8:12 Thu, Sep 18 N
It was really timely help.
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Xylia did not mind that the other party was <b>also </b>someone who had just started a business; as long as the quality was up to standard, she <b>was </b>open to discussion.
However, she noticed something amiss.
She looked at Joshua. “Is he truly your university ssmate?”
In recent days, whenever she encountered difficulties, Joshua always helped her for various reasons.
From a friend’s apartment in Jupiton to now, a university ssmate’s startup factory, it seemed that every step she took had been thoughtfully arranged for her by Joshua.
She disregarded his feelings, yet epted his constant help.
This was not good.
“Of course.” Joshua appeared calm. “I will send you his contact information. You canmunicate with him.”
Xylia spoke softly. “That will not be necessary.”
Joshua paused, raised his eyes to look at Xylia.
Xylia smiled at him and said, “I’ve already contacted a partner factory, so I may not be able to help <b>you </b>with
this
Joshua frowned. “Which factory have you contacted?”
Xylia said, “I will tell you once the contract has been signed.”
<b>Joshua </b><b>asked</b>, “When will you sign the contract?”
Xylia frowned slightly. Observing Joshua’s persistent questioning, she could no longer maintain the lie.
She selected Derek Warren from the three executives she had previously arranged to meet. She then showed Joshua the chat records of their coboration. “This Mr. Warren is someone I met at the charity g. He has already agreed to coborate with me”
All three executives had agreed to cooperate.
It was only because of theirck of sincerity that Xylia refused.
To reassure Joshua, she decided to just cooperate with any executive.
It was not necessary to establish a long–term cooperation agreement; periodic cooperation was also eptable.
8:12 Thu, Sep 18 H
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Joshua nced at Xylia’s phone and then began to speak fluently and at length, “Derek Warren is arge–scale contract manufacturing factory for several well–known domestic garment brands. As <b>your </b>studio has only recently been established, the volume of orders you have received is insufficient to support long–term cooperation with him.”
He looked at Xylia, subtly adopting Mr. <b>Garcia’s </b>authoritative demeanor, and proceeded to analyze for Xylia from a professional standpoint. “You met at a charity g. The reason he chose to work with you is because of the Sadler family’s background.
“He may simply regard you as a wealthy youngdy who likes to have fun, and he might not take the orders. you submit very seriously,
“Are you sure you want to coborate with him?”
Xylia had also considered the concerns raised by Joshua.
However, at present, she was merely using <b>this </b>matter as an excuse to evade Joshua’s help, and she felt somewhat guilty about it.
“Therefore, I did not enter into a long–term cooperation agreement with him. We are only coborating on this batch of orders for now.” Even her <b>voice </b>sounded somewhat faint.
Joshua nodded and continued, “Since there is no long–term cooperation, then you should consider my university ssmate.”
He looked unwaveringly at Xylia, without ncing aside, taking in every nuance of her facial expression.
Xylia had always believed that, although Joshua was the heir of the Garcia family, he was essentially yful by
nature.
She never expected that, once he got serious, he would be so overwhelming that she could not handle him.
She opened her mouth, intending to find an excuse to continue refusing, but Joshua spoke first, “So you think I’m helping you on purpose, and that’s why you’re trying every possible way to refuse me?”
“It’s not that…” Xylia’s voice was faint.
“I see. With that, Joshua ced both hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and looked at Xylia.
The light reflected in those charming eyes carried a hint of fierceness. Its sharpness seemed as if it could see straight through Xylia. “If you are not refusing my help, then you must be rejecting my feelings.”
Xylia no longer denied it
Instead, she remained silent.
Soft, melodious music filled the cafe, while sunlight streamed through the ss windows, bathing the interior
in warmth.
Yet the air lingering between them was as frigid and piercing as cold molecules at high altitude.
8:12 <b>Thu</b><b>, </b>Sep 18 <b>N </b>
After a prolonged silence, it was Joshua who spoke first. “Why?”
His voice carried a trace of hoarseness that was almost imperceptible.
Xylia finally looked up at him.
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His face was devoid of its customary smile, instead remaining expressionless; beneath his silver hair, hist strikingly ck eyes seemed to carry a trace of hurt.
Xylia felt a pang in her heart, yet she still said what she wanted to say. “I am unable to immediately enter <b>into </b>a new rtionship, and you deserve better. L…
Before she e could finish speaking, Joshua suddenly let out a <b>cold </bugh. “What is better?”
Xylia felt as though her throat was stuck. She collected herself and continued, saying, “I was once married, and I have been hurt. Although I appear to be working hard to run my studio now, in reality, I am already broken. My spirit is broken, and even my limbs are crippled. I cannot give you the healthy rtionship you.
desire.”
Her eight years of married life were abnormal.
Connor exploited her for the sake of another woman, and Sonny despised her because of the same woman.
Nevertheless, she continued to care for these two people with the purest and most self–righteous love.
To be honest, although she had escaped that embarrassing past, deep down she could no longer trust in love, nor could she treat a partner with the same passionate heart.
If she truly let Joshua in, it would be unfair to him.
Joshua knew what Xylia was concerned about.
However, he really did not want <b>to </b>listen.
He did not directly respond to Xylia’s self–deprecating remark, instead extending his well–defined fingers. “Then let’s not talk about feelings. Let’s talk about something else.”
Xylia did not know what Joshua intended to say, but she followed his lead and asked, “What do
<b>you </b>
mean?”
Joshua said, “Let’s talk about favors <b>and </b>social debts.”
Xylia watched as Joshua’s fingers bent down. “Back then, when I was <b>in </b>a foreignnd, you saved my life. I owe you a <b>debt </b>of gratitude for saving me, right?”
Xylia frowned, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Joshua smiled and continued. “After you left the Ford family, I arranged an apartment for you. At the auction,
I helped you win your grandmother’s painting. When you were kidnapped, I rescued you twice. When your were bullied by the Ford family, I rescued you twice…”
Joshua was bending down more and more fingers.
8:12 Thu, <b>Sep </b>18 H
Xylia’s brows knitted and arched higher and higher.
She wondered if he was trying to use favors <b>as </b><b>a </b>means of coercion.
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Only after all ten fingers had curled did Joshua lift his gaze to <b>Xylia</b><b>. </b>“All the assistance I have provided to you is entirely predicated on the fact that you once saved my life; therefore, it does not constitute <b>a </b>personal
favor.”
Xylia waspletely perplexed, wondering, ‘So what’s the point of all that calcting?‘
Joshua smiled, and that trace of warmth reappeared in his eyes. “So, Xylia, it was you who provoked me, not me deliberately pestering you.
“What <b>I </b>appreciate is you as a person, not the series of so–calledbels such as having been married, having been hurt, being physically or mentally unhealthy, and so on
“If you had not married Connor back then, the person you would have married would have been me.”
Xylia wondered if it was merely her imagination. She seemed to see a strong sense of possessiveness sh across Joshua’s eyes.
Her mind was already muddled by Joshua’s candid confession.
She did not know how to respond to Joshua; she only knew that, from today onward, her rtionship with Joshua could no longer remain as it once <b>was</b>.
<b>AD </b>
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