My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

Chapter 33: A Fiancée’s Duty

The distance between the two of them rapidly closed in, and as she felt the scent of a man’s intruding into her nose, Florence instinctively wanted to take a step back. However, she was grabbed by Ernest.

With a tug of his wrist, her body lurched forward into his arms.

The close proximity between them made her heart shudder.

Florence blushed while trying to push him away, “Wh…What are you doing?”

“Florence, answer my question.”

Ernest stared squarely into her eyes and asked in his hoarse voice.

His handsome face was just inches away, and when he spoke, it felt like his thin lips were going to get into contact with her skin.

Florence’s brain was a mess at the moment.

“We… we are just fiancé and fiancée…”

“You are still aware that I am your fiancé?”

Ernest interrupted her and his gaze which was fixated on her was very dark and offensive.

Florence was stunned for a moment and suddenly understood the reason Ernest was being so upset.

She was his fiancée now, so although she was pretending to be someone else’s girlfriend, it would still hurt his reputation.

Florence began apologetically, “Sorry, I promise that I won’t repeat this kind of thing again. I will make sure to abide by a fiancée’s behaviour.”

Upon hearing that, the corner of Ernest’s lips raised slightly. It seemed that this was a satisfactory answer for him.

He spoke in his bass voice meaningfully, “Remember what you have just said. Fulfil your duty as a fiancée well.”

In Florence’s eyes, to fulfil a fiancée’s duty meant to put on an act together with Ernest in this one month as they faced all types of friends and relatives.

This was what she had to do, and she didn’t think much about it at that time. However, what happened next made her want to snatch back her words dearly.

After the banquet had ended, Florence removed her evening dress and accessories and placed them neatly in a bag.

She was a designer, so naturally she had good eyes for the value of these things. This evening dress was a luxurious item worth a few million yuan, so of course she had to return them.

It was a weekend today, and early in the morning, she made a call to Ernest.

This was Ernest’s private number, so in no time, her called was answered.

Florence began politely, “Mr. Hawkins, are you at home now?”

“Yes.”

“Is it convenient for me to pay you a visit? I plan to return the evening dress I have worn yesterday to you later.”

There was a two-second interval of silence at the other end, then Ernest’s sexy and magnetic voice returned.

“Alright.”

After hanging up the phone, Florence hailed a taxi to head to the villa area of Senna International Community.

All foreign cars were not allowed to enter the villa’s compound, so Florence could only get off at the entrance of the villa community.

This was a very huge community. If one were to traverse this area on feet, it would take up a lot of time.

Florence checked the time and vowed not to let Ernest wait for too long. With the bag of clothes in hand, she was about to break into a jog to head to his villa.

At that moment, a security guard halted her.

“Miss, are you Florence.”

“I am.” Florence gaped at the security guard in confusion.

The security guard replied with a guffaw, “The thing is, Mr. Hawkins has arranged for us to send you to his villa by car.”

As he said that, he pointed at a luxurious tour car.

Florence felt honestly surprised as she never thought that Ernest would be so immaculate.

With warmth spreading in her heart, she said her thanks before getting onto the car.

The security guard drove Florence to the main door of Ernest’s villa, and then he slowly drove off in that same tour car.

Florence walked to the front of the villa and as she laid eyes on the lock on the gate images from that night came back to her. Ernest had pulled on her fingers to get her fingerprint recorded on this fingerprint scanner.

She could gain access to this place by using her fingerprint.

With a strange feeling spreading within her, Florence still decided to press the doorbell out of respect and manners.

“Ding dong.”

“Ding dong.”

The bell rang for some time, yet nobody was there to open the door for him.

Could it be that Ernest was not there?

Or had he not heard the doorbell?

Florence stood on the same spot while feeling a little distressed. After thinking for a while, she used her own fingerprint to open the door.

After entering the compound of the villa, Florence sneaked a look at the huge living room.

The space was huge, bright and luxurious, but there was no sign of Ernest anywhere.

Florence had no choice but to venture deeper into the villa while calling out softly, “Mr. Hawkins, are you here?”

“Come to the back compound.”

Ernest’s signature magnetic voice came from the direction of the backyard.

Florence had been here twice, but every time it was a rush and everything was a blur. She had no chance to take a good look at this place, so she didn’t know that there was a spacious back garden just behind the villa.

The greenery in the garden was trimmed immaculately, and it looked like a private and majestic garden belonging to some big shot.

Ernest was dressed casually and elegantly in his casual wear which made him give off a different vibe compared to when he was dressed in suits and leather shoes. He had a different kind of charisma.

At the moment, he was standing in front of a row of grass, and he seemed to be looking at something.

Florence walked towards him, and out of politeness, she explained, “I have pressed the doorbell just now but you didn’t respond. I thought that maybe you didn’t heard it, so I have come in here on my own.”

“Since I’ve recorded your fingerprint on the machine, that means you can come in whenever you want.”

Ernest glanced at Florence through the corner of his eyes and his tone was as natural as it could get.

Florence was slightly stunned. She was not used to such treatment.

She hurriedly handed the bag in her hand to Ernest, “This is yesterday’s evening gown. Let me return to you.”

Ernest simply eyed the evening dress with a look that indicated he wasn’t interested at all.

He thought to give this dress to Florence since she had worn it, but he was too lazy to persuade her if she insisted to return it.

For their next banquet, naturally he would prepare a new dress for her.

“Florence, take a look around here. Don’t you think it’s a little empty here?”

Ernest pointed at a patch of land near the grass in front of him.

Florence followed where he was pointing and saw that the arrangement of things in this place seemed to have been planned by a professional designer. The grass had a satisfactory intensity and tidiness, which made them look pleasing to the eyes.

She asked, “Mr. Hawkins, are you planning to plant anything else here?”

What Ernest had raised wasn’t a problem created by a professional gardener, but it was just his own standards of beauty prompting him to ask that.

Ernest turned around and looked at Florence.

“What do you think I should plant here?”

“I’m not that well-versed in gardening.”

Florence shook her head, but seeing that Ernest continued to stare at her, she could only add, “It depends on your preference. If I were you, I would plant flowers here.”

“Flowers? Sounds good. Follow me to the florist’s to choose some flowers later then.”

Ernest pursed his lips and then he strode towards the villa.

Florence froze on the spot after hearing his proposition. She never mentioned to help him choose some flowers in the first place.

“Mr. Hawkins, I have something to attend to later…”

“Florence, you are my fiancée.”

Ernest stopped in his tracks, and he was saying this with a serious expression on his face.

“It is your duty to help decorate my garden.”

Duty!?

The scene from last night flashed through in Florence’s mind. Ernest was reminding her to abide by her duties as his fiancée too last night.

However, this was not what she meant when she stated she would fulfil her duties.

Florence wanted to argue with some exasperation, but she saw Ernest’s huge frame disappearing into the villa.

After a while, he reappeared while dressed in a suit.

Seeing that Florence was still in a daze in the back garden, his sexy lips curled up into a faint smile.

He said in a low voice, “It would take at least an hour to travel to the florist’s from this place. If we are late, we would have to stay overnight there.”

While she was suddenly forced to choose flowers by Ernest, she was already in a daze. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine spending the night out there with him alone.

Florence scurried over and replied, “Let’s go. We should go earlier so that we can come back earlier.”