STIGMA

It was an especially warm night in Ye City.

Malcolm Quan drove through the neighborhood, passing through all the other familiar trees and houses. Finally, he arrived at his apartment. Getting off the car, Malcolm went up to the door and pressed his finger on the scanner. The door then opened with a slight beep and click. Much to his disappointment, he saw the bright hall was empty. "Poppi?" he called out.

There was no answer. 'Where did you go?'

After closing the door behind him, he put the documents in his hand on the sofa and went upstairs to the bedroom.

"Poppi?" he shouted once more. "Where are you?" When Malcolm Quan had reached the bedroom, he saw that there were clothes of a woman strewn across the bed, and heard the sound of running water in the bathroom.

Splish, splash! Splish, splash!

Just then, he faintly heard the voice of a woman coming through the crack of the bathroom door. Shortly afterwards, the person inside had turned the water off. Malcolm Quan looked in the direction of the bathroom reflexively. The door was only opened by a couple of inches. Nevertheless, he could easily see the perfect, curvy figure inside.

"Damn it..." Malcolm Qiu cursed in a low voice as he loosened his tie. As his hand reached for the door knob, the door suddenly swung open. "Poppi..."

"La la la... Aah!" Poppi Qiu was humming to herself when she came out of the bathroom. A bath towel was wrapped around her body. When she saw that Malcolm was there in the room, she was surprised and jumped back, her melodious humming turning into a scream. Her hands instinctively went to her face to protect herself, thinking that the person in the bedroom was an intruder.

"Oh, shut up!" Malcolm Quan snapped, but soon after he felt guilty for startling Poppi and making her scream.

"M... Malcolm?!" Hearing the familiar voice, Poppi Qiu opened her eyes with lingering fear. She blinked, unbelieving that it was indeed Malcolm in front of her, and adjusted the towel on her body. "When...When did you get here? You nearly scared me to death... Can you tell me first when you're going to come over? I thought you were a serial killer or something!"

"Serial killer?" Malcolm Quan couldn't help but look at Poppi Qiu from the bottom up. Poppi Qiu's legs were tall and slender, her skin smooth and fair. There was a beautiful pink flush on her delicate face, and her eyes were big and lovely.

Immediately, Malcolm Quan withdrew his gaze. "You're too confident in yourself," he mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" Poppi Qiu asked, folding her arms over her chest and jutting out her hip. "Why did you even break into my house in the first place?" Poppi said, raising her chin up at Malcolm.

"your house? In case you've forgotten, this is my home," Malcolm cast a cold glance at her.

"Uh...." Then, Poppi blinked and glanced at Malcolm with a sly look in her eyes. "What are you doing home, honey?" she said, her voice suddenly sweet and alluring.

"Honey?" Malcolm asked dubiously as he cast a sharp look at Poppi.

"What's the matter? We're a legal couple, aren't we?" A triumphant smile appeared on Poppi's thin lips.

"Legal, but not really in the truest sense," sneered Malcolm, his face expressionless. He turned around and walked to the door. "Go downstairs," he said, looking back at Poppi. "I have something I need to tell you."

"Give me half an hour to do my skin care routine."

"You'd better hurry up." Without looking back, the tall figure disappeared at the corner of the corridor.

Poppi Qiu shrugged her shoulders indifferently and sat in front of her dresser. There, she gently applied moisturizer on her neck and arms, quietly humming to herself.

After getting dressed, Poppi went downstairs and saw Malcolm sitting up straight on the couch, his thin lips pressed tightly into a fine line. The way the living room light shone on his angular face made him especially handsome and attractive.

"Go ahead. What is it you have to tell me?" Poppi asked as she sat across from Malcolm. The bright, luxurious chandelier illuminated the room with a golden light. It complimented the black, marble coffee table beautifully -- the warmth of the chandelier complimenting the coolness of the coffee table. But, the coldness of the table could not compare the cold look the beautiful woman and the handsome man had on their faces as they looked at each other intently.

"This is the contract extension." Leaning forward, Malcolm gingerly pushed the thick document on the table towards Poppi. "See if there is anything else you would like to add or omit."

The corners of Poppi's mouth turned up to a slight smile as she took the documents. As she read the words on the first page, she raised her eyebrows. "This is the supplemental agreement for our postnuptial agreement. Lawyer Shen isn't here though. Does this agreement count?"