While Theo was following the black carriage to see where it would lead him, Yvonne was watching her parents as they tried to converse with just their eyes.

Rutherford had rushed to welcome his family when they reached home.

Carrying his two children in each arm, he brought them to the parlor in a haste and set them down on the couch.

He glanced at his wife but found her lost in thoughts therefore he cleared his throat a couple of times to get her attention.

Though this did not get her attention, it made Butler Limo who had been standing by the door rush forward and hand him a glance of warm water.

Sensing the butler's movements, Raylene was brought back from her worrying thoughts.

She glimpsed at her children sitting next to her husband and then turned her eyes to his face.

The smile that she received would have made her swoon if her heart wasn't troubled by what had happened at the tea party.

Her presently expressionless face did not show the anxieties in her heart and this made Rutherford assume that she too was waiting for their time alone.

He raised his brows and gave her a half-smile. After making sure that their kids couldn't see it, he even winked at her.

Raylene saw his actions and just tilted her head to the side in confusion as to why her husband's left eye was twitching in such a weird way.

There was not an ounce of romantic notions inside her head and thanks to this she did not notice the sultry looks he was sending her way.

Yvonne had been observing their little exchange and shook her head in disappointment.

'My father is trying to get some and my mother seems to be a natural airhead.' She rolled her eyes and glanced at Howard.

Her brother had just been staring at the adults who wouldn't speak a word since they entered this room.

Feeling the amethyst eyes on him, he turned his head to the side and raised his brows at her in question.

'What do you want from me now?' He sneered in perfect silence.

'Let's get out of here.' Yvonne mouthed those words which made Howard pause for a while.

Then remembering the feeling that she might be right this time as well, he nodded his head to show that he would follow her.

While the children had made up their minds, Rutherford was busy thinking of the exact same thing.

'I should send the kids back to their rooms so that we might have some alone time.' His brain was trying to think of ways to chase them away in a subtle manner.

However, he did not have to think for too long because Yvonne jumped off the couch and looked at them with an innocent smile.

"I still have a ton of assignments to complete before my next class with Marquess Samed so please excuse me, I will be taking my leave now." She had long gotten bored of watching them fail at flirting and now she just wanted to get back to her room.

'This dress looks good but is a little on the heavy side.' She tugged on the dress to estimate just how much weight she had been carrying around today.

Following in her footsteps, Howard also got off the couch and stood beside her.

"Big brother Topher shared a new sword trick with me and I would like to practice it." He nodded in a serious way but the glow in his eyes revealed the excitement he was feeling right now.

For Rutherford, this was a godsend so he did not stop them. In fact, he asked Butler Limo to escort them safely to their respective rooms.

With the room all to themselves, he rose from his place and took a seat next to his beautiful wife.

"Ray… You took longer than what you promised." He leaned closer and whispered in her ear while blowing his hot breath right into it.

Raylene's body subconsciously trembled and she turned around to look at his face.

"You will have to compensate me for the time we lost." He smirked deviously and captured her lips for a kiss.

The soft pecks turned into gentle nibbles and finally escalated into a sloppy wet kiss that was making his body heat up.

Raylene's mind came back to her when she felt his tongue slide inside her mouth.

Widening her eyes, she looked at her husband who was lost in the kiss and she knew that if she did not stop him this instant then she would be eaten alive, right here in the parlor.

So she moved backward to separate their bodies which were stuck together and managed to break the kiss which was affecting her as well.

'She's playing hard to get? How precious!?' Rutherford associated this move of hers as her being coy.

Smirking at her, he scooted forward and began placing chaste kisses on her lips with plans of gradually deepening it.

"Ruthy… um… I… think…" Her words were halted because with every word she uttered, he would place another kiss on her lips.

"Yes?" He answered and went back to his previous actions.

Raylene rolled her eyes and waited for the moment that he would break the kiss.

The moment his lips moved away for a split second, she blurted out what was on her mind.

"Duke Tanner's younger son likes Vonny… humpp!" Her words were only again muffled by his kiss.

Thankfully, she had already said the most important part and just hoped for her husband to break out of his haze.

'Likes Vonny? My daughter is so cute that everyone will like her!' The loving father in him was not so surprised by this declaration that she had made.

However, the lips that were planted on Raylene froze there when he realized what her words truly meant.

Raylene noticed his still body and silently distanced herself from him.

It took just a second for him to go from 'ready to eat' to 'ready to kill'.

"That 12 year old boy likes my 5 year old angel?" His eyes blazed with fury when he thought of the older son of the Duke with his beloved daughter.

Any feelings of romance in his heart had been pushed down by the storm which was raging inside.

"But Taylor is just 8 years old." Raylene's confused voice made him whiplash towards her.

"Oh… The younger son? Then that isn't much ba-" He did not complete the words after that.

"So what if he's 8 or 12? My Vonna is too young to have anyone following her around!" He scowled furiously.

Raylene was on his side in this matter so she nodded her head and explained everything that had happened.

From the nickname that Taylor had given Yvonne to the betrothal proposal to the Kiron family by Marchioness Yona.

Everything just reminded them that they would have to do the same for Yvonne as well.

"This is all Howard's fault! If he wasn't friends with that Taylor boy then he never would have met my Vonna!" He gritted his teeth because he was aware of the close friendship that the boys shared.

Raylene glared at her husband and then shook her head to show that she was not pleased with his statement.

"This has nothing to do with Howie. I am sure that Vonny would attract people's eyes even without doing a single thing so there's no use blaming him for it!" She defended her firstborn child while praising Yvonne to no end.

If Howard would have been present to witness this scene then his annoyance with his little sister would surely increase exponentially.

"Right now we can just try to limit the number of interactions that Yvonne has with any boy until she turns 15 at least." Rutherford declared in a solemn tone.

'I doubt that I would be willing to let her meet any man even after she debuts…. But that's just unavoidable.' He sighed when he thought of the possibility of his daughter leaving their home to live with some strange man.

'Will the man who marries my Vonna take good care of her? Just like we do? Will he give her the love she deserves and much more?' His mind wandered to the extremely distant future where his beloved child would be someone else's bride.

For an unknown reason, this thought brought a shooting pain in his chest and he felt as though a huge boulder was weighing down on his heart.

The pain of helplessness, guilt and hatred surged in his heart which he had not felt in a very long time.

As though a divine premonition had struck him, Rutherford's eyes widened and he clenched his fists.

'No one will get to my daughter without going through me first!' He looked up at the ceiling and vowed.

Raylene's brows scrunched up when she saw the odd look in his eyes as he stared at the ceiling.

Following his actions, she too looked up but all she saw was plain white paint.

'Does he want to change the color of the ceiling?' She wondered and decided to speak to the butler about it.