"I'm not mad. You're always so thoughtful."
Having successfully secured his bride, Edison gently took her hand and led her toward the chapel.
As the Clan Successor, Claire had to hurry over there as well.
She was only halfway across the courtyard when a deeply familiar voice rang out.
"I didn't expect to make it to Edison's reception. Am I too late?"
It was Dane!
Claire whipped around, her eyes locking onto Dane just as his lips curved into a devastatingly handsome smile.
"What are you doing here?" Claire was genuinely stunned; she had mentioned Edison's wedding when they spoke on the phone on New Year's Eve, but that was all.
She hadn't actually asked him to attend.
After all, it was the holidays, and as the head of The Green Family, Dane had to be buried in endless obligations.
Plus, the freezing winter weather kept Baldrick firmly indoors, leaving Dane to handle every single corporate social event on his own.
Under those circumstances, it seemed entirely impossible for him to carve out the time for a trip all the way to Apex.
"Like you said, it's Edison's wedding. How could I not show up as your fiance?" "Besides, I needed to drop by and wish Pandora a happy new year."
In his position as Claire's future husband, skipping out on a major event with The James Family would have been terribly bad manners.
"Oh, alright then." Claire tried to sound perfectly nonchalant, but a bright smile betrayed her composure.
She hadn't seen him in a few days, and somehow, the man looked even more attractive than she remembered.
Claire secretly swooned in her mind.
While Shirley was busy playing the perfect bridesmaid, Dexter finally noticed Dane's striking presence.
He stealthily sidled up to Claire and muttered, "Claire, who's the guy?"
He was standing way too close to his cousin was this guy trying to make a move?
Sure, the dude was incredibly handsome, but Claire was still practically a kid!
Dexter might have hated studying, but he knew exactly how brilliant Claire was in school.
If she managed to avoid romantic distractions, she was practically destined for academic godhood.
What if a stupid relationship dragged her grades down into the mud?
Despite being an absolute slacker himself, Dexter loved aggressively managing other people's priorities.
Claire glanced at him, completely oblivious to the chaotic gears turning in his head, simply assuming he was curious.
"He's my fiance. Why?"
"Fiance?!" Dexter balked. "I thought your fiance was that absolute scumbag York..." Wait a second, York and Claire had publicly called off their engagement ages ago.
So her fiance definitely wasn't York anymore.
"Where the hell did this new fiance come from?!"
"How come none of us heard about this?" Dexter was utterly baffled.
He had
protective
intended to play
guard dog against a
to find out the
already part o
the family
guy
family plan.
"My grandfather arranged it."
"What's the matter? Do you think
he's not enough for me?" Claire
teased highly amused by Dexter's shell-shocked expression .net
Dane briefly sized Dexter up before entirely losing interest.
It was blatantly obvious that this teenager was zero threat in the romance department.
Plus, he clearly treated Claire with familial respect.
"Of course... wait, no!" Dexter instantly backpedaled the second Dane's cool gaze flicked over to him.
"I didn't say he wasn't good enough! I think you and your guy are a perfect match, absolutely destined for each other!"
Claire laughed out loud; the kid folded faster than a cheap lawn chair.
Even Dane seemed immensely satisfied with the enthusiastic stamp of approval.
Dane calmly reached into his tailored overcoat, pulled out a thick envelope of cash, and pressed it into Dexter's hands.
Judging by the hefty weight of the envelope, it was a seriously impressive sum.
Dexter used to be completely
careless with money, but ever since
his immediate family's financial
crisis, he had turned into an absolute hustler.
Feeling the thick stack of bills, his eyes lit up with sheer ecstasy.
"Thank you, boss! You're an absolute legend!"
"Wait, no, I mean-Happy New Year! Wishing you massive success and infinite wealth!"
"And may you grow even more handsome so you can completely lock down Claire's heart forever!"