"No, I''ll drive you home," said Lucas.


    Melody had expected Lucas to promptly leave and attend to Ste or, at most, ask her to contact Edmund for a ride. Strangely enough, Lucas did not immediately leave this time. Perhaps he could not bring himself to abandon Melody in her injured state.


    "Let''s go. I''ll take you home."


    Melody did not want to take up any more of his time, so she insisted she could manage on her own. Lucas insisted on sending her back.


    "Thank you," said Melody upon reaching the entrance of Rivera''s residence, and proceeded to open the car door.


    Suddenly, Lucas called out to her. "Rest well, Melody. You don''t need to look for a job, and you don''t have to pay me back the three million dors."


    Melody paused for a moment, then replied, "No. I know you don''t want me to pay you back because you pity me, but I insist on paying you back since we agreed from the start that it''s a loan."


    Lucas frowned. "It''s enough for you to y the role of my wife for the year. Just take the three million dors as your bonus."


    His words left Melody stunned, and all kinds of thoughts started racing across her mind.


    As Melody watched Lucas drive away, she once again ced her hand over her chest.


    ''What''s going on? Why is my heart acting up like this? No, I can''t let myself feel anything for him. We''re worlds apart,'' thought Melody.


    Her thoughts then turned to Ste. ''His heart already belongs to Ste. A single phone call from her can make Lucas drop everything and run to her. So stop dreaming, Melody Sander. Don''t forget who you are!''


    Upon entering Rivera''s residence, Melody spotted Cedric and Beatrice arranging flowers in the living room. She approached them with a warm smile, asking, "Grandpa, Grandma, what are you doing?" "Hi, Melody! Sherman brought over some potted nts, and we''re figuring out where to ce them!" Cedric exined with a smile.


    "Oh, I see! You two are quite fond of flowers and nts, huh?" asked Melody. She quite admired the rtionship between Cedric and Beatrice; they always seemed so happy together. "Well, there''s not much to do in retirement, so we y around with this!" answered Beatrice with a chuckle. She genuinely enjoyed her time tending to the potted nts.


    Thinking that she had nothing better to do, Melody decided to join them in their activity.


    She smiled and said, "Grandma, how about taking me under your wing? I''d love to learn a thing or two about cultivating flowers and nts from you."


    As they worked on the potted nts together, Melody noticed a news headline notification on her phone.


    [Female Celebrity Spotted with Mysterious Boyfriend at Hotel, Suspected Rtionship Exposed.]


    Melody was normally uninterested in such gossip news, but she found herself oddly intrigued at that moment. She picked up her phone and clicked on the notification.


    The news article featured several pictures with Ste as the female lead. However, the man beside her had his face blurred out, making it impossible to discern his features.


    Despite the obscured details, Melody recognized the outfit he was wearing. It was the same clothes Lucas wore when he dropped her home.


    Even though Melody knew Lucas was meeting Ste, she did not expect them to check into a hotel room together. When news of their rtionship surfaced, Melody could not help but feel frustrated and saddened.


    How ironic, she thought to herself. Lucas emphasized the importance of her avoiding any interactions with other men to prevent unfavorable rumors about the Riveras. All that, and he then publicly revealed a romantic involvement with Ste. This left Melody, the so-called ''wife'', somewhat feeling like a fool as if she had been cuckolded.N?velDrama.Org holds this content.


    ''Isn''t it a bit crazy that they''re in a rtionship but not just getting married? Why drag me into this fake Missus Rivera act? That''s just stupid and crazy!'' thought Melody.