“It’s rush hour, indeed hard to get one. Can I give you a ride?”
Le sensed something off about him and nced at the back seat of the car.
Daniel’s sudden offer to give her a ride was likely at Mason’s behest.
Awkward.
As Le pondered, a car honked nearby.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.
Le looked up to see Samuel waving at her from the car.
Without hesitation, Le smiled at Daniel and said, “No, it’s fine. I’ll take a ride with my boyfriend.”
Le made sure to emphasize the words ‘my boyfriend’ quite clearly.
Relieved, Daniel said, “Alright, then. I’ll head off.”
To prove she wasn’t lying, Le didn’t wait for Daniel to drive away but simply walked off.
Daniel didn’t immediately leave. Through the rearview mirror, he watched as Le got into Samuel’s car. He awkwardly touched his nose and said, “Le and Samuel seem to have a great rtionship.”
As Daniel spoke, he cautiously nced at Mason in the backseat.
Mason’s voice was cold as ice. “Is that so?”
Daniel didn’t dare to respond.
On the other side, Samuel had no clue what was going on.
“You and Shirley have dinner ns tonight?” he asked.
Le, distracted by Daniel’s passing car, replied absentmindedly, “Yeah.”
Unaware of her distraction, Samuel continued, “What are you guys having for dinner tonight?”
Le remained silent, not responding.
Samuel, noticing herck of response, tilted his head and joked, “What? Afraid I’ll crash your dinner?”
It took Le a moment to snap out of her reverie. “What?”
Samuel chuckled and tapped the steering wheel. “Seems like I’m the only one here talking to myself. You didn’t even hear what I said, did you?”
Feeling embarrassed for being caught off guard, Le replied, “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
Samuel teased, “Work stuff?”
Le lied, “Yeah.”
Samuel chuckled, “Don’t be so diligent.”
Le smiled at hisment. “Would you dare say that at the office?”
As they chatted, the car arrived at Le’s apartmentplex.
Out of hospitality, Le invited Samuel to join her for dinner. She expected him to decline, but to her surprise, he readily epted. As they headed upstairs, he even grabbed two boxes of gifts from the trunk for her.
Seeing this, Le remembered what he had saidst time: “I go on blind dates every weekend. The first step in dating is giving gifts. My mom prepared a bunch for me.”
It seemed he had indeed prepared quite a lot.
Just as they got upstairs, they spotted Shirley standing in the hallway.
Upon seeing theme up together, Shirley’s eyes widened. “Are you two together?”
Le replied, “No.”
Samuel chimed in, “Yep.”
Samuel teased, “We’ve pretended to be a couple before, but howe there’s no telepathy between us?”
Le felt a bit embarrassed by hisment, “I’m not good at lying.”
With that, Le unlocked the door and let Shirley and Samuel enter first.
Avoiding Samuel’s gaze, Shirley asked Le in a hushed tone, “How’s your mom doing?”
Le whispered back, “She’s doing alright. The situation is currently stable.”
Shirley grumbled, “My boss refused to give me time off. Otherwise, I would’vee to be with you.”
Le chuckled softly, “I know. I could tell from your phone callst week.”
Shirley paused for a few seconds before asking, “Did you find a suitable kidney donor?”
Le didn’t hide anything and replied honestly, “Yes, we found one.”
After saying that, she added, “It was Mason who helped.”
At the mention of Mason, Shirley was momentarily speechless. After a moment, she leaned closer to Le and said, “Le, I can’t help but feel that Mason’s feelings for you… are not ordinary.”
Some things, even if others don’t say them, the person involved knows. They were all adults, and no man would go out of his way to help a woman without some kind of goodwill.
Le had thought about ignoring the question, but faced with Shirley’s inquiry, she couldn’t stay silent. “I know,” she admitted.
Shirley pressed further, “So, what are your thoughts?”
Le uttered words even she couldn’t fully convince herself of, “I’ve already made it clear to him that from now on, we’re just boss and employee. I joined The Ramirez Group to work hard and repay the opportunity.”
Shirley also understood Le’s current situation and dilemma; she was at her wit’s end with no other choice.
With four dishes and a soup on the table, Samuel stepped forward to snap a photo with his phone and posted it on his social media.
In the back seat of the car, Mason initially nned to send a message to Le using Daniel’s name. But upon seeing Samuel’s social media post, he leaned back in his seat, squinted his narrow eyes, and liked the post.
As Le was in the kitchen, she sent a message to Dr. Hans, inquiring about Mrs. Patel’s current condition.
After a few minutes, Dr. Hans replied, [Currently, the situation seems stable.]
Le asked, [If there’s a matching kidney donor now, when can the surgery be performed?]
[At least three months from now. She’ll need three months of dialysis,] Dr. Hans replied.
Le acknowledged, [Okay, I understand.]
[Was there someone who donated the kidney?] Dr. Hans asked.
[Yes,] Le confirmed.
[About three months from now, I’ll send you some instructions for the donor to review,] Dr. Hans said.
[Thank you, Dr. Hans. I appreciate it,] Le responded.
After finishing the conversation with Dr. Hans, Le headed out of the kitchen and saw Samuel’s social media post.
The first post was the photo of the four dishes and soup that Samuel had shared, with only one like from Daniel.
Le nced at it and suddenly remembered her previous promise to invite Daniel for a meal in Yort city. She found Daniel’s profile and sent him a message: [Have you had dinner?]
Daniel replied instantly, [?]
Le rephrased her question, [Have you dropped off Mr. Ramirez?]
Reading Le’s message, Mason, sitting in the back seat of the car, stretched his legs. [What’s up?] he responded.
Le: [Do you have any other ns tonight? If not, would you like toe over for dinner at my ce?]
Mason’s face softened slightly, but he still seemed guarded. [I just saw Samuel’s social media post. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for me toe over?]
Le reassured him, [It’s fine. It’s not just the two of us; Shirley is here too.]
Mason rified, [Isn’t it just you and Samuel?]
Le countered, [Nope.]
Mason’s expression eased a bit. After about half a minute, he replied, [No, it’s not appropriate for me to intrude on your family dinner.]
Receiving Mason’s message, Le had just taken a sip of water and almost choked withughter.
Le was about to reply when another message popped up on the screen: [Mr. Ramirez called me at thest minute to work overtime.]
It implied that he couldn’te even if he wanted to.
Le didn’t know if it was true or not, but she replied, “Then let’s reschedule for another day.”
Mason responded, “Sure. I think, considering how much Mr. Ramirez has helped you, it’s only right for you to treat him to a meal.”
Le hesitated before replying.
The next message from ‘Daniel’ quickly followed: [I’m just suggesting; the decision is yours.]
After some consideration, Le thought Daniel made a valid point. Mason had done her a huge favor, and she should express her gratitude. After all, finding a kidney donor wasn’t something money could buy. Many patients spent three to five years waiting for a match.
Since Mason was influential, simply giving a gift wouldn’t suffice, making a dinner invitation the best choice.
After about a minute of contemtion, Le sent a message to ‘Daniel’: [Okay, sure. Then when you both are free and Let’s have a dinner together.]
On the other end, Mason’s expression remained inscrutable. After a while, he replied, [Just treat Mr. Ramirez. I’ve been busytely.]
Seeing the message from ‘Daniel’, Le wasn’t sure what to reply. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about today’s Daniel, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Before she could dwell on it further, Shirley brought up another topic.
“Has Hunter been in touch with you?”
“No, why?” Le asked.