*****At this moment, the inside of the black Audi was silent.No… calling it silent was an understatement; after all, silence implied stillness, calm, and the absence of sound.What pressed down on the car at this moment was heavier, denser, and more suffocating.It was the kind of silence so heavy that every unspoken and buried thought seemed to echo in the air.The only sound that entered the car right now was the low hum of the car’s engine, the faint whizz of passing tires on the road, and the occasional sharp blare of distant vehicles’ horns cutting through the night.Grace sat stiffly behind the steering wheel, her hands gripping it in a way that revealed far more about her state of mind than she realized.Her eyes were fixed forward, her pupils dilated, but anyone who looked closely would realize… she wasn’t really seeing the road.This much… was correct.In fact, if anything, it was something of a great miracle the car hadn’t already crashed into a divider, swerved o

*****Before now, Xavier had been lost in his own thought as well, his gaze fixed on the dark blur of passing streets, though the cold sharpness in his eyes made it clear that his mind had been far away… still back in that hall, with Sarah, the Scoans, and every single face that had dared to humiliate his wife.Her question, however, instantly tugged him back.In the following second, he blinked once, appearing like a man waking from a dream, then he turned to find Grace staring at him… not casually or with the familiarity of someone who thought she knew him, but as though she were seeing him for the first time in her life.His brow lifted faintly. “Huh?” he uttered, sounding confused.Grace’s grip on the wheel instantly tightened, her eyes steady despite the confusion swirling within them.“Who are you?” she asked again, firmer this time, her voice steadier but filled with questions that were desperate for answers. “How… how were you able to make Miss Lyria… of all people bow t

*****At this moment, Xavier could only stare back at Grace, finding it difficult to understand her question.It was as though she had just spoken an alien language to him, one he couldn’t understand, let alone process.And this lasted for a moment before… “Make her have a thing for me?” he repeated, sounding genuinely baffled.In the following second, the flame in Grace’s gaze flared.She leaned forward slightly, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “You didn’t see the way she looked at you? Inside the hall, and especially after we left the banquet… when she came to meet us outside? Don’t you play dumb!”Xavier didn’t answer… no, he couldn’t answer, so he stared blankly at her, doing the only thing he could do.Of course, he had no idea what Grace was talking about. He was usually oblivious to emotions… especially those from the opposite gender. But even then... he was certain that Lyria hadn't had any unusual look in her gaze.As