Richard Sheffied placed the breakfast on the dining table, casually glanced around, showing a satisfied and comfortable expression.

The room was tidied up well, and the air seemed to have a unique feminine scent.

Vanessa Sterling hurriedly finished washing up, afraid of making Richard wait too long, and returned to the living room.

Richard Sheffied looked at her with a smile, gentlemanly pulled out the chair by the dining table for Vanessa to sit, and said softly, "Didn’t sleep well last night, did you?"

Vanessa Sterling pressed her lips together, waited for Richard to sit down opposite her, then took a deep breath, looked up at him, and said, "...I thought a lot last night."

Richard Sheffied laughed, looking at her with an inquisitive gaze, "Hmm? What have you concluded?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Vanessa Sterling: "...I feel we don’t know each other well enough yet, so I want to try to understand each other more before considering being together, is that okay?"

Richard Sheffied nodded with a smile in his eyes, "Okay. Actually, I thought you might reject me; I was anxious all night and hardly slept, so I came over early in the morning."

Vanessa Sterling smiled awkwardly, changing the topic, "...Let’s have breakfast, the dumplings won’t taste good cold."

Richard Sheffied picked up his chopsticks and asked her, "Do you have any plans for today?"

Vanessa Sterling paused, then shook her head, "Why?"

Richard Sheffied explained with a gentle smile, "My studio is almost finished with renovation, planning to rent an apartment around here; it would be convenient for work, and closer to you. So, I thought, if you’re free, maybe you could accompany me house hunting?"

Vanessa Sterling initially nodded, then said, "...Actually, I have a spare room here, if you don’t have any specific requirements for the residence, you could just live here..."

After saying that, Vanessa Sterling realized such an invitation might be inappropriate.

Especially seeing Richard Sheffied smiling at her with a meaningful look, she immediately blushed and lowered her head, hurriedly explaining, "...I didn’t mean anything special."

Seeing Vanessa’s embarrassment, Richard Sheffied chuckled and consoled, "I understand your intention. But I’m concerned it might inconvenience you."

Vanessa Sterling pointed towards the stairs, "...I live upstairs; there’s a room downstairs, it’s quite spacious, just not sure if you’d like it, why don’t we check it out now? If it’s not suitable, after breakfast we can go find another place."

"As long as you don’t mind, I’ll just move my things over in a bit. Let’s think of it as cohabitation for now, to avoid you feeling any burden."

Vanessa Sterling nodded, "You can stay for a while, and if you aren’t comfortable, you can find another place later. You can take your time to find a suitable apartment... Ultimately, just arrange everything as you please; it doesn’t matter to me."

Richard Sheffied teased, "Since you said you don’t know enough about me, living under one roof should speed up the understanding. Looking at apartments, it’ll probably be looking for a marital home."

Vanessa Sterling lowered her head, smiling nervously and awkwardly, feeling her face flush even more.

Realizing such jokes might embarrass the shy Vanessa, Richard Sheffied shifted the topic, "Then you can rest well at home for now, I’ll go back to pack my things and move in the afternoon."

"Okay, I’ll tidy up the room in a bit."

"Thank you. You can grab something simple for lunch; in the evening, I’ll take you out for dinner."

Vanessa Sterling quickly said, "...No need to purposely accompany me; let’s talk about it if you’re free, there’s plenty of time in the future."

Richard Sheffied laughed, "I’m pursuing you now; if I don’t have time to be with you, how can I claim to like you?"

Vanessa Sterling buried her head, too shy to look up, her heart racing with excitement.

Stepping out of her closed world with courage, will she embrace a better life?