SM BADLY wanted to open the café. She missed baking. But she was aware that it would only endanger herself and all those around her. She had to stay away from any risky or dangerous situations. She didn't want to get shot again. That was why she took out her frustration by baking cakes in Knight's kitchen, and her three bodyguards were just letting her do her thing.

"Milady, that's your sixth cake today," Jacques noticed. "Are you okay? Are you not tired? You've been baking since morning, and it's already twilight."

"Is this an effect of your wound?" Cloud asked in worry.

"Or a side effect of your medication?" Dimitri added.

"Should I call ten doctors to check on you, milady?" Jacques asked.

"No need. I already made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a red velvet cake, a chocolate mousse cake, an apple cake, and now..." she said, smiling, as she finished decorating her sixth cake. "A black forest cake. Yum! Knight will surely love these!"

"He'll be diabetic, milady."

The smile on her lips faded. "That's sad."

"But I'm sure Boss will not mind being diabetic for your cakes," Dimitri quickly added before glaring at the marquess. "Remember what Boss said this morning? Make Miss SM happy."

Jacques winced. "That motherfucker is not my boss, but"—he looked at SM—"your cakes are beautiful and surely delicious, milady."

Cloud smiled. "My lord loves cakes, Lady SM. I'm sure he will love and appreciate the cakes you've made for him."

She looked at them—the three men whom she trusted as well. They were actually making her happy even though she was just pretending to be sad to see what their reaction would be.

These men are adorable.

"Thank you." A smile graced her lips. She took out the apple cake from the fridge and served it on the dining table. "Come on, let's eat this. You won't be able to taste the cakes I've made once Knight arrives. You know him. He's greedy with my cakes."

She laughed when the three men quickly sat at the table. They didn't even bother getting a plate for themselves. Cloud was about to get up from his seat when noticed that they forgot the utensils, but she stopped him.

"Let me get it," SM said. After getting the small plates, forks, and a knife to slice the cake, she went back to the dining table. She set the plates down one by one, cut the cake, and served it on each of their plates.

"Thank you, milady."

"Thank you, Lady SM."

"Thank you, Miss SM."

She smiled before placing a slice on her plate. "Do you know what pairs well with cake?" When the three shook their heads, she grinned. "Coffee."

SM then made coffee using the instant coffee packs, which the weirdos with her—except Dimitri—call "commoners' coffee." Then she returned to the dining table with four cups.

"There," she said, offering them a cup of coffee each, before joining them at the table. "So... how's the cake?"

The three of them were all praises, making her laugh. "Flatterers!" she teased before tasting her own creation.

Moments later, her eyes settled on Dimitri's injury. "How is it?" she asked, her eyes pointing to his wound. "I thought you said it was only a scratch, so why is it wrapped in a bandage? Did you get hurt?"

Jacques and Cloud looked at her in amusement.

"What scratch?" Cloud said sarcastically. "He got stabbed."

Dimitri's face clearly displayed worry. "Stop it. This is nothing."

"Stabbed? I thought it was a sniper," she told Cloud, ignoring what Dimitri had said.

"Nope." Jacques shook his head. "It was the count."

Her eyes widened. "Say what?"

"It's the count," Jacques repeated. "He stabbed Dimitri in anger because of what happened to you, and then he punched me and threatened Cloud."

She was taken aback, still absorbing everything she learned just now. "But... Knight would never do that..."

The three men looked at her flatly, as if to say she must be blind to ever consider that.

"It's not the boss," Dimitri tried to defend Knight.

"Uhm, yeah... I mean..." She gestured her hand to Cloud. "You are his butler." Then to Dimitri. "You are his punisher. And you..." Then to Jacques. "Well... uhm..."

Jacques gave her an arched look. "You're hurting me, milady."

She smiled sweetly at her butler. "I just saw it coming, sorry, but by the way..." She lowered her gaze to his shirt. "Your denim shirt looks good on you. Is that a Louis Vuitton?"

Jacques immediately nodded. "Yeah. It is. Do you like it? It's a trend nowadays."

"Yes, it's very trendy. It suits you."

Dimitri tsked. "He didn't even realize that he was being manipulated."

Jacques turned to Dimitri. "Who's manipulating who?"

Cloud and Dimitri emotionlessly stared at Jacques, who was confused on what they were talking about."

"Lord Jacques," Cloud said, "Lady SM was manipulating your emotions."

Jacques turned to SM and shook his head, defending her. "No, milady would never do that. She's a very nice person."

Dimitri sighed and murmured, "Another blind person."

SM gave a soft chuckle, but she didn't forget about Dimitri's "scratch." Worried, she stood from her seat and approached him. "Can I see it?"

She knew Dimitri wouldn't tell on Knight, so she needed to do her own investigation to know the truth.

Dimitri nodded before removing his bandage.

SM partially opened her lips in shock.

Based on the lines embedded on Dimitri's shoulder, she deduced that the weapon could be a tri-dagger fixed-blade knife—a weapon that Knight owned. It was even customized for him.

This is really Knight's doing, she thought.

SM calmly took a deep breath to hide the irritation on her face. Then she scanned her eyes around the dining hall, seemingly looking for something. She found what she was looking for on her second try.

Hmm... looks like I was right. This is Knight's house after all.

There were four light power switches. One was for the vintage crystal chandelier, and the other for the pillar lights. The other two were placed a bit too high; one had rectangular holes covered with glass, while the other had none. That alone was weird and suspicious.

Still trying to control her temper, SM walked toward one of the light power switches located on a high part of the wall. She observed the rectangular light switch and smiled as soon as she saw a blinking red dot.

"Actually, I'm not shocked anymore. You did put a bug in my café and a tracking device on my ring. No one can stop you from putting a secret camera in your light power switch since it's your own house... am I right, baby?"

A phone rang.

She turned to Cloud, the owner of the ringing device.

"My lord—yes, of course," Cloud answered before giving the phone to SM. "It's my lord."

She took the phone and held it to her ear. Immediately, she heard Knight's voice.

"Baby, I was just so angry! That's why I did it. Please don't be mad at me, baby. And the camera, it's a CCTV, baby, it's not a secret camera—"

"So, this is not only a camera. This has a microphone."

Knight fell silent for a few seconds. "Yeah. You mad?"

"CCTV? No. But what you did to Dimitri?" She gazed at the camera with piercing eyes. "See my eyes?"

She heard Knight cuss.

"I'm coming home, baby."

SM ended the call before telling Cloud to get the first-aid kit. Then she cleaned Dimitri's wound and put on a dressing.

"There," she said as she looked up at Dimitri. "Clean that every time to avoid infection, okay? I'm sorry about what happened to me and what Knight did to you. I'm not pleased with what he did. You weren't at fault. If someone has to be blamed, it should be—because I was in the right state of mind when I agreed to go there."

Dimitri gave her a soft smile. "Thank you, Miss SM. I thought you'll side with him once you find out."

SM let out a loud sigh. "I understand his line of work, and I'm ready to accept that he has to do things in a certain way so he can do his job well. But what I won't accept is if he hurts people who have done nothing wrong. I can't accept that. I can't tolerate that."

The three of them fell silent. Cloud let out a heavy sigh. "My lord will be very pissed."

SM looked upset, but she didn't say a word. She just put the first-aid kit aside and quietly finished the cake and coffee before leaving.

While walking out of the kitchen, she heard the three murmuring.

"Milady looked really pissed," said Jacques.

"It's the first time to see her like this," Cloud remarked. "She's always smiling and always nice and kind."

"I saw how badass she is," Dimitri added. "Boss is shaking."

SM tuned out the three's voices from her mind and continued walking toward the garden. She took a deep breath when she was finally outside, heading toward the back garden.

Different flower pots were well placed on the corners and sides. A garden fountain shaped like a blooming flower was in the center surrounded with different colored roses. Just meters away was a small round pavilion made of expensive wood with seven pillars, and in the middle of the pavilion was a gray rattan corner sofa set and a large round bed at the center adorned with lots of throw pillows.

She sat on the bed while thinking about what Knight did to Dimitri. She was disappointed. She could accept everything that Knight had done for work but not harming the innocent. She couldn't help gritting her teeth until she felt a presence at one side of the pavilion.

SM knew it was Knight, but she didn't move to look or welcome him. Seconds later, he silently sat on the round bed beside her.

"You mad?" Knight asked in a whisper.

She nodded. "I can accept and tolerate everything you do, Knight, but hurting people who didn't do anything wrong—I just can't... What you did made me angry. I know you did for me, but it's still not right. Dimitri didn't do anything for you to stab him. If you want to blame anyone, then blame it on me. I was the one who invited them to go shopping, and I agreed to Jacques's request. No one forced me to go.

"I know you only want to keep me safe, but don't hurt the people who will keep me safe when you're not around. That's unfair to Dimitri."

Knight was silent for a few seconds before standing and walking out of the pavilion. SM sighed. She would not soften for him this time.

But he hadn't fully distanced himself from her when he stopped to look back. "I'm not walking out on you. I'll just apologize to Dimitri. Wait for me here. I'll be back."

She stared at Knight walking back to the house. Will he really apologize to Dimitri?

Somehow, it made her feel relieved that he knew how to apologize even though his father raised him to think highly of himself. And she was pleased that she didn't have to tell him what to do. That it was his own will. That his apology was not forced.

She remained seated alone in the pavilion for several minutes before Knight came back. He knelt in front her and held her hand before capturing her gaze.

"I'm sorry," he started, "but I can't promise that I won't turn like that again, especially when it comes to you. You see, I become a different person when I'm angry, Sweet Monday. I become Minrod, the monster that my father made me to be, and I can't control that. I can't see reason when I'm mad. When I'm mad, I'm mad. I'm blind to everything. And I know you wouldn't want to see that."

SM took a deep breath before pulling the hand that Knight was grasping to caress his hair. "Knight, don't hide Minrod from me. Let me see him. Let me see the real you so I'll know and understand you better. I can understand your work, but not when you choose to harm innocent people. We will argue because of that, and I will disagree with you. Please don't do that again."

Knight was silent for a few seconds before speaking, "I can't promise something that I know I can't fulfill, but I'll try."

As SM looked at his eyes directly, she could see stubbornness in them. That was when she realized that there were things that Knight wouldn't compromise for her, just like there were beliefs and things that she couldn't compromise for him.

That's individuality. They are different people with different opinions, beliefs, and attitudes. For their relationship to get past that, they had to respect and understand each other, which was one of the hardest parts of being in a relationship.

SM took a deep breath. "I can let this go for now, but I don't think I can next time."

Knight reached for her hand again and tightened his grip. "I'll try harder."

She nodded before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I feel sorry for Dimitri," she said. "It's not his fault."

"I know. I was just so mad."

Still hugging him, she caressed the back of his head. "And Cloud?

"I was mad at everyone."

"Jacques?"

"Oh, him?" Knight tightened his embrace. "If I saw him first and not Dimitri, he'd be the one who's stabbed right now. He should be thankful that I already let out my anger when I saw him."

"Knight!"

"What?" He slightly created some distance between their bodies to look at her. "He knew it was dangerous, but he still invited you to Hong Kong—"

"I agreed to go."

"Still..."

SM sighed. "Please don't hurt or threaten the people who are keeping me safe when you're not around, Knight. We need to treat them well."

Knight just hugged her and buried his face into her stomach.

So stubborn.

She wanted to manipulate him into changing, but then she remembered what her father would always tell her: Do not try to change someone because it'll be useless. Change should come from them for the changes to last a lifetime.

"You got home quickly, by the way," she said, changing the topic as she caressed his back. "I even noticed that you were gasping for air."

"You scared the shit out of me," Knight confessed.

"Why would you be scared of me? You know I'm too soft for you."

"Yeah, but"—he looked up at her—"I know you have your limits, and I don't want your understanding and patience to wear thin. I know how nice and kind my baby is, but I also know that you can kick ass. And I don't want it to be my ass."

She laughed. "Good that you know."

Knight smiled, gone the nervousness on his face. "Of course, you're my baby." His expression softened. "Thank you for not getting mad at me and for not leaving me."

She caressed his cheek. "Oh, I was about to get mad if you didn't apologize on your own. And leave you?" she remarked, her tone sarcastic, as she playfully pinched his nose. "I won't leave you, especially when I know that we can talk about it." SM held his hand and pulled him up to stand. "Get up now. You don't have to kneel."

Knight smiled before standing up. He sat beside her on the round sofa bed and hugged her waist. He seemed excited, as if he just remembered something. "Midnight will come home later."

SM smiled when she noticed how Knight's face glowed in joy. "That's good news. What are his favorite foods so I could cook for him?"

"I should be jealous, but since he's your future brother-in-law, okay, you can cook for him. This time only, okay?"

SM shook her head. "Always possessive. It's not cute anymore."

Knight buried his face in her shoulder blade. "Sorry."

She shook her head once again as she messed up his hair. "Do you want me to invite Eli? I'll think of some alibi so you and Midnight can be with her. I know you miss her too."

Knight excitedly looked up at her and then showered her cheeks with kisses. "Thank you, baby. Thank you! Thank you! You're the most amazing woman ever!"

SM playfully pinched his cheeks before giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Alright, go back to your work. I'm sure my count boyfriend still has a lot of bad guys to punish."

"Yes, Boss."

"Go home early," she requested. "I bake cakes for you—oh, wait, I'm sure you know that already."

Knight gave her a lopsided smile. "I want to try your chocolate mousse cake."

She laughed. "When it comes to cakes, you're so..." But she just kissed Knight on the lips instead of finishing her sentence. "Go, work that sexy round ass of yours. I'll be in charge of Midnight's welcome party. He'll like it for sure, especially now that all of you siblings are complete."

His gaze lingered on her lovingly for a few seconds before showering her with kisses on the lips. He left the pavilion, smiling.

SM smiled as she watched him go. She was happy that their conversation didn't turn into an argument and that he willingly apologized to Dimitri.

SM took a deep breath before returning to the house.

"Cloud, Jacques," she called the two butlers as soon as she walked in the kitchen. "Can you help me?"

The two immediately stood up straight.

"Of course, milady," Jacques said, happy to be of her service.

"Yes, Lady SM."

"We're going to prepare a welcome party for Midnight." She clapped, excited about her plans. "Cloud, help me cook. Jacques, take care of the decorations."

"What can I help?" Dimitri asked.

"Assist Jacques," she replied with a sweet smile. "Make sure that he won't use expensive decorations. You know him, he might spend a million on them."

Dimitri gave her a salute. "Yes, Miss SM." Then he turned to face Jacques. "We're going to visit Divisoria."

Jacques covered his ears and sank down onto the floor. "Noooo! I don't want to go back there! What if my wallet gets stolen again?!"

Dimitri walked past Jacques. "Don't worry, I'll protect your noble's ass."

Jacques's brows furrowed before he followed Dimitri. "Wait for me! I thought you're gonna protect my sexy noble's ass?"

"I changed my mind," Dimitri irritably replied. "Just give me your wallet. I'll protect it."

"You'll protect my wallet and not me?!"

"Yes."

SM smiled at their banter before turning to Cloud. "Let's start cooking, shall we?"

Cloud beamed and nodded. "Okay, Lady SM. What should we cook?"

"What are Midnight's favorites?"

Cloud fell silent for a moment. "I don't know."

For some reason, SM felt sad for Midnight. Even Cloud didn't know his favorite. He had been kept in the dark all his life. But still, she wanted to put a smile on his face even in her own way.

"Do you have Midnight's number?"

Cloud shook his head. "Nope."

"Oh, maybe Knight has. Wait for me, Cloud."

She quickly walked toward Knight's room to get her phone and call her boyfriend.

"Baby," she said when Knight answered.

"Baby," Knight replied on the other end of the line. "What is it?"

Her forehead creased when she noticed that he seemed to be catching his breath. She also heard thuds and the sound of items shattering. "At work?"

"Yep."

"Sorry. Bye—"

"No," Knight said, stopping her to end the call. "Do you need anything?"

She frowned. "Uhm... I just wanted to ask Midnight's favorites—"

"Fuck!" Knight hissed before a string of curses flew out of his mouth. "You motherfucker!"

SM heard a loud grunt and a loud thud and then the sound of a glass shattering. Knight blew a loud breath. "Sorry, baby. Anyways, Midnight's favorites—Albondigas, San Jacobos, Paella, empanada. For a dessert other than ice cream, I'm pretty sure he'll kill for a delicious Crema Catalana."

Oddly, those words didn't seem strange to SM. She seemed to have heard them somewhere, she just didn't know where or when. It was buried deep in her memory, but it was there.

"Uhm... What are those? I'm only familiar with Paella and empanada," she said, confused as to why the dishes were familiar to her. She even had an idea what they were—

"Spanish dishes," Knight answered.

SM paused, surprised that she was correct. "Albondigas... it's a dish with meatballs right?" she asked, testing if the buried memory served her right and she did not just make it all up.

"Yeah. San Jacobos is chicken breast with ham and cheese on the inside, and Crema Catalana is—"

"Is a créme brûlée," she continued and then frowned. "How the heck did I know that?"

A loud thud echoed from the other line again. "Do you want me to go home? Want to talk about it?"

"No. Maybe later. Continue with work and take care."

"Sure, baby."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

After the call ended, still holding her phone, SM thought long and hard. Months had passed since she and Knight got together, but he still hadn't said the three magic words.

Though she knew how important she was to him, she still wanted to hear it. Or maybe he still wasn't ready. Knight didn't grow up here in the Philippines after all. He had a different culture from her.

In the Philippines, I love you is not only a phrase exchanged between couples; it is also used to express one's desire to enter a relationship with someone. It has lost its meaning because of overuse, along with the promises that most people won't keep. But in other cultures, I love you is a big thing. People don't say it at the start of the relationship and use I like you instead. They only say I love you if they truly want to deepen their relationship more.

Does he believe the same? she thought, blowing a loud breath. It wasn't the right time to think about this. She should focus on Midnight's welcome party.

She left the room with her phone, went back to the kitchen where Cloud was waiting, and immediately told the butler Midnight's favorites. Cloud nodded.

They started working while they could hear Dimitri and Jacques arguing loudly from the living room. They ignored the two and focused on the preparations.

She wanted Midnight to find the dishes she had prepared delicious. She hoped he would feel happy. This was the only thing she could do for Knight's brother, who went through a lot. Through the welcome party, she hoped that Midnight could somehow forget his problems, struggles, and sadness.

Tonight, SM gave herself a mission: To make the Velasquez siblings—Knight, Midnight, and Eli—feel all the happiness their heart can hold.