<h4>Chapter 226: Chapter 226 Spying (1)</h4>


    Lucas Hughes thought about it for a moment, and his body reacted instantly—even down there, things had a bit of a bounce.


    He nced down at his lower half and smirked smugly.


    Then, he pulled out his phone to check the time—it was around 12:30 in the afternoon.


    He dialed Chloe Simpson’s number.


    "Chloe, do you have anything you feel like eating tonight? I’ll cook for you. About what time will you be home from work? You’re not working overtime tonight, right?"


    Lucas first asked his older sister what she wanted to eat, then slid into the topic he really wanted to know about.


    "Oh, no overtime tonight. Lucas, you were on the night shiftst night, and now you’re changing shifts again today? Honestly, don’t worry about me—if you’ve got a night shift, just head straight to work."


    "Don’t bother cooking for me. I’ll just grab something random to eat on my way home. Since I’m not workingte tonight, I should be back around six. At most, I’ll be home by seven."


    To be honest, Chloe couldn’t help but feel a bit happy when Lucas called her, asking if she wanted something special to eat.


    But as soon as she thought about how Lucas might have work tonight, she quickly tried to smooth things over.


    "Oh, I’m not working tonight—it’s my off day as it happens, and tomorrow we’re both on the day shift. Perfect. Alright then, I’ll throw together something simple, and we’ll eat together when you’re back."


    Lucas nodded, said nothing further, and hung up the call.


    But in his heart, he was already nning how to make Chloe willingly take off her clothes tonight.


    At that moment, a group message popped up on his phone.


    It was Harry Mason and Noah Woods suggesting hotpot—what did everyone think?


    As soon as Lucas saw the word "hotpot," his eyes twinkled mischievously, and a brilliant idea struck him.


    Around 5 p.m., Lucas went out to shop for groceries.


    He bought a great selection for hotpot—meatballs, beef slices,mb slices, shrimp paste, and all kinds of other hotpot ingredients. He finished it off with a special Old London hotpot base, the super red and super spicy kind.


    At 7 p.m., when Chloe returned home, Lucas had already prepped everything.


    The beef tallow hotpot base was already simmering in the pot.


    As Chloe walked in, Lucas immediately turned the stove on.


    Exining himself casually, he said, "Chloe, I remember you used to be pretty good with spicy food. I don’t know what’s up, but tonight I suddenly got a craving for this spicy beef tallow hotpot. We haven’t had it in ages—can you handle it?"


    "If it’s really too much, I can whip up a mild soup base and swap out this pot for our old yin-yang hotpot one."


    "Oh, no need—this is fine as it is."


    At this point, Chloe still didn’t know what Lucas was nning to do.


    Besides, the two of them hadn’t enjoyed hotpot together in ages, and deep down, she felt genuinely happy about it.


    During the meal, Lucas kept serving Chloe nonstop, picking out ingredients for her. When he figured she was almost full, he set his ultimate n into motion.


    He intentionally picked up an oversized beef meatball, standing up as he reached over. Then, pretending to fumble, he let his chopsticks slip, and the meatball fell straight into the pot.


    Of course, Chloe’s clothes got sttered and stained immediately.


    Lucas quickly apologized, pointing out how the hotpot smell was everywhere. He offered to clean up the dishes and urged her to go wash herself.


    Chloe sniffed at her clothes, finding the strong smell undeniable. Without overthinking it, she got up and headed for the bathroom.


    As soon as Lucas saw Chloe leave for the bathroom, he followed right after her without hesitation.