Husband With Benefits
Chapter 761: Princess In Shining Armor

"You mean, you do like the suspects," Cai corrected from beside her, his knife scraping lightly against the cutting board. He grabbed a slice of carrot and casually popped it into her mouth, interrupting her before she could argue. "And that’s why you don’t want them to be suspects." He smirked, wiping his hands on a towel. "But seriously, why are you so hung up on this? You don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Dora. Let someone else deal with it for once."

Dora chewed the carrot, giving him a side-eye before turning off the heat and resting her hands on the stove. She let out a deep sigh, her shoulders slumping. "Maybe. But these rumors? They’ve gone too far. Even my picture—stolen from my phone, mind you—was called a fake! Now people believe that doctored story instead of the truth!" She tossed the spoon into the sink with a little too much force, the clatter echoing through the kitchen. "I don’t care what Kael says about not letting it bother me as he is handling the rumors pretty well. It does bother me. I hate it!"

Cai handed her a bowl of chopped veggies and shrugged as she poured them into the pot. He leaned against the counter, wiping it down methodically, as if trying to clean away her worries. "We can’t control every rumor. What matters is how we react. From what I’ve seen, Kael’s handling it pretty well. So why are you still trying to be the knight in shining armor here?"

Dora turned around sharply, her eyes narrowing. "Hey! I am not a knight! I’m a princess in shining armor, okay?" She pointed at him with the wooden spoon, her tone teasing but with a bite of seriousness. "And why not? If the situation were reversed, and someone was spreading rumors about Kael, I’d want to step in and protect him. A relationship is about give and take, isn’t it?" She shot a quick glance over her shoulder, making sure Kael wasn’t around to hear.

Cai rolled his eyes, folding his arms. "A relationship is also about trusting your partner to handle things on their own. You’re not trusting Kael right now."

"I am trusting him!" Dora’s voice was defensive, but her expression softened as she stared at the pot. "I just... I don’t want to sit by and do nothing."

Before Cai could respond, the kitchen door opened, and Kael stepped in. He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of the two standing so close together, whispering. That old, familiar flicker of jealousy surfaced, though he quickly pushed it aside. He knew they were close but sometimes, he couldn’t help but wish Dora would open up to him like she did with Cai.

But for now, he could only smile and wait for the day when she’d turn to him first.

Clearing his throat, Kael asked, "What are you two whispering about? Looks pretty intense."

Both Dora and Cai jumped at the sound of his voice, spinning around with wide eyes like kids caught sneaking cookies from the jar. Cai was the first to recover, grinning mischievously as he shot a glance at Dora. "Oh, nothing much. Just helping her decide if she should buy a shiny suit of armor," he said, smirking. "I told her it’s a waste of money, but you know she is obsessed. What do you think, Kael?"

"A suit of armor, huh? Sounds a bit... extravagant." His gaze flicked to Dora, his voice softening. "But I’m sure she has her reasons."

Dora laughed awkwardly, glaring at Cai before shaking her head. "Don’t listen to him. He’s just stirring up trouble, as usual."

"Ha! I am the one stirring up trouble." Moving about, he picked up the plates on the counter and pushed them into Kael’s hand while grabbing the bowl of salad that he’d earlier prepared to the table as he said," Tell me, Kael, don’t you think a woman donning an armour is prettu funny. She might be a princess and all, but does she also have to be the knight? Would you rather protect her or be protected by her?"

Even though the question was asked casually, Kael could not help but look at Cai. It seems the guy was actually trying to say something to him. Narrowing his eyes, he answered truthfully," I’d rather protect her."

"See! So, who should be looking for the shiny armour? You or her?"

"Me?!" Honestly, Kael was thoroughty confused by the entire conversation that he’d been dragged into but apparently he was giving the correct answers as Cai seemed to be pleased... Dora on the other hand seemed to be frowning.

He was about to tell her to do as she wished and get the armour if she wanted it but before he could say so, Cai brought out a piece of bread to his mouth.

Kael stared at the piece of focaccia bread and then at Cai who was holding it to his mouth. Cautiously, he opened his mouth and ate the bread carefully. Cai nodded and then continued talking as if feeding someone like that was totally normal. "Now you see, Dora, even Kael agrees with me. So, you need to stop worrying about armours and strategies and focus on the food. Come on, sit and eat and appreciate."

"Kael. What do you think of this bell pepper?"

Kael looked down at the sliced bell pepper in the salad and then back up. What was he supposed to think about bell peppers exactly?

"Uhhmm." Thankfully, Dora came to save him and added," He wants you to praise his cutting skills. Don’t you see that all the bell peppers are evenly sliced? And check the carrots, too. Or he will complain about that."

Kael looked at the bell pepper, then back at Cai, "Right. They’re... perfectly sliced," he said, nodding as though he was judging a cooking competition.

Cai grinned like he’d just won first place. "See? Even Kael recognizes greatness when he sees it. I’m practically a sous chef at this point. So, if I ever fail in brain surgery, I can always become a chef."

"I am sure your patients will be thrilled to hear that." Kael could not help himself from commenting. However, in the next moment, he felt almost awkward when both Dora and Cai turned to him in surprise. But before he could feel too out of it, Dora rolled her eyes and pointed at Cai," Ha! You don’t know his knife skills! He really is too good. And if his patients knew the things he’s cut to practice his skills on, they wouldn’t come to him in the first place. Do you know..."

"Dora Sterling! Stop right there..."

"Ha! Try it. When Cai decided he wanted to become a neurosurgeon, he started practicing his fine motor skills on vegetables and fruits. I swear, for an entire year, he was obsessed with cutting things perfectly. The kitchen looked like a science lab, with all these perfectly sliced fruits and veggies lined up. And then he moved on to animnal meat, etc. Poor, Aunt Ava thought he was losing his mind or something, gearing up to be some sort of a serial killer. And every time she tried to ask him why he was doing what he was, he wouldn’t tell her."

Kael chuckled. Although he had not met Ava Frost, he could just imagine a mother worrying over something like this.

"Oh please. Everything would have been fine if someone had not kept adding fuel to the fire." Cai bit out.

"I did no such thing! I just casually mentioned how you spent hours perfecting your ’technique’—you know, just in passing. And that this was a good deal of getting over hear break because the girl you liked had dumped you."

Kael whipped his head towards Dora then. That was little? Casual?

Cai groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I swear, she nearly had an intervention planned for me before I finally sat her down and explained I wanted to go into medicine."

"So, in a way, you owe your surgical skills to... bell peppers and watermelons?" Kael asked carefully, though he did not believe it for a second. A world class surgeon...

Cai shrugged with a smirk. "Pretty much. Although, I think I owe it more to my mom and dad for not completely losing her mind during that phase. I can’s even imagine what they must have thought when they would find their teenage boy hunched over a piece of raw meat, peeling back layers of it in the middle of the night with a scalpel."

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