Alec seemed to have recognized Joey too. Although he never interacted with Joey, he had helped Jenny investigate his stepmother, and he learned a thing or two about the boy in the process. He interjected to break the tension between the two, "Jenny, let's not get too riled up. Sit down and talk it out with him." Then, he called a waiter over to get them a quiet dining room. Joey was reluctant to follow them but had no choice because Jenny was staring at him. They took their seats in the room, and Alec ordered some food. After that, he turned to Joey. "Tell us now. Why did you drop out?"Feeling their eyes on him, he sighed and told them his story. After his stepmother was sent to jail, his dad, who had grown increasingly displeased with him, put all the blame on him. Not long after, his dad stopped paying for his school fees and pocket money. At his wits' end, he decided to quit school and work."You're only sixteen. Are you going to work retail forever?" Jenny was upset but didn't
Joey was unaware of his options, nor had he tried them out. When his teacher asked him the reason behind his decision, he merely answered that he didn't want to study anymore. Despite his teacher's attempt to change his mind, he didn't budge. Therefore, his teacher was left with no choice but to process the paperwork for him."But…I already dropped out." He hung his head in regret."I can handle that for you. What you need to do is to show up to school on time. Don't fret about it," Alec replied. Joey looked at the two with teary eyes, even though he was a tough guy. "Thank you.""Study hard and score well if you really want to thank us." Jenny was relieved after Joey agreed to go back to school. He nodded. "I will." Joey had always been good at studies, which was why he was placed in 12th grade at sixteen. If all went according to plan, he'd be taking the SAT the following year."All the best! If you get into a good college, I'll buy you a gift." Jenny finally broke into a smi
On their way home, after they made the necessary arrangements for Joey, Jenny was suddenly reminded of Justin and Lilian. "Do you have any updates on the adoptive family?" she blurted out to Alec."Yeah, I found one, but we haven't gotten in touch with them," Alec answered. He would always fulfill Jenny's request to the best of his ability. She sighed in relief after learning that. She had been busy with work and had no time to care for two children. Therefore, she sent them to Orchid Village and entrusted them to the villagers' care. Still, she couldn't leave them in the village for the long term and planned to find them an adoptive family so that they could resume their daily lives. "Share their information with me. I'll look into their background." Speaking of investigation, Jenny was proud of her skills. Alec agreed to let her take over because he knew that Jenny was blessed with detective skills. "Sure."Soon, they arrived at Perry Residence. As it was late, they wished ea
Alec's expression fell when he heard that, and he gave her a disgruntled look. "You can be one of them.""I'm not rich enough to pay for you." She shook her head as she tried to hold back laughter. Alec shut up after trying hard to squeeze a word of affection out of her. Sometimes, she could be more simple-minded than a man.After breakfast, she went to work at the hospital. Alec had offered to take her there but was turned down. According to her, their relationship was not at that level yet. It was one thing to deliver breakfast every day. If he started sending her to and from work, others might gossip.Alec protested at the injustice, "Why won't you acknowledge me then?" As Jenny looked puzzled, he had to lay it out, "Just make me your boyfriend, and I'll have a good reason to send you to work."Without hesitation, she shook her head, coughed, and replied gravely, "I don't dislike you as much as before, but…I can't make you my boyfriend.""Why? Are you disappointed with me in an
"Alec Faust is handsome, and he's good to you. I'm surprised that you haven't fallen for him. Jenny, don't you think your standards are too high?" At first, Stephanie thought that Jenny had a grudge against Alec because of the divorce, but it turned out that Jenny truly didn't have feelings for him.That sounded almost impossible. Even though Stephanie didn't like Alec, she figured she would have been moved by Alec's daily acts of service and surrendered her heart to him over time. Anyway, that was a hypothetical scenario that would never happen to her.She fell silent, wondering if she had impossible standards. During the conversation, she got off the cab and crossed the road to the hospital.Walking across the pedestrian crossing, she was distracted by Stephanie's chatter on the phone and was unaware of the incoming danger. A black car that had been waiting long at the intersection started moving and accelerating when Jenny showed up, and it seemed to be headed in her direction.
"Someone's in here!" a pedestrian yelled. Jenny looked across and noticed that Marigold was stuck in the car. Upon closer inspection, she realized Marigold had lost consciousness from the huge impact of the collision, just like Alec."Please help me pull her out," Jenny told the crowd around her. Even though she had been Marigold's target not long ago, she couldn't possibly leave Marigold's life in danger.Marigold was sent to the emergency room after Alec. At the same time, Jenny changed into her scrub and dived right into saving lives. Meanwhile, Alec's operation wrapped up successfully. Since he only suffered from a temporary concussion, the doctor didn't expect any complications. In contrast, Marigold seemed to be in a worse condition. As the best neurosurgeon in Parrington, Jenny had to jump in to help.Alec woke up at the same time as Jenny completed her operation on Marigold. His first instinct was to search for Jenny, and he panicked when he failed to find her. "Where's Jenn
Leaning against the headboard, Alec said in defeat, "I just wanted to see that you arrived at the hospital safely. That's why I followed you. I never thought that…"He didn't immediately notice Marigold's car. It wasn't until Marigold was close to crashing into Jenny that he realized something was off. Without hesitation, he drove into Marigold's car to stop it from crashing into Jenny."Don't tell me you've always followed me to work?" She stared at him, dumbfounded. He nodded and did not deny it. Flustered and helpless, she sighed. "You don't have to do this for me. Frankly speaking, we don't have a relationship with each other. If something bad happens to you in a situation like today's, it will not bring you any benefit." "You can run your little cost-and-benefit analysis because you aren't into me. But I love you. These considerations don't occur to me." He didn't have time to think twice in that urgent situation anyway.She wanted to hide from his scorchingly passionate gaze
Jenny was touched by Stephanie's concern. "Don't worry. I'm okay." Stephanie let go of her and put on a stern look. "What happened? Tell me everything." She clearly heard a crash that sounded like a collision on the phone, and she wouldn't believe it if Jenny had told her everything was fine.Jenny didn't plan to lie to her. While walking to Marigold's room, she recounted details from the accident. Stephanie felt her heart leaping into her throat when she heard how Marigold wanted to crash her car into Jenny, but she felt much relieved after hearing that Alec had saved Jenny by ramming his car into Marigold's.They arrived at Marigold's door right as Jenny wrapped up the story. Fuming, Stephanie was about to barge into the room and fight Marigold, but Jenny held her back. "She's still in recovery. We should probably leave her to the police. Don't worry. She can't run from what she did."After all, she had filed a police report, and there was evidence from the surveillance camera o