Bumpkin's Rich Handsome Husband

“Do you perhaps only know how to cook porridge, Matthew?” She recalled the time when they shared a

room, including the second day spent uphill, where Matthew would only prepare porridge for meals and

nothing else apart from that. Now that she thought about it, he seemed to have cooked nothing else.

With the truth laid out in the open, Matthew turned away with a sharp gaze. “It‘s up to you, then.” His

silence, to Veronica, was an implicit acknowledgment of the fact that he knew nothing of culinary except

for preparing porridges. ·

“You know what… To be fair, it‘s already a merit for a busy man like you to know how to cook porridge.

Mhm, a merit, indeed.” After throwing out those highly perfunctory words, she noiselessly grabbed the

meat in his hand and started chewing. Regardless of the rawness of the meat, she could only bear the

burnt odor on top of the fleshy stink in order to fill her stomach. She proceeded to take a few more bites.

No matter how hungry she was, she had to admit it. It‘s so f*cking bad! I swear even poison doesn‘t taste

this bad!

“Blargh!” Her forceful attempt to take in the meat only ended up in belches.

With that, Matthew‘s face instantly stiffened, though he couldn‘t help but feel sorry for her. “Don‘t force

yourself if it‘s that bad.” He took the meat away from her hands and handed her his gun. “Take this. I‘ll go

look for something.” Having said that, he shot the masked man a warning leer before turning around and

leaving.

“Hey, where are you going?” Seeing as Matthew was about to leave, Veronica suddenly felt her

insecurities arise all over again, but she failed to notice how dependent she was toward Matthew.

However, the man departed without even turning back, to which she mumbled, “You‘re not abandoning

me here alone, are you, Matthew?” He‘s not leaving me behind because his pride was hurt after seeing

me about to throw up because of the food he made, is he?

Hearing that, Matthew stopped walking. Her words—“You‘re not abandoning me here alone, are you?“–

echoed in his mind. Simple words that carried so much helplessness fondled the softest spot in the

man‘s heart that immediately soured. His stunning face revealed a vague beam. “What are you talking

about, silly?” Utmost warmth and adoration was evident in that smile. Sadly, a hard–headed woman like

Veronica couldn‘t sense the tenderness underneath his words.

“That‘s better. No matter what, you‘re still my bro. If you dare to abandon me, I‘ll make sure to tell

Grandma about it!” She voiced her threat and pouted her lips.

She must have been a boulder in her past life to be so ignorant and oblivious toward his subtle, loving

hints. Upon her words, his smile turned into a frozen grin, and his eyes visibly darkened.

Realizing something was off, she nervously questioned, “Hey, Matthew, y–you‘re not actually abandoning

me, are you? T–That‘s not cool at all! Not one bit!” God had just gifted her a path to survival, and now

that the path seemed to be closing down, she would have nothing else to turn to. Bearing that in mind,

she was utterly agitated. Swiftly, she stood up and hurriedly limped before Matthew. Gripping his arm,

she piliably pursed her lips. “I was just joking. It‘s not that bad, really! It‘s just… a liule burned, but other

than that, it‘s all good! Mhm, just like… just like how people like

their meat medium rare. It was splendid! But a country girl like me wouldn‘t know to appreciate it, right?

Heh…” In order to please him, she racked her brains to think up such a speech and somehow managed

to recover his pride.

Nonetheless, Matthew was used to her sly trickeries. His instinct was to shove her away, but seeing her

so petty–her dirty cheeks and her unkempt shoulder–length hair as well as her soiled garment as if she

was a kid that was just done playing in the dirt, he had mixed feelings. Topping that were her desperation

to live and her pitiful, insecure expression, which eventually moved the man.

Idly, he stared at Veronica. His deep, stony eyes turned sympathetic and solicitous. Thousands of

emotions flashed across his eyes, so fast that Veronica couldn‘t notice

1. it.

“Don‘t be mad, Matthew. I was joking!” To her, Matthew was her savior, and her intense desire to live on

wouldn‘t allow her to upset him. There was so much to accomplish yet. She couldn‘t afford to die now.

Hence, all she could do now was hold on to Matthew. That way, she would be able to live longer.

In the past days, the woman, too, donned innumerable faces in front of him–cold, rageous, gratifying,

and so on. Although she wasn‘t exactly easy to grasp, he still managed to figure out her “game.”

Nonetheless, at that moment, she seemed so miserable, so alone, like a child fearing abandonment.

After having gone through so much pain and trauma, she could no longer feel safe in the world, and

even the sturdy “fortress” holding up her spirit was about to collapse. That ultimately “forced” her to put

up a facade, making a fool out of herself around him.

Matthew frowned. There was nothing but pain on his appealing face. The next second, he uncontrollably

pulled her into his arms, tightly holding her in his embrace. As he held her, he made sure to avoid the

injury on her arm. And so, he hugged her, regardless of the filth on her.

Mysophobia? To hell with it!