370: [Bonus chapter] Is this how you talk to your friends?

[Bonus chapter] Is this how you talk to your friends?

Dominic's marriage was private, but it was never a secret to everyone. Although his friends, except Ivy, hadn't met his wife, they heard many things about it. Mostly bad things, since it was Axel who would leave snide comments about his brother's marriage. Therefore, it was a surprise Dominic came with his wife.  2

"Ahh..." Jeremy Li ran his tongue across his inner cheek, standing at the sight of his friend Dominic and the woman beside him. "I assume you are..."

"My wife." Dominic nodded in satisfaction, casting Heaven a look. 

Heaven smiled, assessing the people around the table who were standing across from them. 

"Hello, I'm pleased to meet my husband's friends. My name is Heaven, Heaven Liu." She bowed slightly, keeping an amicable demure.

"Sis, you don't have to be so formal with them." Standing on her other side was Axel, grinning at her as if he needed some pats. "I didn't know you will come today. Do you want to watch me practice shooting?"

Heaven blinked, facing her brother-in-law. "I brought some lunch for everyone. Did you eat?"

"No." Axel frowned, hugging her slender arm like a kid. "Sis, did you really bring food for me? You knew I would be here, right?"

'Yes,' was what she wanted to tell him, even if it was a lie, just to make him feel better. However, Dominic answered before that word could come out of her mouth.

"No, she didn't know," said Dominic monotonously. "I don't even know you'd be here."

Axel's frown grew uglier, looking at his brother in great dismay. "How could you!?"

"Anyway, I didn't know you'd bring Heaven here." Ivy chimed in, putting a stop to an argument she believed would start between brothers. All the other guys also nodded, still a bit speechless at the presence of another person with Dominic. 

Most of them were used to Dominic's aloof attitude and his lack of humor. Even though this man seemed to have cracked a code to perfection, seeing him with a woman seemed to have changed their perspective. It was sort of eye-opening. 

Dominic? and his wife? They thought they had seen it all.

Didn't they have a terrible marriage? Even though Axel never detailed why he disliked his sister-in-law so much, they already had a vague idea that Heaven was dislikable from the get-go. It didn't seem like it, though. 

"Well, I told Dom that I'm running out of things to do." Heaven flashed Ivy a smile, wrapping her hand around Dominic's arm. "So, he told me he'd meet his friends. So, he proposed that I should come and meet his friends as well. We've been married for five years, but strangely, I never met his friends."

"Right?" Ivy chuckled, maintaining a natural reaction despite her shock at Heaven's change of attitude. From her memories, Heaven would usually just smile at her and say nothing, but she actually said a lot just now. 

Also...

Ivy glanced at Heaven's hand around Dominic's arm. When she lifted her eyes to Heaven, the latter flashed her an even brighter and sweeter smile. 

"Heaven Liu..." William Chen rubbed his chin as he pondered about the name. "It sounds familiar."

"I thought so too," said Jeremy Li, nodding. "I wonder where I heard of it."

"Heaven Liu, the winner of the academy award five years ago." Just then, the quietest guy within the group, Kaiden Wang, spoke for the first time. He tipped his glasses up as the corner of his lips curled up. "I'm a fan."

Kaiden Wang stretched a hand, offering it to Heaven. "I've watched all your work, and I'm surprised that you're already married. To the person closest to me, at that. The name's Kaiden Wang."

"I'm flattered, Mr. Wang." Heaven smiled back, taking the man's hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

"No, the honor's mine." Kaiden Wang squeezed her hand slightly before he retrieved his hand, smiling. 

"Err…" Jeremy Li hummed, glossing his eyes over to everyone. He was about to ask everyone to sit down and chat for a bit before they go on a few rounds, but noticed the bodyguard filling the private practice shooting range. 

"Dominic, what's all this?" he asked, looking around and counting the bodyguards in uniformed suits. "What's with this security?"

Dominic glanced at the bodyguards and just shrugged. "For security."

"I know that, but what I'm saying isn't this a little overkill?"

"Not really." Dominic faced his wife and smiled. "Do you want to play now?"

"Hmm?"

Dominic pointed at the nearby shooting range, making her rock her head in understanding. However, Heaven glanced at his friends before looking back at him.

"It's fine. They won't mind," Dominic reassured, deciding for everyone which rendered them speechless. "Should we do a round?"

"Wait, won't you sit down first?" Jeremy frowned. "It's been a while since we got together. Also, this is the first time we're meeting your wife! We might as well get to know each other!"

"She didn't come here to chat." Dominic tilted his head to the side. "We're trying to kill her boredom, and I'm afraid she'd regret coming with me if we spend more time with you guys."

"Hehe… dear…" Heaven tugged Dominic as she chuckled awkwardly. 'I don't have friends, so I don't know if he should be talking to them like this.'

"That's right. All you guys talk about are boring things!" Axel chimed in energetically. "Sis, let's go! I'll teach you how to shoot!" 

Heaven looked at Axel's twinkling eyes. 'Did he forget… that time?'— that time she nearly shot someone's dome out of anger? 

"Ah… well, you're not first-timers here." Jeremy sighed, waving helplessly. "You brothers break my heart. How I wish I don't have a lot of patience with your bluntness. Go. Just leave us alone."

"Later." Dominic didn't idle as he cast his wife a look, brushing Axel's hand from her arm. "Let's go, love."

"Hey!" Axel frowned grumpily, watching his brother take his sister with him. "Sis! Wait for me!" 

Axel didn't heed their friends any mind, stomping his way to follow his brother, who obviously came just to monopolize Heaven. Meeting with friends?! Hah! Surely, Dominic's intention wasn't to socialize with his friends but simply to use this excuse.

Meanwhile, as Dominic left with his wife after a quick introduction, Jeremy Li, William Chen, Kaiden Wang, and Ivy Wei stood still in pure silence. They all had their eyes on the three, still speechless and confused at what to feel.

Should they be surprised that Dominic seemed to guard his wife from his friends? Or should they be more baffled at how Axel used to leave snide comments with his sister-in-law, only to act like a dog around her now?

"Man…" Jeremy Li shook his head after some time. "... those brothers really know how to render other people speechless."

"She's pretty," mumbled William Chen, still in awe at meeting Dominic's wife. Meanwhile, Kaiden Wang simply kept his smile while staring in the Zhu brother's direction. 

Ivy, on the other hand, kept her eyes on Dominic's back and on his arm that was stuck on Heaven's back. 

'What happened?' she wondered. 'Since when did they get along?'

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