"Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without law, and must be plucked from wherever it is found…"

—DH Lawrence

"You're late," Byun Won Sul greeted coldly as he adjusted his reading glasses. He then cleared his throat and shot his grandson an irate scowl to show his displeasure.

Ignoring the old man's gestures, Baekhyun took the empty seat beside him. "Yeah, sorry. I had a pressing matter that needed attending," he replied casually. 

BYN Group's chairman scoffed. "Right," he muttered. Even at his age, Won Sul was well aware of his grandson's personality and notoriety with women. How could he not? He was just as much a womanizer as the young Byun—perhaps even worse. That was, until he met the woman that changed him, Baekhyun's grandmother.

"Anyway, let's get started, shall we?" the old man stated with a commanding tone. He shifted Baekhyun's uninterested lenses to the woman in front of him and pointed. "This is Seo Da Ye," he started, "You're new mother-in-law."

"It's very nice to formally meet you Baekhyun-ssi!" Da Ye exclaimed with an ear-to-ear grin. She extended a hand over the clothed table, but the BYN Group's successor simply responded with a half-bow, making her pull back her arm.

Without restriction, Baekhyun scanned her judgingly. She was a fairly young mother draped in maroon and adorned with an excessive amount of jewelry—a style that greatly contradicted the epitome of plainness sitting noiselessly beside her. This Da Ye woman looked oddly familiar to him, but he couldn't pinpoint just where it was he had seen her before. Women like her typically don't trigger his interest nor his desire for a second glance.

Just as he formulated the question to ask if they had met before, his grandfather answered for him.

"You may recognize her from work. She's one of your senior sales directors," the old man explained, hoping to trigger his successor's memory, "you also attended her birthday celebration a few months back."

"Ah," Baekhyun replied indifferently. He had always been hands off with the well performing departments at The Lux—such as his sales and catering departments—and only bothered to recognize individuals who excelled in their jobs. So for Seo Da Ye to be out of his radar, her performance must have been lackluster to barely average, at most. As for her birthday party, he had no recollection of attending such occasion. He had been invited to, attended, and ditched countless events in the last six months, that all of them were a blur to him. There was that one party where some chick stirred the sea of gowns and tuxedos with her thigh high boots and leather jacket, but even that, he vaguely remembered.

The only thing that peaked his interest about this parvenu—this obvious social climber—was why she chose to retain her employment despite marrying into millions. Any sane person would've submitted their resignation the moment their filthy rich sugar daddy fell to his knee with a three-carat diamond ring in hand. Therefore, it was definitely strange—anomalous enough, that it would require a discussion with the all-knowing Secretary Oh later.

"And this beautiful young woman to her right is Seo Ara, your soon-to-be wife," Grandpa Byun interrupted, switching the attention to the silent bride.

At the mention of her name, Ara raised her head and briefly glanced at the young man sitting in front of her. "It's nice to meet you," she greeted quietly, followed by a respectful bow that settled her eyes back to her lap.

Baekhyun returned a similar greeting and set his gaze on his forever demure wife-to-be. She was certainly beautiful, but nothing in her dark lenses screamed, or even whispered, excitement. Instead of sparkling brightly—like every woman's natural reaction upon seeing his handsome features—her eyes remained dull, lifeless, and uninterested. Even her shy smile revealed nothing else about her that he hadn't already deduced.

With the swift introductions over, Baekhyun's grandfather released a quick, audible breath. "Alright then," he commented as he raised an arm and snapped his fingers, signaling for Secretary Oh to bring the documents over.

With a nod, Sehun approached their table with a pair of gold wedding bands and the marriage certificate securely in hand. He set the black folder down on the white cotton cloth between the couple and stepped back to wait for the next instructions.

Baekhyun smirked at the sight of the genuine leather folder in front of him. It was the same folder BYN Group uses for all their corporate contracts. That's right. He thought. This is just another business venture.

The young executive grabbed the Montblanc ballpoint pen next to the leather sleeve and calmly signed his name on the line, not thinking much into the politics and form of control associated with the marriage. He ended his signature with a dot, spun the folder 180 degrees, and gave it a gentle push towards the silent woman along with the pen.

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