“The headline with that photo read, ‘Lucas Taylor’s fiancée enjoys a secret rendezvous away from prying eyes.’”

“What, what did you say? That’s… unbelievable…”

Giselle’s face, which had been crumpled with displeasure, now turned to one of bewilderment.

She couldn’t believe that a photo of her morning commute had been twisted in such a way.

Noticing that she didn’t fully believe him, Lucas pointed his chin toward his car outside the gate.

“Luckily, I have that newspaper in my car. You can check it right away. Let’s go.”

“What… Ah! Se, senior!”

Lucas reached out and wrapped his arm around Giselle’s shoulder, then leaned in as if to lightly kiss her cheek.

As Giselle flinched in surprise at his sudden approach, the murmuring grew louder.

“Take the picture! Hurry!”

Reporters outside the iron gate, seeing the scene, hurriedly raised their cameras.

The sight of dozens of large lenses flashing at her was terrifying.

“Smile, Giselle.”

Lucas whispered softly into Giselle’s ear, which was stiff with tension.

At the same time, Giselle trembled. It was because his breath was tickling her ear along with his cool scent.

“Don’t be nervous.”

Unaware that he was the cause of her increased tension, Lucas brought his lips to her ear once more.

“We need to look affectionate. After all, we’re lovers who decided to marry, transcending status and wealth.”

There was a hint of laughter in Lucas’s voice. But Giselle couldn’t laugh along with him. She also didn’t have the presence of mind to take his words as a joke.

All her senses were focused on Lucas’s hand around her shoulder, his breath on her ear, and his unique cool scent.

Thump, thump.

‘Am I crazy? What’s wrong with me?’

She took a deep breath, flustered by her wildly beating heart, and looked back at the reporters.

Their busy figures, taking pictures of her and Lucas, seemed so surreal.

Perhaps that’s why. Watching them, her racing heart began to calm down.

Giselle cautiously turned her head to look at Lucas. He was staring straight ahead with a relaxed expression.

Unlike her, who was frozen in fear at the sight of the cameras pointed at them.

‘Well, of course. …It’s not like we’re getting married out of true love.’

So there was no reason to feel embarrassed in front of others. Giselle muttered to herself and swallowed a bitter smile.

She felt a wave of self-loathing, wondering what she was even doing.

Seeing the morning newspaper that the nanny had excitedly brought, she wondered if she had deluded herself into thinking she was the protagonist of the ‘love of the century.’

She looked again at the flashing camera lenses pointed at her. She could roughly guess how they would package her in their articles.

But that’s not the truth. Contrary to what people might imagine, her marriage with him was just a ‘deal.’

Giselle looked at Lucas once more. She still wasn’t sure if she was worth it, but he was the man who proposed marriage in exchange for lending her a large sum of money.

Not a sweet and tender lover from a romance novel, but a creditor and debtor.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

At that moment, Lucas, sensing her gaze, turned his head and asked. Giselle quickly shook her head as soon as their eyes met.

“It’s nothing. Just…”

She shrugged her shoulders as if to shake off her embarrassing thoughts, then continued.

“I was just, thinking about this and that…”

“…Thinking, huh. Giselle, you think too much.”

Lucas murmured in a low voice and then chuckled, leaning in once more as if to play the role of a loving partner.

‘Thinking too much?’

Well, he was right. She did think a lot. Even though it was a situation she couldn’t reverse anyway.

Besides, wasn’t it a marriage she chose herself?

A marriage carried out while deceiving the whole world.

“Giselle.”

Giselle looked at him again. The change from ‘Anticia’ to ‘Giselle’ was still unfamiliar, but she would have to get used to it.

She would have to put in as much effort as he was making for her.

She took a deep breath and nodded as if steeling herself.

“Hmm… Alright.”

“What?”

As Lucas asked back to Giselle’s words, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist. At the same time, his body flinched.

“Wow! Don’t miss it, take the picture!”

The reporters cheered even louder as they witnessed Giselle hugging her fiancé’s waist.

“Giselle, what is this…”

“Smile, senior. Don’t be nervous. We need to look affectionate.”

This time, their roles were reversed. As Lucas opened his mouth in bewilderment at Giselle’s sudden action, she responded nonchalantly.

She was repeating the exact words he had said earlier.

“Ha…”

Lucas, who had been momentarily flustered, looked intrigued. Then, a smile spread across his lips as if he found it amusing.

“Looks like you’ve come to your senses. I was wondering what you were worrying about with that small head of yours.”

“Are you making fun of me for having a small head now?”

Giselle grumbled slightly at Lucas’s teasing words. Lucas burst into laughter at her complaint.

To the reporters, they probably looked like they were exchanging sweet words. The increased sound of camera shutters suggested as much.

* * *

“Wow! They’re out!”

Questions poured in from the reporters towards Giselle and Lucas as they stepped out of the gate.

“President Taylor! Did you come to pick up your fiancée?”

“I heard you work together. Will you be commuting together from now on?”

“Lady Anticia! How does it feel to have such a loving fiancé?”

The reporters’ frenzied questioning made Giselle, who had just steadied her heart, feel scared and instinctively step back.

At that moment, Lucas patted her shoulder. Giselle calmed her startled heart and followed his lead towards the car.

Of course, she squinted slightly at the flashing camera lights in front of her.

“President.”

The driver and secretary approached, guiding and guarding Lucas and Giselle on either side as they headed to the car.

As they were about to get into the car, one of the reporters shouted even louder.

“Lady Anticia! How do you feel about marrying the man you aimed for?”

“…!”

Giselle paused as she was about to get into the car. Lucas, who was escorting her, did the same.

Even in that moment, the reporter, proud of eliciting a reaction from the ‘lovers of the century,’ continued to speak with a triumphant smile.

“There are rumors that you targeted President Taylor since you entered the academy. They say you even used dishonest methods to get into the academy. Like having some kind of relationship with the interviewers…”

“What did you just say…”

Giselle, stunned, listened to the reporter’s words with a blank expression, then opened her mouth as she saw his sly smile. But the reporter quickly added more words before she could speak.

“Isn’t the place where you are currently working also President Taylor’s company? Since you couldn’t achieve your goal at the academy, they say you targeted the company this time. Is that true? Was there any irregularity in the hiring process?”

“……”

The reporter’s lips curled into a mocking smile, perhaps interpreting Giselle’s inability to respond out of sheer astonishment as something else.

“Oh, I apologize if I offended you. But isn’t it a suspicion anyone might have? Getting into the academy and working at the company like this is difficult for a woman, yet you seem to keep throwing yourself into these challenging places as if you’re aiming for something. Haha! But it’s a better choice than throwing yourself onto a bed…”

“Shut that mou…”

Giselle, unable to hold back her anger, turned towards the reporter. Just as she was about to approach him, perhaps to slap him, Lucas grabbed her arm.

“Get in the car, Giselle.”

“But, senior!”

“Just get in.”

Lucas pointed to the car with an indifferent expression. It was too nonchalant a look for a man who had just heard insulting words about the woman he was going to marry.

‘Even if it’s a fake marriage, isn’t this too much? He said we should act affectionate, but at times like this…’

Giselle bit her lip, feeling hurt by his indifferent reaction. But she soon let out a hollow laugh and relaxed her body.

Feeling hurt?

That was indeed a luxurious emotion. Moreover, she wasn’t weak enough to be wounded by something like this.

‘I’ve heard words like that so much since my days at the academy. No, I’ve heard even worse.’

Such filthy words that she didn’t even want to utter always followed Giselle.

Any woman who dared to step into a men’s domain was a target for everyone.

Moreover, since she received much better grades than the men, their jealousy turned into hatred.

She heard all kinds of slander and insulting words in that environment. What the reporter said now was just an extension of that.

So there was no reason to suddenly get angry now. Lucas telling her to get in the car indifferently was probably for that reason.

“Get in.”

Despite Lucas’s repeated words, Giselle stubbornly turned her head to look at the reporter.

As soon as the reporter, with a camera around his neck, met her eyes, he smirked crookedly.

His vile gaze was mocking her. It was clear he intended to provoke her reaction with some inflammatory remark.

If that could increase newspaper sales, it would be beneficial.

Anyone could guess his intentions. So she couldn’t play along as the reporter intended.

Maybe getting in the car and leaving, as Lucas said, was the best option.