"Axel, I’ll only be here for six months. Oliver and I can live a normal life. It doesn’t have to be complicated—"
Her words trailed off when a sudden thought struck her. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh, wait! Axel, you won’t be here every day, will you?" Evelyn’s tone softened with genuine worry. "I an, you’d have to fly back and forth from the capital all the ti. That’s hours of driving or flying, tons of fuel will empty your wallet. And, you’ll wear yourself out."
Instead of responding to her concern, Axel’s gaze turned intense, his reply coming down hard on her hesitation. "Co on, this isn’t about us, Evelyn. It’s for Oliver."
Evelyn blinked, startled. Before she could gather herself to respond, he continued.
"In Oliver’s mind, parents live together in one house. Not in separate apartnts. And definitely not in separate bedrooms." His eyes t hers with quiet intensity. "We can’t let him feel like this is fake, right?"
She almost choked on her own breath.
’Seriously, Axel? Parents living together in one house? Not in separate bedrooms? Did you think I was naïve enough to believe Oliver had said that?’
Her inner voice burst out in an incredulous laugh.
’This is just your trick to share a bedroom with , isn’t it?’ The thought alone made her cheeks flush.
Once that spark started, she couldn’t help but picture all these steamy, kinda inappropriate images flooding her mind; Axel’s husky voice in the dark, his hand brushing hers under the sheets, his warmth pressing against her back.
’Oh. My.Godness! Eve, stop it!’ She clenched her teeth, ntally slamming the door on that train of thought before it derailed completely.
She parted her lips to speak, but nothing ca out. So she closed them again, struggling to keep her composure. Not to show any expression to him.
But of course, Axel noticed. And because he was Axel Knight, he didn’t pause, didn’t falter, he just kept going, as if he’d already planned every detail.
"We’ll combine the two apartnts into one large unit," he said smoothly, like he was presenting a business proposal instead of casually rewriting her entire life. "A proper master bedroom for us. A larger room for Oliver. And an office for you."
Evelyn stared at him, wide-eyed. Surprised to hear his last sentence.
"...An office?" she repeated, blinking like she hadn’t heard right.
Of all the things he could’ve thrown at her, the master bedroom, the rging of apartnts, but the one word that hooked her attention was office.
Because that was precisely what she wanted.
All this ti, she had been juggling her work on the kitchen island, the dining table, or on the sofa. She didn’t have a dedicated space to think, to focus, to breathe.
"Yes," Axel confird with a slight raise of his brow, as if he’d been waiting for her to catch up. "You told you wanted a ho office if you moved in with in the capital, didn’t you?"
"Ah, you’re right..." She had forgotten entirely about ever ntioning it to him.
Axel tilted his head, studying her. "What kind of work do you do from ho, Evelyn? Do you need my help to open an office for you? Or..." he paused enough to add the tension.
"Or, what?" She asked, worried he would tease her again.
"Do you want to open a branch of your café in the capital? That way, you don’t have to worry about it." His tone softened, surprisingly genuine.
She froze, caught off guard by the way his words weren’t dripping with teasing, arrogance, or control, but care. Real care.
Before she could untangle her thoughts enough to respond, he leaned forward slightly, sealing the deal with quiet assurance.
"Don’t worry. My people only need a week to finish it."
"A week? You an the apartnt renovation?"
He nods.
"To combine two whole apartnts? That’s... insanely fast!"
"Well, they’re the best," he replied, pride glinting in his eyes. "If I asked, they could finish it in a single day. But I’d rather they take their ti."
She let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head. "A week is your version of taking ti?"
"Yes." He didn’t even blink.
Evelyn pressed her palms together, exhaling slowly. Renovating wasn’t the problem. Nope. But the problem will appear after the renovation is done.
’My God... a week. Just one week. And then... a master bedroom for and my lawfully wedded husband. Axel Knight.’
Her heart gave a traitorous skip. The thought of sharing a roof with him was already overwhelming. But sharing a room? Sharing a bed... while sober, while awake, while fully aware it was him?
Desperate for a distraction, she blurted out, "Axel... I thought you were supposed to be so insanely busy entrepreneur who never even has ti to eat properly. Yet here you are, sitting with in the middle of the day. Why?"
His gaze lifted, a flicker of confusion shadowing his face.
"What do you an by that question? Of course I’m here, we just finalized our wedding paper."
"I an..." She gestured vaguely, her hands flailing as if they could shape her thoughts into words. "Don’t you have empires to run? etings to yell at people in? Stocks to manipulate? You could just stay in the capital and visit on weekends. Oliver and I would be fine here."
His brows furrowed, and his voice remained steady and confident. "Evelyn, we are married."
"Oh. Right." She forced a laugh, but it ca out awkward, like glass about to shatter. "So sorry, this is all so fast. I’m still not used to it."
Silence stretched between them. Not an empty silence, but a heavy one, filled with unspoken words, unsaid truths.
She looked away first, her eyes skimming over the interior of his ho. Anything to avoid his gaze.
Not long after, she dared to voice her thoughts again, "But Axel... don’t change too much just because of us. Keep doing your thing. We’ll be fine."
A low chuckle slipped past his lips, "I haven’t changed. I’m simply doing what I need to do."
She turned her gaze to et his calm and gentle hazel eyes. Her chest tightened, her pulse tripping over itself.
Because he wasn’t joking, he wasn’t exaggerating. He ant every single word.
And that unsettled her more than anything else.
She didn’t argue. Didn’t press further. She only nodded, surrendering to the silence that followed.
Because the truth was, she couldn’t stop him. Axel Knight wasn’t a man you stopped. He was a force, a storm, and once he set a plan, he didn’t stop.
All she could do was follow along, brace herself for the future he was steadily building brick by brick, and hope she wouldn’t drown in the process.
Six months. That was all she had before she would step fully into his world.
And that thought both terrified her... and thrilled her.
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