?Chapter 1386:


    Jessica noticed his silence and kept going. “You know what Gerard’s like. He’s fine with joking around, but the moment he hears someone’s into him, he gets all awkward and distant.”


    “Yeah,” Melvin agreed. That really was Gerard to a T.


    “So yeah.”


    “What are you nning to do now?” Melvin asked, still a little thrown. He never saw her and Gerard as anything more than friends.


    “I’ll just go with the flow.” Jessica shrugged. “See what happens. And what about you?”


    “What?” Melvin asked.


    “If a girl liked you and told you how she felt, but you didn’t feel the same… what would you do?” Jessica’s voice was careful, almost tentative.


    “I’d thank her for liking me,” Melvin replied without pause, steady as ever, “and then turn her down politely.”


    “Would you avoid her after that?”


    “Why would I?”


    “Aren’t you worried she might keep chasing after you, try to worm her way into your life?” Jessica looked genuinely curious.


    “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Melvin said coolly, even a little sharp. “If I’ve already said no and I don’t react at all, she’ll only end up hurting herself if she keeps pushing.”


    “Can’t you give her a chance?” Jessica traced idle patterns on her phone, pretending to be casual, but her words carried weight. “What if you get to know her and end up liking her?”


    “I don’t let people I don’t like into my life,” Melvin answered without thinking. To him, anyone who made it into his life had to matter. The rest were just acquaintances—faces in the crowd.


    Jessica nced up, her voice soft. “What about me? I’m in your life now, aren’t I?”


    “You’re the exception,” Melvin said, his tone low.


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    At that, Jessica’s heart skipped a beat. A small smile tugged at her lips. She looked at him sideways, teasing lightly, “You do realize telling a girl she’s the exception kind of sounds like a love confession, right?”


    “I…” Melvin stumbled,pletely at a loss for words.


    “How many people are exceptions to you?” she asked.


    “Two,” he said truthfully, without even thinking. “You and my boss.”


    “That’s it?”


    “That’s it.”


    “And what about the girls allowed in your life?”


    “Only you and my boss.”


    “I see. Then your only options are staying single forever… or marrying me.” Jessica tossed the line at him just to stir him up.<fnd4c2> For original chapters go to f?ndnovel</fnd4c2>


    Melvin, as always, missed the hint entirely. “I’m not nning to get married.”


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