, Chapter , Sam didn’t ask further. Smiling, he said, “We just opened a bottle of Burgundy. Do you , want a glass?” , As he spoke, he filled half a glass and handed it to Hansel. , Hansel took a small sip. “Not bad. After a pause, he pretended to ask casually, “Didn’t you say Miranda was here earlier? How come I don’t see her?” , “Did you intentionally come here just to see her?” Sam swirled his glass with a faux smile , “Heh.” Hansel’s expression darkened slightly. “I just happened to come here for some alcohol. Since you ran into her, is it illegal for me to ?” , Sam shrugged. “I bumped into her in the corridor. She was just here to have a drink. Given how late it is, she must’ve gone home a long time ago.” , Hansel said nothing, but his expression looked evidently more relaxed. As he’d thought, this kind of environment didn’t suit Miranda. , Putting down his glass, he stood. “I have work tomorrow, so I’ll get going. Put this on my tab.” , As Sam watched his retreating back, his gaze dimmed. After a brief moment, he sighed. lightly. “I’m sorry, bro.” , Winter and Miranda didn’t even spend an hour in the private room. After Winter downed half a bottle of wine, she passed out. , Miranda also had a little to drink, so she couldn’t drive. In the end, she called a designated driver to take Winter back to her condo. Then, she went downstairs hailed a cab back to her apartment. , s and , Along the way, it began to rain. Because it was so dark, the cab was only willing to drop her off at the alleyway near her home. , Miranda didn’t have an umbrella, and she didn’t know when the downpour was going to stop. Thus, she decided to brave the rain and run home. , “Miranda!” , A clear voice calling her name from behind stopped her in her tracks. When she turned around, she saw Paul emerging from the rain with an umbrella. , “Were you planning to run home in the rain?” , , , , He wasn’t wearing a button–up shirt today. Instead, he wore a casual T–shirt, which made him look less stern than he usually did. , Miranda nodded slowly. That had indeed been her plan. , “Use this umbrella.” He shoved the umbrella into her . , She frowned. “What about you?” , In truth, she wanted to say that they could both huddle under the umbrella. , “I’ll borrow one from a shop.” With that, Paul ran into a restaurant across the street and , borrowed a foldable umbrella from the owner. , Miranda blinked. That restaurant owner had a temper and didn’t like dealing with customers. How had Paul managed to do that? , “He had some issues with the electric circuits in his restaurant in the past. I happened to be passing by, and I fixed it for him.” Paul didn’t intend to explain further. Seeing that the rain had lightened up slightly, he opened the umbrella and walked into the rain. , Miranda stared dumbly at his back for a couple of seconds before following him.. , In this old neighborhood, the street lamps were already dim enough. However, because of the rain, the light appeared even weaker. , Lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, and the trees rustled from the strong winds. Miranda tightened her grip on the umbrella handle and increased her pace. , The two of them wove through the alleyway amidst the harsh storm. Miranda realized that she had kept a constant ten–foot distance between herself and Paul–not too far but not too near either. , Was he… intentionally slowing his footsteps because he knew she was scared? , At that moment, he suddenly turned around. “What’s the matter?” , She was taken aback. “It’s nothing.” , “Can you keep up?” , “Yes.” , The rain had really been heavy. When she got home, her pants were so drenched that she could wring water out of them. , She quickly stripped out of her sopping wet clothing and took a hot shower. After she put on her pajamas, she even took an immunity supplement to ward off a potential cold. As she swallowed the bitter tablet, the image of Paul carrying an umbrella surfaced in , , , , her mind. His back was tall and broad, just the look of it seemed reassuring. , , , , , Search the website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.