?Chapter 1368:


    What worried her most was not what Corrine said, but what she kept buried: the silence, the restraint, the false calm.


    Corrine paused mid-bite and slowly raised her gaze, meeting Mandy’s eyes. “Do I look like someone with a problem?”


    The question came sharp, her tone neutral but edged with steel. Of course,st night’s sh with Nate had rattled her.


    But Corrine preferred to guard her feelings, keeping personal matters tucked away where no one could reach them. Public outbursts were not her style. She refused to wear her wounds like jewelry, especially not in front of those who worked under her. Letting her emotions spill over wouldn’t help anyone. It certainly wouldn’t make her feel stronger.


    Mandy flinched slightly, then bit her lower lip before offering a soft response. “Miss Hond, Mr. Hopkins asked me to tell you… his injury was part of the n. It could not have been avoided. He is recovering now; the fever has passed. He said you should not worry.”


    Corrine’s lips curled into a dry, humorlessugh, but there was no amusement in her eyes—only frost. “Does he not have a mouth to say that himself?”


    Mandy stood silent, her heart sinking.


    It was clear—Corrine was angry. Deeply so. And in this mood, nothing Nate did would be right. Nothing would satisfy her.


    Sincest night, Nate had not called Corrine. He had not sent a message. No apology. No exnation.


    Corrine had assumed, perhaps, that he was too weak to reach out. That he might be processing what happened, reflecting on his mistakes in silence.


    But now… this? A secondhand message?


    A clumsy attempt at reassurance passed through someone else?


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    What did he expect her to feel? Gratitude?


    If he had wanted to say something, he had plenty of timest night. He had his chance. Instead, he chose silence, and now, after all that, he spoke through a messenger?


    Her eyes dropped to the te in front of her, the carefully prepared breakfast now cold and uninviting. The sight of it turned her stomach. She pushed back her chair and rose abruptly.


    Mandy let out a slow, defeated sigh as she watched her go. Reaching for her phone, she typed a quick message to Matias. “Your n did not work. Corrine seems even more upset… and she did not touch her breakfast.”


    Matias blinked at the message when it came through. A momentter, his reply buzzed back. “How is that possible? You must have delivered it wrong.”


    “Ha! Then you can handle it yourself,” Mandy texted back quickly.


    Seeing her t refusal, Matias hurried to smooth things over. “No, no—my fault entirely. Just think about it—Corrine and Nate are in a standoff, and we, poor souls, are stuck in the middle. The only way out of this mess is to cheer up Corrine. If she’s happy, Nate will lighten up too, and then maybe—just maybe—our lives won’t be so miserable. Don’t you agree?”


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