He didn’t have to go to the office Monday through Friday, but these training sessions popped up every now and then, lasting an hour or two each time.

About ten minutes into the session, he heard the door open.

The moment Holly Winslow opened the door, she saw the food on the table, still steaming. Seeing that Mortimer Quincy wasn’t around, she snatched a piece of braised beef without washing her hands.

Only after she finished it did she call out, "Honey, I’m home."

The study door was open, so her voice carried into the group video call. Everything went silent for a few seconds.

Mortimer Quincy suppressed a smile and said calmly to the people on the call, "My apologies."

Just as he said that, Holly Winslow poked her head in. Seeing him at the computer, she grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, cooing, "Honey, what are you so busy with?"

The next second, she saw her own face appear on the screen, followed by a dozen other faces staring back at her.

Her: "..."

Her face flushed red. She instantly let go of him. "My apologies," she stammered, then quickly fled the study.

Mortimer, left behind, couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Several dozen minutes later, Mortimer Quincy came out of the study. Holly Winslow huffed at him. In the lamplight, her face looked fair, making her lips stand out more than they did during the day—a shade redder than pink.

Mortimer’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He boldly cupped her face and gave her a firm kiss. "Honey, they all said you’re beautiful."

Seeing how proud he looked, Holly Winslow poked his chest, looking just as proud herself. "You should be thanking me. Where else would you find a wife as beautiful as me?"

"Mm, good point."

Mortimer’s eyes swept over the shopping bags on the sofa. He smiled, deliberately teasing her. "Spent a few dozen bucks?"

Although Mortimer never restricted her spending, she still felt a little sheepish. Ahem, it was his money she was spending, after all.

This was especially true in the first year or two of their marriage.

She would often buy clothes and report the prices back to him: pants for twenty, a top for thirty, and shoes on a special sale for ten bucks.

Now that she was a seasoned pro at this, she held up one finger. "Just under a thousand."

"Just under a thousand" probably meant somewhere around nineteen hundred. Mortimer chuckled. "Oh? Just under a thousand, you say?"

Feeling a pang of guilt, Holly Winslow changed the subject. "Let’s eat."

...

Word of Holly Winslow’s video call appearance spread like wildfire through the company. The number of women fluttering around Mortimer Quincy dropped significantly, while the amount of work on his plate grew.

A veteran colleague on his team saw the massive pile of documents on his desk and couldn’t help but lean in. "You don’t have to do all this, you know. The team lead didn’t assign it to you."

Mortimer’s fingers continued to fly across the keyboard. "It’s fine."

"You shouldn’t take some things so seriously. That’s just how it is in this company." The senior was his partner, so he offered a bit more advice.

Mortimer’s hands paused. He enunciated each word clearly. "Some things need to be made crystal clear. My wife gets jealous easily."

The veteran colleague, who had just been inadvertently hit with their PDA: "..."

’I guess I just can’t keep up with the way young people think anymore.’

’Shouldn’t guys in their twenties be talking about which girls on campus are the prettiest?’

...

That evening was the large monthly class meeting. Mortimer had attended the previous month’s session, so this month, he went along with Holly Winslow.

The large lecture hall was just big enough to seat the students from three different classes, but some had brought their partners along. As a result, over twenty actual, registered students were left standing at the back of the room.

The student advisor glanced around the room and remarked with a smile, "Looks like we have quite a few partners in attendance."

"Next week is the university sports meet. I encourage you all to participate. Students who place in events will earn extra course credit."

The mention of extra credit piqued everyone’s interest—or rather, the credit itself did.

「In the dorm」

Serena Shaw was soaking her feet in a basin of hot water. "What events are you guys signing up for? Should we do the 4x100 relay together?"

Simone Quincy, who was borrowing Holly Winslow’s water card, turned to her and said, "I’m guessing you don’t actually want that extra credit."

Holly Winslow and Autumn Underwood laughed and nodded in agreement. Holly made her stance clear, "I’m not even going to think about the credit. I’ll be there to cheer you all on."

"Holly, you’re so tall. You should be good at the long jump."

Unaware of Holly’s particular "weakness," Autumn Underwood enthusiastically played the role of strategist.

The two words "long jump" made an embarrassing memory flash through Holly’s mind. She couldn’t help but cough. ’Being tall has absolutely nothing to do with being able to jump far.’

She waved her hands in dismissal. "I’ll just stick to my books, thanks."

Just then, her phone rang. Serena Shaw, nibbling on a cookie nearby, took on the role of announcer. "Holly’s boyfriend is on the line!"

"All you single people might want to put on your headphones."

Holly: "..."

She answered the phone. "Hello?"

Mortimer’s magnetic voice came through the line. "Come down and get some documents."

She subconsciously replied, "Oh," and headed downstairs in her slippers without even asking what they were.

When she saw that the so-called "documents" were actually a late-night snack, she couldn’t help but smile.

She huffed playfully. "Quincy the Puppy, you big liar."

"You don’t like it? If not, I can just take it back." Mortimer raised an eyebrow and pretended to turn and leave.

"You can go, but the food stays."

Holly Winslow took the food from him and gave him a shooing "bye-bye" wave.

Mortimer bent down, tilting his head. "M’lady, care to bestow a kiss?"

Holly huffed, glanced around, and gave him a quick kiss. "Good night!" she said, before darting back into her dorm.

Pantheon and Cynthia Owens happened to be arriving at the women’s dormitory just then. Pantheon: "..."

He glanced at Cynthia Owens. She met his gaze. "Don’t even think about it."

Pantheon: "..."

Mortimer had seen them too. Just as he was about to leave, Cynthia Owens walked over. "My mom’s coming, and so are Grandpa and Grandma. They want to meet your girlfriend."

Mortimer hummed in response.

The Quincy Family arrived in B City on the second day of the sports meet. Holly Winslow was on the field, cheering for Serena Shaw and her other dormmates.

Mortimer met them and led them onto campus. As they walked, Carl Quincy looked around in awe. "Your university is huge! Much bigger than the ones back in my day."

Then he asked, "Where’s Holly? Is she in class?"

"She’s at the track, watching the sports meet."

When Mortimer and his family arrived at the track, Holly was in the middle of waving a pompom and shouting words of encouragement. He pressed his lips together to hide a smile.

"Holly! Holly!"

It took two shouts before Holly finally looked over, and she immediately froze. "..."

Seeing her lift the pompom to hide her face, Mortimer couldn’t help but laugh. "What are you afraid of? Grandpa and Grandma won’t bite."

Holly shot him a glare. ’If our family relations go sour, it’ll be all his fault!’

Carl Quincy chuckled. "Is the sports meet exciting? Back in my day, I was the fastest runner around."

Mortimer’s grandmother shot him a smiling glare. "It’s been decades and you’re still bringing that up."

Carl Quincy let out a dry chuckle. "It’s my moment of glory."

Afterward, the group took a stroll around the campus before having lunch at a restaurant just outside the university.

Mortimer’s aunt held Holly’s hand with a wide smile. "Holly, is Moira treating you well?"

In the past, Holly would have definitely laughed and said, "He’s hopelessly lazy."

"He’s very good to me, Auntie."

"Good? I thought he was ’hopelessly lazy’?" that jerk Mortimer chimed in, deliberately undermining her.

Holly shot him a "fierce" glare and kicked him under the table.

Carl Quincy and the other adults all laughed. Mortimer’s aunt was very progressive. "Holly, it’s fine. You don’t have to say nice things about Moira. I’m sick of hearing them, anyway."

"Tell us some of the bad stuff so we can have a little gossip."