Well, adjusting to married life turned out to be much harder than Heena had anticipated.

She looked around the room they’d been given as their bridal chamber. Okay, it was large—almost a full single room by itself. And the lighting was surprisingly good.

But then she turned to look at Samuel and said, her voice filled with disbelief despite the red veil still covering her face, "Are you SERIOUS right now?"

Hearing that reaction, Samuel looked at her with an amused smile and said calmly, "Didn’t you say you wanted to be my wife? Now handle the consequences."

Heena looked around the room more carefully.

It was large, yes. And the lighting WAS good.

But that was because there were enormous gaps in the walls—actual holes where the structure had deteriorated or been damaged. The "good lighting" was literally sunlight streaming through cracks and broken sections.

The floor had loose boards. The ceiling had water stains. The furniture was minimal and clearly damaged or discarded from better rooms.

It looked like a storage room that had been hastily converted into living space, not the quarters of a wealthy household’s heir.

She looked at Samuel incredulously and said, "I don’t remember your study being like this when I cleaned it."

Hearing that observation, he looked at her and said matter-of-factly, "My study is in a different part of the household—the section my mother’s family paid for before she died. That space is still maintained properly. But this room? This has always been like this."

Heena was genuinely shocked.

’How can the heir’s living quarters be THIS bad?’

She reached up and removed her veil herself—no need for traditional ceremony nonsense when they were alone—and looked at him with a cold expression.

"Do you think this is a joke?" she asked seriously.

Hearing that sharp tone, Samuel looked back at her equally seriously and said, "Do YOU think I’m joking?"

Heena pointed at the deteriorating room and said, "What the HELL is this supposed to be? This is where the young master lives?"

Hearing that, Samuel looked at her and explained with brutal honesty:

"When I married a maid—on top of that, my stepmother’s enemy—on top of that, someone my father was clearly interested in—do you really think they would give us proper wedding gifts or blessings?"

He gestured at the room.

"This is their statement. This is them showing exactly what they think of this marriage and of you. My father controls the household finances. Maya controls my father. They’ve made sure we have the absolute minimum they can provide without it being obvious neglect to outsiders."

Hearing that explanation, Heena looked at him and said sarcastically, "Here I thought your family was at least moderately wealthy. But apparently you’re all just barely surviving?"

Hearing that, Samuel’s expression darkened slightly.

"In this whole household, the best rooms are occupied by my father. And thanks to that woman he brought in as his wife, the family money has been steadily dwindling for years. She spends on luxuries, on her personal courtyard, on expensive gifts for herself."

He continued: "Do you really think—if the finances weren’t already strained—that after Granny Wang got injured badly, my father wouldn’t have immediately hired multiple replacement servants? But he didn’t, because the money isn’t there anymore. It’s been systematically drained."

Hearing that, Heena looked at the floor—and suddenly the board beneath her foot actually collapsed slightly, making a cracking sound.

Seeing her shocked expression, Samuel looked at her and said more gently, "Look, calm down. It’s not this bad everywhere. My other spaces—my study, my private areas—those are maintained properly."

He sighed.

"But there’s a tradition in this household: until you’re fully independent and running your own household, you’re expected to live in whatever room the family head assigns you. This is the room my father has ’generously provided’ for his newly married son and daughter-in-law."

Heena genuinely didn’t know what to say.

She’d had the System check Samuel’s situation before agreeing to marriage. The System HAD told her that Samuel’s financial position wasn’t great—that after his mother died, all the family money had been redirected to his father’s control, and after Maya entered the picture, most of it had gone into her pockets.

So intellectually, Heena had known this.

But seeing it in physical reality—actually standing in this dilapidated room—was different from knowing it abstractly.

She walked over to the bed, which at least looked clean and properly made, and sat down on the edge.

She began removing the heavy wooden hairpins from her elaborate wedding hairstyle.

Normally a bride would have at least silver hairpins, possibly gold or jade depending on the family’s wealth and status. But thanks to her so-called new in-laws deliberately not providing any gifts, Heena had only received plain wooden pins.

Samuel had wanted to give her proper accessories—she’d seen the conflict in his expression during the preparations—but he genuinely didn’t have resources to spare right now. He was hiding what little wealth he’d managed to accumulate independently.

Heena understood this. She didn’t blame him for it.

She simply removed the wooden pins one by one and let her long hair fall loose down her back.

Seeing this, Samuel looked at her with one eyebrow raised and said, "So you’re just going to do that yourself? Don’t you know that traditionally, the groom is supposed to be the one who removes the bride’s hairpins? It’s a ritual."

Hearing that, Heena looked at him, crossed her legs casually on the bed, and said, "Excuse me, sir, but do you really think we’re a traditional married couple?"

Hearing that challenge, Samuel looked at her with raised eyebrows and said, "Well, we DID take vows. We DID have a wedding ceremony witnessed by hundreds of people. We also received the blessings of our elders—however reluctantly given. So yes, I think we ARE actually married."

Hearing that, Heena smiled slightly and patted the bed beside her.

"Oh really? Then come here. Come sit beside your wife."

Samuel looked at her and said, "You think I won’t?"

"I think," Heena said calmly, "that if you dare, then come here and prove it."

Samuel took one step forward, clearly intending to call her bluff.

Then he sat on the very edge of the bed, as far from her as possible while technically being "on the bed."

Heena found this absolutely fascinating.

From all her intelligence sources, she’d learned that Samuel was someone who normally avoided female touch entirely—that he’d never been seen in close contact with women, that he maintained strict distance from everyone.

But clearly, he was trying to maintain face now by accepting her challenge.

’Let’s see how far this goes,’ Heena thought with amusement.

She slid closer to him on the bed.

He immediately moved away, sliding toward the edge.

She slid closer again.

He moved away again.

She kept sliding closer, and he kept retreating, until finally he was literally pressed against the wall at the corner of the bed with nowhere left to go.

He looked at her with a slightly panicked expression and said, his voice stammering slightly, "W-what are you doing?"

Hearing that nervous reaction, Heena just smiled innocently and said, "Didn’t you just say that we’re a properly married couple? So, dear husband, what’s wrong? Why are you moving away from your wife?"

With that, she slid even closer—

And Samuel literally fell off the bed onto the floor in his desperate attempt to maintain distance.