Every year, the New Year’s Eve gala at the Shaw Mansion is like a team-building event, with the matriarch taking everyone to watch the show live. By the time it’s over, it’s usually the wee hours.

Leah checked the time, and without waiting for the door, she went upstairs to take a shower, changed into pajamas, prepared to browse Weibo, video chat with Delphine, tease Nicholas, and then get ready for bed.

Barely ten minutes after she got into bed to play on her phone, she heard a steady knock at the door, three times, neither hurried nor slow.

Leah opened the door and saw the man sitting outside in cotton and linen pajamas, his short hair slightly damp and still steaming. His handsome face was very composed, and his tea-colored eyes looked at her as he said in a low voice, "I’m here to try the marriage."

Leah was stunned at his words. Try the marriage? Tonight?

"Won’t you let me in?" Richard Shaw chuckled softly, and taking advantage of her stunned moment, his wheelchair had already slipped inside before Leah could close the door.

Richard Shaw entered, and with a lone man and woman, the atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

"Hiding under the covers playing with your phone again?" The man looked at her phone lying on the pillow; the screen was still on, blurting out before pausing.

Leah’s mind was entirely disrupted by the idea of a marriage trial, not catching the meaning of his words. She casually picked up her phone and feigned calm as she said, "I’m browsing Weibo."

"Mm, then go to sleep early. I’ll read for a while." Richard Shaw took out a book he brought and genuinely began reading it seriously on one side.

Leah quickly got into bed, wrapped herself tightly with the quilt, and continued to browse her phone. However, with just the two of them in the room, not speaking, it was so quiet that they could even hear each other’s breathing.

Leah blinked, finding Weibo becoming boring, and turned her head to look at Richard Shaw, softly calling, "Richard Shaw?"

"Mm." The man responded in a low voice, his handsome face still half-lowered, looking at the book in his hands.

"What book are you reading?" She propped her head and looked for a topic to ask.

"A novel." Richard Shaw lifted his eyes from the book, looking at Leah, who was wrapped fully in the quilt, exposing only a small and charming face. Over the years, time seemed to particularly favor her, making her look no different than she did at twenty, with the same personality as before. Many times, just being able to stay quietly by her side made him feel content.

Only she could give him such peaceful moments.

"What novel?" Leah asked out of boredom, feeling that this man’s attribute was practically that of a monk. Was he a great monk in his past life?

"One Hundred Years of Solitude." Richard Shaw recalled when Leah had scored high to enter Imperial City University, but dropped out within less than a year, then later wandered around the Golden Triangle with a bandit leader like Griffith Squire, never thinking about continuing her education.

He knew that Delphine was advancing her studies in France. He owed Leah too much indeed.

"Didn’t you read it when you were studying?" Leah assumed he was reading some esoteric professional book, only to find it was a novel she read back in middle school. Pausing for a moment, she burst out laughing and said, "Richard Shaw, have you never even read a novel before?"

Richard Shaw squinted, watching her laugh so hard the bed trembled, putting the book aside, rising from the wheelchair to sit on the bed, and squeezed into the quilt.

His legs had long recovered sensation, walking was no problem, yet he still pretended to be stiff-limbed. Once on the bed, he was tempted by the faint fragrance of her hair and the quilt, saying in a deep voice, "I haven’t read much; if you have time, you could teach me."

"Can’t teach you." Leah waved her hand, unable to contain her laughter, caught off guard as Richard Shaw got onto the bed, and with them being so close, she choked.

Richard Shaw patted her back gently and said helplessly, "You can choke from laughing? Am I that scary?"

On a winter night, the house was already heated, warm as spring.

She quickly shook her head, initially intending to get up to drink water, but accidentally placed her hand on Richard Shaw’s warm chest. With that, she lost her balance and fell directly onto the quilt, leaving both of them momentarily stunned.

"Richard Shaw, I’m thirsty."

Her voice was coy, almost like she was being coquettish.

His voice, impossibly deep, responded softly, "I’m thirsty too."