bChapter /bb179 /b

Kevin, still clueless, asked, “Why take cold showers? Did they run out of hot water in their room or something? They could just call the front desk.”

Cavan shouted, “No.” “Why is he

SO

pure and naive?‘ he thought.

To put it simply, they were in the same room, and Mr. Erwin got to suffer all night, he exined.

all worked up,

but nothing happened between him and Ms: Hayes. So, bhe had /b

Kevin’s expression froze instantly.

Cavan kept rambling, “The whole situation between those two is kind of weird. You can tell Mr. Erwin loves Ms. Hayes, and Ms. Hayes cares about him. They’re married, sharing a room, so howe they just…”

Kevin frowned and said, “Ste still hasn’t recovered, so they c can’t… You know.”

Cavan didn’t get it at first, but then it slowly dawned on him. Kevin had told him that when Ste first came back, she was so thin and weak that she couldn’t even control her basic bodily needs.

So even though they were married, it was just not possible for them to be intimate right now.

‘Great, I was just trying to make Kevin feel better, but I might make him feel worse. I should always keep my mouth shut, Cavan thought.

Since Jordan’s condition wasn’t that serious, he didn’t need any special prescriptions. The doctor just gave him some simple medicine and said he’d recover quickly after taking it.

Ste finally breathed a sigh of relief. She tried to persuade Jordan to head home since nothing like that was going to keep happening here, but Jordan refused to leave. With Jordan staying, the two of them could be seen together everywhere.

Cavan looked at Kevin’s face and let out a sigh. He put a hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s time to move on.”

Kevin’s eyes stayed fixed on Ste. “How could I give up? I like her. I wish I could be the one who stays by her side.

“But she’d rather choose someone she’s never even met in real life over me. Sometimes I wish we’d never even been friends. Maybe then I’d have had a shot.”

Cavan noticed the pain in Kevin’s eyes. He knew all too well how much Kevin loved Ste. But when love was one–sided, he couldn’t bdo /banything but feel sorry for Kevin.

Jordan treated Ste well, but sometimes it was obvious he was putting on a show for Kevin, just to make him give up sooner. Watching the Tittle rivalry between them, Cavan thought Kevin was so miserable.

Surprisingly, Ste ran into Monroe again. After all that went down, Ste still treated him just like before, but Monroe couldn’t get that one nagging question out of his head. He blocked her way and asked, “Why did you say you saved me?”

Ste looked at him. “So, you’ve forgotten?”

Monroe stared at her, at a loss for words.

“Since you’ve already forgotten, just let it go. I’ll soon forget that I ever saved you, too, and we’ll be even,” Ste bsaid/b.

“But at least let me know.”

“What’s the point in telling you if you’ve already forgotten?”

b15:26 /bFri, b8 /bbAug /bJ

Monroe didn’t know how to reply.

“Mr. James, don’t you see I’ve got things to do? Let’s not get in each other’s way anymore,” Ste said, not bothering to be polite, bShe /bbrushed right past him without any regard for his feelings.

Ste was busy with work, and Jordan didn’t follow her. He figured there was no need to get involved. But if she needed himb, /bhe’d be bthere /b

for her.

But Jordan headed off to another ce. He’d noticed Monroe wanted to talk to him, so he decided to give him the opportunityb. /b“bYou /bcame bto /bsee me just to ask when Ste saved you?”

“Yeah, since you’re with her, she probably told you about it,” Monroe said.

“She did mention it to mest night, but I feel the same way she does about it. Since you’ve already forgotten, let’s just leave it bin /bbthe /bpast and not talk about it anymore.”

“But this matters to me,” Monroe blurted out, his voice full of urgency.

Jordan let out a soft chuckle. “If it means that much to you, how could you forget?”

That was another question that puzzled Monroe. “I honestly can’t remember. I don’t recall ever losing my memory. The only thing! remember is being saved by Anna–I don’t remember Ste ever saving me.

“After what happened yesterday, I asked Anna about it. She said she had no idea–never even heard of it. That’s why I’m so confused.”

Jordan just stared at him. His look was so strange that it made Monroe ufortable. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing,” Jordan replied.

But Jordan’s reaction only made Monroe feel even more miserable. ‘It’s nothing? What’s that supposed to mean?‘ Monroe thought. He hated someone leaving him hanging like that. Monroe was at his wits‘ end,pletely unsure of what to do.

Jordan didn’t want to keep the conversation going. He spotted Ste nearly stumbling as she walked down the path and hurried over to steady her.

Monroe just stared at their backs as they walked away, his heart all tangled up inside. ‘Why is there nobody to tell me the answer?‘ he thought with frustration.

When Kevin saw Ste stumble, he wanted to go over too, but he was just a stepte. Watching Jordan reach out to steady Ste and seeing. the way she smiled up at him, Kevin felt his heart shatter.

He could feel that Ste was slowly starting to fall for Jordan. They lived together every day. Even if they didn’t see each other all the time, they still spent more time together than he and Ste ever did.

In a situation like that, it was natural for feelings to develop between them. If their marriage became the real thing, he’d have bno /bshot at all.

Suddenly, Cavan said, “Alright, let’s wrap it up for now. Let’s go grab some lunch.” As usualb, /bCavan was the or

arranged lunch.

But Ste knew exactly what was going on. She nced over at Jordan, who then picked up on her meaning btoo/bb. /bbAs /bbKevin /bwalked bout/b, Jordan followed him.

When Kevin got to the front desk to pay, Jordan beat him to it and paid bfirst/b. Kevin looked at Jordan bin /bbsurprise/b.

Jordan handed the phone over for him to seeb. /bb“/bTake a look this isn’t my phone. bYou /bbknow /bwhose bit /bbis/b, bdon’t /bbyou/bb?/bb” /b

Kevin stared at the phone. Of course, he knew whose it was–every little thing about Ste bwas /bbburned /bbinto /bbhis /bmind

b2/3 /b

15.26

bFri/bb, 8 /bbAug /b

“Mr. James isn’t stupid. There’s no way he’d pay for every single meal, though he needs Ste to be his partner. But even bwithout /bSte’s supermarket, Mr. James would have no problem sealing his goods. So, it was Ste who came to him for help.

“Ste’s known for a while that you’ve always been the one footing the bill for her. In this partnership, you haven’t gotten bany /bbbenefits /bjust wasted your time. Ste sees all of that.

“She gave me her phone and asked me to pay this time. If you respect her, let her handle things herself.

You don’t need to keep spending money to help her. She also said that she’ll transfer the money you’ve spent here back to byou/b, bJordan /badded.

Kevin let out a bitterugh and thought, ‘I’d thought I could keep all I have done for Ste a secret. But she is such a sharp girl. bThere’s /bbno /bway she wouldn’t notice it.‘