After drinking, Eulalia slept soundly until ten o'clock the next morning. Looking at the missed calls from several classmates on her phone, she blinked, then suddenly remembered what had happened last night. That's right, Alexander was a wedding-scammer. In an instant, she became fully awake!
Her college friend, who used to hang out with her back in school, actually introduced her to the cousin who liked men? Or did she not know?
She dialed back immediately.
The other side quickly picked up, "Eulalia... sorry, I didn't know my cousin doesn't like women. Are you okay?"
"I don't know what happened between you two, but he just called me, yelled at me, saying I caused him to lose his job. I can't believe it."
Eulalia was momentarily stunned. "What? He lost his job? And blamed you? What happened?"
"I don't know either, but somehow he went viral on some platform, admitting he's a man who lied about marriage. The company fired him. I only just found out."
Eulalia hadn't expected to wake up to this news. She didn't care about other people's sexual orientations, but if someone did something deceitful, they deserved the consequences.
The whole thing with Alexander had made her lose interest in continuing her blind date search. She'd let things go with the flow; it didn't matter anymore.
She sluggishly crawled out of bed, and her vision blurred for a moment. She staggered a few steps, barely managing to steady herself against the wall, or else she would have collapsed to the floor.
What's going on?
Eulalia touched her forehead, feeling it burning. Only then did she realize she had a fever.
She'd caught a cold.
Really, trouble never comes alone.
Her head felt heavy, and her legs light. She fumbled her way out of the room, poured herself a cup of hot water, and sipped it, only to feel a sharp throb in her forehead. Cold medicine...
Where had she put her cold medicine?
Eulalia felt her face burning, her body struggling to stay upright. Her breathing was heavy, difficult. She couldn't hold on anymore—she needed to call... call Catriona to come help her, save her life...
No exaggeration, she trembled as she picked up her phone, opened it, and tried to dial a number, but her vision kept swimming. She felt so tired. Deciding it would take less effort, she sat down on the floor, but once seated, she thought it might be more comfortable to just lie down.
Eulalia didn't know if she had fallen asleep or passed out, but when she opened her eyes, the scent of disinfectant filled the air, and she looked up at a strange ceiling.
She was still hooked up to an IV.
She could hear a woman's voice, "Good girl, take another bite. Ah... open your mouth..."
Eulalia slowly turned her head to see a woman, at least in her fifties, speaking to a young girl under eighteen lying on the bed.
The young girl looked weak and frowned. "I don't want it, Mom. You eat it yourself!"
Eulalia silently thought, oh, late childbirth.
But that wasn't the main point.
How did she end up in the hospital? Who brought her here?
At that moment, a tall figure dressed in a gray hoodie walked in through the door. His skin was pale, his features sharp and handsome. He held a takeout bag in his hand. Eulalia met his gaze and froze for a moment. "Grey."
"You're awake," Grey said, walking over. "Are you hungry? I bought pumpkin soup."
"I... you..."
"Not feeling well. Why didn't you call me?" Grey's tone was emotionless, cool. "If I hadn't gone to your place today, you'd have ended up delirious."
Eulalia sighed. "I didn't know I'd get a fever. It was too late..."
Grey furrowed his brow, looking at her seriously, a little helpless. "Once I leave, you won't take care of yourself?"
"How did you survive before?"
Eulalia felt a bit embarrassed hearing him say that about her. There were others in the room, and it felt as though she had been scolded.
She hurriedly said, "It was just an accident. Thank you."
As soon as he entered, the young girl in the adjacent bed was immediately intrigued, staring at Grey. "Lady, are you two siblings?"
Before Eulalia could answer, Grey responded flatly, "No."
Eulalia pursed her lips and shot him a glare.
Grey glanced at her nonchalantly. "We're not siblings from the beginning, and glaring at me won't change that."
The woman in the adjacent bed was still coaxing, "Good girl, look, the lady next bed is eating now, why don't you eat some more?"
Eulalia turned her gaze again, looking at the short-haired woman. Though her face was lined with many wrinkles, her hair was still black, likely dyed.
The young girl, looking about sixteen, turned her face away in annoyance, refusing to eat.
Eulalia wasn't sure why, but she felt a twinge of envy. Perhaps it was because her own mother had never loved her in such a way.
Grey opened the takeout box, took out a spoon, and sat by the bed. He cleared his throat, trying to sound casual. "Eula, I'll feed you."
"What did you call me?" Eulalia frowned and looked over at him.
Grey's gaze was steady and persistent. "Eula."
Eulalia stiffened her expression. "Who told you to call me that?"
"Myself."
Eulalia choked for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "You yourself, huh? Now that you've moved out, your courage has grown, hasn't it?"
The young girl in the bed next to them suddenly spoke up, "Lady, are you two a couple?"
"Absolutely no!" Eulalia answered immediately.
Grey looked at her with disdain.
Eulalia let out a light laugh. "It wasn't to begin with, so what's with that expression?"
"I'll eat by myself." She glanced at him. "Aren't you busy preparing a wedding house for your mate? It's not appropriate for you to stay here, you should go back."
She said seriously, "Don't keep coming over here every few days. I've been on my own for years; I'll take care of myself. You, on the other hand, should stay away from me now that you have a mate to avoid any misunderstandings."
The more Grey listened, the tighter his brows furrowed. "I have a mate already?"
"Don't you?"
Grey pulled at the corner of his lips. "I... should I have one?"
"Didn't you ask me to look at houses for you? You mentioned cubs and a mate moving in, that was you talking."
Eulalia looked confused. Was this really worth discussing for so long?
Grey fell silent, as if reluctantly accepting defeat. He took a deep breath and said, "Eula, when I said 'mate,' I meant you."
"It's you, understand? I love you."
"Don't pretend you don't know, don't ignore me." He was silent for a moment before continuing, "I'm standing here, so close to you, do you think I'm just playing around?"
Sometimes, the physical contact of werewolves spoke louder than a thousand sweet words.
Eulalia froze for a moment, then scratched her hair. "Oh, ah... I see, I see."
The last time Grey had left, he had mentioned this to her. After she rejected him, she didn't really think much of it. Moreover, he soon had her help him choose a house, talking about cubs and a mate, which made her think he had someone else in mind.
Now, as he straightforwardly and seriously said it was her, she felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Have your soup," Grey said, scooping a spoonful and offering it to her.
Eulalia was lost in thought and unconsciously opened her mouth to have the soup.
"You're so much younger than me," she said after swallowing the soup.
"You've already said that once."
"I don't have those kinds of feelings for you..."
"You've already said that," Grey muttered, pressing his lips together. His expression was serious. "So what if I'm a few years younger? No romantic feelings for me? You'll come around eventually, I'm not in a hurry."
It wasn't about being in a hurry or not. Eulalia opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by another spoonful of soup.
"You wanted to say you liked older, more mature men? But what happened? You were deceived, right?" Grey tugged at the corner of his lips and stared at her meaningfully. "Since I'm younger, I won't deceive you."
Didn't that mean there were no young deceivers?
Eulalia widened her eyes, quickly swallowing the soup in her mouth. She opened her mouth to speak, but another spoonful of soup was shoved in.
"I'm obedient, isn't that good?" Grey said. "Plainly speaking, I have a house, I have a car, I'm strong, and I can protect you."
"Isn't that good?"
Eulalia swallowed the soup and didn't want to speak anymore, otherwise, she would just get another spoonful of soup in her mouth.
This guy clearly came prepared, speaking in well-rehearsed lines. Was she delirious from the fever? Why did it seem like he was making some sense?
She wasn't wearing her glasses and glanced at him, leaning in slightly before lying back with a smile.
"Grey, your face is completely red."
"Oh."
"Are you shy?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?" Eulalia teased, still with a bit of a playful tone. Seeing Grey blush made her want to laugh, her eyes filled with mockery.
Grey: "If you want to laugh, go ahead."
Draven said, chasing after a mate was nothing to be ashamed of.
Making his mate cry was what's shameful.
Making his mate laugh was what's impressive.
He truly believed that.
When Eulalia smiled, her dimples appeared, and it was utterly adorable. It was like the sky cleared for him, and he basked in the warmth of the sun, feeling the gentleness of it.
