Chapter 407

Benjamin stood at the study door, holding a freshly brewed cup of Longjing tea. The steam curled in the air as he hesitated, watching Adrian's silhouette.

"Young Master, Stella has changed quite a bit lately," Benjamin ventured carefully. "She seems more like her old cheerful self again."

Adrian's pen stilled on the document. The sunset through the floor-to-ceiling windows gilded his profile in gold.

He remembered sixteen-year-old Stella—her pale blue school dress, standing on tiptoe to pop a strawberry into his mouth. Sunlight had filtered through her hair, scattering flecks of light between them.

"Benjamin," Adrian set down the fountain pen. "There's still the merger case to handle."

The old butler sighed softly and closed the door. The mahogany hinges creaked faintly, like an unfinished sigh.

As night deepened, children's laughter spilled from the next room. Adrian wheeled himself onto the balcony, where the evening breeze carried the scent of magnolias past his brow.

"Mommy!" Luna's voice rang clear. "After the Little Mermaid turns to foam, will the prince miss her?"

Stella's reply was gentle as moonlight: "The prince will live happily ever after with the princess."

"That's so unfair for the mermaid!" Ethan protested. "If it were me, I'd steal the sea witch's potion!"

Celeste suddenly giggled. "We could get the mermaid a wheelchair! Like Daddy—"

Adrian's fingers tightened on the armrests. He heard Stella's sharp intake of breath.

"Because..." Her voice trembled slightly. "A mermaid's tail is too long for a wheelchair."

"I know!" Ethan shouted triumphantly. "Daddy uses a wheelchair because his legs are short!"

A fountain pen clattered to the floor.

Celeste bounced excitedly on the bed. "Then if my legs are short now, will I grow taller than Daddy?"

"Don't be silly," Stella's voice held amused exasperation. "Your father was on the varsity basketball team..."

She broke off abruptly. Adrian could almost see her biting her lip—that little habit when she was flustered.

"Mommy's blushing!" Luna announced. "Mommy, are you thinking about Daddy?"

The night breeze turned stifling. Adrian loosened his tie as pillow fight noises erupted next door. Amid Stella's flustered scolding, the children's laughter chimed like silver bells.

He bent to retrieve the pen, thumb brushing its cool metal clip. At sixteen, Stella had fumbled just as clumsily pinning his track meet number to his waist. Her fingers had grazed his side, and both their ears had burned red.

The merger documents still lay open on the desk, but suddenly all the dense figures transformed into the shape of her smiling eyes.