Jenna Roland had just taken her seat when Stella Laurent nudged the dipping sauce bowl toward her.

"Make your own," Stella winked. "Pregnant women shouldn't stand too long."

Jenna chuckled and stood up, returning moments later with a bowl of vibrant red sauce. She glanced at Ethan Roscente's tense profile and teased, "Did the sun rise from the west today? The mighty CEO actually allowed hotpot?"

Jenna swirled a slice of tripe in the boiling broth. "I begged him for three days. The doctor said the second trimester is stable now, so he finally caved."

"Spicy food is good for circulation during pregnancy," Stella remarked, turning to Ethan.

"Capsaicin irritates the stomach," Ethan countered, pausing his chopsticks over the mild broth.

"You're overreacting." Stella shook her head. "She used to drink hotpot broth like soup."

Seizing the moment, Jenna tugged Ethan's sleeve with doe-eyed innocence.

He sighed and pulled out his phone. "I'll ask Nanny Dorothy to make poached fish tomorrow."

"You're the best!" Jenna cheered, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Ethan's ears turned pink as he placed a lotus root slice in her bowl.

Midway through the meal, Ethan's phone rang. He answered calmly, "Yes, Mother. We're having French... The checkup went perfectly..."

After hanging up, he resumed blanching duck intestines for Jenna, his own bowl of rice untouched.

"Are the grapes at the orchard ripe yet?" Stella asked suddenly.

Jenna's eyes lit up before darting hesitantly toward Ethan.

"Go ahead." He wiped his hands. "Wear something warm."

Thirty minutes later, the black sedan parked at the mountain's base. Stella supported Jenna's slow ascent while Ethan followed two steps behind, ready to steady her.

Sylvia Savigny bustled beneath the grapevines, immediately plucking two clusters of midnight-purple fruit.

"Try these—picked fresh this morning."

Jenna bit into a plump grape, its sweetness bursting across her tongue. She gestured toward workers in the distance. "Are those for shipping?"

"No need." Sylvia wiped her brow. "The buyers are coming to collect them this afternoon."