Other people spent money chasing after someone. Seth, on the other hand, was costing him his friends.


    Jude had a reasonable suspicion that if Seth ever decided to get on his knees and beg Noreen for forgiveness, he''d be expected to kneel right alongside him.


    The seafood market was already closed, so Seth found a seafood restaurant and bought the ingredients there. He selected them with a practiced eye, looking like he''d done this countless times before. Jude just couldn''t quite wrap his head around


    it.


    In his mind, Seth was the pampered young master of the Harcourt family, ustomed to having every aspect of his life—from his meals to his clothes—taken care of by servants. He was the golden child every parent dreamed of, brilliant and destined for greatness. People like that were supposed to be above the mundane realities of life, let alone trivial household chores like cooking.


    And that had been Seth''s image before. But as Jude watched him expertly clean and prepare the seafood, even urately predicting the simmering time and the ratio of seasonings, he was stunned. He stood frozen for a long moment before pointing at the fragrant, delicious-looking seafood soup in the pot. "Seth, are you for real? You actually know how to cook?"


    The aroma alone was enough to make his mouth water. Even Jude, who was used to the finest cuisine, felt his appetite stir.


    Seth shot a cool nce at the dumbfounded Jude and replied nonchntly, "What''s the big deal?"


    He knew how to make more than just seafood soup. He could prepare a variety of dishes and broths that were easy on the stomach, all of which he''d learned from a specific restaurant-the one Noreen used to frequent.


    After the terrible incident, he had developed severe insomnia and relied on sleeping pills to get even a few hours of rest. Things had improved somewhat after he got together with Noreen. But he was terrified of bing dependent on her.


    So after every moment of indulgence, he would force himself to pull away, deliberately creating distance between them. Still, there were times he couldn''t help himself, which was how Noreen discovered his reliance on sleeping pills.


    She had gone to a doctor to learn about insomnia. The doctor rmended abination of medication and calming foods. For a while she searched all over Rivercrest City for restaurants that made healthy, soothing soups, and she finally found one.


    To see if it worked, Noreen stayed with Seth continuously during that period. When she saw a noticeable improvement in his sleep, she would happily dere that the calming soup was working wonders, excitedly telling him that the restaurant had many other healthy options for digestion for energy, for soothing coughs... a whole menu of them. The restaurant even introduced new soups regrly, she''d said, so customers wouldn''t get bored.


    What she never knew was that the soup was only a secondary factor. The real cure was her.


    Once, he couldn''t stop himself from asking a question that crossed a line. He asked her why she was so invested in his well-being, why she would scour the entire city for a remedy just because he couldn''t sleep.


    At the time, she was cooking for him. With her head bowed, revealing the soft, pale nape of her neck, she had answered in a low voice, "Because you''re my boss. Isn''t it normal to please the boss? That''s how I''ll get a promotion and a raise."


    The answer had left Seth


    disappointed for a long time. But eventually, heforted himself, thinking it was for the best.


    Whenever he felt himself falling too deep, he would remind himself that she loved someone else. Her


    kindness was just part of her job. He shouldn''t dare to dream of a happiness that wasn''t his to have.


    So he cherished every act of kindness from her, measuring its value and storing it in


    his heart.