The gentle-looking woman in the photograph was Anne's mother, and the child in her arms was Anne
when she was a child.
Anne was surprised to find the picture after all this time. She remembered that she couldn't find it when
she had left and thought that it had already been lost. And yet, after so many years, here it was.
Kevin stood in front of the photo with a silence that was almost solemn. After a long moment, he said to
Anne, "You look like your mother."
Anne had not only her mother's beauty, but also her temperament. Kevin had almost felt as if he knew
the woman in the picture.
"Not really. My mother was kind and gently to everyone, but I'm not. I'm always a little too brash and
cold," Anne answered with a small chuckle at his remark. She looked up and was surprised to see
Kevin gazing at her.
"Whatever you are, you are always exceptional. The only one ever," Kevin held her hand and said, his
eyes deep and sincere.
The next moment, he took out a ring box. There were four rings inside.
"Your mother is also here today, and it would be my greatest honor to ask for your hand in front of her.
Anne, I want to marry you. We will take care of our children together and grow old by each other's
side."
This time, Kevin had no grand words. He didn't feel like embellishing his words. All he offered her was
his utmost sincerity.
And it was not like the other times for Anne. She was not caught off guard, or swept off her feet by
surprise. There were no intense, all-consuming emotions that threatened to drown her—there was only
a quiet certainty. Kevin's words sounded sweeter than any others she had heard before.
Her heart was at peace, and she whole-heartedly believed him.
Anne nodded slowly. "Okay, let's get married," she said with a small smile. They had gone through so
much already, and she knew that Kevin meant his every word.
Before coming here, Kevin already had a hunch that Anne would finally agree, but nothing compared to
the reality of her acceptance. In one of the rarest times in his life, Kevin found himself speechless.
"Kevin, what's wrong?" After a stretch of time and he still hadn't said anything, Anne looked at him in
confusion.
"No…I..." Kevin fumbled for words. A grin broke through his face and lit up his eyes. He shook his head
and finally managed to pull together his words. "I'm alright. I'm probably just too happy."
He looked at her with such warmth that Anne felt immensely touched. Her answer had mattered that
much to him. She held his hand gently and smiled.
"I'll make preparations for the wedding right away. After you give birth to our baby and recover, we'll
have the ceremony, okay?" Kevin said.
"A simple wedding would be fine. Let's not make things too complicated. It's just a formality anyway,"
Anne reminded him.
But Kevin was not to be dissuaded. "No, marriage is a lifetime thing, and even if the ceremony is just a
formality, it means something much more to us than that. I want to give you what you deserve, and I
intend to do that for everything, including the wedding."
For her, he would move mountains. Kevin was determined to give it his all, if only to show Anne how
much she meant to him.
Seeing his determination, Anne smiled helplessly. "I'm not really big on events like that. I honestly think
it's a bit troublesome."
At her words, Kevin reached out to rub Anne's hair and said with a smile, "I knew you'd say that. Just
leave it to me. You don't even have to do anything. All you have to do is be my bride.
After all, you can only marry me once in your life, because after you can be sure that I will firmly hold
you that you won't be able to leave," Kevin added overbearingly.
Anne couldn't help but let out a laugh at his words. She nodded. Finally, the two of them would be
moving forward.
The sweet moment was broken by a ring from Anne's phone. It was from Kevin's company.
She looked at Kevin in confusion and answered.
"Hello. This is Anne," she said, her voice sounding unsure.
"Miss Anne, we couldn't get through to Mr. Kevin. There is an emergency at the company right now and
he needs to come over." The person on the other end spoke quickly with evident anxiousness. Anne
looked at Kevin in question.
Kevin touched his nose awkwardly under her scrutiny. It was true that someone had called him just
now, but he thought it was not really a big deal, so he didn't pick up. He had excellent employees, and
he didn't pay the top managers their salaries' worth for them to just stand by idly when there was a
problem.
Besides, nothing could be more important than Anne. He had almost felt aggrieved that the people in
the company picked such a choice time to call him and ruin the moment of his proposal.
"It's from your company. They said something happened in the K Country. Their head is coming and
you need to receive him. This is important. You should go," Anne told him.
However, Kevin shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. The senior executives are there. They
don't really need me to show up. The head of the K Country is actually a crook. I don't want to be with
him in the same room. I can't stand him."
Kevin had already decided to give a heavy blow to the economy of the K Country next time, so their
head wouldn't be so bored to annoy him again.
"Don't be such a child. I know the head of the K Country is only a better-clothed hooligan, but don't go
purposefully stirring up trouble. K Country is small, but they might also bring good business. Now, go.
Don't just leave your employees to face them on their own." Anne gave Kevin a small kiss, as if coaxing
him.
Seeing how thoughtfully Anne had considered his position, Kevin felt even more apologetic. He had
just proposed, and she had finally said yes. The two of them were supposed to be enjoying the
afterglow of this momentous step, but it was all ruined now.
"Well, I'll drive you back first," Kevin relented, taking Anne into his arms.
"No, you have to go to the company now. You only have thirty minutes. I'll just wait for you here. Come
and get me when you're done," Anne said decisively, putting her arms around Kevin's neck.
Kevin had no choice but to follow his future wife's words. Her tone spoke all he needed to know. There
was no use arguing when she had already made up her mind. The moment he let go of her, he had a
sinking feeling in his gut. Why had the head of K Country come so coincidentally?
There was a nagging feeling of unease in his chest. Now he was even more reluctant to leave Anne
alone, but he had to go to the company so he called Sam.
"I called Sam. He'll be here in 20 minutes to pick you up. I'll be here with you until then," Kevin said.
Anne frowned and argued, "If you go there after twenty minutes, you'll be very late. Why don't you go
earlier? I can take care of myself. It's only twenty minutes."
There was sense in her reason, but Kevin wouldn't change his mind. "It doesn't matter. Let the head of
K Country wait. He's the one dropping by unannounced. I don't want to leave you here with your
condition. I'll be too anxious to think about anything else."
Seeing how much Kevin cherished her warmed Anne's heart. "You're exaggerating." Anne chuckled.
"I'm pregnant, Kevin, not terminally ill. I can handle myself on my own."
"I have zero doubt that you can, considering how you handled me perfectly fine," Kevin said, which
pulled another laugh out of Anne. "Just let me spoil you, you stubborn woman. God help me if our baby
grows up as hard-headed as you," Kevin said as he planted a gentle kiss on Anne's forehead.
Twenty minutes later, Sam arrived and Kevin left.
"Sorry. Were you busy?" Anne asked with embarrassment.
There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead, and Anne guessed that Sam came in a hurry.
"It's fine. It's just that it was a little far from where I was. Don’t worry about it," Sam answered in a
relaxed tone.
"Kevin's exaggerating. He's a little too nervous about me. I would have been fine alone. It's not like this
is my first pregnancy." Anne couldn't understand where Kevin's cautiousness was coming from.
"Well, he cares about you. I'm sure you already know, but you can count on your fingers the people he
actually gives a damn about. Plus, if he's worrying too much then you're definitely worrying too little.
You're pregnant, so you should take extra care, especially at this time when you're about to give birth.
I'm with Kevin on this one," Sam said.
Anne wanted to roll her eyes, but held back. If Kevin was that caring about her, then she should at least
be thankful. A small smile curved on her lips. It felt as if her life was finally coming together in the best
way possible.
In KIA Group.
The gray curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling window were pulled up. Outside, the city was alive with
the bustling urban scenery. It was a clear day, but Ryan's mood was the polar opposite.
"Damn it! Again! That bastard Kevin had done it perfectly. He guards Anne too well that we couldn’t
even come close!" The wall beside him took the brunt of his anger as he punched it.
"Did we give up too easily?" Ryan muttered again.
"Did you forget? Kevin has sent Sam to pick her up, but Emily, Sam's lover, is in K Country. Since we
had arrived at an agreement with their head, it wouldn't be too difficult for us to deal with her instead."
At Nicholas' answer, Ryan was thoughtful for a moment, then finally nodded. "Alright, but don't cause
her too much harm. She's a good friend of Anne."
Ryan knew that he couldn't keep all his doings a secret from Anne for a long time, so he could only try
to lessen the damage as much as possible.
"Fine, but we don't have much time. There are forty minutes from the old town to Anne's house. Within
this period, we have to get him to leave Anne on her own."
At this moment, Sam was driving through a commercial district that came after the old town.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was shining brightly. At this, Sam suddenly
remembered that it was still snowing where Emily lived, a stark contrast to the day's weather. He
missed her as he thought of her.
Suddenly, his phone rang. It was Emily. It was around eleven o'clock in the evening where she was.
This was not a time when she would normally call.
Sam furrowed his brows as an ominous gloom settled in his chest. He picked up the phone, only to find
the other line busy.
"What's wrong?" Anne asked worriedly as she saw Sam's expression shift.
"It's Emily. I'll call her back."
But when he called her back, it wouldn't go through. The growing weight in his chest stifled him as the
seconds stretched.
"She's not picking up. Her phone's been turned off. Something must have happened to her," Sam said,
his voice edged in worry.
Emily never called at this hour. And yet she had. That could only mean that it was very urgent. Sam
couldn't shake off the feeling that she might be in danger.
"Don't panic." Anne's firm voice got through to his nerves. "Let's go to the airport. You can take the
plane immediately to see what happened."
She tried to calm Sam down. He looked sick with worry. "Don't panic. You should check on her first
before jumping to conclusions. It could be anything. If you lose your cool now it might be more
troublesome later on," she said.
"You’re right. I'm sorry, Anne. I'm not gonna be able to send you back," Sam said apologetically.
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