Abi stared into Alex's eyes. She was scared. She remembered that night when she first met him. She remembered how that girl had confessed her feelings to him in that cold garage and what was worse was that she remembered how he said 'it's over' after he heard her confession.

However, Abi felt that Alex had changed since that fateful day. He was still cold most of the time but Abi felt that even though he might not have said it out loud, deep inside he cared about her. He never hurt her and he even willingly went so far as to fulfill all the things she requested. Even though he kept saying that he would punish her, his punishments weren't punishments at all. He treated her nicely and his actions showed that he cared about her wellbeing. He was no longer the cold-hearted Alexander Qin she met in that garage. But despite it all, it looked like confessing her feelings to him still scared her more than what she thought. What should she do? Should she tell him?

Abigail's silence made Alex's brows knot.

He sighed as he stared deeply into her eyes. He opened his lips again but before he could speak, a knock drew their attention towards the door.

"Did I disturb you guys? Sorry..." Kai scratched the back of his neck as he looked at them. "I just have something important to tell you right now, Alex."

Alex glanced at him before he retracted his hand from hers.

"Eat now, Abigail," he ordered and he stood up but Abi caught his wrist, stopping him.

"Come back, okay?" she told him, her eyes pleading with him. She seemed scared about something and Alex thought it was her fear for her safety that was making her act that way. Little did he know that she was scared about something completely different.

"I will," he assured her and Abi finally let him go.

…

The next day, because Abi's wounds were superficial, Alex was allowed to bring Abi back home which made Abi feel relaxed. He didn't leave her side at all which made Abi incredibly happy.

Although her wounds were still pretty fresh, she had recovered some of her strength so she was again feeling quite energetic.

However, Alex seemed a little indifferent. His mind seemed to always be running, calculating almost, and she wondered what it was that he was thinking about. Despite him being by her side, Abi couldn't help but feel uneasy.

It was already dark when Abi went downstairs to look for him. The others weren't home and it seemed like they were not coming back any time soon. She saw Alex sitting by the fireplace, as usual, and she walked over him.

She stood before him, blocking his gaze which was focused on the intense flames.

The man was wearing his usual long grey robe which revealed a portion of his chiseled chest. Just like her, he had just finished taking a shower so his hair was still damp.

His gaze travelled upwards until their eyes met.

Without waiting for him to ask, Abi threw herself into his embrace and sat on his lap. She took his hands and wrapped them around her waist. She badly wanted to say something but she didn't know what to say. Alex had been too quiet lately and she didn't know what to do.

"Uhm… Alex?" she called out his name after a while, turning to look at his face. The moment she turned, their faces were so close that their noses even brushed against each other.

Abi's heart jumped but she didn't pull away. Instead, she planted a gentle kiss on his lips. It really had become so natural for her to do this kind of thing; kissing him whenever she had the chance. She just wanted to distract him from whatever it was that was lingering in his mind.

She pulled away and looked into his eyes. She moved closer again, intending to kiss him deeper this time but Alex gently caught her face and stopped her.

"How many days left in our 31 day deal?" he suddenly asked, causing Abi to blink at him.

Now that he asked, Abi's lips parted upon realizing the answer.

"There's… only 10 more days from tomorrow," she answered quietly. Her voice had become so weak that her words were almost a murmur. That was right, she had forgotten about this.

"How many of your requests still remained unfulfilled?" he asked again and Abi couldn't help but feel nervous. Why was he asking her these things?

"There are still 15 items left."

"So I have 5 debts as of now, huh? Tell me what they are and I'll fulfill them in one go tomorrow."

Abi abruptly changed her position. She straddled him so she could face him properly. Her eyes were wide with surprise as she looked at him.

"What? You're not happy with what I said?" Alex frowned upon seeing her reaction.

"I… I am, but…"

"But?"

Abi was suddenly tongue tied. Why was it that she felt more scared than happy?

No… she shouldn't be acting like this. She should be thankful right now that Alex was willing to fulfill the remainder of her wishes. She should be happy because it seemed like he wasn't thinking about ending their relationship just yet and was willing to see it through. That was more than enough, right? After ten more days, she was going to leave him so she didn't have the right to act unhappy right now. This was enough. At least she still had ten more days to hold him and love him with everything she had. Ten more days before this beautiful dream would come to an end.

Abi suddenly hugged him tight as she mumbled. "I'm sorry, I was just a little surprised." She tried her best to smile as she hugged him. "I will show you my list later."

After a long while of silence...

"Alex, this little fruit wants to kiss you," she told him as she pulled away and Alex finally smiled.

"What kind of kiss? Is it a peck on the lips again?"

"No."

"Then what? Tell me first." It seemed that the usual Alex was finally slowly coming back.

"The deep one?" She blushed but she didn't shy away anymore which made Alex's lips twitch as his smile deepened.

With teasing eyes, he lifted his head and in the next second, her lips landed on his.