Love Across the Light Years -The Devil CEO Indulges My Lies.-Chapter 35: Stingy to the core.

Adelyn blinked, then nodded to him before stepping inside the house.

"Wait a bit more," she said with quite confidence. "Grandma will even earn the world soon."

Nigel almost rolled his eyes. Closing the door, he followed after her. "Sure, you will. In another thousand decades."

Adelyn didn’t respond. She simply took off her jacket before placing it neatly over the couch and walked toward the dining table.

The aroma of dishes was still very warm in the air.

As she approached closer, her eyes subtly widened in surprise. She turned to glance back at Nigel. "You cooked all of this?" she asked.

Nigel stared at her for a second before turning to look behind himself on both sides. "Why?" he asked, blinking as if genuinely puzzled. "Do you see anyone else here apart from me?"

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

He shook his head and walked closer. "Of course, I prepared everything. Look —"

He slowly lifted the glass lids one after another, presenting each dish like a proud chef.

"I made your favourite butter herb roasted chicken with garlic pan sauce. Pan-seared sea bass with lemon caper reduction. Saffron butter rice with toasted almonds. Creamy mushroom risotto. Honey-roasted baby potatoes. Fresh garden salad. Silky pumpkin soup ... and some dark chocolate mousse."

Then he pointed toward the kitchen. "Oh, and I am also preparing chamomile tea. It will be done in another minute. And I was waiting to ask if you would like some orange juice. If you want, I will also squeeze it right away."

Silence fell.

Adelyn looked at the table again. Then once more.

Her gaze moved slowly across every dish ... every garnish ... every carefully arranged plate.

Then she turned to look back at Nigel, her expression hard to portray her emotions inside.

He looked at her like that and couldn’t help but frown. "What? Why are you giving me that look now?"

"Can you not make me regret my decision this early?"

"Regret?" Nigel scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. "Are you sure you are not saying the wrong word. It should be appreciate, shouldn’t it?"

"Appreciate, my foot!"

"Adelyn Grace, say that again."

Adelyn turned and stared back at the table, and closed her eyes as though she could feel her heart bleeding.

For a long moment, she said nothing.

Then she pulled out a chair and sat down.

Her fingers lightly touched the edge of a plate ... then another ... then the spoon beside her bowl.

When she finally spoke, her voice was calm. Too calm. As though she had made peace with the loss.

"Next time," she said, taking a deep breath, "when you practice cooking ... keep it something I can afford for longer."

Nigel narrowed his eyes. "Afford?"

"Yes." She opened her eyes and looked straight ahead. "Two or three dishes would be more than enough."

A pause.

"Don’t prepare food like you are ready to host a banquet."

Nigel looked back at the table and then back at her. "I prepared a simple, hearty dinner for you, and this is what you tell me in return. Can you not be a little grateful instead?"

Adelyn picked up her spoon. "If this is your ’simple’, I am now actually worried what you would consider extravagant."

"You —"

Before he could continue, she cut her off.

"Practising two dishes every meal is good enough. Don’t overdo. That’s all. Don’t make me command you when you can easily agree to something genuine and simple."

He pursed his lips.

Adelyn took her first bite and paused. The way her eyes lit up was enough to tell Nigel that she liked it.

But he waited —holding onto his expectation of praise.

When she simply continued eating, he asked, "Won’t you change the word from regret to appreciate even now?"

She lifted her gaze up at him.

"Praise me, come on! I’m waiting," he pressed.

Adelyn glanced back at her plate and nodded.

"Well ... it’s not bad. Practice will make you perfect over time. Stay motivated."

Nigel blinked.

Was that all?

Not bad!?

"I know you are stingy, but can you not be stingy even with good words? It isn’t costing you a penny."

"Huh?" She looked at him, confused. "Didn’t I say it’s good? That’s more than enough for the first day. Practice more, and you will get better praise in future." She returned to her food.

Nigel stared at her, fingers clenching halfway in the air. If he hadn’t been accustomed to her nature, he wouldn’t have been able to stop his blood pressure from shooting up.

"You are stingy to the core. It was my fault for expecting something better from you."

Adelyn didn’t bother responding to his complaint. She simply continued eating.

Nigel watched her for a moment, then pulled out a chair across from her and sat down.

She paused. "Why are you sitting now? You can go back and rest."

He stopped mid-motion. He stared at her in disbelief. "I cooked it all alone without getting any praise. Now can’t I even have it?"

Adelyn blinked. She hadn’t meant that.

Did he not eat?

Shaking her head, she said, "I thought you had dinner already. Were you waiting for me?"

He had clearly said he wouldn’t.

Nigel gritted his teeth. "I won’t from here on. My bad!"

She bit her lip.

He glared at her and was about to sit when, from the kitchen, the soft whistle of boiling tea echoed.

His frustration reached its peak — he might have exploded.

But —

Adelyn pushed her chair back and stood.

"You sit and serve yourself. I will go and get the tea."

And with that, she walked quickly to the kitchen.

—————

At the same time, at Sanctuary Heights —

Dylan sat in the living room, authoritatively cross legged, wrapped in his deep black bathrobe. His hair was still slightly damp from his bath.

"Did you do it?" he asked, his voice carrying its usual quiet command. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Asher kept his gaze lowered and nodded. "Your instructions have been delivered as you ordered ... but they didn’t seem willing to agree."

"I don’t need their agreement," Dylan replied calmly, but his gaze reflected the darkness. "They only need to follow. If they can’t, they can choose to get eliminated."

"But Boss, they are concerned for you. Your condition isn’t stable. It might worsen at any moment."

The way the young man’s brows furrowed, it was enough to tell the matter wasn’t simple. He looked genuinely concerned.