"Mia, have you never called me ’husband’?"

Suddenly, he asked a completely random question.

"Mm..."

She responded vaguely.

"Say ’husband’ for me, okay?"

Mia stiffened at his words.

"N-No..."

She stammered.

"Hm?"

He hummed, a hint of displeasure in the sound.

"Be good. Say ’husband’..."

Mia finally gave in, her voice pitiful.

"Husband... please, let me go."

"Say ’good husband’..."

"G-Good husband."

"Now say ’dearest husband’..."

Mia pressed her lips together, feeling wronged.

’Who forces someone to submit like this?’

"Officer Preston, is this how you used to interrogate criminals? Wear them down until they talk, bit by bit?"

She was half-joking and half-complaining, feeling utterly aggrieved.

"My methods are endless, but only for you."

His voice was as mellow and pleasant as ever, like a fine aged wine.

He didn’t remove her blindfold the entire time.

Finally, he cleaned her up, placed her on the bed, and dressed her in her pajamas. Like a delicate porcelain doll, he treasured her immensely, helping her get fully dressed.

"After I leave, you can take off the blindfold. Let’s pinky swear: once I walk out that door, we’ll pretend nothing happened and never mention it again, okay?"

He was afraid she would feel awkward, and also afraid that he himself would become greedy for more.

Mia nodded blankly, not yet having fully returned to her senses.

Adrian Preston covered her with the blanket and turned to leave, but unexpectedly, she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"What’s wrong?"

"Adrian Preston, what are we now?"

Her voice was hoarse, her breathing faint.

’Their relationship is just so abnormal.’

"You and I are husband and wife."

He stroked her head. ’The most wonderful, ineffable relationship in the world—a husband and wife who are the closest of kin, yet share no blood! The family he chose for himself!’

Mia pressed her lips together. It wasn’t the answer she wanted, but then again, she didn’t even know what she wanted.

She slowly let go of his hand and turned away, her back to him.

Adrian Preston didn’t know what he had said wrong. His lips parted, wanting to say something more, but in the end, he remained silent. He just gently placed a kiss on her forehead and turned to leave.

Only after the door closed did she slowly remove the necktie. The room was still filled with his scent, thick and lingering.

She folded the necktie neatly and placed it in a drawer.

She stared blankly for a long moment before dazedly getting up and going to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were misty, making her look as though she’d been badly mistreated.

She quickly splashed cold water on her face to calm down and stop her wild thoughts.

’Adrian doesn’t want to take the final step with me. The only time he initiated it was because I was going to go public with my story.’

’He said that if I truly became Mrs. Preston, he would be responsible for me for life.’

’It’s his sense of responsibility. He feels that if he takes my body, he has a duty to protect me.’

’It’s a kind of chains, a moral code instilled in him from his military service, one that’s stricter than most people’s.’

’But deep down, he must be extremely resistant. How could any normal man not hold it against me? Even I can’t completely let go of the past.’

Mia sighed, a dull ache spreading through her heart, tight and dense, making it hard to breathe.

’We’re just like a man and a woman with normal needs, comforting each other, each getting what we need. That’s all.’

’Adrian is a man of great principle. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, he’ll never take that final step. I admire him for that, but it also... makes my heart ache.’

’If a man can hold back that kind of desire, it can only mean one thing: he doesn’t love the woman.’

’Maybe he’s attracted to my body, or my looks, but not to me emotionally.’

’I’m not even interested in whether Adrian actually likes Shannon Preston anymore.’

’But one thing is for sure: he doesn’t like me.’

At this thought, her expression dimmed.

’And yet, it feels like I’m slowly falling for him.’

’Falling, while being perfectly and soberly aware of it.’

She sighed, returned to bed, and lay with her eyes open, staring at the ceiling. She found she couldn’t sleep.

She mocked herself a little. She had been hurt so deeply by a man, had sworn she wouldn’t believe in love, yet in her interactions with Adrian Preston, she couldn’t control the fluttering of her heart. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

’Is there something wrong with my head?’

’I must just have too much free time. I need to keep myself busier!’

She got up in the middle of the night to work on her company’s business plan, keeping herself busy until she finally fell asleep at three in the morning.

She didn’t know she wasn’t the only one lying awake that night.

When she woke up the next morning, got ready, and headed out, she unexpectedly ran right into Adrian Preston.

He was in workout clothes, covered in sweat, clearly having just finished a morning run.

His muscles, flushed with blood from the exercise, were full and beautifully defined. The workout clothes were form-fitting, making for a pulse-pounding sight.

She was suddenly reminded of everything from last night. Her expression grew awkward, and she quickly averted her gaze. She wished a hole would open up and swallow her whole.

"Morning... I’m going downstairs for breakfast."

"Okay, wait for me. I’ll take a quick shower and be right down." Adrian Preston’s voice was as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened.

Mia nodded vaguely, but after going downstairs, she left in a hurry without taking a single bite.

’There’s no way I’m eating at the same table as him! You can’t just decide to forget something like that. I need a few days for things to cool down.’

When Adrian Preston came downstairs and didn’t see Mia, he assumed she had already eaten. He only found out from a maid that she hadn’t eaten at all and had just left.

He lowered his gaze slightly. ’Did I overstep last night? Is that why she’s upset?’

He silently clenched his fists, blaming himself internally. ’I shouldn’t have been so impulsive, so eager for a result that I ended up making her resent me.’

He didn’t know what had come over him last night. He had repeatedly warned himself to be restrained, to not make a rash move as long as she didn’t want it. But he still couldn’t hold back. He had coaxed and tricked her until she lost her senses, and he himself had almost been completely lost to the moment.

Mia rushed all the way to her studio, buying two steamed buns downstairs to tide her over.

Not long after she got upstairs, she got a call from a food delivery person who had brought something to the front desk.

Mia was surprised. "Something? What is it?"

As she spoke, Mia saw the bag sitting on the front desk.

Rosalyn Shield also looked at the packaging in astonishment. It was dim sum, and from a very famous restaurant where you had to book a day in advance. There was no way to get a table if you just showed up.

That place didn’t even have a delivery service; this must have been a courier order.

"Boss, are we eating this well today? Did you get the money from Vivian Lynch and decide to treat us?"

Rosalyn Shield said excitedly.

Mia was also puzzled. Just then, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Adrian Preston.

"You need to eat a proper breakfast. If you don’t want to see me for a while, I’ll stay at the corporate apartment for a few days. Don’t feel awkward. I’m the one at fault, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself."