Xylia lingered in bed for a while longer before finally getting up.
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She figured Joshua would be at work by now, but to her surprise, as soon as she finished getting dressed and stepped out, she saw him working in the living room.
Joshua looked up when Xylia walked out.
He set hisptop aside and strolled over to her, his smile warm and confident, like a soft spring breeze.
Joshua gently took her hand and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“Did you sleep well?” Joshua said with a teasing glint in his eyes, making it clear his words had more than one meaning.
Xylia’s ears turned pink. She tilted her head, trying to dodge his yful question. “I’m starving. Is there anything to eat?”
“Of course. I made breakfast ages ago, just waiting for you to wake up,” Joshua replied.
Joshua had gotten up early to make a full breakfast for Xylia, keeping everything nice and warm until she woke up.
Xylia was still feeling a bit worn out, but seeing how bright and refreshed Joshua looked made her feel a touch unfair about the whole thing.
‘Howe guys always look so energized after this kind of thing anyway?‘ she grumbled inwardly.
‘It’s not like I wasn’t working just as hard as he was,‘ Xylia continued toin to herself.
Joshua had alreadyid out a proper meal–three dishes and a soup. Hedled a bowl of chicken soup and set it right in front of her.
“I already called your studio and told them you’re taking the day off. No need to show up,” Joshua said, sounding smug.
Xylia paused mid–bite and looked up at him.
“You do realize I’m the boss, right? I don’t need permission to skip work.”
Joshua cocked his head and grinned. “Shouldn’t you at least tell your assistant?”
“I don’t have an assistant,” Xylia shot back.
Joshua blinked and went, “Oh.” He’d always casually assumed Josie was Xylia’s personal assistant.
He was used to letting David know whenever he took a day off himself, so this time he’d just gone ahead and notified Josie too–didn’t even bother checking with Xylia first.
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Xylia could almost see Josie’s gossipy grin, no doubting up with a hundred crazy stories after getting that call from Joshua.
Xylia just felt totally helpless–there was no way to stop Josie’s imagination now.
She nced up and saw Joshua settling in across from her,ptop in his arms, looking perfectly rxed.
“Did you already eat?” Xylia asked.
Joshua nodded, a hint of a smile on his face. “I have, but I’ll keep youpany while you eat.””
Xylia asked Joshua to bring her phone over.
At the dining table, Joshua worked on hisptop while Xylia ate and checked her phone.
There were a few messages from her brothers, wondering why she wasn’t home.
She casually replied that she was at the studio, but before she could put her phone down, Leon’s call popped <ol><li>up. </li></ol>
“I just swung by the studio, and they said you took the day off. Where’d you disappear to?” Leon’s voice came through, a bit anxious.
Xylia nced at Joshua across the table. He looked totally rxed, eyes sparkling like he was waiting for her
next move.
“Seriously, I’m fine. Since when do you have so much free time to check up on me?” Xylia replied, skillfully sidestepping the question.
She didn’t give him a straight answer.
Joshua tried not to look disappointed, but Xylia could see it written all over his face.
Xylia threw him a nce, and Joshua just gave her a quick, reassuring smile.
Leon was actually calling to share some exciting news: he and Mia were officially back together, and Xylia was the first person he wanted to tell.
But since Xylia had changed the subject, he just went with it.
Xylia listened to Leon talk, thinking to herself that she’d already found out about this yesterday.
Joshua had actually sent her the scoop ahead of time.
But she didn’t want to spoil Leon’s good mood, so she acted surprised and congratted him like it was all
news to her.
Leon asked if she wanted to grab lunch, but Xylia turned him down–she remembered she still needed to stop by the studioter.
Since Leon was busy that evening anyway, they’d have to raincheck the meal.
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While Xylia ate, Joshua finished up his work.
These days, Aaron had been taking on most of the workload, leaving Joshua with a lot of free time.
Eliza’s only condition for letting Aaron take over thepany was that Joshua needed to lock things down with Xylia–get married, have a wedding, and start a family, all in one go.
But Joshua had his own ns. He was determined to skip the baby part.
He told Eliza, “I’ve waited years for her. I’m not ready to share her with some little kid just yet. No way!”
Eliza was so mad she nearly chased him around the house with her slipper.
But the truth was, Joshua didn’t want Xylia to go through the pain of childbirth again. He’d heard how rough it was when she had Sonny–she’d almost died from blood loss. And after all that, Sonny had turned out to be such an ungrateful brat.
Just thinking about Xylia suffering like that again made Joshua swear he’d rather never have kids in this lifetime.
But that wasn’t his problem right now. First things first—he had to get their marriage license.
And before that came the proposal.
Before he popped the question, though, he needed to figure out how Xylia felt about it.
If she wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t go all out with some big, over–the–top proposal that might put too much pressure on her.
After finishing her meal, Xylia saw Joshua leaning on the table with one hand, head lowered, clearly lost in his own thoughts. Not wanting to disturb him, she picked up the empty dishes and got ready to clear the table.
“Leave it,” Joshua said, his voice calm but impossible to argue with.
He stayed exactly where he was, those charming eyes of his flicking up ever so slightly, the wordsing out soft–but absolutely firm.
Xylia paused mid–action.
She cast her gaze down, catching sight of her own hands holding the dishes.
“You cook, I do the dishes. Seems fair, right?” she said, keeping it casual.
Joshua clicked his tongue. “Tisk, didn’t I say no kitchen for you? Selective hearing today?”
He got up, strode over, and snatched the dishes from her hands. Then, almost absent–mindedly, he reached over and ruffled her messy hair, all gentle and loving.
Joshua bent down, those dark, luminous eyes fixed intently on Xylia’s face.
“From now on, no more housework for you. Just sit back and be my princess.” His voice was gentle, yet you
could hear he wasn’t backing down.
:
Xylia could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, her heart pounding.
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‘I never imagined someone would treat me this carefully,‘ she thought, a little dazzled by his tenderness.
‘It’s like I was made to be pampered like this,‘ Xylia mused, feeling the warmth spread through her chest.
Xylia lifted her arms and wrapped them around Joshua’s neck, her face burrowing into the crook of his shoulder, nestling up to him like a spoiled kitten.
“Joshua, why are you so good to me?” Xylia whispered, sounding both shy and genuinely moved.
She felt her heart swelling–he really touched her.
Joshua was loving every second of Xylia being clingy and sweet for once.
He slid one arm around her waist, breathing in the light, natural scent of her skin, and honestly felt like he could just float away.
“I’ll only ever treat you this way—just you,” Joshua whispered, his voice husky and intimate, like he was making a vow that belonged to her alone.
Xylia couldn’t help it; her smile bloomed even bigger, pure happiness shining in her eyes.
Noelle’s bribery scandal had blown up across the entire industry–everyone was talking about how she’d bribed the judges just to snatch that award.
The international jewelry designpetition was a huge deal, and Joshua didn’t pull any punches–he made the judges put up a public apology on their official page, and the trophy went straight back to the real winner.
The whole jewelry scene exploded.
Noelle was notorious now, totally disgraced in the field.
She’d been knocked down a peg at Garcia Group, and honestly, if she ever quit, nobody in the industry would touch her with a ten–foot pole.
Her career was basically over.
But what really stung was <b>that </b>she wasn’t just getting roasted online–even at Garcia Group, she’d dropped all the way to the bottom.
Back when she was chief designer, everyone was lining up to tter her.
Now that she was down and out, people just treated her coldly. She could literally hear them whispering about her in the bathrooms or cafeteria, not even trying to hide it.
“Never thought Noelle’s big jewelry design genius‘ title was just smoke and mirrors. When she was chief
13:01 Mon, Sep <b>22 </b>
designer, she acted like she ruled the world–guess it’s karma she ended up like this.”
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“With a reputation like hers, she really should’ve been fired. I don’t know what Mr. Garcia was thinking–just a demotion, and she still gets to stay in the design department.”
“Well, what can you do? She’s got connections. Rumor has it she’s the Garcia family’s adopted daughter.”
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