Torn Apart

His ears fell flat, as he saw Paetyn in pain. He was about to run over to help her but stayed still as soon, as he spotted the back of the perpetrator, entering the living room space. His ears perked back up. It was... ROSE!

She turned to him with her hand protecting her nose. "What is going on here? Why is this filth in your apartment?" She nonchalantly asked. Of course, it struck a nerve with Ivaylo but he needed to be smart with this. A lot will be at stake if this comes out... Him, sharing an apartment with a human female.

Ivaylo quickly calculated possible excuses in his head. Rose turned back to Paetyn, who was still lying on the floor but slowly sitting up. Ivaylo was watching her with guilty eyes but for now, he couldn't do anything, not even come closer or lend her a helping hand.

"I heard the Chairman brought human employees to the headquarters but I didn't expect to see a human at your place. I don't know, how you can stand that human odor." Rose still was pinching her nose. Yes, he can use this. "That's right, he did that and I have to work with those human consequences."

Rose was glaring down at Paetyn. "So, what she is doing here? She reeks! Is she a maid?" Ivaylo came up with an excuse. He had no other choice but to play into Rose's delusion..."I have to deal with that odor every day at work, it's nauseating. I came up with a quick solution, to keep a human housekeeper to get used to it."

His eyes fell on Paetyn, leaning on her arms and staring into the ground. Rose was directly turned to him, so he couldn't show any remorse about what he said. He knew, his words hurt Paetyn. Rose was happy about that explanation.

Ivaylo used that opportunity... "Could you please not mention this to my family? They would get upset if they learned I hired a human maid. You know, how strict the older generation is." With a happy smile, Rose walked over to Ivaylo grabbing him around the arm and brushing her cheek on his shoulder. At the same time staring daggers into unresponsive Paetyn.

"Don't worry, my dear! I won't say anything, just keep that filth away next time, when I come. It's enough that this whole place caught her odor, I don't need to smell the fresh deal." Ivaylo placed his hand over hers. "Of course, I must apologize. Anyway, how did you find out, where I was?"

Paetyn didn't dare to move... Rose walked over to the kitchen looking around. "Your mom told me you got an invoice in the mail, so I went to check out this address. This apartment looks a lot fuller than the condo in the city center." Right, his primary address is outside the city at his parent's house... He forgot about that.

Rose spun around with a smile. "Didn't you get my message?!" She walked past him back to the living room. Ivaylo glanced at his phone on the counter. He saw a notification on the screen. "Yes, I read it..." He lied.

Rose noticed the paper bag on the Kotatsu table. "You even got me a present?!" She ran over and picked it up, tearing the bag apart. "Candy and coffee?! Well, not my cup of tea, but I must you cut some slack. We need to get to know each other more."

Paetyn's head sunk further. Ivaylo swallowed hard by that sight. He couldn't say anything to comfort her right now. He had to play along, to keep up with the lies for Rose. If he would say the truth, she would go tattle to his family and he wasn't sure what would happen then.

Rose got fed up with Paetyn sharing the oxygen with her. Holding the candy and the coffee still in her arms, she kicked Paetyn and then slipped a little dropping everything. "See, what you did?!" She shouted at Paetyn, shortly after slapping her.

"ENOUGH!" Ivaylo intervened. Rose turned her head to him in disbelief. He stood up for a human? What should he say now?! "Please, don't abuse my housekeeper, she might quit." Still, Rose didn't understand. "You could hire someone else, a male would be better. They are stronger."

Ivaylo stood his ground. "Females are better for housework. Males are used for constructions and harder to obtain..." Would Rose swallow this lie too? She gave it a thought. "You are right! I am glad to have such a smart boyfriend!" Ivaylo had to keep his composure...

With a menacing grin, Rose turned back to Paetyn. "What are you still doing here?!" Paetyn flinched, collected herself from the ground, and without lifting her face up towards the Beastman couple, she grabbed her belongings from the entrance hall and ran out.

Ivaylo couldn't do anything more to protect here right now... He felt awful. Initially, this day was planned to be about his apology to Paetyn and it ended up in a disaster. He was certain, this was his mother's meddling again.

Victorious Rose walked around the apartment, finally ridden from that human filth. She wasn't happy for any other female, to share the space with her beloved man. Ivaylo is too rich and too handsome, so of course Rose is jealous. She stepped on one of the scattered candies crashing it. "Oh well... your maid will clean up that cheap stuff tomorrow."

The food delivery guy came not shortly after and Rose was more than pleased. Ivaylo got rid of her after an hour and a half. Drained out of energy he turned off the light in the whole apartment and sat at the Kotatsu table massaging the temples of his forehead.

He looked around the silent space. Ivaylo was upset about himself for being so powerless and not protecting Paetyn. His sight fell to the ground around the crashed and scattered present.

He pictured Paetyn's sparkling eyes as he stuck one of those into her mouth and the excited expression of gratitude for the gift. It made him even more sad. His ears were droopy again. Ivaylo slipped to the surface of the table, resting his head on it, thinking what he should do now.