Inside the bathroom, Samuel was startled by Mason and knocked over the toiletries on the sink. His faces filled with shock, his breath held.


    With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Mason stared at Samuel, his eyes deep.


    The two men locked eyes, the atmosphere ufortably awkward.


    “Bro, are you okay?” Shirley’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.


    Taking a deep breath, Samuel reached out to pick up the fallen toiletries, trying to sound calm. “I’m fine, just identally knocked over Le’s toiletries.”


    Hearing Samuel’s response, Shirley teased, “Well, it seems that as men get older, their tolerance for alcohol decreases.”


    Normally, Samuel would retort, but at this moment, he was barely keeping himself steady. He didn’t have the energy to argue with Shirley’s banter.


    Samuel adjusted his emotions for a moment before addressing Mason, “Mr. Ramirez.”


    Mason’s voice was cold, “Hmm.”


    Samuel forced a smile, “Did you… Did you alsoe to the restroom?”


    Samuel regretted saying that as soon as the words left his mouth.


    “What do you think?”


    The atmosphere in the bathroom became increasingly tense.


    After a few minutes, Shirley’s voice rang out again, “Bro, are you really okay? Did you drink too much?”


    Samuel had never found Shirley’s voice so pleasant before. “I’m fine, I’ll be out in a moment.”


    With that, Samuel looked at Mason and reluctantly spoke, “Mr. Ramirez, I, I’ll go out first.”


    Mason’s voice was chilly, “Didn’t you want to pee?”


    Samuel stuttered, “No, I don’t.”


    Mason took two steps forward, extinguished the cigarette butt in the sink, then turned his back to Samuel. “Pee.”


    Samuel hesitated. For the first time in his life, Samuel feltpelled to pee. He trembled, nearly missing the toilet several times. Trying to maintainposure, Samuel finally came out of the bathroom, feeling like he had developed a serious psychological issue.


    Upon seeing him, Shirley, holding a beer bottle, couldn’t hold back herughter as she leaned against the sofa. “Why do you look so awful after a trip to the bathroom?”


    Samuel didn’t respond to Shirley but exchanged a nce with Le.


    Both of them shared an unspeakable awkwardness.


    There were some things they couldn’t say directly and could only pretend that nothing had happened.


    As they sat back down, Samuel didn’t dare to drink like before.


    It wasn’t because of anything else; he really didn’t want to go back to the bathroom. But he didn’t expect that just because he didn’t go, it didn’t mean others wouldn’t.


    After a while, Shirley stood up. “I’ll go to the bathroom.”


    As Shirley spoke, she headed straight for the restroom.


    Le and Samuel both tensed up, blurting out simultaneously, “No!!”


    Shirley was taken aback. “What’s wrong with you two?”


    Samuel cleared his throat and said, “The bathroom is broken.”


    Perplexed, Shirley asked, “But didn’t you just use it?”


    Samuel replied, “I used it, and it broke. It hasn’t been fixed yet.”


    Without waiting for Shirley to argue, he took out his room key from his pocket and handed it to her. “Go next door.”


    They had booked a room next to Le’s when they arrived.


    Shirley didn’t think much of it and took the key from him. “I’m truly amazed that you manage to break the bathroom? No wonder you took so long in there; you were fixing the toilet?”


    Samuel remained silent.


    As Shirley left, the living room was left with only Samuel and Le.


    Samuel held his beer silently for a moment before speaking softly, “Mr. Ramirez and you…”


    He had actually heard rumors about Mason and Le before. However, he was someone who valued truth and disliked spreading rumors, so he hadn’t paid much attention to them. If it weren’t for meeting Mason here today, he would have thought those rumors were baseless.


    In response to Samuel’s question, Le didn’t reply immediately. After about half a minute, she whispered, “Can you keep this between us?”This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Samuel, concerned that Le might be coerced, asked, “Is he threatening you?”


    Le said, “No.”


    Samuel then asked, “Are you two in a rtionship?” As both of them were unmarried, it wouldn’t be unusual if they were in a rtionship.


    Le replied, “No.”


    Understanding that he shouldn’t delve deeper, Samuel said, “I won’t tell anyone.”


    “Thank you.”


    After a moment of thought, Samuel said, “If you need any help, just let me know. I won’t stand by and watch my friend being bullied.”


    “Samuel, thank you.”


    Samuel suddenly smiled and nced towards the direction of the bathroom, saying quietly, “No need to thank me. Just treat me to a meal next time.”


    Samuel’s tone was light-hearted, and he seemed unaffected by Mason’s influence. But Le knew he was just trying to spare her embarrassment. Despite that, Le couldn’t help but feel relieved.


    Shirley returned about fifteen minutester. The three of them drank until the early hours of the morning, and in the end, Shirley had to be dragged away by Samuel.


    As they reached the door, Shirley clung to the doorframe and refused to let go. “Let me go, I want to sleep with Le tonight!”


    Shirley was hysterically yelling, and Samuel reached out to close the door. With the door mming shut, Shirley’s voice was cut off outside.


    Le couldn’t help but chuckle. Just as she turned her head, she saw Mason leaning against the wall with a smirk.


    He raised an eyebrow at her and saidzily, “Le, what now? Your boyfriend found out you’re cheating on him.”


    Mason deliberately emphasized the phrase ‘cheating on him.’


    Le looked up at him and said, “You seem quite proud.”


    Mason’s smirk deepened, “Indeed.”


    Le said, “You really have no shame.”


    Mason’s voice was low with a hint of augh, “If I had any shame, would I repeatedly… sleep with you, knowing you have a boyfriend?”


    “True.”


    Mason’s phone suddenly rang. After seeing the caller ID, he impatiently pressed the end call button. The phone rang again. Irritated, Mason answered with a cold tone, “Speak.”


    His cold demeanor caused a pause on the other end of the line. After a moment, the person on the phone asked with a hint of resentment, “Where have you been?”


    Mason replied curtly, “None of your business.”


    The caller persisted, “I’m your fiancee. How can it not be my business? Are you with that new project manager again? Did you go to S city with her?”


    The caller was Jennifer, who had caused a scene at a birthday party andter went to a shoot to confront the model rumored to have been involved with Mason.


    With the room so quiet, Le and Mason were close to each other again. Even with his phone’s soundproofing, secrets couldn’t be hidden at such a distance.


    Facing Jennifer’s interrogation, Mason nced at Le and saw disdain in her eyes.


    Before Mason could respond, Jennifer continued, “Mason, do I have to resort to drastic measures to deal with her?”


    Mason’s gaze turned colder at her words. “If you’re so good at finding out things, why didn’t you find out that Mr. Moore is also here?”


    Jennifer bit her lip on the other end of the line, then chuckled through her tears. “You went to S city with her for the Premier Construction project, didn’t you?”


    Ignoring her, Mason hung up the phone and added Jennifer’s number to the cklist. He then messaged Alvin: [Take care of your sister, don’t let her go crazy.]


    Alvin: [What’s going on?]


    Mason: [Find out for yourself.]


    After sending the message, Mason was about to put away his phone when Le spoke up, “Mr. Ramirez, Miss Powers loves you deeply.”


    “So what?”


    Le continued, “Women often lose their rationality when deeply in love with a man. I’m alone in Neo city, with little influence. I know I’m not qualified to be anyone’s obstacle, but I also don’t want to be a thorn in anyone’s side. Mr. Ramirez, I understand you don’t want a business marriage, don’t want to marry someone you don’t love, but could you please also try to sympathize with me?”


    Mason chuckled, “Why should I sympathize with you?”


    Le said calmly, “It’s simple. Don’t let me be a stumbling block on your path to opposing the families.”


    Mason caught the undertone of her words and mocked, “Do you think I want to use you to create a false impression for The Ramirez Family and The Powers Family, making you a shield for me to cancel the engagement?”


    Le asked straightforwardly, “Isn’t that the case?”


    Whether it was or not, Mason didn’t say.


    Mason lowered his gaze to look at her for a moment, then smiled. “Le, do you really have so little confidence in yourself? What if I fell for you at first sight?”