My Fox-Spirit Husband Only Has Eyes for Me

I found a filthy man by the side of the road. He bewitched me into taking him home and cleaning him up. To the world, he was the ultimate heartthrob. At home, he was hopelessly obsessed with me. When my scheming little sister tried to fall into his arms, he threw both hands up and jumped back three steps. “Yikes! I almost ended up sleeping on the floor tonight.” A gasp rang out in an upscale restaurant, drawing everyone’s attention. Julian Blake was down on one knee, a diamond ring in his hand. He looked up at me with love in his eyes. “Nora, marry me.” I couldn’t hide my joy and excitement. Just as I was about to accept, another startled voice rose from the crowd. “Nora?!” I looked over at Chloe Bennett as she stepped out of the crowd, looking utterly shocked. Covering her mouth, she said, “Nora, how can you just accept some random guy’s proposal? Are you still mad at Mom and Dad? “Even so, you can’t just marry some—” Chloe came closer and finally got a good look at the man kneeling in front of me. She forgot what she was saying. “J-Julian Blake?” She moved toward him excitedly. Julian frowned and dodged her. Only after slipping the ring onto my finger did he ask, “Who’s this?” Before I could answer, Chloe eagerly introduced herself. “I’m Chloe Bennett!” Julian looked puzzled, so I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “My younger sister.” Understanding dawned on his face, and he gave her a polite nod. Chloe was so excited she could barely speak. Julian was famous in the entertainment industry. People called him “the ultimate heartthrob.” He had an enormous fan base, and Chloe was one of his fans. Then, as though something had occurred to her, Chloe turned on me. “Nora, why didn’t you tell me you knew Julian? You know I’m his fan! How can you be so selfish? And how could you make him get down on one knee? Only couples do that!” If there was one thing Julian couldn’t stand, it was someone criticizing me. All his politeness vanished. “I am your sister’s boyfriend, and I’m going to be her husband. Why can’t I kneel for my wife? Forget one knee. I’d get down on both.” Chloe had never imagined that the man of her dreams would be my boyfriend. The look she shot me was vicious. You’d think I’d stolen a husband who rightfully belonged to her. As a male fox spirit, Julian knew these tricks better than anyone. He stepped in front of me and laced his fingers through mine. When Chloe looked at him again, she wore a completely different expression. I knew she wanted to steal him from me. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t know that Julian wasn’t just hopelessly in love. He was the undisputed champion of devotion among fox spirits. “Julian, we’re going to be family soon. You’ll take good care of me, won’t you?” As she spoke, she tried to lean against him. Julian pulled me aside with him. Chloe stumbled into empty air and nearly fell. “Oh, Julian! I almost fell!” Her babyish voice gave me goose bumps. “What does that have to do with me? Learn to stand on your own feet.” Playing the victim was Chloe’s specialty. Growing up, all she had to do was put on that act, and our parents would give her anything. I, on the other hand, had never known how to act cute or sweet-talk them. They thought I was a block of wood and didn’t like me. Sure enough, after hearing Julian’s response, she bit her lip and put on a pitiful expression. But Julian didn’t even look at her. He took my hand and walked away. Leaving Chloe to perform her little one-woman show.All my life, no one had ever chosen me without hesitation. When my parents wanted to buy Chloe a piano, I was the one they decided to sacrifice. They abandoned me by the side of the road to fend for myself. I only survived because a police officer found me and took me home. After that, they saw me as an even bigger burden they couldn’t get rid of. I wasn’t like Chloe. She knew how to please them and got good grades. I only ever did what I wanted to do. In high school, I met a boy who made my heart race. For the first time, I worked up the courage to get to know someone I liked. He was kind to me. He checked whether I’d eaten and reminded me not to stay up too late. He clearly liked me too. But then Chloe appeared. For her sake, he humiliated me in public and left me with no way to save face. All to make Chloe happy. Remembering that only strengthened my determination to stay with Julian forever. He treated me so well. He was the only person who had ever made me feel that no one else would do. On our way home, I noticed several white tails starting to appear behind him. I quickly moved behind him to hide them. “Your tails are showing.” Usually, Julian’s fox tails only appeared when he was extremely angry, happy, or embarrassed. I hurried him into the car. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I knew I couldn’t let anyone notice anything unusual about him. “It’s okay. I’m here. Don’t be scared.” I soothed him. Julian leaned into my arms, his body trembling with little sobs. “Nora, I’m going to make up for all the love your parents never gave you.” I froze. So that was why. Julian knew what things were like between me and my family. That was why he’d gotten so angry when Chloe mocked and criticized me. “Okay.” I stroked him again and again until his tails disappeared. Seeing him so vulnerable reminded me of our first meeting. I’d been walking home from work when I tripped over something by the roadside and fell. My face twisted in pain. I was about to look for whatever had tripped me when I spotted a man lying nearby. He was filthy, and he seemed to be injured. I’d turned to leave when the man suddenly opened his eyes. He reached out and caught the leg of my pants. I looked down, meeting his gaze. His eyes seemed to have some kind of magic. I was bewitched. And then I took him home. While I waited for him to finish showering, I kept asking myself how I’d ended up bringing him back. Why had I done that? After his shower, his pale skin made him look even more enticing. He had a beautiful face, and his foxlike eyes were full of tenderness. To my surprise, I felt rather pleased. Taking him home hadn’t been such a bad idea. “Come here. I’ll take care of your wounds.” Julian stood awkwardly in the bathroom doorway, refusing to move. Thinking he was embarrassed, I walked over. What I saw nearly blew my mind. Nine tails filled the bathroom. They seemed to have minds of their own, carefully avoiding every bottle and jar. My gaze followed those tails back to Julian. They were growing out of his body. I nearly forgot how to breathe. He fidgeted with his fingers and apologized. “I’m sorry. I’m hurt, so I can’t put them away right now.” Julian thought I would be afraid of him. Instead, I walked straight past him, my eyes fixed on those nine fluffy tails. “Can I touch them?” Without waiting for an answer, I reached out. I had never been able to resist anything fluffy.Before Julian could say no, I’d already touched his tail. His fur practically stood on end, but he was afraid of hurting me, so he didn’t move a muscle. Just remembering how shy and demure he’d been back then made me want to laugh. After putting his tails away, Julian noticed me smiling. “What are you laughing at?” I looked into those foxlike eyes and reached up to cover them. Those eyes were far too good at bewitching people. “Don’t you have a show to film later?” After Julian recovered from his injuries, a talent scout spotted him while I was taking him shopping for clothes. The scout talked himself hoarse but still couldn’t convince Julian to enter show business. Then I fell hard for a rising actor who played a fox spirit. Julian immediately turned off my TV. He shifted into his true form and let me pet him from head to toe. He even entered the entertainment industry for me. I still remembered the wounded look on his face when he begged me not to watch other men. “I don’t want to go.” Julian buried his face against my neck, his voice muffled. “I want to stay with you.” I stroked my needy little fox. Julian did whatever he pleased. If he wanted to work, he worked. If he didn’t, he didn’t. His manager was also a fox spirit, his closest attendant. So his entertainment career depended entirely on his mood. “But you already agreed. You’ll have to pay a cancellation penalty.” Julian held on to me, completely unconcerned. “I have plenty of money. Can’t I just skip it? I want to be with you.” I had absolutely no resistance when he acted like this. I’d gone from judging the kings who lost their kingdoms over beautiful lovers, to understanding them, to becoming one myself. Julian had me pinned beneath him in the car and was kissing me when my phone rang at the worst possible moment. I picked it up. It was Mom. I put her on speaker, and her voice came through. “Bring your boyfriend home tonight.” Then she hung up, as if spending one more second talking to me would kill her. Julian’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous look flashing through them. I quickly soothed him again. “It’s fine. Ignore her. You can’t get so angry you give yourself away, okay?” My biggest fear was that Julian would reveal what he was in front of someone. Scientists would definitely capture him and study him like some rare specimen. Julian disliked my family and thought they treated me terribly. Even so, he bought them plenty of gifts. As we went upstairs, he was so nervous his hands trembled. “Don’t be scared.” When we arrived, Chloe’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. She grinned so wide she was practically showing every tooth. “Julian! I missed you so much.” His face twitched. He turned and whispered to me, “Can I slap her?” “No.” “Oh.” “You can tell her off, though.” Chloe sat beside him and deliberately leaned forward to show off her cleavage. She even reached toward his thigh. “Julian, you’ve got something on your pants. Let me brush it off.” With my parents watching, Julian could only hold back his temper and keep dodging. “No need.” “Let me do it. You can’t get it all yourself.” Julian spotted a feather duster on a shelf beside the couch. Without a second thought, he picked it up and smacked the back of Chloe’s hand. A sharp crack rang out. Chloe pulled her hand back and looked at him pitifully. “Julian, why did you hit me? It hurts. Blow on it for me?”