Chapter 357 - 364: Husband and Wife

Words : 1692 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 357: Chapter 364: Husband and WifeThe dinner didn’t last long, just a typical family dinner. After they finished, Gina Lopez eagerly took on the task of clearing the table and then went on to wash the dishes. "I’m telling you big sis, getting married really changes things. You never used to do the household chores before," Emily Lopez joked as she helped, giggling. Gina Lopez gave her sister a glance and replied, "What was in the past is in the past. I had our parents at home, and I rarely ate at home when outside." "But when my brother-in-law used to live here, I didn’t see you doing any of this either." "Back then, I paid him for it. Why would I bother doing it myself? I’m not that foolish." "True that! Without paying now, you’d end up doing more chores, but... hehe..." Emily stuck out her tongue mischievously, saying, "Now you pay much more, including money and someone, everything’s on my brother-in-law’s account." Gina Lopez glanced at Emily again and said, "Don’t say that. Your brother-in-law isn’t after those things." Emily nodded consistently, saying, "Right, if my brother-in-law was after your money, he would have settled matters with you long ago, no need for me to make such an effort." After cleaning up, it would usually be time for Gina Lopez to return to the bedroom, pull out her laptop, and start working. But today, she suggested, "We just finished dinner, let’s go downstairs for a walk." Emily immediately exclaimed, "Okay..." but then her eyes darted, and she quickly added, "Oh dear, I still have to watch TV. You guys go ahead." James Brown understood Gina Lopez’s intent to ease the awkwardness between them and to tune their feelings, so he simply smiled and said, "Let’s go down." The two changed their clothes, walked out the door, and entered the elevator, finding themselves alone in the confined space, which suddenly fell into silence. "James!" "Gina!" They both spoke around the tenth floor and then laughed together, which eased the awkward atmosphere quite a bit. "Becoming husband and wife like this, I really need some time to adjust," James Brown spoke up first. Gina smiled lightly and said, "Honestly, I was about to say the same. Becoming spouses all of a sudden, I wasn’t prepared for this either." James nodded and said, "I’m just afraid you might think I’m not willing." "I know that’s not what you mean. Sunny has already told me so," Gina spoke candidly, revealing that Sunny Nguyen had told her this. Mentioning Sunny Nguyen, James rubbed his nose and said, "Gina, if you regard me as your husband, how could you let me—" Gina’s face turned red, and she interjected, "Is it bad for you to have a lover outside?" "It’s not bad, but... it kind of makes me feel you don’t care." "It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that Sunny was with you first, and even though I’m marrying you now, I feel somewhat like I’ve stolen you from Sister Sunny. She’s my good friend, and I don’t want to ruin our relationship because of this. As long as Sunny gets remarried, you two naturally break off, why should I be the villain?" James looked at Gina with surprise, as women are usually supposed to be selfish, yet Gina was being so magnanimous, something he hadn’t expected at all. The elevator reached the first floor, and Gina looped her arm through James’, saying, "Come on, let’s not dwell on this, otherwise I might regret it." James really didn’t dare to press on this issue anymore, especially now that they had reached the residential area which had plenty of people strolling around, making it inappropriate to discuss such topics. The residential area where Gina lived was upscale, with excellent landscaping, shaded trees, blooming flowers, and an artificial lake meandering between the high-rise buildings. Taking a walk here in the evening was truly refreshing and enjoyable. The two slowly strolled along the paths between the trees, Gina continuously holding on to James’s arm, which didn’t feel awkward to her, as they had often done so during their time pretending to be lovers. "James, I think we need to push the progress on Melody Yoody’s project; don’t you think you should check on it?" "You want me to check on it?" "Isn’t Melody Yoody an old classmate of yours? It would be much easier for you to interact with her." "That... alright then." James Brown really didn’t understand the intention behind Gina Lopez’s arrangement, he could only agree for now. "I’ll go too," Gina Lopez added. James Brown immediately smiled and said, "Okay, let’s go together." "Aren’t you worried?" Gina Lopez tilted her head and looked at James Brown. James Brown lit a cigarette and said, "She was my first love, you are my wife, you won’t be at ease if you don’t go." However, he thought about how he had a car rendezvous with Melody Yoody that day, but knowing that Sunny Nguyen had already told Gina Lopez, he wanted to see what Melody Yoody’s attitude was. James Brown really hadn’t thought about keeping both things in this scenario, but since he’s already registered for marriage with Gina Lopez and they had a relationship, he couldn’t just tell Gina Lopez he wanted a divorce. Yet, he also couldn’t quite let go of Melody Yoody, so he could only go with the flow for now. Gina Lopez raised an eyebrow and said, "You still remember that you’re a married man, huh? It’s endless with them." As James Brown talked about this matter to Gina Lopez, he really didn’t feel confident and just kept quiet. "Alright, I am not forcing you, let’s go, have a walk over there." Gina Lopez played it cool, Gina Lopez didn’t push James Brown to commit, which slightly relaxed him, yet he felt different, thinking if he wasn’t married, his unclear relationship status would be more acceptable. But now that he is married, his ties with Melody Yoody made him feel quite pressured. Some say marriage is a shackle, and James Brown truly felt that faintly. The two of them reached the artificial lake in the middle of the residential community where the fresher air mixed with the mist from the fountain brought a soothing coolness to the burning heat, making it a favorite resting spot for many residents, and it was quite crowded at that moment. James Brown really wanted to find a topic to chat with Gina Lopez, but he just didn’t know what to say to her now. Gina Lopez felt the same, but she also didn’t know how to start a conversation that would put them both at ease. Seeing James Brown silent made her somewhat frustrated. Before they were married, James used to chat easily about anything with her. After watching the fish at the lake for a while, they returned home. Grace Lopez was on the living room sofa, munching on something while watching TV. As they entered, she cheerfully said, "You two having a romantic time under the flowers and moon, huh." Gina Lopez gave her sister a look, "We just went out for a walk, what ’flowers and moon’, stop talking nonsense." Grace Lopez popped a cherry into her mouth, chewed it a bit, then spit out the pit, saying, "You guys are like pre-love post-marriage, strolling under the flowers and moon should be right." "Can’t be bothered with you," Gina Lopez huffed, "I still have some things to take care of." but this last sentence was directed to James Brown. James Brown responded, "You go ahead with your stuff, I’ll watch TV with Grace." Gina Lopez nodded, walked into the bedroom, and didn’t close the door. James Brown went to the bathroom, slipped into his pajamas, and then came back to sit next to Grace Lopez. Grace handed him a bunch of cherries, giggling, "Brother-in-law, here’s some cherries for you." Sёarch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. James Brown took them, laughed, and asked, "What show is this?" "Just flipping through, put on whatever you feel like watching. I can watch anything, just killing time." "Then let’s watch this," James Brown also felt like he was just killing time since he didn’t really know what else to do. "That’s fine, let’s watch this, hehe, let’s keep our voices down, sister is working over there, let’s not disturb her." Gina Lopez was indeed all ears for their conversation from the bedroom, even though Grace had previously claimed her interest in James was just for Gina’s sake, seemingly arranging everything so they could be together. However, Gina knew very well that James held quite an attraction for Grace, and she didn’t want James to be entangled with her sister amidst all his unresolved external affairs. But hearing their conversation, which sounded normal, she felt relieved. Plus, she had quite a bit of work to do, so she opened her laptop and began working seriously. As James Brown and Grace Lopez watched TV, suddenly he felt a heaviness on his legs and looked down to see Grace’s two little feet resting on his lap. Grace was lying back on the sofa, not looking at him but watching the TV with her head turned. Grace’s actions made James think of the word ’seduction’; he wanted to remove her feet but also didn’t want to. So, he just pretended it wasn’t happening and kept watching TV. But soon, Grace wiggled her feet a couple of times and even kicked James’s belly. Turning to look at Grace, he saw she was looking back at him, pouting her lips and gesturing a kneading motion with her hands. James Brown caught the hint; Grace actually wanted him to massage her feet. After hesitating for a moment, he finally grasped her small feet and gently started to knead. However, James’s gaze kept darting towards the bedroom door, his ears perked up listening for any movement from Gina. If Gina were to come out, he would instantly remove Grace’s feet.

Chapter 357 - 364: Husband and Wife

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