After saying his piece, Connor didn''t even nce at Libby before striding away. Libby''s expression soured slightly. She thought, so what if she''s his fiancée? All men are like cats that steal cream.


    She was very confident in her looks; if he was willing to pay for her, it meant she had caught his eye. His fiancée back home couldn''t be that great, besides, she was a top schr from the University of Maple Grove!


    Libby wanted to call after Connor, but the cold aura he exuded made her hesitate. By the time she mustered the courage, Connor was already far away.


    Meanwhile, Connor went to find Flora, buying just a bottle of water. After Flora finished drinking, he took the bottle and drank from the spot she had just sipped.


    Flora tilted her head, smiling at him. After he finished drinking, she tiptoed up and nted a kiss on his lips. The kiss deepened, her nimble tongue even prying open Connor''s mouth.


    The bustling night market was full of couples, so their affectionate disy hardly drew attention, aside from some knowing smiles from passersby. Connor''s ears turned a shade of red. Being a gentleman, public disys of affection, especially in the noisy night market, were somewhat out of hisfort zone.


    He wrapped his arms around Flora''s waist, his voice husky, "Will youe back to Shallow Bay with me tonight?"


    "Sure." Flora blinked.


    Monday.


    Flora arrived at theb on time. Dr. Ray needed Shawn''s paper today, but there were still some data that needed finalizing. Shawn was too upied with the paper to pay much attention to Flora.


    He told her to find something to do on her own. At eleven in the morning, Shawn finally finished the paper and heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Finally done," he muttered, feeling like he was going bald from the stress. But despite the pressure, he had been sleeping well and felt more refreshed than tired.


    Flora, standing behind him, overheard hisment and instinctively nced at the title of his paper.


    "A research report on robots recing traditional manual surgery?" Flora was somewhat surprised to see the title.


    Hearing her voice, Shawn waved her over excitedly, "Flora,e here, take a look, tell me what you think."


    It then dawned on him that Flora was only a freshman this year and might not understand much of it. But Flora had already taken a seat beside him, earnestly reading the paper.


    Seeing her interest, Shawn decided not to say anything more. It was good for her to take a look.


    Just then, a delivery from the manufacturer arrived, and he needed to take care of it, so he told her, "Flora, just keep reading, I''ll be back soon."This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    He had already backed up a copy and wasn''t worried about Flora identally deleting or damaging his file.


    Alexa happened to pass by and stopped when she heard this, "Shawn, you''re letting Flora read your paper? Aren''t you worried she might ruin your work? She''s only a freshman after all, barely knows anything. If she makes changes to your paper..."


    Shawn frowned, not fond of Alexa. Despite both being women, she always seemed to find ways to trouble Flora. He nced at her and said, "Even though Flora is just a freshman, her professional abilities are not to be underestimated."


    "Flora, feel free to read and even make changes. I trust you." His voice was warm and smiling when he spoke to Flora, starkly different from how he addressed Alexa.


    Alexa''s face turned sour, and without another word, she walked away briskly. Thinking to herself, she was only trying to look out for Shawn, yet he was so protective of Flora,pletely disregarding her!


    Hmph. Just because she was Dr. Ray''s most valued student, what was so great about that? She was confident that after a year or so in theb, she couldpletely rece Shawn''s position.


    "Flora, don''t take Alexa''s words to heart. You''re doing great. Feel free to read the paper and make any changes you see fit."