Ryan was taken aback by Keith’s outburst. He hadn’t expected Keith’s thoughts to take such an unusual turn. He was about to exin when Keith pushed the door open, got out of the car, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.


    Cursing under his breath, Ryan muttered, “Is he out of his mind?!”


    With that, Ryan took out his phone and dialed Daniel’s number.


    Daniel answered with a smile, “Is it done?”


    Ryan replied grumpily, “It’s messed up.”


    Daniel thought there was something wrong with his ears. “Messed up? How can you mess up something as simple as delivering money?”


    Ryan, who had been a street thug never went to school. He had followed Mason after getting beaten up by him in a fight one day.


    “Yeah, messed up,” Ryan said.


    Daniel cautiously asked, “Bro, may I ask how exactly things got messed up?”


    Ryan’s face darkened. “I gave him the check, and he asked me if Le was having an affair with Mr. Ramirez. Before I could exin, he pushed the door open and got out of the car. I think he’s sick. What kind of father suspects his own daughter’s innocence like that…”


    In the hotel, Shirley stood at Le’s door, knocking frantically.


    Inside the room, Le, holding onto Mason’s shirt cor, remained silent, looking embarrassed.


    “Need another hug?”


    Le suddenly let go of his shirt. “No need.”


    Then, she added awkwardly, “Thank you.”


    Before Mason could respond, she turned around and opened the door.


    Mason was taken aback by Le’s sudden action. Before he could react, his gaze met Shirley and Samuel’s outside the door.


    While Shirley and Samuel seemed uneasy, Mason remained calm. In a low voice, he greeted them, “Morning.”


    Shirley chuckled nervously, “Morning.”


    Samuel felt a little difort in his urinary system. “Mr. Ramirez, morning.”


    Hearing Samuel’s less than confident tone, Shirley pinched his waist behind him, then said to Mason, “Mr. Ramirez, my brother also works at The Ramirez Group. You know him, right?”


    “I do,” Mason replied.


    Shirley continued, “You might not know this, but my brother and Le are actually in a romantic rtionship.”


    Watching Shirley’s enthusiastic performance, Mason chuckled, “Is that so?”


    Shirley: “You forgot? I mentioned it when we had dinner at Le’s house.”


    Mason’s smirk deepened. “My memory isn’t that great, I forgot.”


    Shirley was making it clear today that she wanted Mason to give up on Lepletely. “Mr. Ramirez, you don’t know, they love each other very much..”


    Mason scoffed. “Oh?”


    Samuel chuckled awkwardly. “Mr. Ramirez, don’t take her seriously.”


    Thinking Samuel might be feeling embarrassed, Shirley cleared her throat and said intentionally, “Bro, what are you shy about? Mr. Ramirez is also a young man; he won’t make fun of you.”


    With a smile, Shirley looked at Mason. “Mr. Ramirez, I heard your rtionship with your fiancee is also very good, isn’t it?”


    Mason smiled yfully. “Not as good as your brother’s rtionship with Miss Patel.”


    The awkward conversation continued for a while at the door, until Mason received a call and left.


    As Mason took a few steps out of the door, he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Shirley. “Are you still paying off your debt to Caleb recently??”


    Shirley, who had been smiling triumphantly with her back to Mason, froze at his question.


    Mason was satisfied with her reaction and chuckled, “Keep up the good work.”


    Shirley remained speechless.


    Mason got into the elevator and left.


    Shirley, seething with anger, reached out to pinch Samuel’s neck, angrily asking, “Do you think he’s provoking me?”


    Le was genuinely annoyed now, not with Shirley and Samuel, but with herself. Why couldn’t she control herself from crying in front of him just now?


    Meanwhile, Mason got into the waiting business car.


    Mason casually adjusted his tie, ncing at Ryan, “How did things go?”


    Ryan, facing Mason’s question, pretended not to hear and looked out the window.


    Seeing this, Mason narrowed his eyes. “Ryan.”


    Ryan’s body tensed up, and he quickly turned his head. “Yes?”


    Seeing Ryan turn around, Mason stretched his legs and leaned backzily. “How did things go? Don’t make me ask a third time.”


    Realizing Mason had lost patience, Ryan nervously replied, “It… it messed up.”


    “How did it mess up?”


    Ryan started to exin, repeating what he had just told Daniel. Finally, he said, “Boss, that Keith is just ungrateful. And he even suspected his own daughter of having an affair with you…”


    “Send two men to keep an eye on Keith for me. Don’t let him leave S city, and don’t let him near Le again.”


    Ryan nodded. “Got it.”


    In the hotel room.


    After breakfast, Shirley had several cover shoots to attend to, so she quickly said her goodbyes and left with Samuel.Exclusive ? material by N?(/v)elDrama.Org.


    Left alone in the hotel room, Le sat on the couch lost in thought.


    So many things had happened recently, throwing her life off course. Hunter’s betrayal, Mason’s persistence, her mother falling ill, and now her father sudden appearance… Thinking of Keith, Le hugged her knees tightly. Her feelings for Keith wereplicated. She resented him for leaving them behind, but she also couldn’t forget how loving he was before everything went wrong…


    It was like realizing that the world wasn’t just ck and white, but also gray.


    Lost in her thoughts, her phone suddenly buzzed.


    Le looked down to see a message from Mason: [Return to Neo city to sign the contract. Book your flight this afternoon.]


    Seeing Mason’s name on the screen, Le couldn’t help but furrow . [Mr. Ramirez, can I take two days off after I return?]


    Mason replied, [Is there something wrong?]


    Le answered, [I want to go back to Yort City.]


    Mason simply responded, [Okay.]


    Le sighed in relief and replied, [Thank you.]


    After sending the message, Le leaned back, clutching her phone.


    One wrong step led to another, and now she was entangled with Mason. She had thought about leaving The Ramirez Group, but reality wasn’t a romantic drama. Faced with massive debts and her mother’s serious illness, she had no other choice…


    Flying from S city to Yort city, Le arrived in the afternoon.


    It was a gloomy day in Yort city, much cooler than S city.


    Instead of going home, Le went straight to the hospital.


    When her mom Dasha saw her, she was first surprised, then delighted, and finally tears welled up in her eyes.


    Le set down her suitcase and hugged her. “Don’t cry. Dr. Hans said you can’t get too emotional right now.”


    Dasha tried to act tough. “Who said I’m emotional?”


    “Alright, you’re not emotional, I am.”


    Le hugged Dasha for a while, then went to wash her hands in the bathroom before sitting by the bedside to peel an apple.


    Dasha smiled and whispered to Le, “The caretaker you hired is really diligent, much more so than the one in the room next door who charges three hundred.”


    Le chuckled, “How do you know the one next door isn’t diligent?”


    Dasha replied, “I often hear them arguing.”


    Le asked, amused, “Do caretakers argue with patients?”


    Dasha scoffed, “Especially when the children aren’t around, they argue every now and then…”


    Realizing her mistake, Dasha quickly added, “But the caretaker you hired is different, she never argues with me.”


    Dasha reached out to hold Le’s hand. “I’m not lying to you.”


    “I know,” Le replied, but when she left the room, she discreetly slipped five hundred bucks to the caretaker, Tessa.


    Tessa, holding a bag of oranges she had just bought, refused the money. “Miss Patel, I can’t ept this. You’re already paying me my wages.”


    Le insisted, “I’m often not around, so I really appreciate you taking care of my mom.”


    Tessa firmly returned the money. “You hired me to do this job, so it’s my duty… My child is the same age as you. I understand, it’s not easy for you to earn money.”


    Tessa’s words were heartfelt, and she even patted Le’s hand before leaving.


    “Thank you, Tessa,” Le said.


    “No need to thank me, it’s what I should do.”


    Later that evening, Le had dinner with Dasha in the hospital room, along with Tessa.


    Tessa was exceptionally attentive, knowing exactly what Dasha could and couldn’t eat.


    After dinner, when Tessa went to clean up, Dasha held Le’s hand and said with a smile, “Now you can finally trust me, right? Tessa is really nice.”


    Le replied, “Yeah, I trust her.”


    Although Le said she trusted Tessa, she still had some concerns. She nned to bring Dasha to Neo city once the projectmission came through and Dasha had undergone surgery.


    Upon hearing Le’s response, Dasha’s smile widened. “You’ve had a long day. You should go home and take a rest. Tomorrow morning, make a few dishes for me. I’m tired of takeout every day.”


    Dasha’s tired-of-takeout excuse was false; the truth was she wanted Le to rest at home.


    Le understood her intention and knew that even if they argued, the oue would be the same. So she simply agreed, “Okay, I’lle back tomorrow to keep youpany and give Tessa a day off.”


    Dasha nodded. “Alright.”


    Le took a taxi home from the hospital. As she arrived at her apartmentplex and was about to grab her suitcase from the trunk, her phone rang.


    ncing at the caller ID reminder, she hesitated for a moment before answering, “Mr. Ramirez.”