Chapter 700

On their way home, Cayenne fell asleep beside him and Stefan took this chance to think of another excuse to leave the house tonight. He couldn’t do it the next day because it was the weekend and Cayenne will be accompanying him. He just escaped from the precipice of her queries and now, he has to make another stupid white lie to her.

Taking out his phone, Stefan sent Tristan a message. “Send a message to all our employees and business partners. Ask if anyone’s getting married next month. Also, call me around 8:00 in the evening and tell me that there is an emergency regarding our stock value.”

Reading this message from him, Tristan burst out laughing. It wasn’t difficult to guess what has happened and he could only shake his head sympathetically.

When they arrived home, Cayenne changed her clothes and started doing her assignments while waiting for dinner to be served. She didn’t forget to send a message to the bodyguard at the hospital as well but no good news related to the child came.

Around dinner time, when Daisy started calling everyone to eat, Stefan received a call from Tristan. Of course, it was the scripted lie he thought just to leave the house.

“Love, I have to go out. Tristan just called me and there are issues regarding our stock values. I need to figure out what happened and solve it as soon as possible.”

“You won’t eat dinner with us?”

.....

“I’ll have dinner when I get back.”

“But it’s late and – wait, let me get your coat.” Cayenne knew she shouldn’t stop him because it was about the business that he built with blood and sweat. She didn’t want to be selfish by stopping him.

When she got back, Stefan was stunned because she has changed her clothes as well. “Are you leaving, too?”

“What? I can’t accompany you?”

“No.” Her face fell immediately which made him think of a random excuse. “I mean, I have plans for tomorrow but because of this issue, I can’t make ample preparation. Can you stay here and prepare for us instead?”

“You will leave me here? This is unexpected.”

“This is our house. We have guards all over the place and there’s tight security. You are safe here. I know I can entrust your life to the people here. They are our family.”

“Alright, then.” Cayenne handed his coat to him and reached out to caress his face. “If you need anything, just give me a call. I will think of something to help. Don’t handle this on your own.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll try to resolve this before midnight and return to your side. You don’t have to wait for me. I’ll just send you the details of our trip tomorrow and you can pack our stuff. Can I leave that to you?”

“Of course, but you can’t tell me not to wait. You know that I will be waiting for you to come home.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Stefan felt guilty for lying to her but he couldn’t find another way for his plan to succeed. Ignoring the people around him, he lowered his head and kissed his wife quickly. “Wait for me.”

On the way to their secretly-built mansion, Stefan browsed his phone to look for some places for relaxation. When he remembered the recent events, he thought that Cayenne deserved a break. He wanted to bring her to a quiet place where they could just relax and enjoy.

“Going to another country isn’t an option since she has a class on Monday and the last quarter exam is also coming soon. I can’t distract her that much.”

His driver looked into the rearview mirror and watched Stefan busily scrolling his phone. “Sir, if I may suggest. There is this place called Four Seasons Hot Spring on Kanlaun Island. It’s close to D City Port and if you leave early, you can get there within three hours. They offer a nice private onsen. Ma’am Cayenne will surely enjoy that place.”

“I’ll check it.” Stefan searched the name of the place and when he found it, he was amazed at how similar the place was to the traditional onsens in Japan. The exterior design of the building, the arrangement of the rooms, the furniture – it looked Japanese. “How did you know this place?”

“My wife and I visited this place last year. This place is owned by a Japanese couple who wanted to share their culture with other people.”

“This place looks nice and it is also close.” Stefan booked a room while speaking but deep in his heart, he promised to take Cayenne to Japan and explore the country with her. Japan isn’t just about onsen. The country offers more than that and he was excited to visit the place with Cayenne in the future. For now, he will enjoy this nearby onsen with his wife first.

After booking, he sent the information to Cayenne.

Little did he know, Cayenne was talking to Magnus over the phone. Because she was really worried about him, she wanted to find someone who can help and the best person for that was Magnus. In this way, she can bring the father and son even closer.

“This is probably the business that he solely owned,” Magnus stated while checking the news online. If something happened to Stefan’s business, it will surely become a hot topic. However, he couldn’t find a single report about his stocks. “I’ll check on him. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t want you to worry over this matter which was the reason why he didn’t tell you.”

“Thank you, dad. I know that he always prioritizes my best interest but I also want to share his burden. If you find something later, please tell me a way to help.”

“Don’t worry, Yen. I am your number one supporter. Just give me a sec. I’ll get back to you after talking to him.”

***

In his mansion on the mountain, Stefan pulled the phone away from his ears because of his father’s loud yell. After Magnus spoke with Cayenne, he called his son immediately only to find out that he lied to his wife.

“Explain,” Magnus stated after yelling for a long time. “You better have a good excuse.”

“I am preparing for our wedding. I have to leave because I needed to do something.”

“Wed-wedding? When? Why didn’t you tell me about this? And since you lie, it means she didn’t know? How could you proceed with this wedding when your bride doesn’t know anything?”

“Technically, we are married. However, our marriage wasn’t known to everyone and it was done in secrecy because of some stuff. Now, I want to give her the best wedding since it can only happen once in a lifetime. I hope you can keep this a secret from her.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, just pretend you know nothing.”

“That’s the hardest part.” Magnus retorted instantly. “Alright, I won’t tell anyone about this. I’ll just figure something out to calm her. You better get this thing done as soon as you can and go back home. Do not worry her that much.”

So, when Magnus called Cayenne again, he only told her that the matter was resolved already and Stefan was just making follow-ups to reassure the shareholders. He didn’t realize he was sweating coldly from lying to her until he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

“I don’t like surprises. It’s scary when you have to lie about it.”