“Mommy! Daddy! You’re here!”

Adrian Grant bent down and picked up his son. Tiny wrapped his arms around Adrian’s neck and said earnestly, “Daddy, Auntie Zoe said I was being stingy just now, but I still gave it to her. I’m very generous, right?”

“…Yes.” Adrian played along, his face expressionless.

Zoe Grant was speechless. “…”

‘Well, I’ll be.’

‘You little brat. You saw your dad coming and said that on purpose, didn’t you?’

She was suddenly reminded of the trauma from her own childhood, being dominated by her big brother, Adrian Grant.

‘Like father, like son.’

“Thanks, Ryan. Auntie will definitely take good care of it.” Zoe Grant, not to be outdone, chuckled.

When Adrian put the boy down and he started unwrapping presents with Caroline Whitman, Zoe stood next to Adrian and whispered, “Your son’s little schemes… he really takes after you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Adrian replied coolly.

“…”

While the inner room was filled with joyous harmony, the outer hall was swirling with undercurrents.

Miranda Grant stood in a corner, a wine glass in hand. She watched the direction in which Adrian Grant and Caroline Whitman had left together after Gavin Grant’s announcement of the marriage alliance. The rim of her glass touched her lips, but she didn’t take a sip for a long time.

Michael Grant’s wife sidled up beside her and said in a low voice, “The old man didn’t even show up for his own birthday banquet this year, yet he threw one for Adrian.”

“Besides, since when is his birthday today?”

Miranda Grant didn’t respond. Whether it was his actual birthday or not was unimportant. What mattered was the old man’s attitude.

Her gaze followed the side door that led to the inner part of the manor as she said unhurriedly, “They just went in together.”

That side door led to Gavin Grant’s private quarters, an area that even members of the Grant Family couldn’t enter casually.

Today, Gavin Grant himself had personally led Adrian Grant and Caroline Whitman through it.

Miranda Grant retracted her gaze and placed her wine glass on a passing waiter’s tray.

She recalled the rumors she’d heard about Adrian having a child. At the time, she’d dismissed them as baseless gossip, but now it seemed that even if it were true, the established situation could not be disrupted.

Unless the child’s mother wasn’t Caroline Whitman.

Finding the birth mother could not only cause a huge scene but might also be a way to make Adrian suffer a setback.

‘But, is that even possible?’

Michael Grant stood a few steps away, the smile on his face maintained with decorum, but as he exchanged pleasantries with others, his eyes darted frequently toward the side door.

He was Matthew Grant’s younger brother. He knew full well why his own brother had been marginalized.

The old man’s actions today couldn’t have made his intentions any clearer.

There was no hope left for those in the branch families.

—

Ryan Grant’s birthday party was basically one big session of the kid unwrapping presents.

All the adults just gathered around, watched from the side, and made small talk.

After they ate the cake, the child started to get sleepy, and the party for the evening came to an end. Just like that, the day was over.

「Back at home.」

When Caroline Whitman came out of the shower, Adrian Grant was already in bed with their child.

The little guy had just celebrated his first birthday in her world.

Even now, she still found it incredible.

Lying in bed, Caroline felt giddy, as if it were all a dream.

‘Who would’ve thought? It’s only been a few months, and I already have a husband and a child.’

“What are you thinking about?”

Seeing Caroline staring at the ceiling, Adrian buried his head in the crook of her neck, nuzzling her affectionately as he asked curiously.

“Nothing… I’m just marveling at the fact that you and I are married, just like that.”

Caroline’s reaction time was a bit slow. After getting their marriage license yesterday, she went straight to work, and then was busy with the family gathering in the evening. She hadn’t really processed it then.

Today, with the child’s birthday and experiencing the whole scene of their marriage being announced, looking at the father and son on the bed, it was only now dawning on her that she and Adrian Grant were, in fact, married.

Adrian paused, opened his eyes, and gently caressed her cheek. His deep, magnetic voice spread in her ear, “What’s wrong? Regretting it?”

“…”

‘Why does he always bring up regrets after just a few words?’

‘The way he asks, with that intimidating aura… even if I did regret it, I wouldn’t dare tell the truth.’

However, the thought had barely formed in Caroline’s mind before it vanished.

‘Wait, why wouldn’t I dare? Hmph, I’m not some henpecked wife,’ she muttered to herself.

Caroline said leisurely, “No. I just think getting married really does require a bit of impulse.”

When she said this, Adrian didn’t “punish” her fiercely as she had imagined.

He just chuckled softly and said slowly, “Then I did the right thing.”

“What did you do right?”

“Taking you to get the license while you were being impulsive.”

“…”

Caroline changed the subject. “Actually, maybe getting married doesn’t require that much impulse after all.”

“How so?”

“Because marrying you… doesn’t seem to require any impulse.”

After saying this, Caroline peeked at him. Sure enough, the corners of Adrian’s mouth were turned up slightly.

“Such sweet words?”

‘Of course.’

‘Hmph, I’m a woman who has studied the art of sweet-talking, you know.’

Caroline feigned a yawn. “Time for bed. I have to go to…”

Before she could finish, Adrian’s lips covered hers. He pecked her a few times. “They really are sweet.”

“…”

Caroline instinctively glanced at Tiny. Seeing him sleeping soundly, his little fist still clutching a corner of the blanket, she felt relieved. At the same time, she jabbed Adrian’s chest with her elbow.

“Don’t mess around. You’ll wake the child.”

Adrian only glanced in the little guy’s direction before immediately making a decision that broke his promise to sleep with the child tonight.

He got out of bed, bent down, and scooped her out from under the covers.

“What are you doing—” Caroline hissed.

“Changing locations.” Adrian walked toward the door holding her, his steps steady.

“…”

Caroline silently wrapped her arms around his neck. She had thought Adrian was going to carry the child to the nursery; it turned out they were the ones moving.

She struggled symbolically for a moment, realized she was at a tactical disadvantage, and gave up.

‘Oh well, the kid is sleeping really soundly tonight anyway.’

「The next morning.」

Those who had to work went to work, and those who had to take the child to school did so.

As for a honeymoon leave.

There was none.

At least, not at this stage.

It had to be said that after the Grant Family publicly announced the marriage alliance, it generated significant buzz for the Whitman Group. Partnership proposals for the company came one after another.

Forget Franklin Whitman wanting to retire early.

Caroline wanted to retire too.

Now, every morning she opened her eyes, her phone would be filled with a list of new partnership inquiries sent by Secretary Lynch in the middle of the night.

At first, she would tap and read each one. By the third day, she had started just swiping through the screen and flipping through the files, considering them reviewed.

Working overtime on a weekend, Caroline slammed her phone face down on the desk, chugged a mouthful of coffee, and leaned back in her chair to contemplate the meaning of life.

She wondered, did she really need to earn this much money?

What was the point of earning money, really…?

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