Chapter 209 Don’t Overthink It


    Finished


    “You’ll stay here,” Carl said, voice clipped and emotionless. He turned to look at the girl behind him, his handsome face cloaked in a cool, moonlit detachment. “The essentials are all provided.”


    Jean instinctively nced around the room-


    Sure enough, nothing was missing..


    Just then, the crisp sound of footsteps echoed. Jean looked up to see Carl already heading toward the door, silent and swift.


    “Wait.”


    Her voice called out before she could stop herself–just two words, directed at the man’s back.


    Carl paused mid–step. Without turning fully, he cast a chilly nce over his shoulder. “What is it?”


    It was a simple question, nothing more than routine. But when spoken in <i>his </i>voice, it carried an unshakable chill.


    Jean blinked, her bright eyes locking onto his.


    A beat of silence stretched between them.


    Then, without warning, sheughed.


    Her eyes curved like a crescent moon, glowing with starlight–warm, clear, almost dazzling.


    “Regardless of everything, thank you,” she said, her brows lifting slightly, voice sincere and soft. “Carl.”


    Carl didn’t respond.


    He simply stared at her, expression t and unreadable.


    But his lips pressed tightly together, betraying a subtle flicker beneath the surface.


    <i>Why</i><i>…</i>?


    Why would she thank him?


    He hadn’t done anything worth gratitude.


    He’d allowed Queenie to carry out her job, hadn’t intervened. Jean had endured the full force of that interrogation.


    <i>And </i><i>she’s </i><i>still </i><i>thanking </i><i>me</i><i>? </i>


    What a strange girl.


    “Why?” The word slipped from Carl’s lips before he could stop it.


    “Huh?” Jean blinked, caught off guard. “While – 259


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    Finished


    Chapter 209 Don’t Overthink It


    His gaze fell fully on her now, quiet and deep, like watching moonlight dissolve into ake.


    “Oh… that.” Jean didn’t stop smiling. Her youthful face softened into something sweet and clear. “Because it felt like… today, you were on my side.”


    “You were still cold. Still distant. But I could tell–you weren’t standing with Queenie. You were standing with me.”


    Carl’s eyes sharpened.


    His gaze, always so dark and unreadable, suddenly rippled–like a stone dropped into calm, deep waters.


    Her words and thoughts hit him like a wave. Loud, vivid, unsettling.


    “Why would you think that?” Though his voice stayed cool, his chest tightened faintly. “I was just doing my job. Don’t overthink it.”


    “I figured you’d say that,” Jean said, shrugging with a helpless little smile.


    Carl frowned. “Figured what?”


    “That you wouldn’t admit it,” she said, her grin bright as ever. “But my gut’s pretty urate—”


    “I can tell when someone’s being kind to me.”


    Carl didn’t reply.


    In that moment, the whole corridor seemed to fall silent. No background noise, no footsteps. Just her voice echoing in his ears.


    Her words. Her eyes.


    Just Jean.


    He closed his eyes briefly, forcing the strange emotions to settle.


    When he opened them again, his expression had returned to its usual icy calm, every angle of his face cloaked in distance.


    “Don’t overestimate yourself.”


    And with that, he turned sharply on his heel and strode out of the room.


    As if the longer he looked at her, the more likely he was to get caught in something he couldn’t escape.


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