Alicia froze for a moment. It had been a long time since anyone had sent her a friend request on WhatsApp.


    She tapped on it and saw the request was from a profile with no picture. Not that it was an empty profile-it was a generic blue background.


    She scrolled down and saw the verification message: [It’s Charles Yates.]


    Seeing the message, Alicia was surprised. ‘Had Mr. Yates’s ount been hacked?’


    Still, she quickly epted the friend request.


    Charles stared at his phone for half an hour. He finally saw the confirmation and a smile touched his lips. He opened the chat, wanting to say something, but for a moment, he had no idea what to say.


    He sat there for a long moment, thinking.


    After epting the friend request, Alicia checked her phone, waiting for any word from Mr. Yates.


    But no message came. She wondered if Charles had added her


    Or maybe it was someone else pretending to be him antiquatengut mistake-or if his ount really had been


    Forget it, she thought, and decided to just scroll through Twitter instead.


    At that moment, Charles typed into the chat: [Does your stomach still hurt?]


    As soon as he typed it, he deleted it. Would that sound too familiar? Would she think he was too quick to care about a girl?


    After a moment, he typed again: [Have you had dinner?]


    Looking at the time, he saw it was already past nine o’clock. ‘She must’ve eaten by now.’ He thought.


    He deleted that too. Atst, he typed: [The brooch is beautiful.]


    This time, he didn’t hesitate. He sent it.


    When Alicia’s phone buzzed, she stared at the message for a long time, a sense of panic washing over her. ‘What does Mr. Yates mean by bringing up the brooch now?


    “Think it’s not mine?


    ‘Or does he want to ask me for details about saving him that day?


    ‘I didn’t save him at all. And I don’t even know if Tiffany really did!’


    If she answered poorly now, and he eventually found out that it was Tiffany who saved him back then, he


    would be Tiffany’s backer once again.


    No, she absolutely couldn’t let that happen.


    Alicia’s fingers gripped her phone tightly, for a moment unsure of what to do.


    ‘What should I do? Pretend I didn’t see it and just ignore him?


    ‘If I don’t reply, he’ll get suspicious. Even if I dodge him this time, there’ll just be a next-and another after that.


    ‘I’ll just stick to what I said in the car today: I don’t know why the brooch is with me-it’s just always been with me since I was a kid.


    ‘But he hasn’t asked about that yet. That message seemed like a simple greeting, so I’ll just reply with something unimportant for now.’


    After thinking for a moment, she replied: [It seems you really like that brooch.]


    Charles sat frozen, staring at his phone. When her reply finally came through, his whole body loosened-only for him to fall silent again when he read what she wrote.


    After thinking for a long time, he finally sent a message: [To thank Miss Lawrence for giving me such a beautiful brooch, I’d like to give you a gift in return.]


    Alicia saw the message and also breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing he wasn’t asking for details about saving him.


    She read Charles’s message again, and suddenly something clicked. She sat bolt upright on the hospital bed, her eyes lighting up. ‘So, he wasn’t texting me thiste to test me, but to give me a gift in return?


    ‘Was he treating me as his lifesaver now? Was he going to repay me?’


    Although he hadn’t treated her as well as he had treated Tiffany in her previous life, a gift was still nice-and she had no idea what he’d choose.


    Just as she was wondering whether to be polite and reply, another message came through: [What do you want, Miss Lawrence]


    Seeing the message, Alicia’s eyes lit up even more. So, she could choose the gift herself?


    Then she definitely had to make it count.


    She carefully sent a message: [Can it be anything?]


    Charles replied: [Anything within my means.]


    Alicia clutched her phone, her pulse quickening. After a brief pause, she typed: [I haven’t thought of what I want yet. Can I save it forter?]


    After sending the message, Alicia felt like something was off. She was making him owe her, yet she had


    spoken so humbly.


    She let out a quiet sigh. In front of a man like him, no matter who you are, you end up bowing your head.


    Charles was pleased with hertest message. Owed? Perfect. ‘If I owe her, I’ll always have a reason to stay tied to her.’


    He immediately replied with a single word: [Good!]


    Seeing his agreement, Alicia’s heart leapt. She knew she had to make this return gift count.


    Maybe… when he finds out she isn’t his lifesaver, she can use this opportunity to ask him not to help Tiffany deal with her?


    But wait that’s contradictory. If he finds out she’s not his lifesaver, this gift won’t even count. She should use it before he finds out. Or… should she use it to make him crush Tiffany?


    Alicia was hazily thinking about these things, and she had no idea when she fell asleep.


    Charles, however, was still sitting on the sofa, waiting for a message from the girl. This waitsted for four


    hours.


    But Alicia never replied again.


    He began to feel a little panicked. Did he say something to make Alicia unhappy? Why isn’t she replying to


    him?


    He thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out why. So, he opened a four-person group chat and sent a message: [Is everyone asleep?] <fn5c48> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on Find★Novel</fn5c48>


    The guys in the group were all heirs of prominent families in Riverdale. Like Charles, they had been sent to the military for training. They became friends after shing a few times, fought side by side in brutal conflicts, and survived life-and-death situations together. Now, their bond was stronger than blood.


    Those men have all since left the military and are now running their family businesses. In their downtime, they still shoot the breeze in the group chat, but Charles rarely joins in-he usually just lurks.


    Probably because of his childhood, he had always been a man of few words. Even with the friends who had shared life-and-death moments with him, he was never overly warm.


    When his message suddenly appeared in the group chat, his three friends immediately came out of the woodwork, even in the middle of the night.


    Harvey Johnson, who was on duty, was the first to reply: [Is the sky falling? Charles is actually talking in the group?]


    The others were asleep, but as military veterans, they were extremely vignt. As soon as the group chat pinged, they immediately woke up.


    Jeffrey Smith: [I was sleeping, and you woke me up again.]


    Xavier Sullivan: [Same.]


    Charles: [Since you’re awake, don’t sleep yet. I’ve got a tough problem and need you guys to weigh in.]


    The three of them were stunned. Was there really anything that could stump “Zealous Yates”? Yes-within their circle, everyone privately called Charles by that nickname.


    His persistence bordered on madness.