Chapter 447 Dear
Luckily, the shopping trip was a breeze. They slipped out of the convenience store while the crowd was still scratching their heads, wondering, "Wait, is that really them?"
By the time the crowd figured it out and started chasing after them, the two had already vanished.
Back at South Hill Villa, Jessica realized it had been ages since she last cooked and thought it might be fun to show off her skills again. But Gabriel wasn't having any of it. He didn't even let her touch a single piece of lettuce, shooing her back to the living room and tossing her an iPad to keep her busy.
Gabriel took over the kitchen, and Jessica knew better than to argue. She flopped onto the sofa, bored, and started watching a movie on the iPad.
The movie was some artsy flick with a decent plot, but it was more of a snooze-fest than anything.
The quiet, cozy vibe of the place, combined with the laid-back atmosphere, made Jessica's eyelids heavy. Suddenly, a light blanket was draped over her. She looked up from the sofa. "Done already?"
"Almost. If you're tired, just nap. I'll wake you when it's ready," Gabriel said, placing the iPad on the coffee table.
Jessica rolled over on the sofa, one hand under her face and the other pulling up the blanket. She looked up at him. "Gabriel, if you keep pampering me like this, I'm going to become insufferable."
Gabriel leaned down, his clear eyes meeting her lazy gaze. "Not spoiled enough."
Jessica laughed, pulling the blanket over her face to hide her smile. Her eyes, however, betrayed her amusement. Lowering the blanket, she said, "At this rate, I'll become completely useless. There aren't even any servants here, and you won't let me do anything. If I end up waiting around to be hand-fed, it's your fault."
"As long as I'm here, you won't need to lift a finger," Gabriel said, his brows arching slightly.
Just then, the rice cooker beeped, signaling the rice was done. He got up and headed back to the kitchen, moving with the kind of grace you'd expect from someone walking into a high-stakes boardroom, not a kitchen. But if you looked closer, he was in casual sportswear, not his usual formal business attire.
This man was actually her husband.
Jessica suddenly realized she had never called him "dear" before.
She glanced at Gabriel's back as he walked into the kitchen, then turned and buried her head in the soft sofa, trying to stifle her thoughts. She started to imagine when she would start calling him "dear."
In her mind, she had already called him that.
Feeling a sudden burst of excitement, she wasn't sleepy anymore. She sat up, picked up the iPad, and started watching again. She also grabbed her phone, quickly changing Gabriel's contact name on Facebook to "Dear," then saved it.
After staring at the new contact name for a bit, she felt her face heat up. The mouth-watering smell of food wafted through the air, and she quickly changed the contact name again to "Caretaker."
Just as she finished typing the last letter, she heard Gabriel making noise in the kitchen, signaling that dinner was ready. She forgot to save the change, jumped up to help with the dishes, and tossed her phone on the sofa.
Less than an hour after their return from the store, Gabriel had transformed the groceries into a feast.
The dining table was covered with various delicious dishes. When she went back to the kitchen to grab the utensils, she almost dropped the plates. She quickly steadied them and saw Gabriel holding a bottle of red wine.
She glanced at the label and saw the date: 1982.
She remembered a restaurant staff once teasing her, saying that such vintage Lafite had long disappeared from the market. If any were left, they'd be in the homes of the super-rich, not for sale.
But here it was, right in front of her.
She stared at the Lafite for a few moments, then looked at Gabriel in surprise. "If it's for collection, maybe we should put it back. I'm perfectly happy with a two-hundred-dollar bottle."
Gabriel, already holding a decanter, glanced at the plates in her hands. "Hold them steady, don't drop them."
Jessica looked closely at the plates in her arms, noticing the intricate patterns and fine glaze. At first glance, they seemed like beautiful white porcelain plates, but on closer inspection, the patterns were not something you'd find in stores.
"Are they expensive?" she asked.
"Not overly. They're usually just for collection and haven't been used in over a hundred years," Gabriel said calmly as he opened the bottle of wine.
She quickly put the plates back in the cabinet and looked for others. Finding all of them equally exquisite and expensive-looking, she chose two that seemed less antique—probably just pricey but not collectible—and carefully placed them on the dining table.
She finally understood why South Hill Villa was so famous, even though many people never got the chance to enter.
Almost every item here was extraordinary. Not to mention that even a random plate was a multi-million dollar collectible. She glanced at the porcelain vases and various decorations by the staircase, swallowing hard.
She hadn't considered the value of these items before.
She couldn't imagine how Gabriel felt lying in her small, shabby house, unable to get up for days, staring at the old four-pane window while recovering.
She had always wondered why Gabriel, the head of Harriman Group, lived such a low-key life. No extravagant international meals, no top luxury hotels like in TV shows, no flying around the world for business. None of these exaggerated things ever happened to him.
It turned out that some people were so accustomed to such an environment from birth that they had no interest in seeking attention through special means.
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