Throughout their courtship, Ynda had always kept Eden at a distance.


    She couldn''t help but feel repulsed by him. He was an illegitimate son, born to some country bumpkin, which she found disgusting. He wasn''t particrly handsome or capable, and she looked down on himpletely.


    But now they were engaged, a new house was ready, and both families clearly expected them to start living together.


    "Ynda, let''s go home," Eden said with a gentle smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Everyone''s had a long day and must be tired. They need to get some rest too."


    Ynda was forced into a car with Eden and taken to their new house.


    Their new home was a three-story vi on the edge of the inner city, a wedding gift from Frank.


    Although Frank had little affection for Eden or his mother, Vanessa, he had never been stingy with them when it came to money.


    Ynda''s belongings had already been moved in. She had a lot of things, but the vi was sorge that her walk-in closet was only half-full, looking rather empty.


    "It''s been a long day. Go get cleaned up," Eden said to her.


    "Okay," Ynda nodded and quickly headed upstairs.


    She went into the master bedroom and immediately locked the door behind her. Only then did she rx, remove her makeup, and take a long,fortable bath.


    After her bath, Ynda dried her hair and stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a robe, only to find Eden sitting on the edge of her bed, a cigarette between his fingers.


    The room was filled with the smell of tobo smoke, which made her cough violently.


    "How did you get in?" she demanded, her eyes wide with indignation.


    "It''s my house. Of course I have a key," Eden replied, exhaling a plume of smoke.


    Covering her mouth, Ynda coughed again and went to the window, pushing it open for some fresh air.


    "Don''t smoke in my room again. The smell is disgusting."


    Eden flicked his ash, then looked up at her, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Were you this high-maintenance when you were with Bet?"


    "He never smoked in front of me," Ynda retorted instinctively.


    It was true. Bet was a gentleman from a prominent family, with impable manners ingrained in him. Besides, knowing that Yvonne disliked the smell of smoke he had long made it a habit not to smoke around women.


    Eden didn''t say anything. He just stubbed out his half-finished cigarette in the ashtray.


    With the window open, the air in the room circted and the smoke quickly dissipated.


    But she was still frowning, looking at Eden with displeasure. "I''m a light sleeper Having someone else in the room will ruin my rest. We should sleep in separate rooms from now. on


    "Fine," Eden agreed without hesitation.


    It''s not like Ynda was some great prize. He didn''t love her, so there was no point in forcing it.


    Ynda was quite pleased with his agreeable attitude. She pointed to the door and said, "I''m going to bed now. Please leave."


    Eden stood up, but instead of heading for the door, he walked over to her.


    "I don''t like sharing a bed either. Don''t worry, as soon as we''re done, I''ll go to the


    guest room," he said, before pulling her onto the bed.


    Caught off guard, Ynda stumbled and fell onto the mattress.


    Her body instinctively recoiled from his touch.


    Ynda had dated two men before. Oscar was her childhood sweetheart, the heir to


    a top-tier family, handsome, gentle, and deeply in love with her.


    And Bet was in a league of his own; any woman would feel her heart flutter in his presence.


    Compared to them, Eden was utterly


    mediocre. Worse, he reeked of


    alcohol from th


    party and


    stale


    cigarette smoke, abination that


    Ynda found absolutely repulsive.