Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Conner was sporting a black eye, looking absolutely bewildered at Annie. "You're a cop, how can you just go and hit your guy like that? If we tie the knot, am I ever gonna see a good day again?"

Annie took a deep breath, "Maybe if you had a bit of decency, you might."

Watching this whole drama unfold, Asher plopped down in a chair and quickly fired up the group chat with his brothers. "Breaking news: The thirteenth-gen head of the Nettleton family in Newtown just got a whooping from his fiancée, Annie Summers. And yep, it's the face that got the hit."

Mars was the first to jump in: ??? Domestic abuse?

Teddy piped up with a technicality: He's not married yet, doesn't count as domestic abuse.

Mars: Poor Conner can't even score a domestic abuse label.

Taking a second to reply, Conner shot back in the group chat: We're about to get hitched, so yeah, this is domestic abuse. How's it not?

Meanwhile, Andre was skimming through the group messages when he got sidetracked for just a moment. That's when his son Henry took the opportunity to snag Dad's fancy fountain pen and drew a deep scratch on the desk.

As a result, the pricey pen was toast.

And the multi-million dollar desk? Now it had a permanent mark.

Andre, rubbing his temples with a sigh, looked over at his little office "renovator." Henry, grinning ear to ear, showed off the bent pen tip, proud of his handiwork. With a growing headache, Andre hit the intercom. Noah's voice came through, "Yes, boss?"

Henry's curious little eyes lit up at the sound.

Andre, trying to keep his cool, said, "Find me a boarding school that takes one- year-olds."

Noah: "...What did Henry do now?"

"Just find it."

"On it."

Just after Andre hung up, Noah's phone rang again. Picking up, he heard, "Hello, boss?"

This time, it was Henry's teary voice. The little guy, feeling all sorts of wronged clung to his dad's neck for comfort after getting scolded. Andre was on the edge, "Henry, that's the intercom, not a toy. You think you can just hit it whenever you want?" swnovel

But as soon as he hung up, his son pounced again, accidentally pressing the intercom button.

Noah, figuring it was another one of Henry's little misadventures, wisely hung up and got to work on the info the boss needed.

Back in the group chat, everyone

was trying to get a hold of Andre

Mars asked: Andre, you ever been on

the receiving end of domestic

violence? Share your story, cheer up Conner, and give us a laugh. swnovel

Asher: We're all brothers here, spill the beans! We promise not to laugh.noveldrama

Teddy: Andre's been MIA forever, maybe his wife took off again?

Conner, with his black eye, chimed in: His wife's been laying low lately. Andre's got a new headache on his hands.

Everyone sent puzzled emojis.

Ten minutes later, Andre dropped a pic in the chat of little Henry in time-out, standing with his hands behind his back, facing the wall.

Mars: ??? What's up with my kid?

Teddy: Andre, are you mistreating my son?

Asher: If you're messing with my son, just send him my way. I'll give him a whole army to play with!

Conner, not rushing to claim the kid, just watched his three clueless brothers.

Annie, the one who'd caused the

injury, was also the one nursing it, gently rolling an egg over Conner's eye. Conner lay there with his head in herdap, holding his phone above him. "Annie, look at these three jokers. They're so keen to take care of our godson." swnovel

Annie, not impressed with Conner's cheekiness, said, "Close your eyes, I need to put on the medicine."