"I... I... I am...," Elizabeth find it hard to tender her apology. She wasn't used to apologising to anyone.

"You are what?" Alfred asked when he saw how strangely his usual confident wife was acting.

"Are you ill and need me to accompany you to the hospital or did mum and dad asked us to visit them in the main mansion?" Alfred asked in a patient tone. The only time his wife initiates a conversation was during these two mentioned occasions or about business-related issues that is why his thoughts went in those directions.

"I am not sick and neither dad nor mum invited us to the main mansion...,"

"Then what is the problem, Liza? What are you finding so difficult to say?" Alfred asked? With the way she acted, he became anxious that something major was wrong for Elizabeth to have decided to talk to him.

"I am sorry Fred. I shouldn't have accused you of cheating on me with my sister without any evidence, so I apologize," Elizabeth finally found the courage to say it. Alfred dropped his laptop and sat up straight on the couch after he heard his wife utterances.

"What did you just say? My attention was on my keyboard so I couldn't hear you properly," Alfred said. The surprised look on his face shows he did not expect his wife who always claims to be right to apologise to him.

"I said I am sorry for everything. I am sorry for not being a good wife. I am sorry for always misunderstanding your relationship with my sister. I am sorry for this one year of marriage that I have treated you unfairly. I will try my best to adjust starting from today," Elizabeth apologized sincerely while staring into his eyes.

"Why do you feel the need to apologize? Did your mum or dad scold you, is that why you are apologising?" Alfred asked.

"I haven't talked to either of them for a week now. And I realised that I was wrong that is why I apologised," Elizabeth said seriously.

"Although we are married, we haven't done what married people should do. We always pretended to be the best couple when we are outside but we are mere strangers when we get home, I have just realised that this is not right. Fred, although our marriage was not based on love, I want our marriage to work. I have pondered about this for a long time now. I don't know whether you are willing to fix our marriage with me," Elizabeth said honestly as she nervously awaited his answer.

If this is a dream I don't want to wake up from it.

Alfred thought his gaze focused on her anxious expression.

"Are you not willing?" Elizabeth asked when Alfred did not give her a response.

"Whatever you want will always be honoured by me, you know that very well...,'

"Fred, if you are agreeing because of my position in the company or because of my parents, you don't have to come to a compromise or feel pressurized...,"

"Are you saying I am allowed to say no?" Alfred asked sternly. He waited for her response but she didn't utter a word. He could see that despite that she wanted to give him a choice, she wanted him to say yes.

"Liza, although we married as a result of the elders' decision I have also wanted to tell you that I want us to stop being fake couples but a real one. Each time you are not upset with me, you are always busy that is why I did not have the chance to bring up the topic," Alfred explained to the delights of Elizabeth who thought that he had changed his mind.

"Liza, I know I haven't been the best husband so far but I also know that I am not the worst. Since we got married, I have tried my best to make you happy be it in the office or at home. I do whatever you want and give you whatever you needed without hesitation. Our marriage may not have started on the right foot but I want to make things right," Alfred continued.

"Although you can be quite bossy and a little naggy just like Jasmine always says but I know that you are not a bad person," Alfred said his gaze not taking his gaze off her.

Elizabeth chuckled when she heard his compliments.

"Liza, I know this came from me late but will you date me? Let's start from scratch and build not only our relationship but our home. You are free to reject my proposal. Don't let anything or the thought of anyone pressurized you into accepting my proposal," Alfred said as he eagerly waited for her response.

What he really wanted to tell her was that after spending time with her for over a year he has come to develop feelings for her. He wanted to tell her that the reason he always gets so furious each time she challenged his relationship with her sister was that he likes her but he couldn't bring himself to tell her this.

Did Fred just ask me to date him? Why did he readily agree to my suggestion after all I did to him? Jasmine told me he wanted to fix our relationship just as I wanted, how did she know he will agree with my suggestion? Am I perhaps dreaming?

Elizabeth thought as she pinched her hand to confirm that she wasn't dreaming. Everything just felt so unreal to her. Something that should have been long fixed drag on for so long because of their lack of communication.

If I had known that it was this easy, I would have long apologized to him.

Elizabeth thought as she kept staring at him. Alfred misunderstood her silence for unwillingness.

"You don't have to force yourself. I will take it as my fate," Alfred said as he stood up to leave.

"I have booked a flight for us to go on a vacation in the Maldives, I don't know whether you are willing?" Elizabeth said nervously as she waited for what his response will be. On hearing her words, Alfred stopped in his track, he turned to look at her. For a minute he didn't know what to say.

"Just send me the details of the flight and I will clear up my scheduled before the day," Alfred said before he headed upstairs to his studies. The moment he went out of sight, Elizabeth exhaled deeply.

"I never knew that talking to someone can be very hard until some minutes ago," Elizabeth said as she sat down on the couch and placed her hand on her pounding chest.

"This was only possible because of Jasmine's words and encouragement. I guess I should thank her later," Elizabeth mumbled as her red lips curled into a beautiful smile. She later went upstairs to continue with the leftover work she brought home for the weekend.

About 6:30 pm, Jasmine arrived in Jackson's apartment. Since she has cook dinner thrice for him that week, Jackson did not expect her to come to his mansion. He was shocked when he saw he raised his gaze and saw her standing right in front of him.

"Why do you look like you have seen a ghost? Do you have a visitor that you don't want me to see?" Jasmine asked on seeing how Jackson was staring at her. She walked towards him and sat beside him.

"I don't have any visitor apart from you so you don't have to look at me suspiciously," Jackson said as he made to close the laptop he was working on but Jasmine stopped him.

"What were you working on?" Jasmine asked staring at him.

"I wanted to write a speech for our company's anniversary which is in about a week. I also have a business proposal to write but because of my injured hand, neither of the tasks has been achieved," Jackson said in a regretful tone.

"I am excellent at writing speeches so that one is a piece of cake to me. If you can trust and give me guides on what you want your business proposal to look like, I assure you, you will be amazed at the magic I will perform," Jasmine said confidently.

"Are you saying you want to help me?" Jackson asked in surprise.

"I am partly responsible for your injuries so it is any fair I assist you and as you know I despise being indebted to anyone. This is my little way of repaying you for saving my life," Jasmine said as she dropped her handbag on the centre table.

"I have told you that I didn't save you with intention of making you repay me...,"

"I know but I will only be at ease if I do this," Jasmine said as she stood up.

"Have you eaten your dinner or are acting stubbornly by skipping your meals again?" Jasmine asked.

"I haven't eaten yet," Jackson said to the disappointment of Jasmine.