Chapter 66: His Intentions Are Obvious
The car slowly pulled into Luxe Haven and stopped.
As James got out, he had already made up his mind.
Tell Mia directly.
He had nothing to hide.
No need to keep it secret.
......
James opened the door and heard Mia's voice, "Help me check, is this right?"
Her voice was gentle, with a hint of laughter.
He looked over.
He immediately saw Mia sitting on the sofa.
She was sitting next to the housekeeper, wearing warm-toned loungewear, her whole demeanor soft.
The coldness and sharpness about her were gone.
She held a thin needle in her hand, learning to knit something from the housekeeper.
"Yes, Mrs. Smith, just add one more stitch here and you're done."
The housekeeper turned her head, glanced over, and helped adjust it for her.
Mia stuck out her tongue sheepishly, "Almost forgot, or I'd have to undo it and start over again."
Her tone carried a playful note, clearly in a good mood.
"How do I cast off? Can you teach me?"
"Mrs. Smith, look, like this."
The housekeeper had been teaching Mia hands-on all day, and her own work was also ready to cast off.
She slowed down, "One stitch up, one stitch down, then like this."
She demonstrated once for Mia, then undid it and taught her stitch by stitch.
Mia watched very carefully.
She had just learned the stitch pattern this morning. Unable to knit a sweater yet, she was practicing on floor socks.
She had failed twice in the afternoon, both times unable to finish even halfway. This was her third attempt.
She knitted more carefully now, stitch by stitch, slowly working away, asking the housekeeper first whenever she was unsure.
As the floor sock gradually took shape in her hands, Mia's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Looking at it, she couldn't help imagining when the baby in her belly was born and started learning to walk.
Wearing the floor socks she knitted herself, with a matching little hat on their head that the housekeeper had shown her the other day.
A few steps away, walking toward her.
Just learning to walk, the little one couldn't walk steadily yet, wobbling like a tumbler.
As their body swayed, the little pompom on the back of the hat would bounce along.
It would definitely be super cute.
A smile she hadn't worn in a long time unconsciously bloomed on her face.
Every extra minute the baby stayed in her belly, her love for the baby deepened.
And she looked forward more and more to their birth.
She couldn't help wondering whether it would be a boy or girl, what they would look like.
The picture painted in her mind was so beautiful that the smile on Mia's face grew brighter and brighter.
......
On the sofa, Mia and the housekeeper, one teaching and one learning, were both deeply focused.
Neither of them noticed James opening the door.
He stood at the doorway.
At first, seeing her holding that thin needle and poking around with it, his heart was in his throat.
Mia was always careless. The needle in her hand, in James's eyes, was a dangerous weapon.
He was afraid she'd hurt herself.
Several times he wanted to speak up and stop her.
In his eyes, what Mia was doing was typically time-consuming and laborious.
Hard work and a waste of time.
What he lacked least was money.
Baby things—if she wanted to buy them, she could buy as many as she wanted.
She didn't need to work so hard knitting them herself.
But when he saw her show a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.
James felt that as long as she was happy, that was all that mattered.
The soft sound of the door closing caught the attention of the two people on the sofa.
Hearing the sound, Mia didn't react much.
Her hands kept moving, the smile on her face didn't fade.
But the housekeeper, seeing it was James coming home, immediately stood up and greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Smith."
Having worked here for four years, she had been afraid of James from the start.
After experiencing being fired, her fear had deepened.
Seeing him walk over, she hurriedly put down the half-finished sweater in her hands, "I'll go prepare dinner right away."
Too absorbed, she had lost track of time.
Mr. Smith was home from work, and she hadn't even prepared dinner yet.
This was like failing to take care of Mrs. Smith properly.
The housekeeper was extremely flustered inside.
"Okay."
James just responded coolly.
He was always like this with outsiders.
The housekeeper, not having been blamed, breathed a sigh of relief.
She hurried off to the kitchen.
As soon as she left, only the two of them remained in the living room.
James walked over and tentatively sat down where the housekeeper had just been sitting.
He took up more space than the housekeeper. When he sat down, he was almost pressed right against Mia.
From when James entered the house to when he walked over, Mia had been focused on knitting the little sock. She was at the final cast-off now, all her attention on the little sock, not even looking at him.
But when James sat down beside her, she didn't refuse either.
......
The housekeeper preparing dinner in the kitchen glanced out during a break.
James and Mia sitting on the sofa, pressed close together, neither speaking.
Mia was earnestly knitting the sock, James was earnestly watching Mia.
Warm yellow light enveloped them both—peaceful and beautiful.
The housekeeper looked away. Seeing the master and mistress developing in a good direction—it was really nice.
......
With only the last few stitches left, Mia was stumped.
Should she go down first or up first?
"Here—"
All day today, asking the housekeeper whenever she didn't know something had become a habit.
She turned her head, only to realize the person beside her had changed.
James's focused gaze had been on Mia the whole time. As soon as she turned her head, her gaze crashed into his eyes.
Their eyes met.
His gaze was too direct. Mia couldn't quite handle it and looked away, preparing to get up and ask the housekeeper. James pulled her back, "Up first, then down."
How did he know?
Her admiration for James was ingrained in her bones.
Mia's hands moved faster than her brain, following James's instructions to knit.
It really worked.
Just like what the housekeeper had said earlier.
For the final cast-off, whenever Mia paused, James would remind her at the right moment.
With their perfect coordination, Mia cast off the last stitch.
The fluffy little sock wasn't even as big as her palm.
Holding it in her palm, it was extremely cute.
This was Mia's first successful attempt at knitting. She felt a great sense of accomplishment.
She urgently wanted to share it with someone.
She turned to look at James beside her, eyes curved in a smile, face radiant, "James, look, isn't it super cute?"
"Yes."
James's heart skipped a beat.
Mia had smiled at him.
A smile from the heart.
A smile like this felt as rare as something from a previous century.
Unable to help himself, James reached out and placed his hand on top of her head, his palm resting there. He waited a few seconds, and seeing she didn't pull away, he gently tightened his grip.
Drawing the distance between them closer.
His intention was obvious—he wanted to kiss her.
They had been sweet together for four years, intimate countless times.
They were too familiar with each other's reactions. One look at the change in his eyes and Mia knew what he wanted to do.
He didn't act like before—whenever he wanted something, he would just do it directly, not giving her space to refuse.
But now, he was clearly giving her time to consider.
She could push him away, but—since she had decided to try, then—let nature take its course.
As James leaned toward her, Mia slowly closed her eyes.