“Mrs Im, can you please explain to me why the senior partner of my law firm is on a sudden leave?”

Smiling up at Jaebum as he entered your bedroom, you watched as your husband soaked you in silently, his eyes slowly blinking.

“You’re in bed.”

“I am.”

“You’re never in bed. What’s wrong? Did that Park give you yet another migraine? I swear, we should have left him at Im and Jones. Fantastic lawyer or not, you could have partnered with anyone else in this sector.”

“Jinyoung isn’t the reason I’m in bed right now, though he wasn’t thrilled I’d be taking a leave of absence.”

“Did you hurt yourself? I told you those heels you insist on wearing are dangerous.”

You rolled your eyes, remembering the multiple times he had removed you out of everything you wore but those heels. “No, I didn’t fall. Though, I guess I better be more careful in the future.”

“I’m not following.”

“What do you think about this house here?” you asked, turning your laptop around to show Jaebum. “It has four bedrooms and a reasonably sized backyard. It could do with some renovations, which we could get done over the next few months before we can’t.”

Jaebum merely stared at you.

“I know when your grandfather asked me to sign up as your wife five years ago that he wanted great-grandchildren, and I almost laughed in his face at the mere concept. And then, when I broke out of the contract and left the firm, he wasn’t thrilled with me at all. Especially since I stole his other favourite candidate to boost my newly purchased law firm. But do you reckon he’ll forgive me for all of that in nine months’ time? Well, more like seven. It turns out that morning sickness doesn’t come as early as—”

Jaebum’s lips crashed down on yours desperately, stealing away your breath and the rest of your sentence.

You had taken the leave of absence for only a week. You knew when it came to actual maternity leave that you would be more concerned about the running of your firm. By then, though, you would have trained up your recent employee to handle your cases as you took a much-needed break from the stresses of other people’s relationships.

You needed to focus on your own a little more carefully now.

“You’re pregnant?” he finally asked when his kisses turned tentative, as if he needed to be careful with you. “I thought you didn’t possess a single maternal bone in your body?”

“Hey! I think I do okay with Mark and Tessa’s triplets, don’t you? If I can babysit three of them for an evening, I’m sure to do fine with just one of our own.”

Jaebum’s mouth tipped up. “You sure it’s just one?”

“Thankfully,” you admitted with a quick exhale that made him laugh. “I had to get it checked immediately as soon as the test came back positive.”

“And to think, you were going to give this all up after a year with me,” Jaebum teased, kissing your temple as he finally joined you on the bed. You watched him soak you in with those bedroom eyes of his, laughing silently at how they had finally gotten you in the predicament you now faced.

“You had your chance to escape back then.”

Jaebum kissed you as he shook his head slowly. “There was no way I could escape you. I was yours long before our marriage of convenience.”

“Conveniently mine?” you wondered as his hands explored your body, eliciting waves of arousal despite the first trimester fatigue you were resting at home with.

“Conveniently yours,” Jaebum agreed, kissing you again.

“I could get used to that. I mean, if this marriage needs to have a reason, it ought to be that I belong to you, right?”

“No modern woman like yourself would belong to anyone.”

“Not anyone else,” you confirmed in a whisper, staring into the eyes of the man who had loved and worshipped you for years. “But for you, I think I can negotiate that into our ongoing contract.”

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