The Heir's Secret Bride

Macve's face flushed even redder as she reached up to cover the mark on her neck, shooting Byron a sharp look. Her voice came out softer than she intended. "Stop messing around." Byron's eyes gleamed with amusement as he brushed a strand of hair off her cheek. His tone was low and teasing. "Messing around? And what exactly do you mean by that?" Maeve stammered, "Just what you did just now."

"I kissed my girlfriend," he said smoothly. "That's normal. Perfectly acceptable. What's wrong with that?"

"Not fiancée?" she shot back, her eyes narrowing just slightly.

Byron's lips twitched, a hint of a smile breaking through. His voice dropped to a playful drawl. "Ah, yes. Fiancée. My mistake."

Maeve stared at him, knowing he was doing it on purpose but too flustered to argue. She pressed against his arm, signaling she wanted to leave.

Instead of letting her go, he held her firmly in place. His grip wasn't forceful, but it was enough to make it clear she wasn't going anywhere. "No need to rush," he said lightly. "Let's stay a little longer." Maeve tensed, narrowing her eyes. "What are you planning now? We're outside. If you try anything and someone sees..."

Byron raised an eyebrow, leaning closer. "Try anything? Maeve, you're the one jumping to conclusions. Or..." His grin turned wicked. "Are you secretly hoping I'll do something to you here?"

Her jaw dropped. He was the one who pulled her into this maze, and now he was acting like she was the one with ideas.

After not seeing him for a few days, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd taken a crash course in shamelessness.

"You're unbelievable," she hissed. "If that were true, would you still look so unhappy? Mr. McDaniel, holding it in doesn't seem to suit you."

Byron blinked, momentarily caught off guard by her boldness.

Then his grin deepened, and he leaned closer, bracing his hands on either side of her against the hedge. His warm breath tickled her ear as he whispered, "You seem awfully familiar with what it means to hold back. Tell me, Maeve..."

His words faded into a low murmur, too quiet to hear clearly but enough to make her heart race. His breath brushed against her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

Her ears turned scarlet, and she looked away, her lashes trembling. "I don't!" she blurted, though her voice wasn't as steady as she'd hoped.

Her mind betrayed her, pulling up the first dream she'd had that wasn't a nightmare, just Byron, And the kind of dream that was way too embarrassing to admit.

Maeve couldn't shake the dream from her mind. Now, with Byron's words bringing it all back, her face turned beet red.

If Byron ever found out, he would never let her hear the end of it. There was no way she was admitting it.

"Stop assuming things. I've got classes all day. I don't have time to sit around thinking about you," she shot back quickly, trying to cover her embarrassment. "Besides, it doesn't matter if you come back later." She was so flustered she didn't even notice the dark look in Byron's eyes.

"You don't miss me at all he asked, his voice low and serious

"Didn't we do a video call every day?" she replied, trying to downplay it.

Byron raised an eyebrow, then grinned, running his tongue over the inside of his mouth as he stepped closer. "You're heartless, Macve."

Maeve was about to complain when Tom's voice called out from nearby. "Will. Theo, where is your mom?"

Her heart jumped. Maeve tugged on Byron's sleeve, her eyes silently pleading for him to leave before they got caught

Byron sighed, reluctantly letting it go-for now. With his lips pressed into a thin line, he walked out, Maeve following close behind with a mix of relief and lingering nerves.

Later that afternoon. Tom appeared with an overwhelming stack of transfer documents for Maeve to sign.

Real estate, cars, jewelry-she skimmed through, stunned to see even private yachts and islands included in the pile.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Then came the cherry on top: a piece of land to develop and a massive manor.

Maeve stared at the papers, her hand already cramping. By the time she was done, she was sure her name could easily land on the world's richest list.

"Uncle," she groaned, rubbing her sore wrist. "How much more do you have left?"

Maeve slumped in her chair, feeling like her hand might fall off. No one told her that too much wealth came with cramps.

Tom smiled, unfazed. "Almost done, just one more stack."

Maeve hadn't officially been added back into the royal family records, if she had, the pile of assets would've been ten times worse.

The reason behind all of this was that Tom felt sorry for Maeve and had secretly given her a lot of private assets.

Wren actually wanted to leave all the assets under her name to her daughter, but she was worried Maeve wouldn't want them. So, she split a portion off, just like Tom, and mixed it in with the pile of documents. They knew Maeve trusted them and wouldn't go through the papers too carefully, so they managed to sneak in a little something extra- even the industries tied to the maritime amusement park.

"Mommy, hang in there a little longer! Victory is almost here!" Theo massaged Maeve's back, trying to cheer her on. "Once all this is signed, you'll be able to pass Daddy and sit at the top!"

Will heard this and ran over to Byron, who was sitting on the other sofa, sipping his coffee. He whispered, "Dad, if you ever want to marry Mommy, but you can't give her enough gifts, do you want me to help you out?" Will was considered pretty loaded, too.

Byron just glanced at the pile of papers and smiled casually. "Doesn't matter even if it's ten times more."

Will nodded like he was deep in thought and then patted Byron on the shoulder. "Dad, you need to take care of your health. Don't overwork yourself."

"Huh?" Byron raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you so concerned about me?"

"A healthy body is key to making money. Theo and I haven't grown up yet. We still need you to help us manage all this stuff,"

to take over was clear on his innocent-looking face. Will said, his face sincere-though his intentio

Byron smirked, replying ambiguously, "Let's see if you've got what it takes."

Yeah, right. Taking my money to spoil my wife? Not a chance, Byron thought,

60%

He started thinking maybe once Will and Theo got older, he would ship them off to boarding school to keep them from sticking around Macve so much. Boys shouldn't be so clingy.

If Will had any idea what Byron was plotting, he'd probably start listancing himself fast to avoid getting abandoned.

After signing what felt like an endless stack of documents, Maeve was completely drained. Just as she set the pen down, Tom's cheerful smile sent a chill down her spine. She knew that look. "There's still a little more, Tom said, handing over another pile of papers. "These are fixed assets, non-transferable."

With a sigh, Maeve grabbed the documents and started flipping through them. Her eyes widened. "Wait... mineral mines?"

Erancia was famous for its gemstone reserves, most of which were tightly controlled by the royal family. By tradition, only direct descendants could inherit those resources.

Besides Wren and Tom, the Queen had another son, but he passed away unexpectedly, so the direct line of descent was running thin.

In short, the wealth of those mines was tightly held by Wren, Tom, and Loren. And now, Maeve was on that exclusive list,

too.