Wren Wynter froze. She looked up, startled, only to meet a pair of piercing, glacial eyes.

"I’m fine. Let go." As Wren Wynter spoke, she reached out to push him. But the moment she applied any pressure, the pain in her ankle flared, making her tremble involuntarily.

"What happened to your foot?"

Kaden Xavier belatedly noticed the redness and swelling on Wren Wynter’s ankle. He crouched to take a look. The instant his long fingers brushed her skin, Wren Wynter flinched away as if she’d been shocked.

"It’s none of your business."

Her voice was frigid as she started limping toward the stairs on her own.

Kaden Xavier frowned and hurried after her. Without a word, he swept her up into his arms.

"Kaden Xavier, let me go!"

Wren Wynter, trapped in his embrace, struggled with all her might. But to him, her struggles were no more than a kitten’s playful swatting, and they only earned her a warning.

"Stop struggling. Unless... you want Grandma to see us fighting?"

His words struck a nerve.

She stopped struggling, and a smirk secretly played on Kaden Xavier’s lips.

Just as he thought. She still listens to him.

When Kaden Xavier carried Wren Wynter into the dining room, Old Madam Xavier was already seated at the table. She grew instantly alarmed at the sight. "Wren, what happened? Is it serious?"

"Don’t worry, Grandma. I just twisted it." Wren Wynter forced a smile and offered a quiet reassurance.

Kaden Xavier carefully set her down in a chair and sat beside her, personally ladling porridge into a bowl for her. "This is your favorite. Eat it while it’s hot."

The steaming porridge gave off a rich aroma, but Wren Wynter didn’t touch it.

Old Madam Xavier’s eyes narrowed. She keenly sensed the distant atmosphere between the two but didn’t call it out. Instead, she looked at Kaden Xavier, her tone deceptively casual. "I heard from the butler that you and Wren didn’t arrive together. Why? Did you not come home last night?"

The moment the words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.

Kaden Xavier set down his teacup, his expression unchanged. "Something urgent came up at work. I only just finished dealing with it this morning."

He lies to Grandma, but in front of her, he makes no secret of taking care of Seraphina Sutton.

Wren Wynter lowered her long lashes to hide the self-mocking curl of her lips, saying nothing.

Old Madam Xavier said, "Oh? I wonder what could have been so important that you had to handle it yourself and couldn’t even come home?"

"Grandma, I..."

"Oh, Mother, Kaden is a pilot and has to manage the company. It’s normal for him to be busy," Helen Sawyer suddenly interjected. She shot a sideways glance at Wren Wynter, a strange, mocking smile on her face.

"Besides, when a married man doesn’t want to come home, it’s usually because his wife is useless. What is a woman who can’t even hold on to her own husband’s heart if not a waste?"

Wren Wynter’s grip tightened.

Old Madam Xavier’s face fell, and she snapped, "Helen, what nonsense are you spouting!"

"Mother, this girl, Wren, is completely two-faced! You’ve been deceived by her!" Helen Sawyer slammed her bowl down, her eyes filled with disgust as she glared at Wren Wynter. "This damn girl doesn’t know her place! She has no respect for me, her mother-in-law. She’s been married for three years and still can’t get pregnant, yet you and Kaden still defend her..."

"Mom." Kaden Xavier cut off Helen Sawyer’s tirade with a cold voice, his eyes glacial. "I’m the one who doesn’t want children."

The already tense atmosphere at the table plunged into a suffocating silence at his words.

Wren Wynter looked up, stunned, only to see Kaden Xavier smile at her and take her hand. "I want to get my five-star captain rating before I turn thirty-two, and I also want to enjoy a few more years of it just being the two of us. I’m not ready for kids yet."

The color drained from Helen Sawyer’s face, then rushed back in a crimson tide. She stared at Kaden Xavier in disbelief. "You’re lying!"

"I’m not lying. Whether we have children is my decision. It has nothing to do with Wren. Don’t you ever bring this up again. And another thing..."

The man paused, his deep voice taking on an icy edge.

"Wren is my wife. I expect you to respect her. If you can’t do that, then there’s no reason for us to see each other anymore."

"Kaden Xavier, you’d sever ties with your own mother for that wretched girl?!" Helen Sawyer was shaking with rage. "What has she done to bewitch you? This is..."

"That’s enough, Helen." Old Madam Xavier’s calm voice held an undeniable authority. "I’m tired. Help me get back to my room."

"Mother..."

Helen Sawyer wanted to say more, but she ultimately lowered her head under Old Madam Xavier’s stern gaze and sullenly helped her to her feet.

Before heading upstairs, Old Madam Xavier gave Wren Wynter a pained look, then patted Kaden Xavier’s shoulder and sighed. "Kaden, Grandma wants you and Wren to be happy together."

Suddenly, they were the only two left in the dining room. Wren Wynter quickly pulled her hand free. "Thank you for what you did."

In three years of marriage, this was the first time Kaden Xavier had ever defended her so staunchly against Helen Sawyer.

Kaden Xavier wanted to say that they were husband and wife, that defending her was only natural, and she didn’t need to be so formal.

But the words died on his lips when he looked into Wren Wynter’s impassive eyes. In the end, he just sighed and reached out to help her up. "If you’ve lost your appetite, I’ll take you to the hospital."

"I don’t—ah!"

Before Wren Wynter could refuse, Kaden Xavier swept her into his arms again.

His embrace was broad and warm, carrying the faint scent of cedar. It reminded Wren Wynter of when she had just moved into the Xavier family home and had suddenly spiked a high fever in the middle of the night.

Kaden Xavier had held her just like this, rushing her to the hospital.

That was when she began to fall in love with Kaden Xavier.

But now, in this same familiar embrace, Wren Wynter only felt suffocated.

It was afternoon when they left the hospital. Wren Wynter assumed Kaden Xavier would drive straight home, but instead, he got on the highway to the airport.

"Where are you going?"

"You’ll see when we get there," Kaden Xavier said, keeping her in suspense.

Half an hour later, he parked in front of a private airstrip.

Wren Wynter looked through the car window at the scene outside, somewhat surprised.

On the grassy airstrip sat Kaden Xavier’s prized private jet. The silver-gray Cessna Citation CJ4 was adorned with roses and ribbons, and its airstairs were already lowered.

"I filed a flight plan. I’m taking you to Stellara Isle." Kaden Xavier carried her up the airstairs, his steps firm and steady. "Don’t worry. It’ll just be the two of us. No one will bother us."

Stellara Isle was a resort island developed by the Xavier Group in the southern sea, renowned for its beautiful and romantic scenery.

It was also the place Wren Wynter had long dreamed of visiting for their honeymoon. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

But on the second day of their marriage, Kaden Xavier had been called away for an important flight mission. The honeymoon was postponed, then postponed again, and eventually forgotten.

It was a trip she had once anticipated so eagerly. But now, as Wren Wynter looked at the meticulously decorated, fragrant cabin, she felt nothing at all.

"Kaden Xavier, is this supposed to be compensation?"