James froze for a moment when he heard the words. He turned his head, his


    gaze falling on Mirabe''s face. Her eyes were bright, but there was a rare hint of seriousness in them. The hand holding her wrist tightened slightly as he replied softly, "No, it won''t happen."


    Mirabe nodded and smiled. "Good to hear that."


    "Mhm." James''s other hand gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind Mirabe''s ear. "Don''t worry, I''m here for you."


    Mirabe raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when she noticed the elevator doors open not far away. A middle-aged man with a strong air of authority hurried out.


    The man rushed over. "James, what happened?" It was Sam, his voice tinged with urgency. "I just heard from someone downstairs that you had a run-in with the authorities?"


    After saying this, he finally noticed the beautiful young woman his nephew was holding hands with and paused.


    "Yeah, had a little issue," James replied casually, as if a visit to the authorities was no big deal.


    Sam momentarily shifted his gaze from Mirabe back to the matter at hand, sternly saying, "Rash actions, James. That ce isn''t somewhere you just barge into. Do you have any idea how many people are waiting for you to slip up...?"


    "So, I''ll leave the rest to you," James cut his uncle off, his gaze drifting into the distance.


    "What are you talking about?" Sam was confused, following his nephew''s line of sight.


    A group of people in dark suits, looking serious and imposing, was quickly approaching from the other end of the corridor.


    James looked away. "Uncle, we''ll be heading off. I''ll take you out for dinner some other time."


    With that, he pulled Mirabe towards the elevator. Luckily, it was still on their floor. The doors opened, and they stepped inside.


    Sam, finally snapping back to reality, was visibly irritated.


    This troublemaker... He suddenly wasn''t sure if he should voice his thoughts!


    **


    Upon reaching the ground floor, James and Mirabe exited the building. Soon after, Curtis came down and drove the car over.


    Curtis parked his car in front of James, then got out and handed over the keys.


    James nodded, opened the passenger door for Mirabe, and after she got in, he closed the door and turned to Curtis, saying casually, "Go find Sam. Tell him the advance order n fromst time-increase the amount by twenty percent."


    Curtis was slightly taken aback but soon nodded after ncing toward the passenger side. "I''ll go right now."


    "Mhm." James waved a hand and walked around to the driver''s side, quickly getting in.


    The car started and slowly drove off.


    Curtis stood there for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly before he turned and went back into the building.


    Thinking they could leverage something over James was utterly wishful thinking.


    *


    Throughout the drive, James was mostly silent, though he drove noticeably faster than usual.


    Mirabe also remained quiet, just sitting there peacefully. Nick called at some point, asking when she would be home.


    She gave him an approximate time and then hung up.


    Before long, the car arrived back at their residential area.


    However, the car didn''t head towards the vi where Mirabe lived. She opened her mouth, "...Nick is waiting."


    James hummed in response, but the car didn''t turn around, continuing toward his ce instead.


    Seeing this, Mirabe touched her nose.


    This was James in full-on protective mode.