You know.

"So, how was your week, dear?" Bella asked on our way towards the car.

"Complete and utter Chaos." I responded nonchalantly. "I'll tell you the details a bit later."

My words were met with a raised eyebrow and a questioning stare. I shrugged in response, refusing to elaborate further. It's not like we were in a public venue per se, but there were a number of topics we had to discuss that were quite sensitive.

"By the way." An obvious attempt to change the topic on my part. "Olivia asked me to say hi to you."

"Oh?" This and another raised eyebrow were the only things I got in response.

"Yeah. And it was a sincere sentiment." I clarified. "As far as I can tell, of course."

Bella graced me with a side glance full of curiosity and a modicum of interest.

"It seems like your week was chaotic, indeed." A hint of mockery in her tone made me wince.

I let out an exaggerated sigh, hoping that it would express even a tenth of how done I was with bullshit.

***

We were in the car on our way towards Bella's condo.

My mind was racing, busily overthinking various minor details that I was concerned about. I had a truckload of things I needed her opinion on. Some advice wouldn't hurt either.

If only I knew where to even start.

"So, how did your date go?" My special woman gave me a hand with her question.

"Short version: complicated." I said, having a brief moment of amusement at how outraged my dear was by my words. "Before you ask, though, that guy had been dealt with already."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Bella's entire demeanor went sharper.

"The one you refused to tell me about?" Her tone was full of cold steel.

I nodded.

"So fast?" She did sound a bit surprised.

"Well, he hurt the future Lady Long. Of course, the illustrious Long Clan dealt with him with all possible haste." I replied, trying to get as much reaction from her as I could.

It took a few moments for Bella to register the full meaning of my words. Then, in the same fashion as a week ago, my special woman short-circuited.

I snapped another photo for posterity. The stuttering sound of the camera made my special woman come back to her senses.

"Delete it," she growled.

"No way," I refused, obviously.

"Michael Roah." Her growl went a pitch lower.

"Make me." I dared her.

The bitch actually bit me.

"Is this the way to treat your future husband, eh?" I doubled down on my teasing.

My words made Bella freeze yet another time. Then she shook her head and slowly exhaled, calming herself down. 

"I thought we already came to an agreement?" Oh, right, I remembered her previous words.

"Well, a few things have changed since then, my dear." That was quite an understatement on my part.

"Explain!" demanded my special woman.

"Yes, dear." I choose to oblige.

And the conversation went full circle, with me arriving at the starting point—where should I even start? I felt my temples throb.

***

It took me the rest of the way to discuss every implication my date with Lady in Black had. Then I started on the whole fiasco—more like a fuckup of epic proportions, to be honest—with the Lady in White.

And I wasn't yet done when we got to the apartment complex.

I parked the car in Bella's garage, taking the time it took for us to get from there to the condo itself as a much-needed breather.

"So, what does it have to do with the change in our agreement?" my special woman asked after I closed the door behind us.

"You remember that Su clan's first young lady I asked you to find me some information about?" I responded with a question of my own.

Bella acknowledged it with a nod.

The two of us took our shoes off and continued our talk on the way to the kitchen. I felt quite hungry after my workout.

"She is a protégé of Kouzuki Maya, the Lady in White," I started my explanation. "And the Matriarch of the Kouzuki clan was raising her as a future fiancée for a possible clan heir."

Who never appeared in the first iteration, as far as I was aware.

Bella stopped to stare at me, most likely putting pieces together and figuring out what I wanted to say. I shook my head and tossed her the Kouzuki clan seal. This should've been enough of an explanation.

My dear caught it and was looking at it with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face.

"What is it?" She finished playing around with the seal and asked an unexpected question.

Now that I think about it, knowledge about the existence of those things wasn't that widespread. How the fuck was Officer Zhang able to clearly recognize it then, huh?

"It's the personal seal of Kouzuki Shinji," I clarified.

"Did you fucking rob the guy or something, dear?" I was speechless at the conclusion she jumped to.

Even worse, I couldn't even deny the possibility, since it was a fair assessment based on her knowing me so well.

"Nah, it's mine." I denied the accusations nonetheless.

My special woman looked me up and down for some reason I couldn't quite guess.

"So, which one of the two are you, then? Long Tian or Kouzuki Shinji?" A fair question.

"It depends on which clan you want to be a lady of." I answered it with a smile.

"Oh, so we are back to this point." Bella nodded along. "Finally."

Fuck. I brought it upon myself.

"Well, let's skip other things for now," I said with a sigh.

I opened the fridge, checking if there was something there after a week. After a week? Hm, when was the last time I did this?

"So?" Bella's call took me out of my memory trip before I could remember anything new. "Are you trying to change the topic again, dear?"

I shook my head, denying her words, and made another attempt to remember... What was I thinking about again? Fuck.

"You remember what I said about titles?" I returned my whole attention to the more important things.

"I do." And I got my answer.

"So, since we had that talk, my newfound family has gotten me two fiancées." I cut to the chase. "One of them is that Su girl. I can refuse this one, but I would rather not for now, for reasons I will explain a bit later."

I closed the door of the fridge because the beeping noise annoyed me enough to do so.

"So it's about the second one?" Bella didn't beat around the bush, either.

"Helen Smith." I said the name of my darling.

A look of realization appeared on the face of my special woman.

"Let me guess. You either can't refuse this one," she said slowly, "or you do not want to."

"Actually, both," I acknowledged. Before Bella could add something, I continued, "That's why I need to give you a title first. You know, I want my special one to be the first."

I really shouldn't have left my phone in the hallway.