Thousands of words condensed into one heartfelt sigh.

    "Pure. You two are so pure. You should be the spokesperson for bottled water, and the slogan could be, ''We don''t just deliver water. We produce it ourselves."" Vespera''s eyes went nk.

    As long as she didn''t admit anything, she could keep denying it forever.

    In the end, Reba ruffled her hair aggressively and huffed, "Fine! Keep denying it if you dare."

    She stomped out of the study to grab her bag from the living room.

    But after a few steps, she couldn''t help but sit back down.

    Looking seriously at Dominic, she said, "You''d better stick with it and not chicken out halfway. I''ve always believed in you. Don''t make me regret it."

    Dominic smiled. "I won''t."

    Hearing that, Reba finally left, satisfied.

    A whileter, Vespera came out and reminded Dominic it was time to head to the office. If they didn''t leave soon, the whole morning would be gone.

    Dominic stood up.

    On their way downstairs, Vespera said, "When you get to the office, go up first. Tell Gerard you spent the night at your parents'' ce. I''lle up about ten minutester."

    Dominic gave her a half-smile. "And how are you going to exin yourself?"

    "I''ll say I went to the osteopathy clinic this morning to change my bandages," Vespera said.

    "Wow, what a great excuse. Gerard''s gonna buy it. Vera, you''re so smart," Dominic praised.

    Vespera could tell he was teasing her. "Don''t... call me that so affectionately."

    Dominic leaned down, brushed a kiss against the corner of her lips, and whispered, his breath hot and low, "Ms. Gildon, you''re so clever."

    Vespera stayed silent.

    Honestly, it sounded even more inappropriate when he called her that!

    She pushed him away and tried to head for the driver''s seat.

    She wanted to drive so she could keep some control, but he stuffed her into the passenger seat instead and even buckled her seatbelt for her.

    Vespera''s heart raced wildly.

    The more attentive he was, the more nervous she got.

    When they got to thepany, Dominic was unable to win against her stubbornness and went up first.

    Vesperay stayed in the car for 15 more minutes before heading up as well.

    ...

    The whole morning passed, and Gerard never came to ask her anything. Vespera felt uneasy. "No way... Did he already find out too?" she thought. Raymond knew, Reba knew, and now maybe Gerard knew as well...

    Oh God. She didn''t even want to imagine how awkward it would be for everyone if she and Dominic eventually broke up.

    At noon, Dominic went with Samuel to a business lunch.

    Originally, Vespera and Gerard were supposed to go too, but because of her

    injured foot, Dominic told her to stay behind at the office.

    Vespera ended up having lunch with the people from the secretarial department instead.

    Afterward, she quietly slipped away and drove herself to the hospital.

    Even though Dominic hadn''t finished inside herst night, the second time had been in the water... and honestly, anything could happen with water.

    Who knew? When bad luck hit, anything was possible.

    She decided it was safer to pick up some rubbers, better to have them just in

    case.

    She went to the hospital and took a number.

    The doctor wouldn''t be in until 1:30 pm, so she messaged Gerard, telling him she was at the osteopathy clinic getting her bandages

    changed-finally putting that excuse to use after all.

    Once she finished seeing the doctor, she opened the door and stepped out of the

    office, only to find Dominic standing there, waiting for her.

    He looked unreadable. "Ms. Gildon, does this osteopathy clinic usually treat feet?"

    Vespera froze awkwardly.

    She hated getting caught all the time.

    "Let''s talk over there," she said quickly.

    Seeing there were still plenty of

    welget

    people around, Vespera hurried over to a quiet stairwell, carefully checking in every direction before stopping.

    Dominic said nothing.

    Was it that shameful to be seen with him?

    "Tell me, why did youe here?" he asked.