Chapter 14: Adrian Preston Doesn’t Know How to Take Care of a Wife Editor: Henyee Translations

While she was still in a daze, Adrian Preston had already put down his fork and picked up his phone to send a message. She was right next to him and could see clearly that he was sending the photo to Grandpa.

Soon, Grandpa sent back a voice message.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Seeing you two getting along so well puts my mind at ease. You must treat Mia well. She’s too thin—you need to fatten her up a bit. Otherwise, people will say you can’t even take care of your own wife, letting her get skinnier and skinnier."

Mia Kane understood that it was just an act to put Grandpa’s mind at ease. But he had done it without any warning, and it was easy to get the wrong idea.

"Eat more." Adrian Preston continued to place food in her bowl, though he didn’t feed it directly to her this time. "Grandpa’s right. You really are too thin. I can’t have rumors spreading that I, Adrian Preston, don’t know how to provide for my wife, making people think I’m depriving you of food and drink."

"That won’t happen. We have a secret marriage; no one knows I’m your wife." Mia Kane replied without a second thought.

Adrian’s hand, in the middle of picking up more food, paused slightly. After that, he didn’t place any more food in her bowl. The pleasant atmosphere of the meal suddenly grew somber.

Mia Kane had no idea what she’d said wrong. She hastily finished her food and beat a quick retreat.

...

After a day of rest, Mia Kane’s knee had mostly stopped hurting.

Adrian Preston wanted to start teaching her self-defense skills, but she was in terrible shape—so frail it seemed a strong breeze could knock her over.

Adrian Preston insisted that she strengthen her body and join him for morning workouts, waking her at six for running and calisthenics.

On the first day, Mia Kane was quite motivated, thinking that since she often did yoga, which counted as exercise, her stamina surely wouldn’t be too bad.

But after running for half an hour, she couldn’t go on. In the end, Adrian had to drag her along to finish with a fast walk.

She spent the rest of the day collapsed in bed. Oddly, she felt fine all day, but after a night’s sleep, she woke up aching all over.

The next day, Adrian came to wake her up again.

"Save me... Can I please quit?"

"No!"

Adrian Preston forcibly pulled her from the warmth of her blankets. But she decided to play difficult, refusing to brush her teeth, wash her face, or change her clothes, and just sat there on the edge of the bed, stalling.

"I can’t. I’m so sleepy. I need to sleep a little longer." With that, she flopped back down.

"Not changing, are you? Then I’ll help you change."

Mia Kane kept her eyes closed and ignored him, thinking he was joking. She never expected Adrian would actually start to pull off her clothes, a shock that jolted her wide awake. "What are you doing?"

"I’ll give you two choices. Either you change your clothes yourself, or I’ll change them for you."

He didn’t look like he was joking in the slightest.

"You... you can’t do this! We’re a man and a woman! You used to be a public official—your moral standards are supposed to be higher than the average person’s..."

"Right now, we’re legally married. I’m going to count to three. If you’re not up, I really will strip your clothes off.

"Three... two..."

Before he could say the last number, Mia Kane scrambled out of bed and quickly changed into her workout clothes.

And so, utterly defeated, she followed Adrian Preston out for their morning run. She only lasted ten minutes before he had to spend the next twenty minutes half-dragging her along at a brisk walk.

Adrian had a daily habit of exercising for an hour in the morning. For the last half hour, he carried Mia on his back, treating it as weight training.

From the workout, his muscles were pumped and taut. Riding on his back, she could feel his incredible physique. For some reason, a ridiculous thought popped into her head.

When a man works out, his woman can’t take it.

When a woman works out, her man can’t take it.

When they both work out, the bed can’t take it.

Adrian is so fit... In bed, wouldn’t he be...?

The thought had barely formed when she slapped herself across the face. What in the world was she thinking about?

She hadn’t meant to hit herself so hard. The slap was surprisingly heavy, making a loud, crisp sound.

"Why did you hit yourself?"

"A mosquito... A mosquito was biting me..." Mia Kane said guiltily.

After returning home, she was completely wiped out. Only after washing up and eating breakfast did she feel human again.

"I’ll be back early tonight to teach you self-defense."

"What? We’re training again tonight?"

"Mhm. You’re getting a late start, so you have to work harder than anyone else to catch up."

Only a single word filled Mia Kane’s mind: Regret! She was absolutely sick with it.

After returning from her interview, Mia Kane still had to practice self-defense. She felt like she was about to wilt.

"I’m teaching you a grappling technique called joint manipulation. The throat, armpits, elbow joints, knee joints, the side of the waist... If you can target these points and apply force skillfully, using leverage, you’ll have a fighting chance even against a grown man with a significant strength advantage.

"Now watch me demonstrate..."

Although Mia Kane was a terrible student, Adrian Preston was an excellent teacher. By mimicking his movements, she managed to learn a move or two.

If it weren’t for her desire to avoid future humiliation at the hands of Chase Lockwood, there was no way she could have persevered.

While she was half-dead from her grueling training, Theo managed to uncover the full story.

They’d tracked down the person behind the anonymous IP: a low-level punk who spent most of his time hanging out in internet cafes.

When he saw them, he was scared out of his wits and immediately confessed, "Someone... someone gave me a sum of money and told me to send the contents of this hard drive to an email address."

"Who gave it to you? Was it her?" Mia Kane showed him a photo of Vivian Lynch.

"Yes, yes, yes, that’s her!" The punk’s eyes lit up, and he confirmed it repeatedly.

Mia Kane was inwardly ecstatic. With a witness and physical evidence, there was no way Vivian could deny it.

"I’m taking him to see Chase Lockwood!"

"I wouldn’t advise you to go looking for Chase Lockwood."

"Why not? He can prove my innocence now!"

Adrian Preston said no more, simply watching as she led the man away.

Mia Kane rushed to the hospital and led the man upstairs.

"Young Master Lockwood, Miss Kane is here. She says she’s figured things out."

"Let her in."

When Mia Kane walked in, the first thing she saw was Chase Lockwood spoon-feeding Vivian Lynch. She let out a slow breath, composing herself and forcing herself not to read into it. "Chase Lockwood, this is..."

"Wait until Vivian is finished eating."

Chase Lockwood interrupted her.

Mia Kane clenched her fists but could only endure it.

"Chase, let her speak. I also want to know the whole story. After all, someone tried to drive me to my death. I want to know who the culprit is."

Mia Kane’s brow twitched. Why was Vivian Lynch so calm, even eager to hear the truth? She should have been terrified.

"Fine, go ahead," Chase Lockwood said.

"Someone gave him cash and a hard drive, telling him to use an anonymous IP to send the files to a specific email address."

"Someone? Who?"

Chase Lockwood fixed him with an icy glare. The punk’s legs went weak with fear, and he started trembling.

"It... it... It was her."

He pointed at Vivian Lynch, and Mia Kane breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing had gone wrong.

Vivian Lynch’s expression changed in an instant as she looked at Mia Kane. "Mia Kane, to clear your own name, you’re actually going to drag me, the victim, through the mud? You... are you trying to drive me to my death?"

"He’s telling the truth! Tell them everything you saw."

Feeling the pressure, the punk repeated his story.

"So you’re saying, the woman that day was wearing a hat, a face mask, and sunglasses, and you didn’t even see her face, yet you’re certain it was her?"