The butler’s "master of the house" remark was no exaggeration.
They hadn’t had a wedding ceremony, nor had they signed a prenuptial agreement.
When their lawyer came to deliver some documents, knowing they were about to register their marriage, he had hesitantly advised them to sign a prenup.
Mia Grant had thought about it and agreed it was necessary.
She was a wealthy woman in her own right now, after all.
She had seen the lawyer’s hesitant expression.
Thinking about it, she realized he had reason to be concerned.
She had her own little nest egg, but it was nothing compared to Kian Keller’s family fortune.
Perhaps worried that any delay could cause complications, Kian Keller had rejected the lawyer’s suggestion.
He had said it plainly: she would have the final say in all household matters.
Naturally, that meant financial control was also in her hands, and he wasn’t the least bit worried she would try to transfer assets.
And he’d been right. In the time they’d been married, Mia Grant had only opened the file his secretary had retrieved from the safe on the very first day. She hadn’t given it a second glance since.
It was as if the figures on the paper were just numbers to her.
Upstairs, in the study.
Mia Grant knocked tentatively on the door.
There was no response from within.
The butler suggested, "You can go right in."
"Isn’t he in a meeting?"
The butler smiled. "It’s perfectly fine for you to go in. It won’t be a disturbance."
The butler understood. They were newlyweds who had been living apart shortly after their marriage. They needed an external push to help them adjust and grow accustomed to their new roles.
This was, in fact, the task Mrs. Keller had given him.
Mia Grant had always trusted the butler implicitly.
The door swung open and shut in a flash. Mia Grant tiptoed inside. As soon as she was by the door, she heard Kian Keller’s voice. He was on a video call, though she couldn’t tell with whom.
After a moment’s thought, she went and sat down across from him.
At first, Kian Keller assumed it was the butler and paid it no mind. Then, a shadow flickered before him as someone settled into the chair.
The man’s voice faltered for a fraction of a second, and he instinctively looked up.
Their eyes met. Mia Grant blinked her beautiful eyes, quietly resting her chin in her hands as she gazed at him with a smile.
She was as beautiful as an ethereal dream.
Every night, she would invade his senses, triumphantly planting her flag in his heart.
A subordinate’s voice brought Kian Keller back to his senses. He glanced at the screen, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on Mia Grant’s face.
The man’s voice was perfectly level, seemingly unaffected.
Mia Grant didn’t know when he would be finished, so she sat quietly across from him, waiting without a word.
The subordinate on the other end realized someone was with Kian Keller and asked if they should pause the meeting.
"No need," Kian Keller said. "She’s not an outsider. My wife is back."
His subordinates were surprised. They all knew Kian Keller was married, and to whom.
That was thanks to Kian Keller himself. On the day they registered their marriage, he’d finally activated his social media account—which had been dormant until then—and posted a photo of their brand-new marriage certificate.
He hadn’t bothered to hide Mia Grant’s name or their photo together.
And just like that, the news of his marriage had spread.
But as his employees, they felt Kian Keller hadn’t changed much since getting married.
He was still a workaholic who never went home right after work and even worked overtime on his days off.
So they speculated that perhaps the marriage wasn’t something Kian Keller had wanted.
It was merely a formality.
"Let’s wrap this up." Their dazed silence drew Kian Keller’s displeasure. "My wife needs to rest."
It was, after all, dreadfully boring.
Mia Grant had been listening for a while and was starting to doze off. When she heard him say that, her eyelashes fluttered, and she stared at him, dazed.
The employees on the other end immediately snapped to attention and continued their report.
Kian Keller’s gaze shifted from the screen back to Mia Grant.
Mia Grant, thinking she was disturbing him, mouthed that she would head back to their room.
But Kian Keller reached out and caught her hand.
Mia Grant blinked.
"It’s almost over. Just wait a little longer."
The man’s voice was low and deep, laced with a tenderness he himself didn’t seem to notice, and a hint of indulgence.
On the other end of the call, the employees sped up, terrified of getting in the way of their boss’s personal time.
Mia Grant nodded.
"Was it a direct flight? Are you tired?"
"Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve picked you up."
Kian Keller couldn’t help but ask.
The meeting was still technically in progress, but the employees had instinctively lowered their voices.
Mia Grant whispered, "I wanted to surprise you."
"And does surprising me require you to make me miserable for a few days first?"
He was referring to how she’d said a few days ago that she couldn’t come back. He had even been planning to finish up his work and fly to Englaria to spend some time with her.
After all, the flowering crabapple was just an excuse.
The flowers were never the point. He was the one he wanted her to see.
Mia Grant pretended not to notice the hint of grievance in his tone. "Should I go back then?"
...
Kian Keller pressed his thin lips together, clearly displeased.
Mia Grant thought he was at his most adorable when he was fuming but didn’t dare say a word.
So she smiled and began toying with his fingers. After a moment, her mischievous fingers moved on, fiddling with the beaded bracelet on his wrist.
On closer inspection, she saw the string had been replaced, and a few of the Buddha Beads were nicked and scratched.
She had given him this bracelet, and had even personally taken it to a temple to be consecrated.
He had always treasured it, handling it with extreme care and never letting it get wet.
Mia Grant remembered the day of her surgery. She’d overheard someone say that when Kian learned her heart had stopped, he nearly collapsed. The bracelet had snapped at that very moment.
Aaron had caught him just in time, while Zelo and the others frantically searched the hallway for the scattered beads.
Later, when the incident was brought up, Zelo and the others had said, "Thank God all the beads were found. And that she was okay."
Otherwise, they didn’t know how they would have faced Kian Keller.
Mia Grant’s hands stilled. "I’ll get you a new one someday."
At her words, Kian Keller’s gaze finally left her face, dropping to where her fingertips rested.
"No. I like this one."
"But it’s damaged."
"It’s not." He sounded stubborn. His fingers slid along hers, and he discreetly turned the scratched beads over, hiding the marks from view.
As if hiding them meant they would go unnoticed.
Mia Grant couldn’t help but smile. Seeing his dead-serious expression made her want to kiss him.
She watched him, waiting for the call to end.
Her gaze was searing, threatening to start a wildfire deep within him.
It was impossible for Kian Keller to ignore.
Finally, he gave up trying to listen and told his team to summarize the rest and send it to him.
The meeting ended abruptly, leaving Mia Grant momentarily stunned.
The next second, his hand tightened on her wrist. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her lips with an urgent, unrestrained hunger.
His movements were frantic as he gripped her by the waist and lifted her onto the desk.
His kisses trailed fire across her skin.
Mia Grant, who had wanted to be the one in control, now clung helplessly to his collar.
"Let’s... let’s go back to the room... and..."
She was so breathless from his kisses that she could barely gasp out the words, her voice choppy and ragged.
Kian Keller didn’t listen.
Their clothes were quickly shed, scattering across the floor.
The hand wearing the Buddha Beads traveled up her waistline, the sacred script of the bracelet branding her skin, leaving one red mark after another.