# **Chapter 5: The Jealous Beast Appears**
---
The next morning, Hana woke up feeling... slightly more alive than yesterday.
Her head wasn't spinning, her body wasn't on fire, and — most importantly — she could breathe without sounding like a tired dragon.
She stretched, glanced around the room, and blinked.
Sher was gone.
The chair was empty. Blanket folded. Not a trace left behind.
Like he'd never been there.
Typical.
He shows up with soup, watches her like she's the center of the solar system, and then disappears before she can thank or punch him.
"Smooth criminal," she muttered, pulling herself out of bed.
---
Later that day, Hana decided to escape the mansion.
Again.
Technically, she wasn't banned from leaving... but Sher had "strongly advised" her not to go gallivanting around the city until her fever was fully gone.
So, obviously, she gallivanted.
---
At a posh open-air café in Sector 7, she met with her old college friend, **Dr. Kian Velroy** — now a biogeneticist working for the World Health Circle.
Kian had always been the charming, flirty type. With soft dark curls, sharp glasses, and a voice that could sell lies as lullabies.
But most importantly — he knew nothing about Sher Wolter being terrifying, controlling, dominant... or secretly soft for one Hana Chorl.
"Still married to the heir of House Glacier?" Kian teased as he sipped his synth-latte.
Hana smirked. "Yes. Still alive, miraculously."
"I'm shocked he lets you out of the compound."
"He doesn't *let* me do anything. I do it and deal with the yelling later."
Kian chuckled. "You look good, Han. A bit pale though. You sure you're okay?"
"Was sick. Recovered. I bounce back like a glitchy AI."
"You always did. Remember that time you started a dorm protest just to get better coffee?"
She grinned. "Hey, I got results."
They laughed.
And from across the plaza... someone watched.
Sher.
Standing still as stone in the shadows of a sleek black hover-car, jaw clenched, fists tight.
He had *followed* her.
Of course he had.
He told himself it was to make sure she didn't faint in the street again.
But the moment he saw Hana *smiling* like that — leaning in when Kian whispered something in her ear — every reasonable cell in his body lit on fire.
He'd never seen her smile like that at *him*.
He hated how that made him feel.
---
Back at the mansion.
Hana entered humming.
Sher was waiting in the living room like a statue carved out of stormclouds.
"You left without authorization," he said.
"I left with a scarf."
"You're still recovering."
"I was breathing. I celebrated."
He stepped closer. "Where were you?"
"Out."
"With who?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You sound jealous."
"Answer the question."
"I had coffee with a friend."
"Name."
"Why? You want to send a drone after him?"
"I already did."
She blinked. "Excuse me?!"
Sher's voice was calm. Too calm. "You were sitting exactly 4.2 inches closer to him than necessary."
Hana stared. "You measured?!"
"I observe."
"You stalk!"
"I *protect*."
"Oh please. If you care so much, maybe try *telling* me instead of sending spy bots."
His eyes flared. "Maybe if you stopped running headfirst into danger, I wouldn't have to!"
Silence.
Then Hana said, softly:
"You're not angry because I was in danger. You're angry because someone else made me laugh."
Sher's jaw tightened. His next words came out low and rough:
"*No one else should make you laugh like that.*"
That silenced her.
His voice, deeper now, cracked through the tension like thunder:
"I know I'm not soft. I don't say things the way you want me to. But don't mistake that for indifference, Hana."
She stepped back, startled.
He advanced — just once — then stopped, as if afraid to get too close.
"I watch over you not because I have to. But because if anything ever happened to you, I'd burn the entire system down."
Hana's heart thundered.
She swallowed. "That's... oddly sweet. In a terrifying, dictatorish kind of way."
"I'll take that."
They stood in heavy silence.
She looked away first. "So... are you done being a jealous beast?"
"Only if you stop smiling like that at other men."
She smirked. "You jealous *baby.*"
He narrowed his eyes. "Say that again."
"Baby."
His hand reached out so fast she barely had time to gasp — but instead of anything rough or threatening...
He flicked her forehead.
Gently.
Like it was some weird form of affection.
She blinked. "Did you just... flick me?"
He gave the ghost of a smile. "You deserved worse."
"Oh, I am *so* reporting you to the Federation of Marital Abuse."
"Go ahead," he murmured, turning away. "They'll applaud me."
"Sher!"
"Don't shout, you'll overheat your brain again."
"Unbelievable!"
---
And just like that, the fight dissolved into laughter. Because Sher — who never smiled, never flickered — had *flicked* her.
And for Hana, that was the most unexpected proof that this cold-hearted tyrant...
Might actually be hers.
---