Part 2The System Forced Me to Be a Vicious Wife

【Next mission: Force the male lead to buy you a designer coat before Christmas.】

And that was the System's answer.

Louis was home early for once, standing on a stool, fixing a faulty lightbulb. The building was old, the wiring shot. It was a constant cycle of fix and fail.

"I bought a small desk lamp," he said, not looking at me. "I'll charge it every day before I leave. If the light goes out again, don't touch it. Just use the lamp and wait for me to get home."

I stood behind him, holding a mug of hot orange juice, my face pale and soft in the dim light.

Louis's hands, once impeccably manicured, were now covered in grime, the palms crisscrossed with tiny cuts.

"I…"

After a long hesitation, I finally forced out the scripted lines.

"Christmas is coming. You have to buy me an expensive coat so I can dress up properly. How am I supposed to celebrate Christmas otherwise?"

I showed him a screenshot on my phone, trying to sound fierce.

"This one. You have to get me this one. If you can't, then you're a useless failure, and you shouldn't even bother coming home."

Louis washed his hands thoroughly before taking the phone from me.

He stared at the screen for a long time before looking up, his expression unreadable.

"Is this the only one you want?"

At the same time, the System shrieked in my head.

【What the—$800?! Are you insane? Where did you even find a coat at that price?】

The brand specified in the script was far too expensive. Thankfully, I was resourceful. I had scoured online resale apps. Sure enough, I found the $2,000 coat, barely used, for $800, shipping included.

Getting it for $800 meant Louis would have to work a few less days, shed a little less sweat.

"Is this the only one you want?" Louis asked again.

It was only much later that I understood the complex emotions swirling in his eyes.

There was a time when $800 wouldn't have even bought a single button on one of his suits.

But now, for the woman who had followed him into a cramped, run-down basement, it was an "expensive coat" to be cherished, a chance to feel beautiful again.

When he was on top of the world, I had received nothing from him.

But when he hit rock bottom, I was right there beside him, sharing his hardship.

At that moment, though, I didn't understand. I assumed he thought the price was too high, that I was pushing him too far.

Shame makes people say stupid things.

"Oh, uh, well, I can try to haggle a bit more. Maybe I can get it for less than eight hundred."

I had completely forgotten my persona, my mind consumed by bargaining and panic.

Suddenly, the mug was lifted from my hands. Louis reheated the orange juice and passed it back to me.

"Lipstick," he said softly. "A hat, ribbons for your hair, a Christmas tree, a little cake."

A cold wind howled outside, but inside our tiny apartment, it was peaceful.

He gently guided me to the sofa.

Louis knelt before me, and I found myself looking into a pair of deep, beautiful dark eyes.

"You'll need all those things, too," he said. "To have a proper Christmas."