression was one of confusion.


    Before she could gather her thoughts, Mny’s voice drifted in from beyond the door. “Oliver has already departed, and Kristopher really isn’t in any condition to drive after his drinks. You two should make yourselvesfortable here tonight and head home tomorrow. Rest up.”


    Defiantly, Carrie rushed to the door, rattling the handle and pounding urgently. “Mny, are you out there? I just need to grab some water, that’s all!”


    Her pleas were met with nothing but the hollow silence of the empty hallway. Sighing in resignation, Kristopher pushed the cab door shut with a gentle click and perched wearily on the bed’s edge. “Seems Grandma cleverly tricked me intoing up here under the guise of fetching something.”


    Feeling a mix of irritation and surrender, Carrie flopped down onto the couch facing him and admitted, “She sent me up to keep an eye on you as well.”


    Their eyes locked for a moment, and they couldn’t help but dissolve into heartyughter, fully aware of the extent of Mny’s scheming.


    Carrie was the first to break the silence. “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”


    The once rxed ambiance shifted abruptly to an uneasy stillness. Kristopher, with a careless gesture, flung his jacket onto a nearby chair. “Do you ever wonder what might ur if we were to share the bed?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.


    Tight-lipped, Carrie responded with a heavy silence that filled the room. Given his recent odd behavior, his question felt distinctly out of ce.


    Sensing the tension thicken, Kristopher’s face took on a somber expression. “Even if, hypothetically, something were to happen, it falls within the bonds of matrimony,” he asserted firmly.


    “Yet, coercion under any guise is still assault,” Carrie countered with a calm yet firm tone.


    “Must you always meet my words with such hostility?” Kristopher challenged, frustration simmering behind his clenched teeth.


    He paused, a smirk recing his frown as he recalled the joke from her friend. “Your best friend said you’ve never really reaped the benefits of being married. Now that those benefits are within reach, what’s holding you back?”


    He then casually leaned back against the headboard, propping himself up on his palms. His casual pose could not obscure the allure of his sharp jawline or the subtle bob of his Adam’s apple—a silent testament to his rugged charm.


    In that moment, Carrie realized with startling rity that allure was not bound by gender—a tactic as potent for men as it had been for women throughout the ages.


    Carrie feltpletely overwhelmed, unable to ward off Kristopher’s relentless advances. Her cheeks burned with a deep blush, undoubtedly fueled by Camille’s musings on the virtues of wedlock. She gave up trying to argue with him and curled into a small ball on the couch, her knees drawn up as she lost herself in a stream of humorous clips.


    The exaggerated antics in the videos captured her attention entirely, pulling peals ofughter from her. She tried to muffle her chuckles with her hand, but theughter bubbled out uncontrobly.


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