Chapter 83

Marguerite found his comment a little strange. She tilted her chin up, her beautiful eyes meeting his.

The man was impossibly handsome, sitting there in a white sweatshirt with the sleeves pushed up, revealing wrists of pale, elegant bone. He was wiping a stray drop of soup from the table with a slow, deliberate motion that gave him an unexpected domestic appeal.

Marguerite blinked. Did he think she was just flattering him? If so, he was far too modest.

"I don't," she said. "My standards are actually quite high."

George adjusted his glasses with a single finger, masking the darkness that flickered in his eyes. "They could be higher. And not just when it comes to food."

Especially when it comes to men, he left unsaid.

Marguerite slurped up a forkful of sticky noodles and grinned. “George, you're really hitting that age, aren't you? You're starting to give off some serious dad vibes."

George fell silent.

He had always known that despite her youth, Marguerite had an incredibly strong core. Other people's opinions rarely swayed her, which was what made her affection so precious.

And it was something Joshua didn't deserve in the slightest.

Seeing his expression freeze, Marguerite, feeling a little guilty for teasing the man who'd just fed her, quickly clarified, “What I mean is, I genuinely think your cooking is amazing. Even if you don't think so, I do."

Modesty was a virtue, but she wasn't going to let his humility change her mind.

"Oh, by the way, Theobald said he wants to learn how to cook from you so he can make food for me. Do you have any time to teach him?"

That was even more proof of how good his cooking was.

But at her words, George's fingers tightened around his fork. "I don't have time," he said without a second's thought.

The answer was understandable; he had just mentioned at the door how busy he was with work.

Marguerite nodded. "Okay, well, let me know when you're free."

George's long, dark lashes swept down, and he said nothing more.

After her late-night snack and brushing her teeth, Marguerite lay in bed and opened her phone to a message from Northpine Wraith.

[Phone scams are rampant lately. Don't answer any calls from unknown numbers. Someone at the company got scammed out of ten

grand today after picking one up. Bë careful.

Marguerite's brow furrowed. Were scammers really that sophisticated these days?

From the day she was born, she'd

lived by a simple code: she could never hurt money, betray money, waste money, miss out on money, double cross money abandon Money, lose money, give money the silent treatment, backstab money, or throw money away.

[Got it. I won't answer any strange calls.]

Just as she was about to close the app, another friend request popped up. She sighed in exasperation What was wrong with Joshua? Wasn't her ignoring his requeste clear enough signal?

The new request came with a note: Can we meet? I know you want to see me, too.