At 11:30 am, I walked out of my house, hailed a cab, and headed straight for Century za.


    When I arrived at the restaurant, I immediately spotted L. She was wearing a red dress with delicate makeup, looking absolutely radiant.


    I sat down beside her and teased, "Wow, are you going on a blind date today? Look at you all dressed up."


    L rolled her eyes at me. "Get lost! What blind date? You were the one who insisted on meeting him. I''m just doing you a favor. Otherwise, I would''ve just washed my face ande out."


    "Wow, I must be pretty important, then." I chuckled before asking, "By the way, how did you get in touch with him?"


    L took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Actually, after you left yesterday, I suddenly remembered that I still followed him on social media. And, surprisingly, he''s still following me too."


    As she spoke, she frowned and checked her watch. "It''s already sote. Why isn''t he here yet? Is he standing us up?"


    I reassured her, saying, "Let''s wait a little longer. Maybe he''s stuck in traffic." L pulled out her phone and dialed Lawrence''s number. The background noise on the other end was loud, with faint sounds of honking cars.


    She put him on speaker, and his apologetic voice came through. "L, sorry, I got caught in some traffic. I''ll be there soon. Just give me five more minutes!"


    "Alright, alright, just hurry up. We''ve already ordered," L replied before hanging up. She shrugged at me. "Traffic-ssic excuse."


    About ten minutester, a man dressed in a nice suit, with neatlybed hair, walked in briskly. When he saw me, he visibly froze, and the smile on his face stiffened.


    Noticing the awkwardness, L quickly smoothed things over and said, "Lawrence, this is Serena Ashford, the person I told you about. Serena, this is Lawrence Sandler."


    Lawrence snapped out of his daze and extended his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Serena. I''ve heard a lot about you."


    His hand was cold, and his fingertips trembled slightly.


    I shook his hand politely, but the gesture felt less like a greeting and more like an unspoken standoff.


    After we sat down, the atmosphere became subtly tense.


    Lawrence kept ncing at me.


    L seemed to pick up on the strange vibe and joked, "Lawrence, didn''t you always say you wanted to meet Serena? Now that you''ve finally met her, what do you think? Isn''t she even prettier than in photos?"


    He let out a forcedugh and awkwardly asked, "Serena, how have you been...tely?"


    I smiled slightly and turned the conversation around. "I heard yourpany has been doing well recently. Congrattions."


    His eyes flickered, and he responded somewhat unnaturally, "It''s... It''s been alright. Things are going smoothly."


    "Is that so? I''ve been job hunting recently. Does yourpany happen to be hiring?" I asked directly, locking eyes with him.


    His expression instantly darkened. He opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated and swallowed his words.


    L, sensing something was off,


    nudged him with her elbow.


    "Lawrence, say something! Serena is


    such a talented person. If you don''t ha


    hire her, I''ll just introduce he to


    someone else."


    Lawrence took a deep breath, looking as if he had finally made up his mind. "Serena, actually... mypany isn''t in a position to hire you..."


    "What''s the problem? Just be straightforward," L said, getting impatient.


    Lawrence clenched his jaw, then


    finally blurted out, "The thing is... your mother''s situation with the Hastings family has bemon knowledge in our circle. Almost no one is willing to hire


    someone with your background.


    "Not to mention, mypany is just a small business. You''d be overqualified here."