Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 185

"Is my wife tallying up the dowry I gave her?"

As Nora sat in a daze, a warm chest pressed against her back. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her entirely into a secure embrace.

"You prepared all of this?"

Hudson rested his chin on the top of her head. "Yeah. Do you like it?"

"It's far too expensive."

"Is it?"

Hudson's voice was a low, magnetic rumble. "I just picked it out casually. If you don't like it, I can swap it out for a new batch."

Nora quickly shook her head. "It's not that I don't like it, it's just..."

She paused, turning around in his arms to look up at him.

"We only signed a one-year contract. You really don't need to go to these extremes."

Hudson's lips tipped up. "If I give it to you, take it. Your husband has plenty of money. The one thing I'm not short on is this."

"..."

Nora bit her lip. She was already fully aware of that fact.

She had casually flipped open one of the boxes earlier, only to find a gold reserve deposit book from a Swiss bank.

It was the first time she realized that 'tons' could be used as a unit of measurement for personal gold.

Tomorrow was the wedding.

According to San Francisco tradition, the bride and groom weren't supposed to see each other the night before.

Because of that, Nora had to stay at the Reed residence for the night.

But she had zero intention of taking this dowry with her.

First of all, she couldn't trust Penelope. Knowing her stepmother's greed, once these treasures crossed the threshold of the Reed home, they would never come back out.

Secondly, this was just a contract marriage. There was no need to treat these as a genuine dowry for a mere formality.

Eventually, she would have to give it all back anyway.

Hudson leaned against the armrest of the sofa, watching as she hauled the velvet boxes upstairs one by one.

"You're not taking it with you?"

"It's too valuable. I'm afraid of losing it."

Hudson chuckled. "If you lose it, you lose it. I'll just buy you more."

"..."

The moment her feet hit the pavement, Penelope practically tackled her, linking her arm through Nora's while keeping her eyes glued to Hudson.

"Hudson, why don't you come inside for a bit? Have a cup of tea before you go?"

Hudson's tone was flat. "No thank you. Tomorrow is an early day. You should all get some rest."

Marcus quickly chimed in. "Right, right, tomorrow is the big day. Get some rest, Hudson."

Hudson didn't reply. His gaze bypassed them entirely, landing softly on Nora.

She was standing next to Penelope, slightly pulled off balance, a few loose strands of hair dancing in the night breeze against her cheek.

Hudson reached out and tucked the stray hairs behind her ear, his fingertips lightly grazing her skin.

Nora's ears instantly flushed crimson.

"Get some sleep," he murmured.

"...Mhm."

Hudson turned and got back into the car. The black Maybach reversed out of the driveway, its taillights fading into two blurry red dots in the night.

Nora stood frozen, watching the taillights vanish at the end of the street.

"Alright, stop staring, he's long gone."