The room was awkwardly silent.

"Cat got your tongue, Boy?" The old man uttered chuckling.

"Come on. Be a gentleman. Give her a seat." The grandfather ordered.

Hearing this, Alexander absent-mindedly offered the available seat next to him.

"Thank you." The woman softly said. She turned her head to the young gentleman and gave him a lovely smile.

The old man laughed as the young man was still in awe. "See? My discernment never fails me."

The young woman laughed along.

"Master Flint. So, they are your family?" The woman smiled thinking how surprising things turned out.

"Sorry to keep you in a blur. Yes, and my full name is Logan Flint Gates." The master grinned sheepishly at the pretty lady.

Flint was the well-known artisan of his time. His first occupation was cut short as he decided to take a risk and founded the Zion Company. After establishing the business, he let his son, Timothy, to run and expand it as he envisioned.

Then, he finally put up The Flint jewelry shop as a hobby. Though after a decade, he suddenly closed the business because of his illness. Fortunately before it happened, he already passed on his knowledge to a young apprentice, who at that time has a lot of potential yet has a stubborn mind, his only student---Natalia Zimmer.

The beautiful and brainy young lady came to his shop and showed some of her designs. In his delight, the lady was interested to be his apprentice in jewelry making. He thought that through her, his legacy and his love for the precious stones will live on. And he didn't make a mistake on choosing her.

"You must be his lovely wife, Mrs. Gates?" Natalia asked in an awestruck tone.

"Indeed. And may I say, you're charming as what my husband described you to me." Mrs. Gates replied looking at the lady with tender eyes.

Natalia shyly thanked her. She then looked at the younger couple who seems to be in shocked with her presence.

"Timothy, Priscilla. Nice to see you again." The young woman greeted.

"Natalia, dear. This is a wonderful surprise." Priscilla responded and held her hands.

"I was amazed, too. I never thought that Master Flint is a very prestigious man." Natalia stated with an admiring tone and look at the old man.

"More prestigious than me?" Alexander, who has been quiet at the side, finally spoke and gazed at Natalia. He held her hand and kissed it.

"Slow down, boy. I never thought that you would be this bold towards my student. You'll gonna scared the girl away." Flint scolded his grandson and glanced at Natalia with worried look.

Alexander smirked. "Won't happen, grandfather. She's already mine." He raised Natalia's hand and everybody saw a ring.

"The red beryl..." Flint's face was full of confusion.

"My fiancée and the woman whom you're talking about...is none other than Natalia. She's also the one who requested about this stone." Alexander simply explained as he look at the ring over the woman's hand and circled his thumb over it. His grandfather deeply exhaled at the revelation.

"You already said 'yes' to this rascal?" Flint snorted and pointed at his grandson.

Alexander, "...."

"I should've known. This boy couldn't control his impluses. I hope he didn't cause you any inconvenience. You're too precious for him." Flint teased while drinking a cup of tea.

Natalia just chuckled while Alexander was at a loss for words.

"Congratulations Natalia. You're very welcome to our family!" Priscilla said cheerfully. All of them flattered the newly engaged couple.

"Thank you very much." The woman simply said as she keeps on blushing. Alexander hugged his adorable fiancée and casually kissed her temple.

At the end, the Gates family ate happily and wished the couple to have a wonderful journey ahead.

--------------

The newly engaged couple just arrived at the grand hotel. Alexander directly dropped Natalia in her suite as their flight was scheduled early tomorrow.

"I never thought that she would be you. If I had known, I would look for you five years ago and would marry you right away."

'and kept you from suffering the things you have experienced. If only I could turn back the time.'

Alexander declared shutting his eyes as he held Natalia closer to his body. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to show his love to her and to overwrite the things she had endured.

"Really? How come? You're busy with a certain royalty back then." Natalia teased unaware of the man's thoughts. Alexander creased his brows which made the woman laughed. "Kidding." She said embracing the man but he didn't respond.

"Babe?" The woman asked with a worried tone.

"Marry me." Alexander uttered.

"Yes. I already gave you my answer." Natalia replied slowly and was confused by his action.

"Let's get married once we land on the States." Alexander uttered.

'We're already five years late...'

#######

"This is everything, right?" A woman was scanning a set of documents that can cause the fall of her adversaries.

"Yes." A man reassured her.

"You don't want any money or my body as a payment. So, why help me now? What do you really want?" The woman asked skeptically.

"Just doing the right thing." The man simply responded.

Afterwards, the woman exited the hotel room leaving the man behind.

That person dialed a number to report what had took place.

"Mr. Zimmer, I already did what you have instructed months ago. Ariel looked and came to me willingly as you have speculated." Jude told the young man.

"Good. Continue your good work and everything will be peaceful at your end." Jake coldly replied and ended the call.

The Zimmer siblings already knew the truth, thanks to Boar, the private investigator of Natalia. At the sides, Jake has been working with Mr. Genome for a while since the day the middle-aged man was busted.

As what the siblings have gathered, Devon was the one who had tampered the Living Trust by hiring a master forger. That cheater is also the father of the duchess' child and he was the one who planned to threatened the priest in retracting the latter's statement regarding the appeal few months back. These are only the tip of the iceberg.

And in Jake's eyes, that kind of man should be reduced to nothing. Thankfully, someone was willing to stand at the frontlines and do the things for them. He will surely enjoy a good show.

#######

Alexander's private plane already landed at the airport.

The couple walked hand in hand and dismissed their assistants. They are the only ones who knew what will happen next.

As they were driving to the City Hall, the car is in a peaceful atmosphere. The two person held each other's hand as they silently traveled to their destination.

"Are you ready?" Alexander asked as he parked the vehicle.

"Yes." Natalia's eyes looked at him with resoluteness.

The man led the way as they inquired and registered for marriage license. They waited for the civil officiant and within two hours, they got married and got their marriage certificates.

Afterwards, the married couple chose to drive and stay at the Zion Suites for the meantime.

As they reached their unit, Natalia started to cook an early lunch for the both of them.

Alexander, who was sitting at the couch, glanced at his wife who was wearing a simple yet elegant white dress. He stared at her frame and just adored her from afar.

His feelings were somewhat at the top atmosphere. It's overwhelming. Unconsciously, he marched towards Natalia and hugged her from behind.

"Was it too sudden?" Alexander asked and was thinking about the whole thing.

Natalia stopped for a while and looked at the man. "No." She beamed at him then resume her food preparation.

"Thank you." The man sincerely stated conveying all of his appreciation towards Natalia---his wife.

Alexander couldn't helped but kissed her shoulder which led to her neck then up to her ears.

The woman protested and wanted to finish preparing their meals but her husband won't let her.

"Let's skip lunch and just eat dessert." With that, Alexander scooped up his wife while turning off the stove.

He then made his way to the master's bedroom and threw Natalia on the bed. The woman was so scared and shrieked at his action.

"I'm hungry." The man uttered in a dangerous tone. His eyes were already clouded with lust.

Natalia, "...."