Chapter 163: Bound by Choice
Avery did return the shirt two days later — but for once, luck was on my side.
I was already heading out.
To the airport.
Val had called not even ten minutes earlier, her voice bright through the speaker.
> "I just landed," she’d said, "come pick me up, Sir Kai Tanaka. Every princess deserves her knight."
Her words were playful, dramatic. Entirely her.
So I grabbed the keys to the SUV, tossed on a jacket, and was halfway to locking the door when I saw her.
Avery.
She’d just stepped out of her car, one hand pushing her blonde hair away from her face, the other clutching a small handbag like it held the answers to questions she hadn’t asked yet.
"Uhm... hi?" she said, tilting her head a little, like she was unsure how to even start.
I blinked, surprised, then managed, "You’re... here."
"To return your shirt," she said simply.
"Oh."
She looked at me for a second longer, her gaze darting from my keys to the shoes by the door. "You’re going somewhere?"
"Yep."
Just that.
Because if I said any more, she’d hear it in my tone, the quiet relief. The thought of how close I’d come to having her knock while I was still inside, unprepared.
And maybe she saw it too, because she hesitated, her lips parting slightly before closing again. Her posture softened, almost like she was deflating.
She looked good too. Too good.
A cropped top under an open jacket, a short skirt that stopped just above her knees, thigh-high boots that made her legs look longer than should be legal. Her blonde hair fell loosely down her shoulders, catching the faint sunlight.
She looked like she’d spent time in front of the mirror before coming here, like this visit wasn’t as casual as she was pretending it to be.
"So..." I said after a moment, extending my hand toward her, "the shirt?"
"Oh. Right."
She reached into her bag, pulled it out neatly folded, and handed it over — or tried to. Her fingers lingered on the fabric, not letting go.
I raised an eyebrow. "You planning on keeping it hostage again?"
Her lips curved faintly. "How about I bring it some other time?"
I gave her a look. "You want to bring my shirt some other time?"
She nodded, a tiny motion.
"Even though my hand’s already on it?"
Her gaze dropped to where our fingers brushed lightly against the same piece of cloth. Then, slowly, she looked back up, and her voice softened.
] "I don’t exactly... have any other excuse for coming over... that wouldn’t sound like I’m forcing myself on you."
That silence that followed said everything she didn’t.
She finally released her side of the shirt, her hand falling back to her side.
I sighed. "Avery—"
"Can I tag along?" she cut in. Her tone was careful, almost small. "To wherever you’re headed?"
I met her eyes. "I’m going to pick Val up from the airport. Still wanna come?"
Her lips parted, then pressed together again. "Oh."
It wasn’t a long word, but it carried the weight of something unspoken — that realization that she’d walked straight into another reminder that she couldn’t compete with what I already had.
I didn’t say anything else. Just,
"Bye, Avery."
She nodded once, quietly, then turned back toward her car. Her heels clicked softly against the pavement, fading as she walked away.
I stood there for a second, the shirt still in my hand. Before getting into my car, I walked back inside and set it in its proper place, in the drawer, folded neatly beside the others.
Because Val would notice.
She always did.
And I didn’t want to explain why an extra shirt was lying around. I didn’t want to make her question me.
But more than that, I didn’t want to ever have to lie to her.
Then I locked the door, exhaled, and finally headed out to pick up the woman who never needed an excuse to show up at my door.
---
It didn’t take me long to get to the airport. Midday traffic wasn’t too bad, and I knew every shortcut well enough to slip past the congested spots. The moment I pulled into the drop-off area, I saw her.
Val.
She was sitting on one of her suitcases — the bigger one, of course — scrolling through her phone with a look that could only be described as half bored, half dangerously patient. Duchess’ carrier was beside her, the handle looped neatly around her wrist like even her cat’s luggage couldn’t dare misbehave.
From where I parked, I could see the small frown between her brows, the way her lips pressed together as she scrolled, unimpressed by whatever she was seeing. Her hair had gotten a little longer, funny how I didn’t notice until now. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail, a few strands framing her face. She looked like she’d just stepped off a magazine cover disguised as a red-eye flight.
Then I saw the guy.
Tall, too confident, walking straight toward her like he was about to win a lottery. He said something — I couldn’t hear what — but I saw his grin, the way he held out his phone like an offering. Probably asking for her number. Because of course he was.
Val looked up at him, blinked once, then slowly raised her hand, first showing him her middle finger.
The guy froze.
She tilted her head, pretending like it was an accident, then switched fingers, displaying the one that glittered under the sun — her ring finger. The smile she gave afterward was the kind that looked polite but could shred someone’s pride cleanly in half.
The man laughed awkwardly, muttered something, and walked off.
I couldn’t help it, I chuckled, shaking my head as I got out of the car.
By the time I crossed the short distance to her, she’d gone back to scrolling, still pretending to be unbothered. But the moment she saw me, that mask broke instantly.
Her face lit up like sunlight after rain.
> "Husband!"
Before I could say a word, she jumped off the suitcase, closed the distance, and threw her arms around my neck. Her luggage wobbled behind her, but she didn’t care. She kissed me right there, full and unhurried, ignoring the passing people who politely pretended not to stare.
When she finally pulled back, she pouted, eyes narrowing just a little.
> "Took you long enough. Some dragon actually tried to hit on me while I waited."
I laughed softly, still holding her by the waist. "A dragon, huh? Looked to me like you handled it just fine on your own, Your Highness."
Her brows shot up. "You saw that?"
I nodded.
> "Oh, wow. So you saw and didn’t even try to defend me?"
"I was observing my brave princess," I said lightly. "Wanted to see if she’d handle the beast without summoning her knight."
Her mouth opened, then closed again, then she broke into a grin. "You’re getting smooth, Sir Kai."
"I married a woman who demands poetry before breakfast. I had to adapt."
She giggled, bumping her forehead lightly against mine. "Aww, my husband knows poetry now. What’s next, serenading me in the car?"
"If that’s what it takes to keep you from flipping off another poor stranger."
She laughed at that. The kind of laugh that always managed to untangle something inside me.
"Come on," I said, reaching for Duchess’ carrier. "Let’s get the royal family home."
Duchess blinked up at me through the mesh screen, then meowed once — a low, tired sound that carried more judgment than affection.
"She hasn’t changed one bit," I said, crouching to shake her paw through the carrier.
"She’s worse now," Val said, deadpan. "Natasha made sure of that. You leave her for one week and suddenly she thinks she’s queen of the house."
I raised an eyebrow. "She already thought that."
> "Now she’s got paperwork to prove it."
I laughed, shaking my head as I took the larger suitcase while Val handled the smaller one. Together, we wheeled everything to the car.
As soon as we got in, Val sighed, stretching out her legs and resting her head against the seat. "I missed this car. It smells like you."
"Thanks, I think."
> "It’s a compliment, Kai. You smell like home."
That shut me up for a second.
I started the engine, pulled out of the lot, and merged into traffic. Val leaned her head against the window, humming softly to a tune only she could hear. Duchess had settled down in her carrier on the back seat, tail twitching occasionally.
The drive was quiet — the good kind. The kind where nothing needed to be said.
It wasn’t until we stopped at a red light that I turned my head and saw her.
She’d fallen asleep.
Her lips were slightly parted, her breathing slow and even, one hand still curled around her phone that had slipped halfway off her lap. A few strands of hair had fallen over her cheek, and I reached over gently to tuck them behind her ear.
And that was when my mind betrayed me.
Just for a second, it flickered — to another morning, when Avery had been asleep too, her head turned slightly toward me on my bed.
That quiet, uninvited memory brushed past the edges of my thoughts before I could stop it.
Then came the comparison.
Unavoidable. Unfair, maybe — but real.
Avery had been a storm, reckless, sharp, unpredictable.
Val... Val was gravity. The center of everything that kept me steady.
My smile deepened as the traffic light turned green.
Because no matter how many storms passed, every time, without hesitation, I’d still choose the one person who made the world feel like home.
Celestia Valentina Moreau.
My Val.
And as I drove us back home — her hand now resting lightly over mine on the console even in her sleep — I realized that maybe this was what it meant to love someone so deeply that temptation never stood a chance.
It wasn’t that the line was hard to cross.
It was that, with her beside me, the line never even existed.
---
To be continued...