Benjamin knew that he’d guessed right when he saw the other man’s reaction. It made sense. Weren’t all their relationships tied to Janice?

He replied, "Although I’ve encountered an unprecedented difficulty, and might even go bankrupt because of it, I can’t sign this contract."

"Why? Didn’t you abandon her for this purpose? Now, your wish will be fulfilled."

Christopher was quite angry.

Ben was stunned.

"Abandon her? Aren’t you the one who abandoned her?"

"What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t spout nonsense just because I don’t remember anything. This is a rare opportunity, you won’t get another like it. Think carefully."

God knew how tough it was for him as he struggled to make a decision.

Ben only felt ridiculous. He had nothing to say to a person who didn’t remember anything.

"I’ve already thought it through very clearly. I like Janice. I will definitely not give up just because of your charity."

His words angered Chris.

A man who had no ability and only made use of women to achieve his goals had the nerve to talk about liking her in front of him.

If he liked her, he would not have ignored the fact that she was pregnant. The more Chris thought about it, the angrier he became. Rising, he threw a punch at Ben.

"You bastard!"

Ben took the punch and returned it unceremoniously.

And just like that, they were fighting in full view of everyone in the cafe.

The other customers found their behavior frightening and left the premises. The shop assistant had no choice but to call the police.

In the police station, the two sat there with different degrees of injury on their faces. The police couldn’t find out why they had been fighting, no matter how hard they interrogated them.

Their lawyers bailed them in the end.

When Chris walked out of the police station, it was already 10 o’clock in the evening.

Instead of going home, he drove to the hotel.

With his injured face, he felt too ashamed to go back home. He hated the fact that he had not thrashed that guy and made him lose a few teeth.

He entered the room, threw his phone on the bed irritated, and walked to the bathroom.

In the villa, Janice had made a sumptuous meal and was waiting. She had waited from 7 pm to 10 pm, but there was still no sign of Chris.

She was a little worried, so she called, but no one answered the phone.

Letting out a sigh, she hung up.

She thought that he might have been delayed so she didn’t bother. She got up and covered the food. When she was about to go back to her room, her phone rang.

Thinking it was a call from Chris, she quickly picked it up.

"Hello..."

"Janice..."

Ben’s voice came from the other end.

She was taken aback. She took the phone away from her ear and glanced at the screen. As expected, it was a call from him. She was a little disappointed and said.

"What’s the matter?"

Ben paused for a few seconds before speaking.

"What did you do for me?"

Hearing his question, she thought that he was referring to the meeting with Nathan. She said, "It’s nothing. You deserve it."

"Janice..."

"You’ve helped me many times. I am merely returning the favor."

Janice said matter-of-factly.

Her gratitude made him speechless for a moment. He replied after a while.

"Is there really only... gratitude between us?"

"We can still be friends," she said.

However, there was only silence on the other side.

She had thought about her relationship with Ben. She saw him as a friend and nothing more, and if he was willing to accept that, she had no qualms. If he couldn’t go along with that, it was fine by her.

So she said, "It’s getting late. I’m going to bed. Talk to you again soon. Bye."

...

She hung up and went to bed. She lay in bed, restless. Try as she could, she couldn’t fall asleep.

It was 12 o’clock, but she wasn’t sleepy. She got up instead and went downstairs. As she sat in the living room, mind heavy with thought, she gradually fell asleep.

The sky was bright when she woke up. She checked the time. It was past six in the morning.

She got up in a hurry and went upstairs to Chris’ bedroom. It was empty, and there were no traces of him, as if he hadn’t spent the night there.

Did he not come back last night?

Chris had never been out overnight. Even during the time when he rejected her, he never stayed out. He always came back. He hadn’t last night though.

What was going on?

She picked up the phone, intending to call him. She chickened out at the last moment and decided against it.

There had to be a reason he didn’t come back. So what if she asked?

She thought for a moment, then decided against it. He’ll tell her if he wanted to.

She turned around and went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast.

She was no longer alone. She couldn’t mistreat the baby in her belly.

She made herself a delicious breakfast and ate silently at the dining table. Although she had no appetite, she forced herself to eat it.

After breakfast, she went back to sleep. She assumed he would be back by the time she woke up, but the room was still empty.

After some hesitation, she called him.

The phone rang but there was no answer.

She was a little worried, so she changed into something presentable and went to the office.

When she arrived at the office, it was already past eleven in the morning.

She was in a hurry and hoped to see Chris before lunch.

However, she was stopped the moment she stepped on the building.

"Sorry, you can’t go upstairs without an appointment."

Janice glanced at the receptionist and realized that it was a new face. No wonder she was stopped.

She didn’t want to make things difficult for the newcomer, so she said, "Then I’ll have to trouble you to let him know that Janice is here to see him."

The receptionist’s name was Cecilia.

In the office, Chris was at his desk, his face bruised black even after applying an ice pack and medicated cream.

He was in the office the whole morning, and Cecilia, his secretary, was constantly busy.

"Mr. Bateman, Miss Gladwell is downstairs." She informed him quite clinically. After the earth-shattering live broadcast, Cecilia admired Janice very much. Hearing that Janice had come, Chris was quite surprised. "Let her in."

He remembered though that his face was bruised. Changing his mind, he instructed his secretary. "Wait, say that I’m busy and let her go back first."

Cecilia was confused for a second, but it made sense to her when she noticed his bruised face

She went out back to inform the receptionist.

"Mr. Bateman is busy and can’t meet guests."

The receptionist passed on the message.

Janice blinked, then said quite stubbornly.

"Then I’ll wait for him here."

The receptionist ignored her. Her job was done - she had passed his message to her.

Janie sat at the reception area and waited till two o’clock in the afternoon, but still didn’t see Chris.

She couldn’t wait any longer. She was starving and needed to eat quite urgently.

She stroked her flat lower abdomen.

She was just worried about him. Since he was at work, then everything had to be fine.

She stood up to leave, tired of waiting.

...

Chris sat in his office, waiting for Janice to leave. Relief washed over him when the receptionist informed him of her departure.

He tugged the tie around his neck, as his phone pinged with new notifications. He looked at his screen, the green WhatsApp icon letting him know he had new messages.

He unlocked his phone and started to scroll through the messages.

"Go ahead with your work. I’ll go home first."

"What do you want to eat tonight? I learned how to make a new dish."

"I’ll wait for you to come back for dinner."

All the texts were from Janice, sent one after the other.

Chris looked at the text messages and frowned. He started to type a reply but he stopped and cleared what he’d typed.

He rubbed his face, somewhat irritated.

Although he had thought of how to deal with Ben, he still couldn’t face Janice.

He hadn’t decided what attitude he wanted to adopt with her.

He wasn’t as afraid of facing her as he was that she would lay her cards on the table when he did.

During this period, she had deliberately slept in a separate room and kept a distance from him. Wasn’t she preparing to leave?

He didn’t want her to leave, and didn’t want to provide her with the opportunity to.

It was better to not see her, at least for now.

Thinking of this, he put the phone back.

At the same time, Janice was eating in a restaurant, constantly checking her phone.

However, Chris didn’t reply.

She knew he wasn’t busy. He deliberately didn’t want to see her.

The answer was obvious. It wasn’t hard to guess, if you connected the dots with all his strange behavior over the past few days.

However, she didn’t want to think about it.

Sometimes, it was better to act stupid.

Keeping an eye on her phone, she finished her food. When he still hadn’t replied, she didn’t wait any longer.

She paid the bill and walked out.

Under the blazing sun, the streets were empty.

Instead of hailing a cab, she walked, holding an umbrella aloft.

As she walked, she thought about all her recent efforts.

It wasn’t that she needed him to always think about her. As long as he did not dislike and could accept her, that was good enough.

However, she seemed to have overestimated her ability. What should she do?

They may not last three months after all.

But, was it really going to end like this?

She was unwilling to give up.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the figure rushing towards her until the person had hugged her.

She looked closely and saw that it was a little girl in a princess dress, hair braided into pigtails. She was looking up at her timidly.

Janice was surprised, but hid it well. There was something familiar about the little girl.

It clicked. This was the little girl who had gotten separated from her family at the hospital.

She glanced around but didn’t see any adults with her. Janice bent down and said softly, "Let’s go."

"Oh, it’s you! Are you lost again?"

The girl pouted and looked like she was about to cry.

Seeing this, Janice comforted her, "Don’t cry, I’ll bring you to find your parents."

The little girl did not speak. Instead, she pointed at an alley.

Janice paused, took her little hand and headed down the alley.

She followed the little girl till they stopped in front of an apartment building.

"Is this your home?"

The girl nodded.

Janice asked again, "Do you know which unit it is?"

The girl pointed to the second floor.

Janice walked her up to the second floor.

The door was unlocked, which was probably why the girl could go out freely.

Janice knocked on the door. "Is anyone there?"

There was no sound inside. She reached out again to knock, but suddenly, a snow-white dog rushed out and circled around her feet affectionately.