LOGINMia couldn’t help but keep stealing glances at him. The dining room was quiet except for the soft clink of cutlery against plates. The long dining table suddenly didn’t feel as intimidating as it once had, but it still carried the same suffocating atmosphere whenever Max sat across from her. He looked calm as always. Like nothing in the world could truly shake him. Mia lowered her eyes to her plate again, pushing the food around with her fork without really paying attention to what she was eating. Her thoughts were somewhere else completely. On him. What would happen when Max Hult finally found out why she agreed to marry him? The thought made her stomach tighten painfully. Would he immediately call off the wedding? He had to. No sane person would continue with something like this after finding out the woman he was about to marry had entered his life because she was sent to steal from him. Mia swallowed hard. Would he be angry? Disgusted? Disappointed? The last thought
Max was halfway to his meeting when his phone vibrated. He barely paid attention to it at first, his attention fixed on the documents Scott was currently going through beside him in the car. But when he glanced at the screen and saw Melissa’s name, his eyes narrowed slightly. Melissa was instructed to only report to him when it was important after the previous day. He opened the message immediately. [Your sister is on her way to the estate. She called ahead. She wants to see Miss Mia.] Max’s expression instantly hardened. Scott noticed the subtle change immediately. “What happened?” he asked carefully. Max locked his phone and leaned back into the seat. “My sister is at the house.” Scott blinked. “Now?” Max nodded once. “She informed Melissa beforehand.” Scott immediately understood the problem. Mia. Max glanced out the window for a few seconds before suddenly speaking again. “Turn around.” Scott looked at him through the rearview mirror. “The meeting, sir?” “R
Mia was still asleep when she heard a soft knock on her door. At first, she ignored it and buried her face deeper into the pillow, half asleep and too exhausted to care. But the knock came again, this time followed by Melissa’s calm voice. “Miss Mia?” Mia’s eyes slowly fluttered open. For a few seconds she simply stared at the ceiling, disoriented and groggy, before everything from her last conversation with max came rushing back to her. Her chest tightened slightly. She sat up slowly and ran her hand through her messy hair before dragging herself out of bed and walking toward the door. When she opened it, Melissa stood outside with two maids behind her as usual. “Good morning,” Melissa greeted politely. “Morning,” Mia murmured, her voice still heavy with sleep. Melissa studied her for a brief second before speaking again. “Mr Hult asked that you take the day off from the wedding preparations.” Mia blinked. “What?” Melissa nodded calmly. “You are to res
Max was already on his way back to the estate when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen briefly before answering. “Melissa.” “Sir,” her voice came through, calm but with an underlying urgency. “She asked to go for a walk alone.” Max’s eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned back into the seat. Scott, who was driving, glanced at him through the rearview mirror but said nothing. “And?” Max asked. “She noticed,” Melissa added. “Or at least… she suspects. She insisted on being alone and walked out to the garden. I didn’t follow.” A brief silence followed her words. Max let out a quiet breath, his gaze drifting to the window as the estate gates came into view ahead. “I see,” he said simply. “She seemed… uneasy,” Melissa continued after a pause. “More than usual.” Max didn’t respond immediately. He didn’t need to. He had already come to the same conclusion the moment Melissa mentioned Mia wanting to be alone. She had figured it out. Or at least, enough of it. “Thank you, Melis
When everything was finally done, Mia felt like she could barely breathe. The dress had been fitted, adjusted and admired by everyone in the room... Elian had circled her like a man possessed, muttering under his breath about perfection, symmetry, and how the final stitching had elevated everything beyond his expectations. Melissa had stood close by the entire time, watching, occasionally nodding, occasionally correcting the maids when needed. Mia had stood there through it all still and silent, smiling when she had to. Answering when spoken to. But inside, her chest had felt tighter with every passing second. By the time Elian finally declared himself satisfied and the dress was carefully packed away again, Mia felt like she had been holding her breath for hours. “Perfect,” Elian had said, his eyes gleaming with pride. “Absolutely perfect.” Mia had nodded. But the word echoed differently in her mind. Perfect. That was what Max wanted too, wasn’t it? A perfec
Max’s office was silent except for the soft ticking of the clock mounted on the far wall. Morning light filtered through the tall windows behind his desk, casting long streaks of pale gold across the polished floor. The room carried the same atmosphere it always did, everything perfectly arranged, nothing out of place. Max sat behind his desk, flipping through a stack of documents. To anyone walking in, he looked completely normal. Focused, calm and working. But Scott knew better. Scott had been working with Max for years, long enough to recognize when something was different. And this morning something definitely was. Scott stood near the side table, a tablet in his hand as he reviewed the morning schedule. He had already updated Max about several meetings and handled three phone calls on his behalf, but his attention kept drifting back to the man behind the desk. Max hadn’t spoken much since arriving. Which wasn’t unusual. But there was a quiet tension in the room that h
The moment Max stepped out of the dining room, the calm expression he had worn like a perfectly tailored suit shattered. His jaw clenched hard enough to ache, his shoulders stiffening as if the walls themselves had suddenly grown heavier. The corridor stretched before him, long and dimly lit, the
Time passed. by faster than Mia wanted and two weeks passed faster than she anticipated. Every morning, Mia woke to the same pale light filtering through the curtains of her room. The same soft knock from a maid reminding her it was time for breakfast. The same silence when she stepped into the di
Morning arrived quietly, the sunlight filtered through the curtains of her room. Mia lay still for a few moments after waking, staring at the ceiling as her mind slowly caught up with reality. The wedding preparations were continuing. That thought alone was enough to make her chest tighten. She
Max stood on the balcony of his room, one hand resting on the cold railing as the night air brushed against his skin. The estate was quiet, almost eerily so, but that was how he liked it. Silence had always been his comfort. Noise, crowds, forced conversations, they drained him in ways nothing els







