She hurriedly followed Hoyt without the young man ever catching notice. He seemed almost too taken in by the money in his pocket. He stopped by Mrs. Cox’s door.Hoyt immediately noticed Deirdre, who was drying some herbs outside the door. He paced toward her and greeted her. “Hey, morning!”She raised her head at the voice. “Mr. Leigh.”Hoyt scratched his head bashfully before producing all of the money from his pocket. He stuffed the bills into her hands. “Here. 300 dollars from selling your coat.”Deirdre took 90 bucks and gave the rest to Hoyt. “Here. You deserve this.”“D-Deserve what?” Hoyt stammered and inhaled sharply. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this!”“No, you help me a lot. You deserve it.” Deirdre stuffed the money into his hands. Her tone was sincere. “It was you who helped me with my injuries, and it was you who had to spend four hours these days to buy medicine for me. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to liquefy my coat. I’ll give 90 dollars to Mrs. Co

Mrs. Cox was just as surprised to see her. “Aren’t you up early, sweetie? Having trouble sleeping?”“I just got up. I am feeling a little thirsty.”“Well, let me get you a glass of warm water. Wait here by the door,” said the kind woman, pouring a glass for her before setting her sight on the pouring rain outside. “Damn, it’s raining again.” She sighed. “The roads are going to be wet and slippery. Straight up a hazard to use.”Deirdre took a sip. “You should stay at home today, Mrs. Cox. You might get hurt if you go out despite the condition. I’ve got 90 bucks you could us—”“Oh no. Heck, no. You can’t see well, it’s not easy for you to get a job, and you can’t afford not to have money with you. You can’t buy anything if you don’t have money!” Mrs. Cox protested. “All you’ve been wearing these days are my old clothes. It doesn’t matter if you’re the goddess of beauty herself. These rags are bringing your shine down, sweetie. No, you should go to the market with Hoyt and buy at leas

They finally reached their destination, though neither of them expected a crowd today. The place was so jam-packed that they had to step down from the bike and finish the rest of the journey on foot. Hoyt could not stop repeating every once in a while, “Please follow me, Miss McKinnon. Don’t get lost in the crowd!”He kept reminding her enough that Deirdre could not stop teasing him. “Heehee. I’m an adult, you know. Not a kid?”Hoyt turned and caught her gentle smile, and his cheeks burned… again. “I… I didn’t mean— I meant, you’re not familiar with this place, and your eyes aren’t very good, so if you get lost, you won’t know where to find me!”“It’s going to be fine. If I get lost, I’ll just stand where I am. I know you’ll locate me again until you find me.”“T-True.” God, Hoyt felt like he was walking on air. He sped up his pace a little and led Deirdre to a shop. Parking his bike in its front, he said, “Here you go. Check around and see if there’s anything you like. Just pi

Hoyt’s face was still tense by the time he walked out of the shop. Concerned, Deirdre asked, “You alright?”He wiped some light sweat off his face and said bashfully, “I’m so sorry, Miss McKinnon. The point was to buy you some clothes, but I ended up dragging you into our drama and made you watch all that… embarrassing stinker.”“Nonsense,” Deirdre replied reassuringly and gave him a small smile. “There was nothing embarrassing about it. It’s what relationships are like, dramatic and complicated.”Just like her own. No one would have known the lengths she had gone through for a man—to be willingly used as an impostor for two years, be incarcerated, disfigured, blinded, and lose the child she so wanted to bring to the world.Her relationship story was the biggest stinker of them all.“A word of advice, Mr. Leigh,” she said. “Sometimes, blaming yourself for everything that has happened only prevents you from moving on when you should.”Hoyt blushed and nodded. “R-Right. You’re righ

Declan chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It was more than just ‘not talking.’ We give each other stink eyes when we see each other, too. So, why would I care about someone who hates my guts? Why would I eagerly visit him? Why would I even tell you we knew each other as if it was something I should be proud of?”Deirdre shook her head. She was not going to let herself be duped anymore.Kyran extended his hand toward her, and she slapped it away. “How about the fact that there isn’t a guy called Kyran Reed in Room 1106? What about that?”Kyran stared at the hand she rejected, his expression darkening. He typed on his phone, and the mechanical voice said, “Because I’m trying to keep a low profile.”“What?” She was perplexed.Declan gave a mirthless laugh. “It’s because of me. My brother’s an irritatingly exacting man. He makes sure I can never, ever surpass him in anything, so any cooperation or work I have with Kyran is done in secret.“My brother doesn’t even know Kyran has returned f