Chapter 596 The Appetizers.

The sight of Gwendolyn holding the wooden ruler sent a sense of uneasiness through Cedrick. Praying that he would get lucky, Cedrick inquired, “How do you plan on punishing me, Darling?”

Gwendolyn lifted his chin with the tip of the ruler. “Since you volunteered to be punished, I have no choice but to play the role of the bad guy here.”

With Cedrick rendered speechless, Gwendolyn continued, “How do you think I should go about it?”

Cedrick replied without hesitation, “My body belongs to you. I’m willing to accept any form of punishment you mete out.”

“Is that so?”

Gwendolyn cocked a brow with a devilish look in her eyes.

As the ruler in her hand gradually moved downward, she gently teased Cedrick’s groin with it.

“Can I punish you there?”

Her action sent a shiver down his spine. As sheer horror flashed across his face, he replied, “Anywhere but there, as our happiness depends on it. It can only be pampered, not punished.”

“How dare you even think of being pampered after making a mistake?”

With an acquiescent glint in his eyes, Cedrick leaned forward and gave her cheek a peck. “I wouldn’t dare, Darling. I’ll obey whatever you say.”

His words caused Gwendolyn’s anger to ease significantly.

Even though Cedrick hid the fact that he was pursued by a girl from her, she believed that he would never betray her.

Nevertheless, her faith in him didn’t mean she would easily let him off still.

She had wanted to drill into his head how important it was for a married couple to be honest with each other.

Holding that thought, she tapped on the button on Cedrick’s collar.

“As required by the rules, take everything off.”

Without a moment’s delay, Cedrick unbuttoned his shirt with his nimble fingers and took it off, revealing his well-defined physique and shredded abs.

The tan from his time at the border-which had yet to fade away-added to his tantalizing allure.

When she saw him stop, Gwendolyn tapped on his belt with her ruler. “Have you forgotten about this?

Are you expecting me to help you?”

Cedrick had no choice but to continue taking his clothes off. Once he was done, he knelt back down obediently.

Gwendolyn subsequently poked his left arm with her ruler. “Reach out your hand.”

Cedrick complied by extending his left hand palm up.

With a ferocious look, Gwendolyn raised the ruler high in the air. Her posture would strike fear into anyone who saw her, and the strike on his palm felt like it was going to be excruciatingly painful.

Gulping in fear, Cedrick retracted his hand by reflex. “Darling, how many times are you going to hit me?

Please give me a number so that I can mentally prepare myself.”

Gwendolyn knitted her brows as she tapped his arm again with her ruler, indicating for him to extend his hand.

“I’m not going to count tonight. I’ll hit you till you’re sincere in admitting your mistake.”

Cedrick had just extended his left hand a second time. However, when her words seemed to bring relief to him, he pulled it back to safety again.

“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I’ll never hide anything from you again, let alone do anything behind your back. I swear everything I just said is sincere.”

Gwendolyn wasn’t satisfied. “You’re not being serious by admitting your mistake before I even hit you.

In that case, I’ll cane you ten times as your appetizer.”

Stumped by her response, Cedrick had no choice but to extend his hand begrudgingly.

When he saw Gwendolyn raise the ruler again, his eyes shut tightly as he waited agonizingly for the impending pain.

One second…

Two seconds…

With his eyes closed and jaw clenched, all of Cedric’s attention was concentrated on his palm.

What subsequently surprised him was that instead of the whipping sensation of a ruler, he felt the softness of her lips on it.

Slightly stunned, he opened his eyes abruptly, only to be greeted by Gwendolyn holding his left hand and kissing it ten times.

She might be showering him with affection, but the fearsome look on her face remained after she was done kissing him.

“How do the ten appetizers feel like? Can you now remember the lesson you have learned?”

Cedrick stared at her with a besotted look. “It has been seared into my mind. I’ll never do it again.”

Only then did Gwendolyn raise the wooden ruler, pinch the tip of his fingers, and swing it down upon his palm.

Smack!

Cedrick’s palm turned red immediately as he caught his breath from the sudden pain that stung him.

He had assumed that he could escape from being beaten, but reality showed that he was harboring nothing but false hopes.

On top of that, Gwendolyn adopted a different method this time. She gave him pleasure first before following up with pain.

Thereafter, he lectured him, “Do you remember the pain you felt? If this ever happens again, you’ll have another taste of this wooden ruler. Don’t think for a second that I’ll be showing you any mercy.”

Cedrick nodded obediently before leaning in to steal a kiss. “I remember. I promise never to do it again.

You’re the best, Darling.”

Thereafter, Gwendolyn blew on his palm while giving it a gentle rub.

As he had only been hit once, the pain faded away before he knew it, yet Gwendolyn didn’t intend on letting him off just like that.

She then leaned close to his ear and whispered seductively, “Hubby, your punishment tonight will be to lie flat while I ‘torment’ you.”

To Cedrick, such “torment” was his reward. It was a display of Gwendolyn’s love for him, which he greatly enjoyed.

As he lay down on the bed with the posture of the Vitruvian man, Cedrick made for a seductive sight.

“Come on, Darling. Give it to me. I’m ready.”

Trying to hold back her laughter, Gwendolyn turned off the room’s lights.

The darkness always brought a sense of mystery that would liven up any treasure hunt.

The same darkness would soon hide the passionate moments that ensued.

The next day, the exhausted Gwendolyn surprisingly didn’t experience a flare-up.

Cedrick was elated over it and felt that better times were finally upon them.

As he watched her sleep, he couldn’t help but give her the usual morning kiss. He subsequently left Harrick Villa after taking a quick shower.

By the time he arrived at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nico had already maintained a squat stance for an hour in front of his desk as punishment.

When Cedrick saw him upon opening the door, he sneered, “This is strange. Why are you punishing yourself? What have you done wrong, Mr. Soon-to-be-deputy-director?”

Due to his impressive stamina, Nico didn’t break a sweat despite squatting for an hour, “I was careless last night for talking about the incident. I’m sure Gwendolyn must have questioned you after that about it. It’s my fault. I’m willing to do anything to earn your forgiveness.”

Cedrick unbuttoned his military jacket and took it off in a distinguished manner. After putting it neatly away, he strolled to his desk and took his seat.

“It’s clear that you’ve made a mistake, but lucky for you, Gwenny didn’t kick up a fuss over it.

Otherwise, I would probably have to crawl here today.”

Nico could-sense that things weren’t as bad as he thought. “So, Gwendolyn wasn’t mad? Does it mean that I don’t have to be punished?”

With a serious expression, Cedrick declared, “Your punishment is still necessary, as your slip of the tongue did spoil my night. How many times have you messed up my plans by now?”

A wry expression descended onto Nico’s face. “That’s not true, Cedrick. I genuinely wanted to help you. I wasn’t trying to mess things up on purpose.”

Nodding solemnly, Cedrick flicked through the document in his hand without looking at Nico. “That only shows how stupid you are. You’ll spend half a month at the barracks for new recruits. How about that?”

“Argh!”

While Nico maintained a perfect squatting stance, his face twisted into a bunch.

“Going to the barracks means that I’ll have to go through torturous training for half a month! Now that I’m about to be promoted to deputy director, there’s a lot on my plate. Cedrick, you have to spare me, please!”

Putting on an amiable expression, Cedrick showed him some mercy. “In that case, I’ll deduct half of your bonus at Jenson Group, or you can choose to do two hundred and forty-nine pushups together with a handstand against the wall for two hundred and forty-nine minutes.”

As the answer was so obvious that Nico didn’t even have to consider it, he replied decisively, “I’ll do the pushups and handstand.”

A brief moment later, he quickly grew curious. “That said, why does it have to be two hundred and forty-

nine times and two hundred and forty-nine minutes??

A smirk emerged on Cedrick’s face as he raised his deep gaze to glare at Nico. Finally, he explained in a disdainful tone, “That’s just because you’re an idiot.”