Ruby bit her lip and recounted what had happened that morning.When she finished, she said angrily, "Leon definitely gave the data to Brody on Friday night, but Brody is completely denying it now."Brody sneered from the side, speaking sarcastically. "I didn't receive anything. How do I know you two aren't colluding to frame me for losing the data?"Leon was furious. He rushed over to grab Brody by the collar. "I handed it to you in person on Friday! Are you going to say again that you didn't receive it?!"In contrast to Leon's flushed face, Brody seemed unconcerned.""What? You want to hit me? Go ahead, but think it through. If you do, I'll definitely call the police," he provokedWorried that Leon might act impulsively, Nyla quickly stepped in to hold him back. "Leon, calm down."Ruby hurriedly joined in to stop Leon as well. Just as Leon began to cool down, Brody spoke up again. "What? Scared to make a move? Coward!"This completely infuriated Leon. He lost control and swu
Once Nyla finished treating her wound at the hospital, she checked her phone and found several messages from Ruby.Ruby: [Nyla, what's going on between you and Mr. Sumner? Did you know each other before?]Ruby: [After you left with Mr. Sumner, everyone started gossiping about your relationship. You're not actually getting together with him, right?]Ruby: [By the way, when Mr. Sumner saw your bleeding hand in the lab, his face darkened. It's obvious he really cares about you!]Ruby: [Ahhh! What exactly is your relationship?]Nyla frowned as she read the messages.Typing with one hand was difficult, so she responded with a voice message instead: "I do know him, but we're just friends. Besides, I have a boyfriend."She didn't feel the need to mention to Ruby that Damon was Mason's biological father. It wasn't something she wanted widely known.After playing the voice message, Ruby quickly followed up, asking if it was Oliver.Nyla confirmed. After responding to Ruby, she hesitate
"Nyla, I'm sorry. I acted impulsively earlier, and I even ran away after you got hurt. I wasn't being responsible. If you're angry, go ahead and hit me… No, kick me, too," Leon apologized."If kicking you would fix the data issue, I would have done it already," Nyla quipped.Leon scratched his head, looking at her apologetically. "I swear I gave the experiment data to Brody on Friday. That jerk must have lost it and is now blaming me."Seeing Leon's guilty and anxious expression, Nyla felt helpless and thought he was still too young."When exactly did you hand him the data on Friday?" she asked."Right after you all got off work. I finished filling in the last few sets of data and gave it to him," Leon answered."So, no one else was there to confirm you handed the data to him in person," Nyla said.Leon frowned. "But no one can prove I didn't give it to him either!"Nyla nodded. "That's true, but the problem is that he's insisting you didn't give it to him, and now you're stuck
Since Nyla planned to be serious about being with Oliver, she needed to genuinely try to see if she could accept him. If she truly couldn't, it would be better to part ways sooner rather than later—for both their sakes.…The next afternoon, Damon received a call from Lydia. "Mr. Sumner, Ms. Kinsey sent Buddy over today."Damon replied calmly, "Got it."There was a brief silence on the other end before Lydia's voice came through, tinged with helplessness. "Mr. Sumner, aren't you going to ask what Ms. Kinsey has to do today?""What is it?" Damon asked."I heard from Buddy that she's going to the movies with Mr. Raynor tonight, which is why she dropped Buddy off," Lydia answered.Damon narrowed his eyes and replied in a low voice, "Alright."After hanging up, he thought for a moment and called in Spencer."Look into where Nyla and Oliver are going to see a movie and buy a ticket for a seat behind them," he instructed.Spencer paused momentarily before replying, "Understood, Mr.
When Oliver leaned in earlier, Nyla's instinct was to pull away. Her body couldn't lie—she didn't feel anything for him.Realizing this, she was flooded with guilt.Oliver had been good to her and had helped her a lot, but she couldn't develop romantic feelings for him.Gratitude was just that—gratitude. It couldn't evolve into love.After the movie, she planned to clarify things with Oliver. Since she had confirmed she didn't have feelings for him, there was no point in dragging it out. The longer it continued, the more it would hurt Oliver.After making up her mind, Nyla's heart gradually settled. She felt less anxious, though the guilt still weighed heavily.As they left the theater, Oliver turned to Damon with irritation. "Mr. Sumner, how much longer are you going to follow us?"He had never seen anyone as shameless as Damon. Why was he crashing their date?Damon didn't seem the least bit embarrassed and raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Raynor, I have to go this way too to get my ca
Since Nyla couldn't truly develop feelings for him, leaving gracefully was the best option.A silence fell between them.Guilt washed over Nyla like a tide, nearly drowning her. She had hurt someone who had been so good to her."Nyla, you don't have to feel guilty. Even if we're not together, we can still be good friends. Those five years were real and meaningful," Oliver said.To him, being by her and Mason's side for those five years was already a blessing.Nyla lowered her gaze, her eyes reddening. She choked out, "Oliver, stop."The kinder he was, the guiltier she felt. If only she could have loved him back…Oliver paused for a moment before standing up with a smile. "Let's go. I'll drive you home."The ride back was filled with silence.Oliver drove slowly, but eventually, the road came to an end.When they reached the building where Nyla lived, he turned to her and said softly, "Let me give you one last hug.""Okay," Nyla whispered.She unbuckled her seatbelt and reac
Now, it hadn't even been long, and they had already broken up?!Oliver didn't want to dwell on it. After acknowledging her, he hung up.His mother didn't call back. After a moment's thought, she reached out to a friend to start preparing for Oliver's blind dates.She had never approved of Nyla, who had already been married and had a child. If Oliver married someone like that, he'd be the laughingstock of their social circle.Now that they had broken up, it was the perfect opportunity. She could finally introduce her son to someone more suitable.…After watching Oliver's car drive away, Nyla turned and headed upstairs.As she reached the door, her phone rang. It was Damon."Nyla, it's almost 11:30 p.m. Why haven't you come to pick up Buddy?" he asked, his tone sharp.Nyla suddenly remembered that she had promised Damon earlier that she'd pick up Mason. She quickly replied, "I'm on my way."She then took a taxi.…Soon, Nyla entered the villa's living room, but only Damon wa
Damon's gaze was serious, and every word struck Nyla's heart, leaving ripples that lingered long after."It's getting late. You should go back. I'll think about what you said," she replied."Okay," Damon agreed.After Damon left, Nyla couldn't stop replaying his words in her mind, but her thoughts were a tangled mess.Having just broken up with Oliver, she knew it would take time to reconsider her feelings about Damon. She decided not to dwell on it any longer.…In the following days, Nyla became overwhelmed with her project.When Valarie called, she was still working overtime, waiting for experimental data to come through."Nyla, what's going on with you and Oliver? Why is he suddenly dating? If he did something to hurt you, I'll fly over to Capitarnia right now and deal with him!" Valarie hissed.Nyla paused, gripping her pen. "We broke up.""What?! How did that happen so suddenly? The last time I saw you two, everything seemed fine. Did he cave under family pressure?" Val