Just as he’d thought. She had heard everything.

Hayes Hughes’s eyelashes fluttered, his heart a tangled mess of emotions.

His gaze fell upon the figure on the swing. The girl’s toes lightly brushed the ground, her body swaying gently with its motion.

Meeting his gaze, Mia Grant smiled. Her eyes curved into two crescents, looking utterly adorable.

But for some reason, even seeing her so happy, Hayes couldn’t shake the feeling of unease in his heart.

Gradually, Mia noticed his strange silence, and the curve of her lips slowly flattened.

Inside the conservatory, the silence was broken only by the sound of flowing water behind them.

Mia Grant sighed silently.

Hayes Hughes could always sense her mood shifts with uncanny precision.

’I really can’t hide anything from him, can I?’

"Okay, fine. I am a little, but just a tiny bit."

Was she sad?

Yes, she was.

But she had no intention of fighting, trying to salvage things, or struggling against her sadness.

She accepted this outcome.

Taking a long-term view, letting things go for now was the best option.

"Let’s not talk about this anymore. Hayes, are you really staying in Portia until Silas’s wedding?"

"I might. I called the hospital this morning to request an extended leave, but I haven’t heard back yet. I need to see how the other doctors’ schedules work out first."

After a pause, Hayes Hughes let out a breath and told her the truth.

"Truthfully, if it were just for the wedding, I could have just come over on the day of."

"I wanted to stay because I’m worried about you being here by yourself."

Mia Grant had figured as much.

She smiled. "I’m not exactly by myself. You know Simon Adler, right? His men are protecting me."

"I won’t be staying here forever, either. It’s just that right now... there are some things bothering me."

Mia Grant thought for a moment, then leaned forward.

The swing swayed violently, and Hayes Hughes’s quick reflexes kicked in as he reached out to steady it. A familiar, sweet fragrance wafted over, filling his senses.

He looked up at her.

Their eyes met.

The young woman’s gaze was lowered, her long lashes fluttering, a faint smile playing on her lips.

She was like a goddess from on high, descending from a distant horizon to appear before him. Her delicate fingers rested gently on his shoulder, and as she looked down, her gaze seemed filled with compassion.

As a cardiothoracic surgeon, Hayes Hughes knew exactly what caused that tremor in his heart the moment he met her eyes.

"Hayes."

It was only when she spoke that Hayes Hughes, flustered, broke eye contact and answered in a low voice.

Normally, when speaking to anyone, he made a point of looking them directly in the eye out of politeness.

But now, he didn’t dare to meet her gaze.

Gazing at each other from a distance allowed him to hide his feelings, but looking at her this close was like standing naked in the dead of winter, every inch of his skin exposed to the cold air.

His body was stiff, his breathing heavy. There was nowhere to hide the rise and fall of his chest.

Mia Grant stared at him, not missing a single flicker of his expression.

’She had originally intended to ask him, since he was a doctor, if he could help her sound out the old man.’

’Simon Adler had said that the old man’s sudden rush to have Silas Grant marry meant one of two things: either he had sensed something, or something had happened to the old man himself.’

’If he was in such a hurry, it meant his time was short.’

’So was it possible... that there was indeed something wrong with the old man’s health?’

’The old man’s personal physicians were a dedicated medical team from a private hospital owned by the Hughes Corp.’

’It would take time for Simon Adler to dig up information, and given her position, she had no opportunity at all.’

’Right now, the most suitable person for the job was Hayes Hughes.’

’She had wanted to ask him.’

’But now, she suddenly regretted the thought.’

’She couldn’t... she couldn’t use him.’

She remained silent for a long time. The only sound he could hear was her uneven breathing.

After hesitating for a long moment, Hayes Hughes glanced sideways at her again.

At that moment, Mia Grant’s breath caught, strengthening her resolve to abandon the thought.

"What is it you want to say?" Sensing her deep hesitation, Hayes Hughes’s hand on the swing tightened slightly as he forced a relaxed smile.

"What could you possibly need to be this conflicted about in front of me? Mia, there’s nothing you can’t tell me. What do you need me to do?"

"..."

His eyes were too clear, like the benevolent gaze of an angel, and yet, also a temptation.

He was always like this. Even when she said nothing, he could sense that something was on her mind.

But Mia Grant still shrank back.

’Things have already gone this far. It seems I can’t get out of this without saying something.’

Even though he hadn’t spoken, his eyes were full of questions.

He rarely pressed her so insistently.

This time, however, he seemed determined to get an answer.

After a few seconds of silent eye contact, Mia Grant swallowed nervously. "Hayes, are there... any security cameras here?"

The angel’s eyelashes trembled. He turned his head and carefully scanned the area. "No, the conservatory is usually tended to by the staff. Grandpa never comes here. This place is just for show; he isn’t very fond of all these flowers and plants, so..."

As he spoke, he turned his head back. But before his gaze could land on her again, he suddenly felt a warmth press against his lips.

Hayes Hughes froze, his pupils trembling. His heart seized, and he instinctively pulled back the hand that had been steadying her swing.

The swing, now unsteady, began to rock.

She pulled away from his lips, cupped his face in her hands, and looked down at him with a mischievous smile. "Hayes, has anyone ever told you that your lips look very kissable?"

"...No." Hayes Hughes’s gaze swept quickly over her face.

He saw her glistening lips, her flushed cheeks, her beautiful eyes, and in them, the reflection of his own flustered, bewildered self.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He parted his lips, about to speak.

The next second, the goddess descended once more. With an air of one ready to captivate the world for his sake, she held his face in her hands and, with a serious expression, kissed him.

It was less a kiss and more like salvation bestowed by a goddess from a Greek myth.

He didn’t respond. Mia Grant pulled back and tilted her head. "Hayes, why are you looking at me like that?"

"You’re clearly having a reaction, so why aren’t you kissing me back?"

"..."

She was so wicked. She smiled triumphantly, as if the goddess had ripped off her disguise to reveal the thorough seductress beneath.

A feeling of suffocation washed over him. He took a long, slow breath to calm himself, then gently removed one of her hands from his face. "Alright," he said, his tone resigned. "Stop messing around."

Mia Grant blinked, not quite satisfied with his reaction.

’She hadn’t intended to take it any further, but the look on his face right now...’

’It made her itch to do something wicked.’

’She might not be a goddess, but he was definitely an angel.’

’Full of divinity, compassionate toward all living things.’

’It gave her the feeling that even though his words told her to stop, if she insisted on having her way with him, he would feign resistance but ultimately let her.’

At this thought, Mia Grant’s eyes lit up, and she began to hatch another mischievous plan.

The next second, she leaned in again, trying to get closer, but she forgot that no one was steadying the swing anymore.

As her body swayed with the swing, she reflexively threw her arms around his neck to keep from falling.

With a short gasp, she pulled Hayes Hughes down with her.

In the ensuing chaos, he held on to her tightly.

The two of them fell together, tumbling into the sea of flowers.