Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Conner's crew stood by, watching their boss take a beating but not daring to step in. The boss was scary enough, but the guy throwing punches was on a whole other level.

"Think you can keep your mouth in check from now on?" Andre's voice was low and threatening, sending a chill down everyone's spine.

Conner slowly got to his feet, leaning against the railing with his face all bruised up. "I figured you'd hit me, but man, I didn't think you'd hit that hard."

Andre rose, and Conner quickly followed suit. "Yeah, I got it!"

Andre paused, unwrapping the bandages from his hands and tossing them aside. He hopped off the boxing ring and headed to the sink to wash up. "Conner, you need to get back in the game. Ever since you took over the family, your boxing's gone downhill." Conner held his aching face, sucking in a sharp breath. "Geez, why not admit you've just gotten meaner?"

After a shower, Andre emerged looking sharp in his business suit, no sign of the brawler he'd been just moments before.

"I'm out of here."

"Leaving after a scrap, huh?" Conner said, trying to keep his tone light.

Andre replied, "Mia's waiting on me at home. We're having dumplings tonight."

Once Andre left, Conner cursed under his breath, wincing from the pain. "Call the doc, but keep it on the down-low."

"Boss, word is Ms. Annie's back for the holidays too."

"What? Annie's back!"

A roar of frustration echoed from the Nettleton family mansion. "Andre, you're such a jerk for decking me when you knew Annie was around. How am I supposed to keep my cool in front of her now?"

By then, Andre was already on a plane heading home.novelbin

That evening, the Irvin family villa was all lit up. Mia sat waiting, but the snow she'd hoped for hadn't fallen.

When Andre got home, he found his son, still in play mode from their beach trip, squatting in the bushes with a little shovel, digging around.

"Henry, time to come inside," Andre called, scooping him up from the grass and bringing him into the living room.

Inside, Madison was busy making dumplings while Mia rolled out the dough. With the staff off for the holidays, it was just Mia's family in the cozy villa. "Honey, why'd you bring him back in? He's been eating and Steeping like it's going out of style, getting all pudgy. I just sent him out to burn off some energy, and here you are, bringing him back," Mia protested.

ét

Aaron was chiming in, "At his age, it's all about eating, sleeping, and repeating. Mia insists he gets some

instead of being carried

around."

Andre chuckled, "Mia's just worried you won't be able to lift him soon."

He set his son down, letting Henry run wild around the house.

Sitting next to his wife, Andre teased, "Who knew the queen of kitchen disasters could roll out dough, huh?"

Mia just rolled her eyes.

At dinner, Mia picked a dumpling from her bowl, blew on it to cool it down, and handed it to her son. "Here, hold this and eat up."

Molly had returned to the Byrne family, and as expected, got an earful from her parents.

Leo had always been curious about who funded their lavish getaway. On a flight one day, the question popped back into his head, so he asked Anya.

Anya gazed out the window, weighing her options: jumping out of the plane or coming clean to her boyfriend.

Seeing her pout, Leo felt like he'd been hit with a ton of bricks. "Ms. Anya!"

Anya looked adorably guilty, "Chad, I'll make it up to you!"

In that moment, Leo's hand itched with frustration. Caught between wanting to scold her and not having the heart to do it, he ended up punching his own leg. "Forget about paying me back, we'll just deduct it from your future dowry!"