Half an hour later, Nia Mitchell finally understood what the CEO had meant by his earlier words. Sitting at the dinner table, Silvia Waterborne gazed at Maxwell Peary with tender, affectionate eyes. In her chopsticks, she held a piece of Sweet and Sour Pork. "Come, open your mouth," Silvia urged gently. Nia Mitchell sat there awkwardly, chopsticks in hand, completely at a loss. Should I pretend nothing is happening and just eat, or should I sit here and watch this display? Maxwell Peary scowled, wishing he could somehow get Bunny to dart forward and snatch the piece of meat away. "Um... M-Maxwell doesn’t like sweet things," Nia Mitchell interjected, seeing Silvia Waterborne’s hand, still offering the food, remain suspended in mid-air while Maxwell Peary sat there motionless. Unable to bear it any longer, Nia Mitchell had stepped in, a classic case of a beauty saving the hero. "I know *he* doesn’t like it," Silvia Waterborne said with a knowing smile. "How could I not know what my own son dislikes? I just wanted to tease him a bit. He’s such a bore, still the same as ever, always with that stern face." Thıs content belongs to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱 Silvia Waterborne popped the piece of pork into her own mouth and sat back properly, continuing her meal with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "Nia, you should eat too," Silvia Waterborne said, noticing Nia Mitchell sitting quietly to the side. Nia Mitchell smiled and picked up some food with her chopsticks. She wasn’t actually hungry; she was just eating a little to be polite. "Nia, does my personality bother you?" Silvia Waterborne asked, a touch of belated realization in her voice. She wondered if her own rather free-spirited nature was making Nia Mitchell uncomfortable. "No, no, not at all!" Nia Mitchell quickly shook her head. Her anxious expression and the way she seemed to shrink slightly made it look as if she were afraid of upsetting Silvia Waterborne, or perhaps afraid Silvia Waterborne wouldn’t like her, so she was trying her best to be agreeable. Maxwell Peary took a sip of coffee and looked up at Silvia Waterborne. "Nia’s personality is quite similar to yours." Silvia Waterborne raised an eyebrow. Her own son is actually speaking up for this Nia Mitchell? Heh, it seems this young woman really has some magic touch to make Maxwell Peary show a different side of himself. "You’re always so dismissive of me," Silvia Waterborne teased her son. "I really thought you didn’t like my kind of personality. Turns out, your love for me runs deep after all!" Nia Mitchell almost choked on her food. The way her mother-in-law talks... it’s really something else... Oh dear, I don’t even know how to describe this. Anyway, the CEO must be scowling right now. "So, Maxwell Peary," Silvia Waterborne began, a roguish glint in her eye, "tell me, where did you kidnap such a wonderful daughter-in-law from?" "Kidnap?" Maxwell Peary, who had been elegantly sipping his coffee, finally looked displeased. "I was the one who was proposed to," he declared with a smug look, before calmly taking another sip of his coffee. Nia Mitchell, who had been struggling to politely get through the food in her mouth, suddenly heard Maxwell Peary’s words. Her face instantly turned beet red. "I... I had my reasons!" she exclaimed, forcing herself to swallow the food in her mouth as she loudly defended herself. Silvia Waterborne watched Nia Mitchell with keen interest, expectantly waiting for her to elaborate. So this innocent-looking girl wasn’t actually tricked by my son? When did he suddenly become so charming? Nia Mitchell met Silvia Waterborne’s expectant gaze and was suddenly at a loss for what to say. Her mother-in-law definitely doesn’t know about the Hendry Hampton incident. And really, it’s best if I don’t bring it up. But if I can’t talk about that, then it means I can’t explain my reasons for proposing either! So how am I supposed to explain the ’reason’ I just mentioned? "I... I... I fell in love with him at first sight! The second time I saw him, I was head over heels! And by the third time, well, I just had to offer myself to him completely!" UGH! What on earth am I even saying?!