For this, Noreen offered Seth a sincere thank you. He gave a curt nod in response. After that, the spell was broken. They had no further interaction, not even a shared nce. Noreen turned back to CEO Royce to ask a few more questions.


    Just then, Seth''s phone rang. The ringtone was a generic, default sound.


    Noreen paused her sentence for a fraction of a second, then continued talking to Royce.


    Seth answered his phone. Bianca''s voice came through the line. "Seth, are you done yet?"


    "Not yet. It might bete. Don''t wait for me for dinner."


    Hearing this, CEO Royce let out a soft chuckle. He didn''t say anything, but everyone understood. He was teasing them about how close they were. Gillian breathed a sigh of relief. She had been overthinking things. The only person Mr. Harcourt cared about was Ms. Lowell.


    By the time the tour was over, it was evening. CEO Royce had booked a restaurant to treat them all to dinner. Gillian had expected Mr. Harcourt to decline and rush back to Rivercrest City to be with Ms. Lowell, but to her surprise, he epted the invitation.


    Royce, being a practical man, knew they had a long drive back and didn''t order any alcohol. After dinner, Noreen said her goodbyes and left. Seth departed a little while after her.


    "Today''s Mr. Harcourt was almost human," Sophia mused on the way back, upgrading his nickname from "Jerk Seth" to his proper title.


    "Worry about yourself," Noreen said, tapping her on the head.


    "I know, I know."


    Noreen spent the entire drive taking notes, meticulously recording everything Seth had exined. At a rest stop, Sophia and Colby switched ces to avoid driver fatigue. As they fe entered the city Colby told Sophia to drive to her ce first; he would take Noreen home from there to save her the trouble of getting a taxi.


    They were nearing Sophia''s apartment when the car suddenly lurched violently, then surged forward, out of control. Colby, in the passenger seat, reacted instantly, grabbing the steering wheel and fighting to regain control. A secondter, there was a deafening crash from behind, and their car


    shuddered to a halt.


    Snapping out of her shock, Noreen whipped around. Behind them, two cars-one ck, one white-were smashed together. Colby unbuckled his seatbelt. "Get out of the car."


    Once they were outside, they saw what had happened. A white sedan had rear- ended them. The other car... was Seth''s.


    The realization had barely registered when Seth stumbled out of the driver''s side. His usually steady posture was shaky as he raised a hand to wipe blood from his forehead.


    "Call an ambnce!" Noreen yelled at Sophia, who was frozen in shock. Noreen herself was already running toward Seth. Colby was right behind her pulling a dazed Gillian from the Ja da passenger seat. Both of them were injured, but Seth''s wound looked worse, with blood steadify flowing from a gash on his forehead.


    Noreen ran back to her car, ripped the silk scarf from her handbag, folded it into a thick pad, and pressed it firmly against Seth''s wound. He winced in pain.


    Gillian, still in shock, finally found her voice. "Mr. Harcourt, are... are you okay?"


    Just moments before, Mr. Harcourt had seemed to lose control, suddenly mming on the elerator and ramming the white sedan that had been about to hit them again. It wasn''t a crash; it was an interception.


    Noreen had seen it too, which was why she had rushed to his side. He had just saved their lives.