Shania stood up and whispered in Calla's ear, "Mr. Mercer is handsome, but he's so cold. Just being near him gives me the chills. I'm really scared whenever I see him!"Hearing this, Calla breathed a sigh of relief and shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant. "I'm scared of Mr. Mercer too, but it's not like I can ignore Mr. Garland's instructions.""Exactly, Mr. Mercer is now a very important client of ours. We can't afford to offend such a valuable customer," Shania echoed."Client?" Calla asked, frowning.Seeing Calla's puzzled look, Shania laughed and explained, "You don't know? We've secured the legal representation deal for Atlas Enterprises and are now negotiating the details. If everything goes smoothly, we'll be signing the contract soon."Calla was crying on the inside when she heard that. What kind of coincidence was this? Brightway and Atlas becoming partners meant that Mercer would drop by frequently. She needed to avoid him as much as possible."Oh, I see." Calla nodde
"Are you really interested in her? She's married and has a child, so forget about it." Pierre waved his hand dismissively.Mercer paused for a moment before scoffing. "My taste isn't so bad that I would be interested in a married woman with a child!" He then stormed out, ignoring Pierre."He's actually upset." Pierre chuckled and shook his head as he watched Mercer walk away.After descending the stairs with a grim expression, he got into his car and ordered, "Let's go."Simon, who was driving, appeared puzzled. Everything seemed fine just moments ago."Where to, Mr. Garland?" "Anywhere's fine," Mercer casually replied.The word "anywhere" put Simon in a difficult position, but he didn't dare ask further questions. He decided to drive onto the road first, and then figure out where to go later.Mercer's dark eyes gazed out the window at the rapidly changing scenery. He thought to himself, "She sure is something. It's only been a little over six months since I last saw her, but
"I'm strong, so I'll be fine," Pierre replied, confident in his physical health.Calla could only smile at those words. Just then, her phone began ringing.Seeing it was a call from Alicia, she quickly answered.Alicia's voice immediately came through. "When are you coming back? I'm at your door. I bought some groceries, so we're having stew tonight." "Okay, I'll be there in two minutes," Calla replied before hanging up.Alicia was Calla's best friend in this city. She often bought groceries and came over to cook, which Calla deeply appreciated."Here we are, Mr. Garland. See you tomorrow!" Calla waved at Pierre and quickly got out of the car, using her bag to cover her head as she darted away.Watching Calla run through the wind and rain, Pierre admired her for a couple of seconds before hitting the gas pedal again, continuing to drive through the storm.Pierre's impression of Calla was that she was a practical woman who worked diligently, had a straightforward personality, a
"No way! That's an opportunity for you both, don't you think?" Alicia commented with a hopeful, mischievous grin."What are you talking about? Give me your phone." Calla extended a hand toward Alicia.Alicia pulled her phone out of her bag but teasingly waved it, not handing it over immediately. "Are you going to call your boss?""Of course! My phone is with him. He can't contact me otherwise," Calla replied."You should be careful when you call," Alicia reminded her as she handed over the phone."What do you mean?" Calla asked, puzzled."Are you dumb? It's almost 10:00 pm. If you call now, you might make his wife or girlfriend think you're the other woman!" Alicia laughed.Calla hesitated at this. She was pretty sure Pierre didn't have a wife, but she didn't know if he was living with a girlfriend.Still worried about whether her phone was indeed with Pierre, she decided to call her own number. She thought this would avoid any misunderstandings since it was her own phone chimi
Braving the heavy rain, Calla finally persuaded the supermarket owner's husband to drive her to Pierre's place.When Calla arrived at Pierre's door, she was thoroughly soaked. The wind and rain had rendered her umbrella useless.Calla continuously rang the doorbell, eventually rousing the feverish and groggy Pierre."You're… here." Pierre leaned against the wall with his eyes closed after opening the door.Seeing this, Calla quickly helped him to his bed. She touched his burning forehead and took his temperature, finding it to be over 102°F. She wanted to give him some fever medicine but found there was no water in the thermos. After boiling some water and letting it cool for a bit, she gave Pierre the fever medicine. Then, she covered him with a warm blanket.Calla was drenched in sweat after all this. She looked down at her damp clothes. She had no choice but to use his bathroom to take a quick shower. Pierre was as helpless as a corpse right now anyway.She had already che
At 3:00 am, Calla got up again to check Pierre's temperature. Confirming his fever had subsided, she returned to the couch to sleep, finally feeling relieved.When daylight broke, Calla felt something move beside her, and she groggily opened her eyes. She was startled to see Pierre, dressed in pajamas, squatting by the couch and staring at her.Alarmed, she quickly sat up.When Pierre noticed her surprise, he felt somewhat awkward. He quickly pointed at the blanket covering her. "The blanket fell off, so I put it back on you.""Oh, thank you," Calla murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear. She blushed when she realized she was still wearing Pierre's white shirt.Pierre must have sensed her embarrassment then. He stood up, ran his hand through his hair, and smiled. "Actually, I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn't brought the fever medicine and stayed over to take care of me, I'd probably still be out of it."Calla looked down. Even though she wanted to stand up, she fe
Mercer's expression only darkened when he shifted his gaze to the table set with two breakfasts.He boomed, "Pierre! Pierre, get your ass out here!"At this point, Pierre seemed to hear the commotion. He emerged from the bathroom, holding a hair dryer in one hand and Calla's clothes in the other. Seeing Mercer standing in the middle of the room, Pierre was momentarily stunned before handing Calla her clothes. "Your clothes are dry now. You should go change," he said.Calla took the clothes from Pierre, trying to maintain a calm demeanor despite feeling uneasy. After all, Mercer looked like a wild beast on the verge of going berserk. His current expression suggested he was not far from losing control.This simple exchange of words and the handing over of clothes was enough to ignite Mercer's fury."Hey cuz! What brings you here?" Pierre greeted Mercer with a smile.Hearing the word "cuz", Calla stared at them in shock. They were cousins? No wonder they both had the same last nam
That morning, Calla made an excuse to leave Pierre's house and quickly departed after changing into her own clothes. Pierre kindly offered to drive her, but she firmly refused.The incident had already led to a misunderstanding with Mercer. Calla did not want anyone else to misinterpret the situation.Reflecting on the events of that morning, Calla felt a pang of self-reproach. Her actions had indeed created an opportunity for misunderstanding. Fortunately, it wasn't Pierre's girlfriend who had come over. Otherwise, Calla might have been accused of being a homewrecker and be subjected to a confrontation. It certainly would have been hard to explain herself under the circumstances.After that incident, Pierre seemed to appreciate Calla's work even more. He entrusted her with many important tasks at the company, some of which were personal matters.Although Calla was hired by Pierre and couldn't refuse his assignments, she felt that his level of trust had surpassed the usual employ