ire arrived at her new office bright and early the following morning.


    At the same time, Charlie zipped his electric scooter toward the wet market.


    Knowing ire had been swamped with worktely, he had specifically chosen to buy some nutritious ingredients to whip up delicious meals for her.


    Once hepleted his shopping, Charlie stepped out of the market and unexpectedly ran into Loreen.


    “Charlie!” Loreen eximed, her excitement evident.<h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    Charlie was taken aback. “Hey, Loreen! What a surprise!”


    Loreen looked at him, stumbling over her words. “Yes… um, no… no, I… I…”


    Charlie tilted his head in confusion. “Take your time. Have you been dealing with any issuestely?”


    Loreen’s cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. In reality, she had been waiting for him outside ire’s house that morning and had followed him all the way to the market.


    Gathering her courage, Loreen cleared her throat and said, “I… I’m actually here to thank you for saving me yesterday.”


    Charlie smiled warmly. “It was nothing, really. I helped you because you’re ire’s best friend, that’s all.”


    Still, he found her sudden appearance rather strange, but he quickly brushed it off.


    Loreen shook her head and pressed on, “Charlie, actually… I know that you didn’t just save me yesterday. You were the one at Aurous Bistro the other day too.”


    Charlie’s heart raced with anxiety. How could she possibly know about the incident at Aurous Bistro? He had been wearing a mask; she shouldn’t have recognized him!


    He immediately countered, “You must be mistaken. I’ve never been to Aurous Bistro or whatever it’s called; it must have been someone else.”


    Loreen looked at him, a whirlwind of emotions swirling in her eyes—aggrievement, passion, and a hint of resentment.


    Why couldn’t he just acknowledge it? Did he think so little of her? Why was it so hard for him to admit he had saved her?


    As tears welled up in her eyes, she began, “When Harold invited me to dinner at Aurous Bistro, a wealthy guy started bothering me. Harold got into an argument with him, which led to gangsters ambushing us at the restaurant entrance. In that critical moment, Harold abandoned me and ran away, but a masked hero appeared out of nowhere, took down the gangsters, and saved me. And then… well, you…”


    Loreen’s face turned an even deeper shade of red as she recalled a rather intimate moment where Charlie had removed her pants…


    Of course, she realized that Charlie’s intentions had been purely to save her life, without any malicious intent.


    Meanwhile, Charlie felt his own face heat up. What was she bringing that up for? Why touch on such a sensitive subject? There was no way he could admit to that!


    Absolutely not!


    If ire found out about what had happened between him and her best friend, it would be chaos!<fn2b8e> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on F?ndNovel</fn2b8e>


    “Loreen, there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. Sure, I can handle myself in a fight, but that doesn’t mean I saved you.”


    He quickly added, “Even if I did, I only saved you once yesterday!”


    Upon hearing Charlie’s denial, Loreen sighed softly and pulled a peace and wealth pebble from her pocket.


    “What about this pebble? How do you exin it?”


    Charlie stared at the pebble in disbelief. Wasn’t that the very pebble he had lost some time ago? How did it end up with Loreen?


    Could it be that he dropped it when he rescued her at Aurous Bistro and she picked it up?