<h4>Chapter 141: Eira Arguing With Rafe</h4>


    <strong>Roman’s POV</strong>


    The next morning began as usual. Jason and Lucian were busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast, while Rafe and I tended to the pets before Eira woke. Kael had not yet appeared; perhaps he was still asleep, or perhaps he had locked himself away in his room again.


    As long as he came to the table, it would be enough.


    Eira was sleeping tillte as well. I knew it wasn’t the medicine, but rather that she hadn’t slept after I left the room the previous night. When I returned, I saw her sleeping with a picture frame tightly held against her chest, hershes damp as if she had been crying even in her sleep.


    Whatever we did, I knew it was going to be a long way before we could change things between her and us.


    I didn’t dare climb into the bed for fear of disturbing her sleep, so I slept on the couch, watching her for a long time before I finally fell asleep.


    "Breakfast is almost ready. Are those two noting out yet?" Lucian asked now, arranging the dishes on the table.


    "I’ll go check on her," I replied.


    "Was she alrightst night?" Lucian’s question made Jason pause, both of them looking at me expectantly.


    I only hummed, uncertain what to tell them when I barely knew myself.


    When I entered the room, she was lying quietly on the bed, staring out the window.


    Though she didn’t want my affection and care, I was going to continue it my way.


    I sat on the edge of the bed and gently brushed my hand over her hair. "Did you sleep well?"


    She gave no response, no sign that she even felt my touch.


    "Get up," I said softly. "You need to eat, and then take your medicines." I adjusted the photo frame on the bedside table before rising.


    She obeyed, slowly pushing herself upright. I pulled out a fresh set of clothes for her. "Come out when you’re ready. Your pets are waiting for you too."


    With that, I left the room, knowing she would follow.


    By then Kael hade downstairs as well, and Eira appeared from her room—washed, dressed in simple clothes, her hair neatly set. The new haircut she’d gotten the day before framed her face gently, making her look almost... different.


    Unlike before, when we first brought her home, she looked better now. A little healthier and fresher, opposite to how sickly she looked.


    Fluffy and Vixen went to her. She petted the dog and picked up Vixen in her arms. Her eyes then sought out the hamster I had bought for her. The little fellow had burrowed into the soft bedding of his cage, exhausted after wearing himself out on the wheel.


    As she sat before therge cage, I joined her, carefully plucking the hamster out and holding him toward her. "What shall we name him?" I asked.


    "If her cat is called Vixen," Rafe drawled, busy cleaning Vixen’s bedding, "then this little bastard should be named something like Rascal. Or Jerk. An ass...."


    I looked at Eira to see her reaction, and she clearly knitted her brows at hisment.


    She looked at Rafe with an annoyed expression. "Those names are reserved for the likes of you. Spare my pets."


    We all raised our brows and looked at Rafe. The bastard managed to get a reaction from her. We wanted him to go on, and he did just that.


    How to rile up someone with his remarks—that was his skill.


    "If they stay around me, they are guaranteed to be like me," Rafe countered, calm andposed. "So, it’s fixed. I am going to call him Little Rascal."


    "No!" she raised her voice. "They are my pets, and his name is... umm..." she thought quickly. "...Ham."


    She looked so adorable, all riled up and angry.


    "Always sozy with names, huh?" Rafe gave her a bored look. "Cat is kitty, hamster should be ham. Howzily creative of you, Caldwell!"


    "Yeah, and Vixen is so creative, isn’t it, Damaris?" she snapped back.


    Damn! What’s going on between these two? Calling each other by theirst names like each others’ mortal enemies.


    "Well, Vixen is called Vixen," he said with a smug smile, his gaze challenging her. "Isn’t it, Vixen?"


    In an instant she grabbed the cushion from her seat and hurled it at him. "Don’t call me that!"


    He caught it easily, smirking. "No one orders me. I do what I do."


    For a moment, we four just stared at each other in disbelief. This was more than we had seen from her in weeks—a spark of life, even if born from irritation.


    But why had she reacted so strongly to that word- Vixen? Why did she take it upon herself as if he had called her that directly?


    "Bastard!" she spat at him, her voice rising. "Get lost!"


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    "I’m afraid I can’t," Rafe replied, tossing the cushion back onto her mattress with a careless flick. "If I leave, I’ll be taking my cat with me."


    She pulled Vixen closer, her gaze unwavering. "She’s mine. You stole her. I know it’s my kitty, my pet."


    "If not for me, she would have died long back," he said. "You better thank me."


    Finally, Eira stayed quiet.


    All of us simply exchanged nces between the two. Things started to make sense now. So it was Eira’s cat that Rafe had brought with him six years back. No wonder she was so attached to this cat—and the cat to her. They were no strangers.


    "And keep in mind, it’s my cat as well because I have been taking care of her for the past six years. Either we share her, or I take her away," Rafe said, looking straight in her eyes, "Our cat, or my cat? Choose one."


    Eira held the cat closer, not willing to answer.


    "Alright! Our cat then," Rafe decided on his own and walked towards the breakfast table and settled in the chair Coolly, "Let’s eat."


    The bastard managed to get upper hand over her so easily. Now they are going to have ’their pet’.


    And, the way they were arguing, there was surely a story behind it that we didn’t know.