"Mom, these days everyone is just having one child," Julia Bluen said with a laugh. She wasn't saying she didn't want children, just that she didn't want them so soon. She was only twenty-six years old, after all. She wanted to enjoy a couple more years of ease and get the company in order first. Plus, she wasn't a sow whose sole purpose was to reproduce.

"We have the money to afford it; you can have as many kids as you'd like. Eight or ten, no problem. It'd be best to have several sons. One daughter is enough, like a little cotton-padded jacket to keep your heart warm. That way, when the brothers join the company, it won't all be on one person's shoulders."

Ugh! Julia Bluen found herself wanting to slip away.

Eight or ten kids? Heavens, that would truly make me a sow.

"Mom, when it comes to having children, let's just let nature take its course," Julia Bluen said, trying to reason with Mila Anderson.

"What 'let nature take its course'?" Mila Anderson's tone grew stern. "You need to get pregnant quickly. It's our duty as women." It was as if she were trying to force Julia Bluen to get pregnant on the spot.

Ultimately, Mila was looking for a way to vent her daughter Adele's frustrations. On the surface, she acted as if she wasn't swayed by Adele's complaints, but deep down, they had influenced her somewhat. In her heart, her daughter, Adele, was truly hers, while her daughter-in-law was an outsider. She hadn't directly asked Julia Bluen if she was mistreating Adele Horne. Instead, she had contrived other topics to lecture Julia, which was why she now had the audacity to interfere with Julia's decision about pregnancy.

"Mom, I'll say it again: when it comes to having children, let's just let nature take its course. Tomorrow, I'm still going to work at the company. Those companies are already mine, and if I don't manage them, who will? Let them go bankrupt? No one says Upper Class Society wives can't work. Look around at the companies and families nearby; plenty of society ladies help manage their own family's businesses. Firstly, it prevents the company from falling into the wrong hands, and secondly, it enriches their lives. A woman can't just live relying on a man." Julia Bluen stood up, firm in her beliefs, refusing Mila Anderson's demand that she not work.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! Applause suddenly echoed, and there stood Glades Horne and his brother James Horne at the Side Hall entrance, Glades in front, with James behind him. The applause clearly came from Glades.

"Glades," Mila Anderson's face lit up in a warm, motherly smile at the sight of her son, but when she saw James Horne following Glades, her smile stiffened somewhat.

"Mom," Glades Horne called out and walked over. Sitting down next to Julia Bluen, he immediately reached out to hold her hand, as if to comfort Julia and show his support.

Seeing her son like that, Mila Anderson quickly got up, smiling. "I'm going downstairs. I wonder if Adele won or lost. I hope she hasn't lost all the money I just managed to win." Then, she went downstairs, entirely unfazed by her son catching her interfering in her daughter-in-law's decisions about pregnancy.

James Horne still stood at the entrance of the Side Hall, not intruding on his brother and sister-in-law. His gaze on Julia Bluen intensified. He had heard everything Julia had just said.

A woman cannot live merely by relying on a man!

She was still as strong and confident as ever, fiercely independent, unwilling to rely on anyone, regardless of whether she was born into Upper Class Society or not.

He had noticed her, and eventually fallen for her, not just because she had never attacked him as others did, but also because of this strong, admirable character of hers.

A pang of pain swept through his heart, and he withdrew his gaze from Julia Bluen, turned, and silently disappeared, fading into the background of his brother and sister-in-law's world.

In this life, he could only be their younger brother.

He would stand behind them, in the shadows, silently watching over them. As long as they were happy, he would be content.

Isn't that what loving someone truly means? Not to possess her, but to want her happiness, even if she isn't with you. As long as she is happy, that's better than anything.

"Don't take Mom's words to heart," Glades Horne said softly, enveloping his wife in his arms.

Julia Bluen giggled in his embrace, responding, "I'm not angry. I understand Mom wants to be a grandmother."

She just wasn't ready to become a mother so soon.

She deserved to enjoy their time alone together, right? She and Glades Horne had married in haste, without even dating. She still cherished the idea of working while also cultivating a proper romance with Glades.

"At my age, if I'd married early, I'd already be a father," Glades Horne said in a low, husky voice. Truthfully, he also longed to be a father. A child would be the crystallization of his love with Julia. After the New Year, he would be thirty-three, entering middle age. Many of his peers who had married young were already fathers. Sometimes, the sight of a sweet, adorable child would make his heart melt.

To outsiders, he seemed unpredictable, hard to label as good or bad, sometimes as hard-hearted as iron, his methods merciless when dealing with business rivals. But in reality, he deeply loved children.

Julia Bluen looked up at him from his embrace, staring intently. Seeing the tenderness on his face as he spoke of fatherhood, her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help but wrap her arms around his sturdy waist and whispered softly, "Glades, it's not that I don't want kids, and you've also said to let nature take its course. If Providence decides we should have a child sooner, I will naturally fulfill my duty to give birth to our child, to cherish, love, and raise them. But... we've had so little time together, haven't we? I mean, just for the two of us."

Glades Horne chuckled softly, understanding the meaning behind her words.

He tightened his embrace, holding her close. This was what he loved most—the two of them together, warm and intimate.

"I'll give you the sweet courtship we missed. It'll be like marrying first and dating afterward. As for children..." His smile deepened. Suddenly, he swept Julia Bluen into his arms and headed toward their bedroom.