Chapter 194 - Cohabiting?!

He couldn't understand what kind of magic this was and how Scarlet ended up moving in with him. It hasn't even been a week since they started officially dating, isn't cohabitation a little too fast for them?

Edward swallowed. He did his best not to meet Claire but here she was, posing as Scarlet's older sister and cooking up a weird story to force Edward into signing a legally binding doc.u.ment so that Scarlet could move in with him. It was so wrong on so many levels but the spy couldn't do anything about it. They had him where they wanted.

Scarlet didn't know what to think when Alex brought up the topic of cohabiting with Jasper. It was obvious as day that her sister was using the media as an excuse to escalate her relationship with Jasper to the next level. The writer couldn't understand why her mother agreed to it. Even Claire didn't object and Scarlet found it fishy.

There was also no time to warn Edward about what they were going to do because Alex, who had Edward's number from the pizza party, was already arranging a meeting with the teen at their apartment for a face-to-face meeting. Orita and Jenna will be travelling from the Wilde estate to the Brooklyn Height apartment to meet her boyfriend and act like an average family. The cover story was simple. Scarlet easily memorised the script because it wasn't nearly as complex as the lines she received for her acting. However, the plot was extremely unconvincing. Scarlet didn't know who the author was but she had her suspicions.

The cover story was simple. The apartment was getting sold. Claire was going overseas to work and Orita was going to travel together with her husband for his long-term business trip. Jenna was their caretaker who was going to retire and go back to her hometown so the sisters had nowhere to go. Alex was going to live with her boyfriend and Scarlet's family decided to entrust Scarlet with her boyfriend who they already know lives alone in an apartment.

Claire played the role of a lawyer very well, explaining the terms and condition of the agreement in the contract. Jenna worked fast and Benjamin drafted the legally binding doc.u.ments within a night, impressing Scarlet. The lawyer was still as capable as she remembered him to be even after all these years. It was a pity she wasn't able to meet up with him to catch up for old time's sake. Scarlet also couldn't get a quick look over the drafted terms so as Claire explained it to Edward, the writer was also listening to it for the first time.

If Edward didn't already know that Claire was the head of security in the Wilde household, he would have believed that the head maid was actually a capable lawyer and Scarlet's bossy big sister. At first, Edward couldn't recognise her because Claire was wearing a blonde wig. On a closer look, Edward realised what the family was doing. There had to be a reason for pushing Scarlet to him and abandoning the apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Liu Xiu Wen's relationship status change had driven the world insane and he was partially to blame.

Scarlet blushed when Claire went through the terms about sleeping in separate bedrooms and no visiting each other's room after the bedtime curfew in the contract. There was also some weird clause like no removing shirts or pants or anything in front of Scarlet and that Edward had to be decently dressed at all times. No closing of the curtains to the windows because Scarlet was 'claustrophobic' and things like having separate laundry washes were stated in the detailed agreement.

Edward didn't know if he should be laughing or crying.

"First, I'd like to announce that a housekeeper comes in from time to time to tidy the apartment. We don't need to do chores. Secondly, this is rather sudden and I have to let my father know. I do have a guest room that my father sleeps in when he returns from his long business trips once every few months. I don't think he will mind because you insist on paying rent but it's going to be awkward for him to come back unannounced to find someone in the guest room. Thirdly, I need time to clear some space before Scarlet can move her things over. My place is currently a mess and I throw my stuff all over."

Scarlet couldn't understand why Edward was negotiating terms. Shouldn't he be rejecting it?

The teen laughed when he saw Scarlet's expression. "Don't worry, it's not a big deal. Besides, I don't think your sister and mother would be so willing to let you live with me if they had another choice. We might not be dating for a long time but let's consider this as one of the trials we need to overcome, shall we?"

Orita listened to Edward and smiled. He was a good kid with a very mature personality. Scarlet will be in good hands even though the kid had many secrets. Jenna was slightly unnerved by how smoothly everything was going. She didn't have to worry about Alex and Jasper because the lady butler watched them grow up together. However, entrusting Scarlet's safety to the hands of a boy they didn't know... what was her mistress thinking?

"It's negotiable," Claire announced. "I believe that we should be the ones contacting your father to explain the situation because we've caused inconvenience. When would be a good time to sit down and explain things to him? The apartment's lease will be cancelled in two weeks so I hope we can finalise the arrangements by then."

Edward froze. He didn't think that his father would be pleased to know about him cohabiting with his girlfriend so soon. In fact, Edward didn't let him know about his relationship. He only wrote a letter to his mother to inform her about it but the letter was via snail mail. The news wouldn't have reached her in France yet.

"Can I check with him and get back to you somewhere tomorrow?" Edward asked and exchanged numbers with Claire and Orita.

The trio talked a little more in detail about living arrangements, completely ignoring a certain writer's feelings. Alex noticed her sister's gloominess and pulled Scarlet to the room. "Isn't it great? You get to learn more about Edward and live with him! You don't see him nearly as often in school so this is a great opportunity to increase his fondness for you."

Scarlet looked like she wanted to run. Honestly, she never thought that lining with someone she liked was such a terrifying thing. She didn't even have this sort of reaction when she was adopted into the Wilde household. Scarlet had no issues living in hotels and moving from place to place during the world tour as a singer. Living with Edward, on the other hand, terrified her for some reason.

No, it wasn't that she didn't know the reason. Scarlet simply assumed that there would always be people around. When Claire wasn't around, Max and Tina were there. They were family. Now, nobody was following her and she was going to be living with Edward alone without even Alex by her side even if they were going to be in the same city. Her family suddenly felt so far away from her and Scarlet wanted to cry.

"Alex, I can't do this. Can I live with you and Jasper instead?"

The model was stumped. Wasn't this an opportunity of a lifetime? Why did her sister look so abandoned at this moment? It wasn't as if they were giving Scarlet up for adoption, they would never do that.

Hugging the smaller girl, Alex wondered what was going through Scarlet's mind. "You know that you can visit, right? Jasper and I will be heading to Kiwi Cat Studio's office more often. Also, this apartment might be empty but it won't be abandoned. You're only going to bring college clothes to Edward's place. If you need to glam up, you'd still have to return here or head back to the mansion to grab your stuff. With the media making up stuff these days, I wouldn't be surprised if you and I have to attend press conferences to confirm or deny our relationship. Speaking of that, what are you going to do? Edward isn't a celebrity like us and he doesn't know that you're famous even if he might have guessed that we're rich."

Scarlet refused to let go of her sister and buried her head into Alex's shoulder. "I don't know. I thought of asking CEO Zhu for help to act as my boyfriend but I remembered I can't. He has a fiancee."

Alex gave it a thought then grinned. "In that case, not giving an answer is the best answer you can give. Besides, aren't you the mysterious hot celebrity in China that everyone loves? Your personality fits the bill here. You don't answer things you don't want to."

Scarlet looked at her sister and Alex appeared to have an imaginary halo around her. Enlightened, Scarlet agreed and felt a lot better. "Promise to keep in touch like how we did before when we had separate schedules?"

Alex chuckled and squeezed her sister tighter in their hug. "Promise lots and send me updates on your love life! I won't go easy on you just because you're a beginner. I'm going to be super lovey-dovey with Jasper that will make all my haters have nightmares for days. I'm going to be so happy that all those ugly bitches will wake up to find ten new strands of grey hair and extra wrinkles on their face!"

Scarlet laughed as Alex went on to describe what she would do to all her haters spamming her social media ever since she updated the world about her relationship status after Scarlet did. The writer listened and gave her opinions about how they would torture their anti-fans until Claire knocked on the door.

"Edward is leaving, do you girls want to say goodbye?"

Scarlet immediately got up and checked her appearance in the mirror before exiting the room. "You're leaving?" she asked shyly and Edward smiled, giving her a pat on her head.

"Do you want me to stay instead?" he teased and Scarlet's face exploded into the shade of cherry.

Orita and Jenna watched with interest at how different Scarlet was when she was with Edward. Even though the butler felt uneasy about leaving Scarlet to Edward's care, she approved of the teen. With them, Scarlet had never been this open with her emotions. Having more of Edward in her life would be good. Perhaps this young man could be the one to drag out that darkness that Scarlet tried to hide and dispel it for good.