Lucian shot a glance towards me with wide eyes, obviously not expecting that question. This time I could see the red on the tips of his ears. He stammered for a bit before composing himself and turned towards me with a serious expression. "Well, I felt an instant attraction when I saw you. Even though I see girls a lot prettier than you often, there's something about you that's irresistible." I bristled a little when commented on my looks, but I softened when he said the ending part.

"But that's not why I want to marry you, or at least that's not all of it. The most important part is Luca. I want him to have a mother, one that will be able to care for him and love him unconditionally without any ulterior motives. On that day at the river, I saw how you chose to make sure the kids were safe instead of saving yourself from falling into the river. And then when I heard you scold them in the hospital and somehow made my stubborn son apologise for something he did, I realised that he needed someone like you in his life.

You're the first woman I've ever met that genuinely cared about Luca. All my previous girlfriends were just pretending to get closer to me, but you don't even care that he's my son. For that I want you to stay by his side not as a friend's mother, but his own mother. That's the main reason why I want to marry you. Well, that and the fact that I like you." He ended his monologue with a shy smile.

I can't believe that it had never hit me that Luca didn't have a mother. I just assumed that he had a mother that maybe wasn't married to Lucian, but still took care of him on certain weeks like most divorced couples did.

I gave him a questioning look, "May I ask what happened to Luca's mother?" His face contorted to one of anger and pain. "She ran off right after Luca was born saying that she couldn't raise him without-" He stopped short and fell into deep thought. I let it go, already getting the answer I wanted.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I can marry you despite your reasoning. I can and will treat Luca as my own kid, but I've vowed to never marry anyone that I don't love. I've seen what it does to people and I will never do that to myself or Evander." When I said that, I realised something. "Besides, do you think you could also be a good father to Evander? I can already tell that you're not doing a good job with Luca because of how often you're gone. He's basically being raised by a butler."

I had no right to speak, though. I was doing the exact same thing to Evander with all of my jobs and with setting up the company. At least I wasn't trying to set up my son's marriage when he's only six!

His head drooped as he started twiddling his thumbs. "Blair," he said after a while, "I promise that I'll make you my wife with my own capabilities one day. You will fall in love with me whether or not you know it yet." I swallowed nervously when he turned his soul-piercing gaze towards me. "And that's a promise," he concluded. I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding when he looked up at the stars.

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I stood up when he didn't speak for a while, ready to go home. My impression of Lucian really changed tonight. I guess he isn't as much as a perverted idiot shorty as I thought. Well, he's still a shorty but he's definitely more serious than I thought. More of my type… I shook that thought from my head.

He got up after me and said, "You should probably stay here for the night. It's gotten too late for it to be safe on the city streets. Besides, your apartment's so far away so it would be better to just sleep here." He looked genuinely worried for me. I refused his offer, saying jokingly, "Who knows if you might take pictures of me while I was sleeping or something weird like that?"

I was expecting him to laugh, but all he did was freeze with a guilty expression. No way, was he really going to…? I shuddered at that thought and gave Lucian the look of a kicked puppy. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, obviously trying to cover up his guilt.

"You know what, I'll just send you back with one of my drivers. You don't have to come to pick up Evander in the morning either, I'll send him back as well." I wanted to leave right away, but instead, I asked if I could see my son before I left. He nodded and took me back downstairs to the second floor. He said that they were in the room at the end of the hall.

I peeked in to see two children asleep on a bunk bed, Luca on the top one and Evander on the bottom. I smiled seeing my baby so at peace even when in someone else's home. I guess I didn't need to accompany him everywhere anymore for him to feel safe.

After peeking inside, I closed the door as quietly as possible and went down to the front door. A tall woman was already waiting there for me. Lucian was nowhere to be seen, probably because he was sulking somewhere.

I followed the woman outside to the car and quickly got in, eager to go home after a long stressful day.

_(┐「ε_♡ And a skip~

It was the middle of the afternoon when a "gift" arrived from Lucian. It was now Sunday and I was at home with my son enjoying the rare calm.

An insistent knocking on the door roused me from my designing. I looked towards Evander who also seemed curious. Guess it wasn't Luca then or else he would've immediately answered it. I peered out of the peephole and saw a short woman standing there impatiently. She tried looking into the peephole but scowled when she couldn't. Who the hell is this…?

I pulled open the door and she shouldered past me without saying hello. I stood there in shock, worried that we were about to get robbed by a girl with a lolita-style dress and straight-across bangs. Suddenly, she turned around a shoved a note towards me. "Here, it's from my boss."

I opened it up with shaking hands. 'Meet your new PR manager, Alicia Hayes. I heard you hadn't gotten one yet so I decided to help you out a little. Count it as my dowry. Wink [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/wink.png] ~Your Hubby'

I immediately tore up the note and threw it in the trash. Alicia didn't seem surprised. She probably already read the note before she came here. "Alright Ms. Clarielle, this better not end up being a complete demotion for me. Mr. Fentress is already handling my income because I'm definitely too much for you to afford right now." I was going to protest before I realised it was probably true.

That point aside, I finally have all the people I need to start my company! I have the young master stylist, the hopeless romantic CEO, and the lolita PR Manager. All I have to do is find out which property Lucian gave me as part of the contract and finally come up with a brand name with the team.

My dreams are finally coming true...