“Right. If it wasn’t what I truly wanted, I wouldn’t have agreed either.”

“That’s good, then.” Franklin Whitman leaned back against the sofa, a little curious. “So what are your plans? An engagement first, or are you going straight to registering the marriage?”

The old man’s way of thinking was simple. Once a couple settled down and were serious about getting married and building a life together, the elders would start looking at the calendar to pick an auspicious date.

Caroline Whitman hadn’t really thought about a wedding date yet. “We haven’t had time to discuss it. Marriage isn’t something I can decide on my own. It depends on Adrian.”

“Oh, if you’re not in a hurry for the wedding ceremony, you could just register the marriage first. You can take your time picking a date for the ceremony later,” Franklin Whitman suggested.

‘Registering the marriage?’

Caroline Whitman blinked.

To be honest, she hadn’t really considered whether to register the marriage or have the ceremony first.

Seeing that she didn’t answer right away, Franklin Whitman didn’t press her.

He stood up and tucked his thermos under his arm. “Alright, it was just a casual suggestion. You and Adrian can discuss it yourselves. Don’t worry about what us old folks think. Do it whenever you two feel is right.”

“I know,” Caroline Whitman replied.

After Franklin Whitman left the office, Caroline sat in her chair and turned to face the window.

When Franklin had mentioned registering the marriage, her first reaction wasn’t rejection. Instead, she felt a flutter of nervousness, thinking that it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

She looked down at the ring on her finger. She’d never imagined a day like this would come.

She picked up her phone, intending to send Adrian a message, but she paused after opening the chat window.

‘Never mind,’ she thought. ‘It’s better to talk about this in person.’

She just hadn’t expected “in person” to happen so soon.

***

“President Grant?” The receptionist at the Whitman Group’s front desk stared for a moment at the man with the exceptional presence before her.

She knew of Adrian Grant’s reputation. After working at the Whitman Group for so long, it would have been a waste of her time if she didn’t even recognize the heads of the major corporations.

The receptionist quickly put on her professional smile. “Hello, sir. Do you have an appointment?”

Adrian Grant said, “No, I’m here to see your President Whitman.”

He paused, then added, “Caroline Whitman.”

The receptionist nodded, picked up the desk phone, and dialed an internal line.

Less than two minutes later, Secretary Lynch stepped out of the elevator and walked briskly over to Adrian Grant. “President Grant, President Whitman is in her office. I’ll take you up.”

Seeing him walk in, Caroline Whitman was still slightly surprised, even though she had mentally prepared herself just a few minutes earlier.

“What brings you here so suddenly? Is there a problem at the company?”

And he’d come without telling her beforehand, too.

“I just came from a visit with my grandfather.” It was Adrian Grant’s second time here, and he sat down on the sofa as if he owned the place.

Caroline Whitman raised an eyebrow. “What did Grandfather say?”

“About our son’s birthday.”

“…” Caroline fell silent for a moment. “Grandfather didn’t change his mind and decide to throw a huge party, did he?”

“He did.”

Adrian Grant relayed Gavin Grant’s idea to her truthfully.

However, he was selective with the details, leaving out the part about them having a double celebration by getting engaged as well.

Caroline chuckled after hearing him out. “You have to hand it to your grandfather for coming up with that. If it weren’t for the uncertainty of our son’s future, going public would actually make a lot of things more convenient.”

Adrian Grant thought so, too.

If he was certain their son could stay here in the future, he would be willing to make his identity public.

But for now, there was no need to put their son in the spotlight and have him bear the stigma of being an illegitimate child born out of wedlock.

“So, what do you think?” Caroline asked.

“I haven’t given him an answer yet.” Adrian leaned back on the sofa. “I wanted to hear your thoughts first.”

“Well, I think Ryan is only four, so he wouldn’t remember a party that’s too extravagant anyway. But since your grandfather is set on it, as long as our son isn’t exposed to the public and it’s just our two families celebrating together, then I think it’s fine. What do you think?”

“Mhm.” Adrian acknowledged, his gaze falling on the ring on her left ring finger. It lingered for a moment before he looked away.

“There’s one more thing,” Adrian said, looking up at her. “Grandfather suggested we also get engaged on Wednesday.”

Caroline’s eyebrow twitched. ‘So there was more to it,’ she thought.

“I didn’t agree to it,” Adrian said, his tone flat. “Our engagement isn’t some sideshow to accompany our son’s birthday. That’s why I came to ask you.”

“…”

‘Heh.’

Caroline watched him leisurely. “Are you asking if I’ll agree, or are you asking if I want to?”

‘His intentions were so obvious.’

One second he was grandly declaring that it “isn’t some sideshow to accompany our son’s birthday,” and the next he was asking for her opinion.

Caroline snorted internally. ‘This guy is probably dead set on getting engaged on Wednesday.’

Adrian sat on the sofa, looking at her with a refined air. “I want to know both.”

She raised an eyebrow and countered, “What do you mean, ‘if I’ll agree,’ and what do you mean, ‘if I want to’?”

She paused, then said with an amused laugh, “You already said it isn’t some sideshow for our son’s birthday. How else am I supposed to answer? Isn’t it obvious?”

Adrian: “…”

“Even if it’s obvious, I still want to hear you say it,” Adrian said, his tone unchanged.

This time, it was Caroline’s turn to be silent.

‘Fine, fine, fine.’

‘So we’re playing games, are we?’

“Agree to what? Want what? You haven’t made it clear,” Caroline said, tossing the question back to him.

This time, Adrian actually let out a small laugh. ‘This woman really knows how to mess with me,’ he thought.

But all of this was just a preamble. None of it was the main point; he had another reason for being here.

Adrian stood up and walked over to her. Caroline was instantly enveloped in the suddenly serious aura coming off him. Seeing him stop and look like he was about to make a move, she couldn’t help but glance toward the floor-to-ceiling window and quickly say:

“Just talk. Don’t get handsy.”

“My purpose for coming here today wasn’t to discuss our son’s birthday or the engagement.”

‘Oh, crap. Now that you put it that way, I’m actually getting a little scared.’

‘If it’s not about those things, what else could it be?’

Caroline subconsciously swallowed. “Th-then what is it?”

“Caroline Whitman.”

“Here!”

“…”

Adrian looked down at her tense expression, exasperated. He couldn’t help but reach out and stroke her hair.

“Could you please not act like you’re suddenly afraid of me? You’re making me look like some villain forcing an innocent woman into marriage.”

Caroline scoffed internally. ‘That actually sounds exactly like something you’d do,’ she thought.

“Then can you just get to the point? You suddenly walking over like that was pretty scary,” she said, blinking helplessly.

“When are we registering our marriage?”

She was stunned for a second by his blunt question.

She almost thought she’d misheard him.

She had expected him to talk about the specific arrangements for the engagement on Wednesday, or something else about their son, but the first thing out of his mouth was about registering their marriage.

‘I told you to get to the point, and you really got to the point.’

She looked up and met Adrian’s eyes, which looked exceptionally serious behind his glasses.

“What did you say?”

“When are we registering our marriage?”

Although she had just been thinking about registering their marriage ten minutes ago, this guy was a little too efficient.

‘What is this strange telepathy…’

“Right now?” The words practically tumbled out of Caroline Whitman’s mouth.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.