Chapter 51: A Week
"Axel, I’ll only be here for six months. Oliver and I can live a normal life. It doesn’t have to be complicated—"
Her words trailed off when a sudden thought struck her. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh, wait! Axel, you won’t be here every day, will you?" Evelyn’s tone softened with genuine worry. "I mean, you’d have to fly back and forth from the capital all the time. That’s hours of driving or flying, tons of fuel will empty your wallet. And, you’ll wear yourself out."
Instead of responding to her concern, Axel’s gaze turned intense, his reply coming down hard on her hesitation. "Come on, this isn’t about us, Evelyn. It’s for Oliver."
Evelyn blinked, startled. Before she could gather herself to respond, he continued.
"In Oliver’s mind, parents live together in one house. Not in separate apartments. And definitely not in separate bedrooms." His eyes met hers with quiet intensity. "We can’t let him feel like this is fake, right?"
She almost choked on her own breath.
’Seriously, Axel? Parents living together in one house? Not in separate bedrooms? Did you think I was naïve enough to believe Oliver had said that?’
Her inner voice burst out in an incredulous laugh.
’This is just your trick to share a bedroom with me, isn’t it?’ The thought alone made her cheeks flush.
Once that spark started, she couldn’t help but picture all these steamy, kinda inappropriate images flooding her mind; Axel’s husky voice in the dark, his hand brushing hers under the sheets, his warmth pressing against her back.
’Oh. My.Godness! Eve, stop it!’ She clenched her teeth, mentally slamming the door on that train of thought before it derailed completely.
She parted her lips to speak, but nothing came out. So she closed them again, struggling to keep her composure. Not to show any expression to him.
But of course, Axel noticed. And because he was Axel Knight, he didn’t pause, didn’t falter, he just kept going, as if he’d already planned every detail.
"We’ll combine the two apartments into one large unit," he said smoothly, like he was presenting a business proposal instead of casually rewriting her entire life. "A proper master bedroom for us. A larger room for Oliver. And an office for you."
Evelyn stared at him, wide-eyed. Surprised to hear his last sentence.
"...An office?" she repeated, blinking like she hadn’t heard right.
Of all the things he could’ve thrown at her, the master bedroom, the merging of apartments, but the one word that hooked her attention was office.
Because that was precisely what she wanted.
All this time, she had been juggling her work on the kitchen island, the dining table, or on the sofa. She didn’t have a dedicated space to think, to focus, to breathe.
"Yes," Axel confirmed with a slight raise of his brow, as if he’d been waiting for her to catch up. "You told me you wanted a home office if you moved in with me in the capital, didn’t you?"
"Ah, you’re right..." She had forgotten entirely about ever mentioning it to him.
Axel tilted his head, studying her. "What kind of work do you do from home, Evelyn? Do you need my help to open an office for you? Or..." he paused enough to add the tension.
"Or, what?" She asked, worried he would tease her again.
"Do you want me to open a branch of your café in the capital? That way, you don’t have to worry about it." His tone softened, surprisingly genuine.
She froze, caught off guard by the way his words weren’t dripping with teasing, arrogance, or control, but care. Real care.
Before she could untangle her thoughts enough to respond, he leaned forward slightly, sealing the deal with quiet assurance.
"Don’t worry. My people only need a week to finish it."
"A week? You mean the apartment renovation?"
He nods.
"To combine two whole apartments? That’s... insanely fast!"
"Well, they’re the best," he replied, pride glinting in his eyes. "If I asked, they could finish it in a single day. But I’d rather they take their time."
She let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head. "A week is your version of taking time?"
"Yes." He didn’t even blink.
Evelyn pressed her palms together, exhaling slowly. Renovating wasn’t the problem. Nope. But the problem will appear after the renovation is done.
’My God... a week. Just one week. And then... a master bedroom for me and my lawfully wedded husband. Axel Knight.’
Her heart gave a traitorous skip. The thought of sharing a roof with him was already overwhelming. But sharing a room? Sharing a bed... while sober, while awake, while fully aware it was him?
Desperate for a distraction, she blurted out, "Axel... I thought you were supposed to be some insanely busy entrepreneur who never even has time to eat properly. Yet here you are, sitting with me in the middle of the day. Why?"
His gaze lifted, a flicker of confusion shadowing his face.
"What do you mean by that question? Of course I’m here, we just finalized our wedding paper."
"I mean..." She gestured vaguely, her hands flailing as if they could shape her thoughts into words. "Don’t you have empires to run? Meetings to yell at people in? Stocks to manipulate? You could just stay in the capital and visit on weekends. Oliver and I would be fine here."
His brows furrowed, and his voice remained steady and confident. "Evelyn, we are married."
"Oh. Right." She forced a laugh, but it came out awkward, like glass about to shatter. "So sorry, this is all so fast. I’m still not used to it."
Silence stretched between them. Not an empty silence, but a heavy one, filled with unspoken words, unsaid truths.
She looked away first, her eyes skimming over the interior of his home. Anything to avoid his gaze.
Not long after, she dared to voice her thoughts again, "But Axel... don’t change too much just because of us. Keep doing your thing. We’ll be fine."
A low chuckle slipped past his lips, "I haven’t changed. I’m simply doing what I need to do."
She turned her gaze to meet his calm and gentle hazel eyes. Her chest tightened, her pulse tripping over itself.
Because he wasn’t joking, he wasn’t exaggerating. He meant every single word.
And that unsettled her more than anything else.
She didn’t argue. Didn’t press further. She only nodded, surrendering to the silence that followed.
Because the truth was, she couldn’t stop him. Axel Knight wasn’t a man you stopped. He was a force, a storm, and once he set a plan, he didn’t stop.
All she could do was follow along, brace herself for the future he was steadily building brick by brick, and hope she wouldn’t drown in the process.
Six months. That was all she had before she would step fully into his world.
And that thought both terrified her... and thrilled her.