The Heir's Secret Bride

"What do you mean, try what?" Maeve asked, genuinely confused by his question. Her heart pounded under Byron's intense, piercing stare. Flustered, she quickly looked away and blurted, "If you don't take care of your back now, you're gonna regret it when you're older. Trust me." At her words, Byron's expression softened slightly, the heat in his gaze dimming a bit. "If you're scared, stay out of my business," he muttered. Byron's mind wandered back to her ex's taunts about Maeve being too uptight..

But now, watching her squirm, it was obvious she just didn't have a clue about intimacy. No wonder she had been naive enough to come close to him after he'd practically forced a kiss on her. He straightened up and leaned back against the sofa, clicking his tongue sofily. "Maeve, are you even old enough for this?"

Maeve rolled her eyes, snapped the medical kit shut with a sharp click, and shot back, "Do you think I'd be married to you if I wasn't? Im twenty-three!"

Twenty-three... Byron frowned. That's still pretty young."

Young: You're only four years older than me. Why the attitude? Maeve stood up, her tone annoyed. "And for the record, my age is right there on the marriage license. Did you even bother looking at it?" A flicker of guilt crossed Byron's face. The marriage license was probably collecting dust somewhere.

Maeve noticed his reaction and raised an eyebrow. "Do you even still have the damn license?" She seriously doubted he'd kept track of iL

"You're overthinking things," Byron replied smoothly. "It's late. You sure you want to keep arguing about our ages?"

Maeve was momentarily speechless. Wasn't he the one who started this?' she thought.

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Maeve felt refreshed, the weakness in her limbs mostly gone..

She headed to the bathroom for a shower, and when she came out, she was about to toss her clothes into the washing machine when something caught her eye-Byron's suit jacket draped over the sofa. She picked it up. The hem was frayed, the cuffs had threads coming loose-it looked distinctly worn out.

Maeve, who primarily worked in women's fashion design, wasn't well-versed in men's clothing. She had never seen a design like this before and guessed it must've simply worn out from heavy use.

Is he still wearing it because he can't afford a new one?' she wondered.

Lost in thought, she nearly jumped when Byron's voice came from behind her. "What's this, Maeve? Having a deep conversation with my jacket first thing in the morning?"

Maeve blushed and quickly explained, "I just noticed how worn out this jacket looks. It might be better if you stop wearing it. Maybe you should just toss it and get a new one?"

Byron's brow twitched slightly. Most of his clothes were custom-made by top designers; he rarely bought anything off the rack. And this jacket Maeve thought looked "worn out" was actually a brand-new, vintage-inspired piece from a renowned designer-entirely handmade. 1/2 Mon, Oct

He was the first persótt ever to wear it. And now she was telling

ow it away

"No need. Don't go making decisions for me, Byron shot back, flatly dismissing her suggestion.

Maeve figured he must be attached to the jacket because he word it so much, so she offered, "How about I wash it for your

"Hand wash it. Don't even think about tossing it in the machine)

"Fine."

After breakfast, Maeve and Byron left for work.

Maeve had planned to take another day off to go to the hospital for a check-up, but Piers wouldn't approve any more time. off. Plus, there was a department gathering tonight, so she had to wait until she resigned to get checked out.

Because he was still pi***d at Jell, Piers was especially hard on her today. He dumped a ton of busywork on her, more than twice her usual load, and even stuck her with stuff that should've gone to the interns.

She even got scolded in front of everyone for not delivering coffee fast enough.

By the end of the day. Maeve was physically and mentally drained. After work, she caught a ride with a coworker to the gathering spot-The Cloud Club.

This place was one of the most exclusive clubs in Kleymond, with sky-high entry requirements that weren't for the average

person

Maeve was amazed at her coworkers' generosity but also felt something was off.

Before she could figure out what, her colleagues behind her nudged her into the private room. "We're here, this is the place!"Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Maeve looked up and saw someone sitting on the sofa who definitely shouldn't have been there.

"Long time no see, Maeve," Jeff sat there, one leg crossed over the other, his eyes cold and fixed on her. He sneered, "Tve missed you like crazy these past few days"