Quentin wasn''t afraid of being the center of gossip. However, if rumors of what he did with Naomi got out, the reactions would be very different. The people would say that Quentin, being a man, was just a romantic at heart. Naomi, on the other hand, would garner harsh criticism from the people, only because she was a


    woman.


    They would wag their tongues behind her back, calling her a shameless woman for falling into bed with her own brother. They would use her of condoning incest, for having a messy private life.


    The relentless gossiping would push Naomi to her wits'' end and might even force her into doing something drastic and irreversible.


    "Oh. "Tessa''s voice held no hint of suspicion. "Could you tell her to give me a call after she wakes up?"


    Quentin let out a sigh of relief. "Sure."


    After disconnecting the call, he lowered his eyes to look at Naomi, whoy next to him. "Are you awake?"


    Naomi still looked half-asleep. Her eyes were heavily lidded when she hummed an answer. Since she had just woken up, she sounded even softer and more alluring than usual. Her simple humming had once again set Quentin''s desire


    alight.


    Quentin leaned down and kissed Naomi on the lips. "Shall we do it again, sweetie?"


    Naomi no longer felt sleepy after hearing his words. She instantly became lucid and grabbed the nket to cover herself. Her eyes were wary as she eximed, "Get away!"


    His gaze was filled with adoration, matching the smile that curved his lips. "Sweetie, do you have any idea how seductive you look right now?"


    She gripped the nket like her life depended on it. In her panic, her words tumbled from her lips in a jumbled mess. "Quentin... don''t do anything rash. We... We drank too muchst night. We''re both adults, so I can pretend that nothing happened between us. Let''s go back to being siblings."


    Quentin barked out an exasperatedugh. Arching an eyebrow, he replied, "I wasn''t drunkst night. I waspletely sober."


    Naomi''s eyes were wide as saucers.


    He continued in anguid tone, "Sweetie, my mind is clear and I know exactly what I''m doing. To be honest with you, I noticed your feelings for me a long time ago, but I just never acted on them. After the stunt you pulledst night-hiring a host and even draping yourself all over him—I couldn''t hold myself back any longer, though."


    "You... You have feelings for me?"


    Quentin nodded in response.


    "Since when?"


    "I can''t tell you an exact date. I guess, they just grew as we spent time together."


    Naomi bit down on her bottom lip. "But I... I''m not ready."


    Quentin caressed her face and asked gently, "Sweetie, do you like me? I''m talking about the type of ''like'' between a man and a woman."


    "I don''t!" Naomi quickly denied.


    Quentin let out a lowugh. He dropped his head and kissed her again. "It''s fine if you don''t, your feelings for me can grow at their own pace."


    He emphasized the word "grow", making the blush on Naomi''s face spread rapidly from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears. It was fascinating how the Pronteriannguage could be carefully arranged to express double meanings.


    They surrendered themselves to their base desires once more.


    The wintry days in Rivertown carried on as usual. In the blink of an eye, it was already mid-January.


    Tessa received a phone call from Barry Leiston, the director of herw firm. "Tessa, I heard that you know how to y golf?"


    Tessa wondered who told Barry before she suddenly came to a realization. She had filled in an application form when she first joined the firm. There was a section on the form asking about her hobbies, and she had written down golfing as one of them.


    "I do, Mr. Leiston. Any particr reason you''re asking me this?"


    Barry sounded cheerful when he exined, "An important client of mine, Mr. Lowain of Victorious Corporation, loves ying golf. I''ve made arrangements to


    go golfing with him on the 18th. I want you toe with me."


    Tessa pondered his words for a moment. She figured that nothing would go awry, considering she would be going with the director of thew firm. She epted his invitation. "Understood, Mr. Leiston."


    "There''s a chance for us to secure multiple cases with Mr. Lowain. If


    everything goes smoothly, I''ll give


    you a 20 percentmission. Tessa know that youe from a well-off family, and that you don''t necessarily need this small sum of money. But aswyers, we need to build our experiences and hone our negotiation skills."


    News of Tessa being the female scion of the Yates family had spread around thew firm. The news had even reached Barry''s ears.


    "I understand, Mr. Leiston."


    "Great! You should start packing. I''ll have my assistant buy a ne ticket for you." "Alright."


    After the call ended, she looked at the calendar on her desk. It was January 13th. 13 days had passed since New Year''s Eve. She hadn''t seen Stephen for close to half a month now.


    Tessa had kept herself as busy as she could, doing her best to avoid having any free time for her thoughts to wander. The moment she slowed down, her control would slip. Memories of Stephen would flood her thoughts, and she would be unbearably upset.


    News of Stephen and Nancy''s budding romance dominated the entertainment channels. Tessa didn''t intentionally pay attention to them, but she would


    asionally overhear her colleagues gossiping about them.


    "Have you seen the trending topics chart? Nancy and Stephen were spotted holidaying on Seabreeze Ind. The two of them are truly a match made in heaven! A handsome man and a beautiful woman sure are a sight for sore eyes. I can''t help but root for their rtionship!


    "You don''t need to convince me about how beautiful Nancy is. She deserves the title of top celebrity in the entertainment industry. No one else but her would be a good match for Stephen!"


    "Hmm. Ms. Yates, who works in ourw firm, is also the scion of the Yates family, correct? Did you know that she was almost engaged to Stephen?"


    "That''s right. I heard about that too. It''s true, Stephen used to be Ms. Yates'' boyfriend. I saw him at the entrance of the firm a few times. He''s so handsome in person!"


    "Are you serious? Ms. Yates and Stephen were together in the past?"


    "Shhh, lower your voice. It wouldn''t be good if Ms. Yates hears us talking about her."


    Tessa gripped her mug as she stood by the entrance of the break room. She had stopped in her tracks when she heard her colleagues gossiping inside. She let out a tired sigh. Without a word, she turned on her heel and left.


    She would asionally see Nancy''s face on the massive LED billboards above the shopping malls. She would always unconsciously stop whatever she was doing to look at Nancy''s image while turbulent andplicated feelings churned in her chest.


    Nancy was the type of woman that Stephen liked an otherworldly beauty with a captivating smile that drew a person in effortlessly.


    ...


    It wasn''t long before the day of her departure arrived. Following Barry, Tessa boarded the ne that would fly them to Noria. As they passed by the first-ss cabin of the ne, Tessa was surprised to see the face that constantly haunted her thoughts. She froze in ce, and the expressionless mask she had on began to crack.


    Stephen was dressed in a ck coat that enhanced the air of elegance around him. He was lounging in his seat while engrossed with hisptop. Next to him, Nancy was smiling like a flower in bloom. Noticing Tessa''s heated gaze on him, Stephen looked up from theptop.


    When their eyes met, he was momentarily stunned.


    The atmosphere rapidly turned awkward. Jealousy permeated the air surrounding them, along with tinges of bitterness.


    Nancy didn''t seem affected in the slightest. Her smile was wide as she greeted Tessa, "Ms. Yates, we meet again."


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