Nancy approached with a cheerful demeanor,pletely different from her mood at noon.

    "Mr. Reid Senior asked me to give you something," she said.

    Vespera responded, "I understand."

    Nancy then asked, "How much did your dress cost? I''ll send you the money right now."

    Vespera insisted, "No need to be so formal. It was just six thousand dors." Nancy fiddled with her phone for a moment before saying, "Since I was the one who ruined it, I must reimburse you. I''ve just transferred the money."

    Vespera exchanged some courteous remarks and epted the payment. She had exaggerated the dress''s cost by 50%, ounting for the emotional distress caused by being "attacked" by another woman.

    "I''ll also be joining the business trip on Saturday," Nancy stated, turning off her phone and looking at Vespera with a touch of pride.

    "Mr. Reid invited me toe along."

    Vespera replied, "Alright, I''ll go along with Mr. Reid''s ns."

    Nancy couldn''t convince herself to be unaffected and thought, "He''s like this. Even though he seems distant, deep down he really cares about me."

    Vespera responded, "Well, that''s reassuring. It''s a positive thing."

    Nancy remained silent, realizing how good Vespera was at pretending. Since her words didn''t provoke a reaction, Nancy switched topics.

    "Let''s have lunch together tomorrow, and help me shop for clothes. Fawn is taking me to a banquet the day after tomorrow."

    Vespera agreed, "No problem."

    Nancy confirmed, "Then it''s settled. Ms. Gildon, you must be busy at noon tomorrow, right?"

    Vespera replied, "Oh, when you put it

    like that, I can''t promise anything.

    Look at what happened to

    many unexpected events. Nowadays, you might even run into zombies on the street. Anything can happen. Just go with the flow."

    She joked, then raised her phone, quietly thanked Nancy, and headed into the office first.

    Nancy was stunned as she thought, "What was Vespera up to now? Had she really just referred to herself when she mentioned zombies?"

    Vespera returned to the office, settled into a chair, and drank the cold coffee, sitting on the table. Nancy probably would be going on the business trip too. Otherwise, Vespera wouldn''t have bothered to unt it in front of her.

    It didn''t matter whether Dominic or Samuel had asked her to go the aim was to challenge her, put hurdles in her path, and push her to confront reality and give up. Whatever. She decided to just roll with it.

    Ten minutes before the workday was supposed to end, Gerard came by and informed them they''d need to workte. They ended up working until midnight.

    Vespera noticed Gerard appeared exhausted.

    Since Dominic was already staying at her ce, she offered, "I''ll send Mr. Reid home. You can head back."

    "Perfect," Gerard responded, visibly relieved.

    He gathered his belongings and left first. When Dominic emerged from the office and saw only Vespera, he grinned and yfully pinched her nose. "You''re starting to act more and more like the boss''s wife."

    Vespera gave a sheepish smile. "Please, don''t tease me. I''m just looking out for a colleague."

    Internally, she reminded herself not to make decisions alone next time. Dominic''s expression showed a slight frown. Together, they returned to the apartment.

    As soon as they stepped inside, Dominic moved closer and asked, "Can I skip sleeping on the couch tonight? My back is sore after just one night on it."

    Vespera gazed at his attractive face and kissed his lips, which had grown even more irresistible after so many kisses. With such a charming person showing interest in her, why would she say no? Opportunities for happiness were bing rarer.

    Her bag fell to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She stood on

    her toes, and brushed her lips against his neck, whispering, "How about we shower together?"