Chapter 1

After staying undercover for six months, Sylvia Reid finally succeeded!

She lay bare on the hotel bed after a night of passion with her boss. Her body ached so intensely it felt as if it had been dismantled and put back together.

Yet, she clenched her teeth and stayed perfectly still for 30 minutes. She was following the doctor's advice to raise her chances of getting pregnant.

Right then, the man was deep asleep, his desire satisfied. His steady breaths carried a hint of alcohol, and his long hand held her slender waist in a firm grip, as though he might wake the instant she stirred.

However, Sylvia knew there was no way he'd wake up now. Her beloved boss was supposed to drink wine, but she had changed it to hard liquor instead. Otherwise, how else was she supposed to make him impregnate her?

Grabbing her phone, Sylvia confirmed that it was her ovulation day before slipping out of his arms. Then, she gathered her scattered clothes and fled the scene.

Once she entered the elevator, she immediately made a call. Setting aside her sense of shame, Sylvia urgently said, "I've had sex with him. Can you transfer the deposit to me now?"

She needed money for her younger brother's surgery and had no choice but to offer herself to the only son of the Kaplan family, who was averse to marriage. She had promised to bear his child in exchange for ten million dollars.

"Of course! But according to the contract, you must make sure you are pregnant with my son's child. I'll run a DNA test, so don't try anything funny. You know exactly how steep the penalty fee is, right?"

Without hesitation, Sylvia answered, "I'm sure of it."

The man's surname was Kaplan, and he was the CEO of Kaplan Group. He was young and also had great stamina, but most importantly, the Kaplan family in Portsham only had one son.

If the man she had sex with wasn't him, it couldn't be his father, right? Sylvia thought she'd be a fool if she couldn't differentiate between son and father.

"That's good."

After the call ended, the Kaplan family directly transferred the money to her bank account.

Sylvia was about to heave a sigh of relief when she suddenly felt her dress slide down.

One of the thin straps had snapped!

Clearly, the man had yanked her dress off too hard, leaving only the tiniest thread holding it together.

Fortunately, Sylvia reacted swiftly enough, clutching the garment before her chest tightly.

Unfortunately, the crisscross straps at her back had loosened as well, exposing her skin and gorgeous shoulders for all to see.

To make things worse, the elevator stopped at the fifth floor when it was supposed to go straight to the first floor.

The doors slid open, and a man stepped in.

Instantly, a thought flashed through Sylvia's mind—what goes around comes around.

"Do you need any help?" the young man's voice rang above Sylvia's head.

Sensing her embarrassment, he remained where he was, lingering at the elevator entrance with gentlemanly restraint.

"I…"

"You can borrow this." His voice was clear, and Sylvia could tell he had no intention of offending or flirting with her.

Then, at the next second, an oversized black suit jacket was draped over her shoulders.

Sylvia bit her bottom lip hard. "Thank you."

"I have a private lounge on the fifth floor. You can head there to straighten your clothes."

Sylvia had no other choice. She could only give a grateful nod. "Okay!" After fastening her dress and putting it on, she walked out and finally got a clear look at her savior.

He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up slightly, revealing his slender wrists. With a prominent brow bone and a gentle smile, he gave off an approachable air despite looking like a refined gentleman.

"I saw the elevator coming down from the 19th floor. That's my Uncle Arnaud's private floor, so you must be his secretary, right?"

Upon hearing that, Sylvia instinctively nodded. "Yes, I'm Mr. Kaplan's secretary."

"It isn't easy to be Uncle Arnaud's secretary. He's just too standoffish."

"Yes, Mr. Kaplan is indeed…"

Wait, Uncle Arnaud?

Sylvia suddenly snapped to her senses, her amber eyes turning wide. "Wait, isn't Mr. Kaplan the only son of the Kaplan family? When did he have a nephew?"

The young man flashed a helpless smile. "If I'm not mistaken, the Kaplan family's only son you're referring to is me.

"I'm Tyler Kaplan. Your CEO, Arnaud Kaplan, is my younger uncle. He's only three years older than me."

Sylvia had no idea how she'd even walked out of the hotel.

Just then, she heard her phone ring. It was a call from her best friend, Margot Cellier.

"Sylv, congrats! You did it! Do you need my help?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Help me buy a box of morning-after pills."

Reality left no time for Sylvia. After she ended the call with Margot, her younger brother's doctor came urging her.

"Gregory's transplant can't be delayed any further. Conservative treatment no longer works. Has the bone marrow donor agreed to donate yet?"

"Yes, I'll contact him now!"

If it were just a transplant surgery, Sylvia wouldn't have needed to sacrifice herself. However, after the bone marrow typing, she discovered she wasn't Gregory's match, but her cousin, Oliver Smith, was!

Naturally, her aunt, Willa Ulrich, was unwilling for her son to donate. However, not wanting to look cruel and heartless, she demanded eight million dollars in return.

She claimed the donor surgery would definitely impact her son's health, so the money was a form of security. Even if her son couldn't work in the future, he would still lead a worry-free life.

Willa was sure Sylvia couldn't even fork out one million dollars, so when five million dollars showed up in her bank account, she was dumbfounded.

"D-Did you get the money from illegal sources?"

"Don't worry about that. You won't be dragged into it anyway.

"Tell Oliver to head to the hospital now and cooperate with the doctor at the hospital for the donation. I'll transfer the remaining three million dollars to you after the surgery!"

After a brief hesitation, Willa replied, "Sure, but let me make it clear—once I get the money and my son donates his bone marrow, I won't return the money to you no matter what!"

"Of course."

With that, the call ended.

Lowering her gaze, Sylvia stared at the contract she'd signed with the Kaplan family, then at her empty bank account.

She only had two options now.

One was to pay the astronomical penalty fee.

Without the money, the Kaplan family could sue her for fraud and send her to prison. That would leave the severely ill Gregory unattended in the hospital.

The other choice was to continue to fulfil her promise to the Kaplan family by changing her target and making Tyler Kaplan impregnate her. Plus, she would have to do it under Arnaud's watchful eyes.

Fortunately, Arnaud was an indifferent man. After six months as his secretary, no matter how hard Sylvia had tried to seduce him, he'd remained a gentleman and never overstepped any boundaries.

If it weren't for the urgent circumstances forcing her to take drastic actions, this incident wouldn't have happened at all!

It was clear Arnaud didn't have any feelings for her. Thus, she figured he wouldn't mind if she used the same tactics on his nephew again, right?

……

Not long after Sylvia left, Arnaud woke up.

The hangover gave him a headache, causing him to furrow his brows. Then, he opened his eyes and saw a complete mess around him.

Just then, fragments of memories began to piece together in his mind.

The woman had pressed her hands against his chest, her eyes red as she softly pleaded, "I can't anymore…"

Her firm grip around his waist had made him lose confidence as she'd insisted, "Don't go. I want you!"

The more Arnaud thought about it, the darker his expression got.

In the end, with a scowl, he grabbed his bathrobe and put it on.

However, just as he was about to get out of bed, a streak of red on the pristine white bedsheet caught his eye.

Right then, someone knocked on the door of the hotel room.

Arnaud looked away, got up, and walked to the door. His towering figure stood in the doorway, blocking the mess in the room.

"Uncle Arnaud, I knew you'd be awake at this time."

"Mm." Arnaud exuded a natural aloofness. The contrast was striking when he stood across from Tyler.

"What is it?"

"Oh, right!" Tyler didn't finish his sentence and stopped short as a shy, boyish glint appeared in his eyes. "I'm planning on working in Kaplan Group after coming back to the country, so I'm thinking of getting someone from you."

Arnaud showed no flicker of emotion, his Adam's apple bobbing as he asked, "Who is it?"

"Your secretary, Sylvia Reid."

Chapter 2

In the hospital, Gregory was already at death's door. Because of his immune system, his high fever wouldn't subside, and his periods of unconsciousness grew increasingly long.

"Sylvia…"

Despite his condition, when he spotted Sylvia, he still forced himself to smile at her. He simply didn't want her to worry about him.

"Hang on a bit. We'll be able to proceed with the transplant surgery soon.

"Gregory, I believe you can do this!" Not wanting to cry in front of Gregory, Sylvia turned around to wipe the corners of her eyes the moment her eyes turned red.

"D-Don't beg for Aunt Willa's help. She asked for eight million dollars because she never intended to donate. Don't resort to doing anything foolish… just for the money."

Back when Willa had made that demand, she hadn't bothered keeping it from Gregory. In fact, she'd declared it right in the ward so both Sylvia and Gregory would give up.

"I know what I'm doing. Just remember one thing—you're all that I have, so you must make it through, okay?"

Sylvia wanted to provide more words of encouragement to Gregory, but he quickly lost consciousness yet again.

As she left the hospital in a daze, she went back to her shabby rental to take a shower and change. Then, she took the subway to Kaplan Group.

Such was the hardship of adulthood. No matter how crushing the weight on your shoulders was, reality would still push you forward.

"Ms. Reid, regarding the deal with Jacker Group as the financing party, the project department has conducted several rounds of modeling and analysis. This is the final proposed investment structure and recommended investment amount.

"Please pass it to Mr. Kaplan for his review. If there are no issues, we can proceed with the signing."

"Got it."

After receiving the file, Sylvia rose from her desk and took her superior's schedule for the day. Then, she headed to the CEO's office and knocked on the door. "Mr. Kaplan, it's me."

She wanted to force herself not to dwell on the previous night's incident. Pretending as though nothing had happened, she acted as though everything was normal and went to work as usual.

Inside the office, Arnaud merely said, "Come in."

At that moment, Sylvia's mind automatically replayed his muffled grunts. They'd been low and husky, brushing against her ear like a feather, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake.

Awkwardly, Sylvia cleared her throat a few times. Then, she pushed the door open and went in, not even daring to lift her head. "These files are for you to review and sign. I've also organized the materials for the shareholder meeting at 3:00 pm later."

After quickly blurting everything out, Sylvia made to leave.

But Arnaud suddenly said, "Where's breakfast?"

Sylvia froze. "I-I didn't buy any today."

For the past six months working as his secretary, Sylvia had been nothing but considerate and attentive.

She'd buy him different types of breakfast every morning so he wouldn't work on an empty stomach and risk triggering any gastric problems. She also knew he preferred hand-brewed coffee, so she'd taken lessons to learn it herself. She was always diligent and cautious at work too.

That day was the first time in six months she didn't buy breakfast for him.

Noticing the brewing anger in Arnaud's gaze, Sylvia quickly offered, "I'll go buy it now."

"No need."

After that cold statement, Arnaud got up and left the office.

Sylvia pressed her lips together and exhaled. Then, she headed to the usual store where she had always bought breakfast, and bought two portions of it.

Now that she had changed her target and time was running out, she needed to move quickly and find a chance to make Tyler impregnate her.

…

When Sylvia returned to the company, she didn't deliver the breakfast to the CEO's office. Instead, she headed straight to the project department.

After asking around, she found out that Tyler hadn't been directly appointed as the deputy CEO after his return. Instead, he'd wanted to start from the bottom, working on projects for a few years first to gain experience.

"Ms. Reid, why are you here?"

As fate itself would have it, she spotted Tyler immediately after stepping out of the elevator.

Flashing a smile, Sylvia quickly approached him. "I'm here because of you."

"Me?" Tyler raised a brow, warmth flooding his gaze. "What is it about?"

"Oh, I bought some breakfast just for you to thank you for your help. I hope you'll like it."

Tyler glanced at the breakfast and smiled. "I love meat pies from Minden Street. Of course I'll enjoy them. Thank you!"

Sylvia was about to grab the opportunity to get closer to Tyler, but then, she caught sight of someone in her peripheral vision.

Arnaud was standing behind Tyler, and she had no idea when he had gotten there.

But he wasn't looking at Tyler. Instead, he was staring at the meat pie in Tyler's hand and the other one in Sylvia's.

"Mr. Kaplan, this is yours!"

Assuming he wanted to eat it, Sylvia offered it to him, but Arnaud merely ignored her outstretched hand and walked away.

Sylvia then quickly bade goodbye to Tyler and ran after Arnaud before finally catching him in the elevator. "Mr. Kaplan, the meat pie will get cold soon. Why don't you finish it first?"

But Arnaud said nothing. His expression was taut, and his eyes were clouded with gloom.

Despite having changed her target, Sylvia knew she had to remain at Kaplan Group to get close to Tyler, and that meant she couldn't afford to offend Arnaud. So, she simply kept quiet and followed behind him.

Back at the CEO's office, they were left alone again after the door closed.

At that moment, Sylvia felt as though her entire body was encased in cement. She felt so stiff that even her joints couldn't move.

Finally, Arnaud broke the silence. His voice was dark and menacing as he said, "Explain what happened last night."

Sylvia dug her nails into her palms and replied, "Mr. Kaplan, that was an accident. We both had too much to drink. But don't you worry, I promise this won't get out."

Arnaud merely narrowed his eyes and stared at her face.

After going through the memories from that night, he quickly came up with a conclusion.

"You want to have my child."

"No!" Sylvia blurted out almost instantly. To prove her point, she quickly added, "It's true we didn't use protection, but I'd immediately bought contraception pills after leaving the hotel.

"Look, this is the box. Of course, if you're still not convinced, I can take another dose in front of you." She dug out the box of pills Margot had bought for her, and it was indeed empty.

"Mr. Kaplan, please don't fire me because of this. I really love working here at Kaplan Group!" Sylvia pressed her lips together and lowered her head. "If you're upset, then transfer me instead. I can be an assistant at the project department!" Preferably, the very one Tyler was overseeing.

Upon seeing her act, Arnaud was a little confused. Could his guess have been wrong?

They did have sex, and it had indeed been Sylvia's first time. Not to mention, despite his indifferent attitude, he was still a responsible man.

Soon, the confusion in Arnaud's eyes faded away. A brief silence later, he said, "I'll take responsibility for you. Do you want money or a title?"

Sylvia paused, then shook her head. "I don't want anything!" If possible, she wanted to ask if he would transfer her to be Tyler's assistant instead.

Of course, she dared not say that out loud.

That would sound too obvious, and Arnaud was smart—what if he saw right through her?

By then, if both uncle and nephew compared notes, she, as an outsider, wouldn't even know what would've caused her downfall.

At the moment, Sylvia only wanted to fulfil the contract requirements and get herself pregnant with Tyler's child. After then sacrificing ten months in exchange for Gregory's life, she'd disappear from Portsham and cut ties with the Kaplan family forever.

Upon seeing how quickly Sylvia had rejected his offer, Arnaud assumed she hadn't understood what he'd meant.

"I mean, a title is also possible," he repeated.

Although he didn't hold much affection toward Sylvia, he also felt no different toward any other woman either. Not to mention, now that they had slept together, the bond was there.

And besides… Arnaud had to admit that he'd enjoyed the experience.

Hence, there was no harm in trying to date Sylvia.

"I understand, Mr. Kaplan. You don't have to force yourself to take responsibility for me. Let's just pretend nothing happened last night. I was perfectly willing, so it had nothing to do with you!"

Arnaud was speechless.

"If there's nothing else, I'll get back to work for now," Sylvia added.

Chapter 3

After Sylvia left, Arnaud's deep frown remained.

A while later, someone knocked on the door to his office again. This time, it wasn't Sylvia, but Arnaud's childhood best friend, Cody Mills.

Before he even stepped into the office, his loud voice boomed as he said, "Damn it, I don't know what's gotten into the old man at home. He keeps insisting that I go on blind dates!

"Arnaud, don't you think they're nuts? They keep harping on about keeping our family's bloodline going. My dad doesn't have the energy to fool around, but I do! Since I'm still young, I plan to party away my youth! There's no way I'm settling down."

He flopped onto the couch, looking displeased at being forced into marriage.

But Arnaud didn't even bother responding, causing him to unhappily pout.

Soon, Cody got up and approached Arnaud. "Ah, I envy you. Because of your status, only your nephew gets scolded for refusing to carry on the family line, not you."

"Why are you here?" Arnaud remained indifferent, his handsome face devoid of emotion.

Cody tutted and rolled his eyes. "Hey, can you stop burying yourself in work? You've been a bachelor for so long. Honestly, don't you feel pent up? Or… do you prefer to satisfy yourself privately?

"If you have any questions regarding romance, let me know. I can answer your questions!"

When he saw Arnaud picking up another folder, Cody gave up and waved at him. "Ugh, you're no fun. I'm leaving." He headed for the door.

But suddenly, Arnaud stopped him. "A friend of mine has some questions."

"Oh?" Upon hearing that, Cody perked up and spun around, returning to his desk. "Tell me more about it!"

Arnaud considered his words, his prominent Adam's apple bobbing as he said, "He had sex with a girl accidentally.

"Before they had sex, the girl was pretty proactive and eager. But after it was over, when the guy offered to take responsibility, the girl turned him down."

Without even thinking much, Cody clapped his hands and concluded, "The guy must've sucked in bed! He must've been so horrible that the girl's attitude did a one-eighty after they had sex!"

Arnaud furrowed his brows but said nothing.

"Oh? Arnaud, don't tell me you're that guy?"

"Get out."

"Pft, you can't even take a joke. I knew it wasn't you. You've been celibate for so long, I can't help but wonder if you're still a virgin."

This time, Arnaud didn't even bother to speak and directly pointed at the door.

Cody knew he had gone too far with this joke, especially considering how old-fashioned Arnaud was. So, he hunched his shoulders and quickly fled the scene.

Once the door was shut, the office went silent once again.

Yet, Arnaud could no longer focus on the document in his hands. Instead, he kept recalling the previous night's incident.

Indeed, Sylvia did complain of pain a few times. In fact, she had even sounded like she was crying.

But it was his first time getting a taste of it, so of course, he didn't stop.

Could Sylvia's drastic change have been due to this?

The more Arnaud thought about it, the darker his expression got.

He couldn't directly explain to Sylvia that it had also been his first time and that he lacked experience in that sort of thing. Plus, due to the influence of alcohol, he'd failed to consider her feelings.

But there was no way for him to explain this nor prove himself.

He couldn't exactly ask her out tonight and prove himself again, could he?

Irritated, Arnaud stood up.

It was the first time in his life that he was facing a situation he couldn't overcome.

……

Meanwhile, Sylvia wasn't even thinking about how Arnaud was feeling. Under the pressure of the contract she'd signed with the Kaplan family, all she could think about was getting close to Tyler and finding a chance to take action.

Back in her office, she first gave Gregory's attending doctor a call.

"The donor has already signed, and we've begun the pre-donation preparations," the doctor told her. However, he responsibly added, "Under the law, the donor isn't forced to donate, so even if they agree, they can back out anytime."

"Don't worry. I don't think they'll back out." After all, her uncle, Jeremy Smith, couldn't earn that much money even if he worked hard for a lifetime.

After discussing Gregory's condition with the doctor for a bit, Sylvia ended the call. Then, she decided to complete her work before turning her attention to Tyler.

Perhaps Lady Luck was on her side, because Sylvia found a proposal from Tyler among the newly submitted project materials.

She immediately perked up and opened the folder. After throwing herself into it, she finally managed to find a few problematic sections and immediately ran toward the project department.

"Hello, is Mr. Tyler around?"

After she knocked on the door, a young man who looked like an assistant pointed at an office. "Yes, he is. I'll go inform him now."

"Okay, thank you!"

Sylvia stood at the entrance of the project department for around one minute before she was ushered in.

At that moment, it seemed like Tyler was discussing the project with someone else. As he talked on the phone, he gestured for Sylvia to sit down and wait for him.

Sylvia gave an "okay" gesture and sat down, then instinctively glanced around Tyler's office.

Clearly, this was the territory of a young person. There was a vivid oil painting hanging on the wall, and also a limited edition Chanel surfboard with someone's autograph on it on display. A few decorative items also sat on the table, clearly of considerable value.

Tyler's office stood in stark contrast to Arnaud's standard black and white office which was devoid of warmth and liveliness.

Technically, they were only three years apart, so why were their personalities so different?

"Sorry, the legal department was explaining a contract to me." Instead of remaining in his seat behind the desk like a boss, Tyler got up and approached Sylvia. With a gentle voice, he said, "Ms. Reid, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes!" Sylvia quickly presented the project materials he'd submitted to the CEO's office and pointed at them. "Mr. Kaplan, you just returned from abroad, so I believe that's why there are some discrepancies in your calculations for the domestic project's return of investment."

Upon hearing that Sylvia was here about work, Tyler stopped smiling and grew serious.

Sylvia had finally found a chance to showcase her skills, so she carefully explained the current state of the investment industry. She also pointed out that risk factors had to be deducted from the ROI to get a more accurate range.

"Also, when conducting due diligence on a company, you must verify whether or not the patents are registered under the legal owner's name. Our domestic requirements for patents differ from those abroad."

After hearing her explanation, Tyler repeatedly nodded. "Ms. Reid, you're right to point that out. I didn't take that into consideration."

Sylvia then took the chance to pull out her phone. "Mr. Kaplan, if you don't mind, should we exchange numbers? You can come to me if you have any questions in the future."

She knew that this was abrupt, but time was pressing. However, to avoid revealing her overly obvious intentions, she quickly pretended to be caught off guard and awkwardly retracted her phone. "Oh, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking much.

"You helped me previously, so I just wanted to repay the favor by helping whenever I can too. I didn't think much about it…"

But at the next moment, Tyler's lips curved as he handed his phone to her. "That won't be a problem. Just exchanging numbers isn't enough, so let's add each other on Facebook too."

Chapter 4

Sylvia hadn't expected things to go smoothly. Hence, something was still bugging her after she returned to her office.

Tyler was a gentleman, so why was he single by choice? He was so determined to stay a bachelor that his family had to figure out a way to preserve the family bloodline.

Someone as cold and indifferent as Arnaud should be the one to be single by choice, not Tyler.

Sylvia pressed her lips together and lowered her head.

She wanted to focus on dealing with the remaining work first. Heading to the project department personally had taken up a lot of her time. If she couldn't catch up with the progress, Arnaud would get upset again.

Suddenly, the internal phone rang.

"Come into my office."

"Sure, Mr. Kaplan!"

Sylvia returned the last document to the folder and heaved a sigh of relief before hurrying out of her office.

"The materials submitted by Project Team 3 have been rejected because the land transfer contract cannot be confirmed as valid. I have requested that the financing party obtain a new land ownership certificate promptly."

Upon seeing Arnaud frown, Sylvia immediately explained why there was a part missing from the new project contract.

After working for him for six months, she had come to understand Arnaud at least to some extent.

After hearing her explanation, Arnaud said nothing—but that was the best response.

Assuming there were no more problems with the remaining work, Sylvia let her thoughts drift while standing in place, planning her next move.

Suddenly, a deep voice pulled her back to reality.

"Coffee."

"Oh, okay! I'll go brew some now."

Sylvia's ability to cater to Arnaud's preferences had reached perfection. He would previously still drink other types of coffee, but now, he only drank the coffee she brewed.

As leaving the office, Sylvia headed straight to the office bar. The company had designated this bar to be open 24/7 on working days, providing all sorts of beverages like soda, canned coffee, and other energizing drinks. Even the cleaners could come here and enjoy the free beverages.

Upon seeing Sylvia, the person in charge of the bar promptly opened the door and smiled. "Mr. Kaplan really does drink a cup of coffee every day, huh?"

"Yes, it isn't easy being the CEO."

With that, Sylvia headed straight to the manual coffee maker specially prepared for Arnaud.

As she was focused on brewing the coffee, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside, "Which type of coffee tastes better?"

It was Tyler!

Without hesitation, Sylvia walked out and greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Kaplan. I'm brewing some coffee. Do you want some?"

"Oh? What a coincidence, Ms. Reid," Tyler said as he walked over to her.

It was time for her to shine, so Sylvia gave extra effort in brewing the coffee.

After taking a sip, Tyler repeatedly nodded. "It tastes great. Thank you, Ms. Reid!"

"It's just a cup of coffee, it's nothing special. If you like it, just text me whenever you feel like having some in the future."

Tyler smiled. "Okay, I won't stand on formalities then."

"No need! I'd be happy to."

Because of the encounter with Tyler, Sylvia got back to the CEO's office a bit later than usual. Fortunately, Arnaud was focused on his work and didn't pay any attention to her.

After he finished reviewing the documents, her work should be done for the day.

At that thought, Sylvia inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

Soon, Arnaud closed the folder, and Sylvia stretched her hand to take it from him. She was ready to head back to her desk and end her work day when he suddenly asked, "Do you have plans after work?"

"No. Do you need me to work overtime?" She wouldn't say no to working overtime, especially since Kaplan Group would reward her generously for it.

After all, she'd have to earn money no matter where she was. Even after she completed her mission and left Portsham with Gregory, she would still need money to survive.

"No." A rarely seen awkward look appeared on Arnaud's handsome face. Then, as he pursed his lips, he coldly said, "You mentioned there was a newly opened Irushian restaurant in Portsham that you'd like to go to."

Upon hearing that, Sylvia suddenly recalled the restaurant he was talking about. Back then, she'd still been trying to get closer to Arnaud in private. So, knowing he liked Irushian food, she'd offered to treat him to dinner.

However, he'd coldly rejected her offer then.

But now…

"Mr. Kaplan, I've been there. The food doesn't taste nice."

Arnaud said nothing.

"If you're meeting an important client, do you need me to recommend other restaurants?"

Arnaud frowned. "No need."

"Okay. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

Sylvia first took a few steps backward before turning to swiftly leave. She didn't even bother making up stupid excuses to stay in his office for a bit longer like she used to!

As Arnaud rubbed his temples, his phone screen lit up.

It was a text from Cody.

"About your friend, I suddenly thought of another possibility. Perhaps the girl changed her tactics and wanted to play hard to get!"

Playing hard to get?

Arnaud's gaze swept over the direction Sylvia had just left in.

He couldn't just eliminate either of the two possibilities.

…

After clocking off, Sylvia went directly to the hospital to visit Gregory.

As it was past visitation hours, she had to stay outside the room and observe him through the glass panel.

Margot worked in this hospital, and since she knew Sylvia was here, she specifically asked for some time off to come and console Sylvia.

"Sylv, most people can't even earn ten million dollars in their lifetime. Isn't it perfectly normal to face setbacks or accidents along the way? Besides, we're considered lucky to have gotten the deposit in time. It didn't hold up the preparations for the donation!"

"Mm." Sylvia nodded. She could only focus on the positives or get crushed by reality.

As she looked at the frail Gregory inside the ward, she felt heartbroken. No one could understand how she felt at the moment.

Back when she got into college, she'd also gotten the chance to study overseas. Her parents told her not to worry about the money, so she didn't think much of it and went overseas to study finance.

But little did she know that the money was from Gregory, who'd dropped out of school to work to afford her fees.

Gregory had done well academically. The school even had high hopes for him to get into top colleges in the country. After he dropped out, the school had even sent representatives to their house to persuade him to change his mind—but to no avail.

Sylvia could never repay this debt of gratitude in this lifetime!

Upon seeing her expression, Margot knew that Sylvia was likely being plagued by past events yet again. Sighing, she offered her a piece of napkin. "Wipe your tears. No matter how tough the journey is, we still have to go on, right?"

Sylvia didn't even realize she was crying. She quickly wiped her face and smiled. "I won't lose hope. I'm really grateful for the ten million dollars!

"Don't worry, Margot. I'm fine. You don't have to console me."

"I'm glad you're taking it well. Is there anything you need my help with?"

Sylvia was going to say no, but something suddenly occurred to her. She asked, "Could you get a few more doses of the specially prepared stomach medicine for Arnaud?

"Even though he's no longer my target, I can't risk offending him. I still need to continue working at Kaplan Group to get closer to Tyler Kaplan."

Margot nodded. "But my dad is currently at my aunt's, and he'll only be back next week. I don't know the formulation of that medicine."

"There's no rush. You can give them to me next week. I still have one dose left."