Vanessa Sterling froze completely, her mind blank at that moment, forgetting to make any response.

It wasn’t until the driver started the car that she belatedly rolled up the window.

With her hand resting over her chest, her heartbeat was uncontrollably chaotic.

The two cars stopped one after the other by the roadside; Vanessa Sterling glanced at Miles Sterling’s car parked behind hers as she got out.

This time, he parked at her shop entrance, not in the parking spot across the street.

She felt Miles was here to see her, but she didn’t know how to handle it, so she was only intent on avoiding him.

Upon hearing the sound of Miles opening the car door, Vanessa struggled to keep her hand steady as she unlocked the shop door.

Clear footsteps approached her from behind.

"Today’s movie was pretty good." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Miles’s voice sounded, causing Vanessa to pause as she was pushing the door.

She hesitated for several seconds before turning back to look at Miles behind her.

Her expression was slightly awkward, she pressed her lips not knowing what to say, and then she lowered her head.

The two stood facing each other in silence for a while before Miles spoke up again: "She and I are only professional acquaintances, not the kind of relationship you think."

Surprised by Miles’s sudden explanation, Vanessa stood there foolishly, her face flushed red, avoiding Miles’s gaze and struggling to speak: "Why... why are you telling me this? It’s none of my business."

Miles watched her with a smile and said: "Just seemed like you might have misunderstood."

Vanessa felt something was odd about his words, but couldn’t pinpoint what.

"She’s the daughter of the Reid Family; her family deals in jade, and a few days ago they opened a new mine, my uncle asked me to try negotiating a partnership."

Stunned by the information, Vanessa didn’t have a chance to respond before Miles continued: "It’s true she has that kind of interest in me, but I have clearly rejected her. If she’s still insistent, well, we don’t have to work with her."

"Why are you telling me this..."

Miles chuckled lightly: "Just making things clear to you, so you don’t overthink."

Vanessa: "..."

"Vanessa... you do care about my affairs, right?"

Vanessa raised her eyes to look at him and instinctively stepped back half a step.

Her gaze avoided his, remaining silent.

She felt she couldn’t possibly care about Miles’s affairs, yet she had indeed been troubled by them lately.

She was a bit confused about her own feelings.

Miles attempted to step forward, noticing Vanessa’s reflexive escape, yet she didn’t show the previous panic, instead her face was flushed, looking somewhat helpless.

Miles was amused by how adorable Vanessa looked.

Upon hearing Miles’s laughter, Vanessa’s face turned even redder.

She turned around, quickly opened the door, and dashed inside, and just as she was about to close the door, she glanced at Miles through the gap.

Miles remained standing there, smilingly and motionlessly watching her.

After a brief eye contact, Vanessa promptly locked the door and ran upstairs without looking back.

Miles stood downstairs, thinking for a long time before taking out his phone to find Vanessa’s number and composed a message: Vanessa, let’s be together.

He stared at the short sentence for a while, took a deep breath, and then resolutely pressed the send button.