1.2 | The Prince of Thieves

Chapter 8

This chapter is dedicated to @Stunn3d

It was the dull throbbing in her lower abdomen that woke her up, signalling the arrival of her monthlies. Hana didn't want to get up. She wanted to curl up into a ball and go back to sleep – what was that nice dream she'd had? – but it was an urgent matter to attend to especially while she was still alone in his room. She clumsily rolled off the bed with a groan, one hand clutching her stomach.

To her horror, the sheets spotted a red-brown stain half the size of her palm. For goodness sake, this isn't your bed or your house! Letting out a loud breath, she flipped up the quilt to cover it up, then realised it had been stained too. Argh!

With luck, she would have the opportunity to change them and get them washed even before he noticed anything. Then she remembered. It wasn't her house. She didn't know where anything was. Damn it. So much for staying here! After making a run to the bathroom and changing into clean clothes, she explored the wardrobe that she had seen him use the night before. But a quick search showed that it only contained clothes. Doesn't he change his bedsheets?! Where does he keep them?! Meanwhile, her abdomen was protesting. Muttering under her breath about bad timing and being a man in her next life, she crawled into the other side of the bed.

~

Leon had brought her a simple breakfast of toast, butter, hot milk, and sliced apples. She sipped at the milk and nibbled at the toast while he leisurely pored through the newspapers and slowly went about his breakfast. She could have enjoyed the view of the wide lawn outside, but she had an eye on him, and she would cringe whenever he went too close to the bed.

When he finally hopped into the shower, she thought 'oh thank goodness!', but he didn't go to change into his work clothes. Instead, he pottered around the room, typed into his phone, made a call or two, or just read a book.

'Don't you have to go to work?' she asked.

He looked up from his book and reached for his mug.

'I've already finished most of my work for this week. And if I leave this room, they'll just give me more work to do.'

She managed to smile at that.

'You're just being lazy,' she teased.

'Maybe.' He lowered his mug. 'And what about you? I had a call from the lawyer's office. They told me that you requested for divorce documents to be drawn up.'

His piercing gaze was aimed straight at her. Hana found that she could never match his stare, not even after so many years when she thought she was immune to how he could force his emotions through his eyes and weigh her down through them. She reached for a slice of apple and proceeded to work on it.

'I understand,' he finally said when she wouldn't speak.

He finished his food and went to change into a white button-up shirt and grey trousers. After gathering up this thing and that thing, he finally left the room. Hana let out a relieved huff of air. She stuffed the rest of the apple into her mouth, then scrambled to snatch the pillows off the bed.

Hana struggled to remove the coverlet off the quilt. She wrenched it this side and that side, then after some time, stood ankle deep in the old sheet with the quilt triumphantly in her hands. She removed the pillow cases as well – might as well change everything, she had thought – before moving on to the bed sheet. She was tugging the fabric away when the door swung open and Leon popped his head in.

'What are you doing?' he asked with a curious tilt of his head.

'Changing the sheets,' she answered with the obvious.