CHAPTER 9: CHAPTER 9: NOAH GRANT KNOWS HIS MARRIAGE WITH VERA SHERIDAN IS IN NAME ONLY!

As she got closer, a faint scent of clary sage and sea salt wafted from her, the smell of her shower gel.

She had just showered.

She greeted calmly.

Nina took off her sunglasses, her eyes bright and full, her eyelids swollen, her smile sweet and charming, "Yeah! Just finished training..."

Vera nodded, her tone carrying a bit of a teacher’s sternness, "Don’t miss tomorrow morning’s training session again."

As the words fell, Ian held her hand and they walked towards the car.

Nina watched their backs, and obediently said, "Goodbye, Ms. Sheridan, Mr. Kane!"

In the west, the setting sun was swallowed by thick black clouds, and the sky suddenly turned pitch black.

The night concealed the strange smile at the corner of Nina’s lips...

...

At night, Vera took two sets of dry-cleaned suits from Maeve and personally delivered them to Ian’s bedroom.

The man was showering.

The frosted glass door reflected his blurry figure.

Vera greeted him and entered the dressing room, hanging the suits in the wardrobe and helping him pick out what to wear the next day.

In nearly a year of marriage, she increasingly enjoyed the feeling of helping her husband match clothes and tie ties.

Vera hummed a tune softly, remembered something, and raised her voice to ask, "Honey, did you take your allergy medicine today?"

Inside the bathroom, Ian paused slightly in his movements of applying shower gel, instinctively lowering his eyes to look at his neck.

The warm water continuously washed over his broad, strong back, his tan skin revealing a few brown scabs of scratch marks, stinging faintly under the impact of the water.

Vera heard no reply from him, "Didn’t you take it again?"

Ian snapped back, raised his voice, "I took it!"

"Wouldn’t I dare not take it?" his tone carried a hint of amusement.

When he was passionately pursuing her, she was so cold, yet after marriage, she was so caring and considerate towards him.

A warm current surged in Ian’s chest, he washed his body clean, grabbed a dark blue bathrobe to wrap himself in, and strode out of the bathroom.

In the cool-toned dressing room, Vera wore a beige turtleneck sweater, paired with a gray woolen long skirt, revealing her pale, slender ankles, her hair tied in a low ponytail with a few strands falling by her cheeks.

She stood by the jewelry cabinet, carefully selecting accessories, her whole demeanor exuding a gentle and serene aura.

Ian strode forward, wanting to hug her.

At this moment, Vera frowned and asked, "Honey, how come you’re missing a cufflink today?"

She looked at him, only to see his expression visibly stiffen, a trace of panic flashing in his eyes.

Vera also tensed up, "What’s wrong, why are you flustered?"

Ian came back to his senses, walked to the cabinet, brow furrowed, searching everywhere, "These cufflinks were a gift you gave me last year for the Qixi Festival, I must have accidentally dropped one just now when I took them off."

So, his earlier panic was because he cherished the lost cufflink?

He indeed cherished these cufflinks, often wearing them on important occasions, proudly telling friends, "My wife gave them to me."

Every time he went on a business trip, he would specifically remind his assistant not to lose them.

Ian searched the jewelry cabinet but couldn’t find it, hands on his hips, ready to go out, Vera stopped him, "Where are you going?"

"Calling Maeve, get a vacuum to suck it up, it must have rolled under the wardrobe!"

Vera smiled, "It’s so late, Maeve’s already asleep, let’s do it tomorrow, I’ll remind her."

Ian turned back, unwilling to give up, turned on his phone flashlight, lay on the carpet, and looked under the wardrobe, "If I really can’t find it, I’ll be so upset."

"It’s the first Qixi gift you ever gave me!"

Vera watched the man kneeling on the ground, feeling so moved her nose tingled. Although they had known each other for seven years and he had pursued her for six, these cufflinks were the first gift she gave him.

"Get up, the floor’s dirty." She stepped forward to pull him up.

Ian grasped her extended hand, stood up, pretending to be unsteady, and hugged her, pressing her against the wardrobe.

Vera’s pores shrank all over.

The man’s gaze was intense, about to kiss her on the lips, she suppressed her fear, tightly closing her eyes, rationally accommodating him.

Just as Ian’s lips were about to touch hers, his phone rang.

Ian frowned in frustration, still wanting to kiss, Vera pushed him, "Your, phone..."

She caught a glimpse of his slight disappointment in the mirror, her heart filled with unease and guilt, she stood on tiptoe, initiating a kiss towards his thin lips.

Ian met her look of bravery like she was facing death, his large hand holding the back of her neck, gently pulling her away, "I’ll answer the phone, it’s Noah Grant."

While Vera was touched by his consideration, hearing the name "Noah Grant", she recalled that last time, he also said it was him.

However, he answered right in front of her.

The man tilted the corners of his mouth into a charming rogue smile, leaning against the wardrobe, "Barrister Grant, what are you calling about so late?"

At that moment, in an old red-brick grey-tiled Western-style mansion from the Republic of China era, hidden in a sycamore-lined path in Ardendale, Noah Grant sat behind a desk piled with files.

"Business," he said flatly, "I’m reviewing the Kane Group’s acquisition case involving KA Corporation from Germany two years ago—"

"So late, talking business." Ian recalled the incident at the foot of the mountain recently, raised his voice to interrupt him, "I’m having a loving moment with my wife... How about discussing it at the Kane Group tomorrow, or I go to your office."

Vera could discern he was deliberately flaunting his love with Noah Grant.

How childish.

Noah Grant narrowed his eyes, picking up a black Go piece from the desk with his long fingers, gently rubbing the concave groove at the back:

Vera Sheridan.

Seeing him silent, Ian’s smile deepened, "Oh, a single noble like you wouldn’t understand what marital love is, is it okay for now?"

Noah Grant lifted his eyelids, offhandedly saying, "Lacking something, flaunting it."

One sentence directly struck Ian’s weak spot!

The man’s jaw immediately tightened, his temples throbbed.

Noah Grant knew about his nominal marriage with Vera!

On the other end, his cold urging voice came again, "Now bring up the acquisition contract from back then, and go over the details with me—"

Though Noah Grant and Ian could be considered family friends, he was hired by The Kane Family at great expense and had the ties of friendship, Ian usually wouldn’t neglect him.

But tonight—

He suddenly embraced Vera.

"Ah—" Vera panicked and let out a sound.

Noah Grant tightened his grip on the Go piece, "Ian Kane?"

Ian didn’t answer, hung up the call, and was about to kiss Vera’s face.

Faced with this threat, Vera pounded his chest, sensing his anger, her heart filled with fear, "Let me go..."

Hearing her plea, Ian felt a blockage in his heart, also released her, ruffled his hair in frustration, and turned to walk into the bathroom without saying a word.

Vera blankly watched the bathroom door, filled with guilt.