ra was feeling a bit on edge with Nichs''s eyes glued to her. His expression kept shifting from frowning to pursing his lips, leaving her guessing at his thoughts. She felt like she was under a microscope.


    The whole room seemed to chill, and when she nced over, she noticed Dn wasn''t looking his best. He was pale, sipping water constantly, and his wrist was tense around the ss.


    Without hesitation, she got up and went over to him. “Mr. Dn, are you feeling okay?"


    Dn just lowered his gaze, his hands wrapped around the cup. "I''m fine."


    ra knew him well enough to realize that even if he wasn''t fine, he wouldn''t bother saying much about it.


    Leaning in a bit, she whispered, "Is it your stomach? There''s a pharmacy nearby. I can grab some meds for you."


    Before Dn could respond, Nichs tapped the table. "Ms. ra, please sit down and keep some distance from Dn."


    Only then did ra grasp that Nichs was ying the protective role, thinking she might have some hidden agenda with Dn. She couldn''t help but chuckle at the thought and quickly returned to her seat.


    Dn''s fingers trembled briefly as he shot Nichs a look. Nichs just raised an eyebrow, mentally giving himself a nod of approval. He figured someone like ra wasn''t right for Dn. With him around, no sneaky intentions would get past!


    ra sat back, maintaining a good three feet between her and Dn. The table was massive, designed for private, high-profile dinners, so there wasn''t any room for small talk-or small tables.


    As soon as she settled in, Nichs sneered, "Don''t think I''m unaware of your game. It''s better to drop it. I''ve heard all the rumors flying around. Did you start them? Walter''s still setting up dates for Dn, which means he''s not into you."


    He kept his voice low, just for ra to hear. ra just smiled, closing the menu calmly. "Mr. Nichs, I know where I stand."


    Once the dishes arrived, ra eagerly introduced each one to Dn, having done her homework on the ingredients and preparation.


    "Mr. Dn, this soup is said to be..."


    Nichs cut her off, "No talking during meals."


    ra mped her mouth shut, worried Dn might not appreciate her culinarymentary, and quickly apologized. "Sorry about that."


    She could sense Dn''s growing difort, fearing he actually disliked her dish introductions. She shed a thankful smile at Nichs. "Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Nichs."


    Nichs sneered again, "Trying to win me over won''t work."


    ra was a bit taken aback. She''d heard Nichs was notoriously hard to deal with, but at least he wasn''t as harsh as Jackson. He might be sarcastic, but he wasn''t hostile, just thinking she wasn''t the right fit for Dn.


    She kept her silence.


    For the rest of the meal, she only said, "Mr. Dn, Mr. Nichs, enjoy your meal."


    After that, she stayed quiet till the end, worried about making Dn ufortable.


    But as time went on, the mood around Dn only got heavier.


    When it was time to leave, she eagerly went to push his wheelchair, asking, "Mr. Dn, was the meal not satisfying?"


    Given it was a fancy private dinner with extra dishes she''d ordered, it shouldn''t have been about not enough food.