Bye-Bye Jerk, Hello Mr. Right
Hello 228

Chapter

228

He sent me a friend request, and at this hour?

My gut told me something was up.

Even though Steve swore Cole wouldn't try anything out of line, I still felt like I needed to be cautious.

Accepting a guy's friend request this late at night just felt too casual-and kinda reckless.

I ignored the notification and focused back on Lena. Then I heard her say, "He did that successful surgery with the girl who's a perfect match for him."

I could hear the sadness in her voice, and it made my chest tighten.

Having been through heartbreak myself, I knew how crucial it was to feel like you're on the same level in a relationship.

Lena was crazy talented, but her senior was a big deal on an international scale. There was a gap between them-a huge one. The whole worlds apart thing? Yeah, there was a reason people say that.

I didn't push the topic and switched to something lighter, chatting with Lena for a while longer before we hung up. Afterward, I stared at Cole's friend request, unease twisting in my gut.

I could sense the danger he brought.

But if I wanted to replace out the truth about my parents' death, I'd have to take this risk.

Just as I was about to put my phone down, another message popped up. It was from Jace.

[Stay away from Cole Drago!]

Same tone as Hayden's.

I knew he was trying to protect me, but his warnings had lost their impact by now.

I ignored the message, turned off my phone, and crawled into bed.

I had to admit, that one drink I had near the apartment building was way stronger than I thought. Even Hayden's honey chamomile tea couldn't fix it. I was so wiped out, I didn't even bother with a shower before passing out.

The next morning, I woke up early, did some yoga to shake off the grogginess, and made myself a strong cup of coffee. Then, finally, I accepted Cole's friend request.

I figured he'd still be asleep at this hour, so I didn't have to worry about him messaging me right away. When I got to the office, Ron was already there, giving me a weird look. But he didn't say anything.

I'd been out for a few days, so there was a mountain of work waiting for me. I kept my head down and powered through until noon, finally catching up.

I stood up, stretched, and was about to head to the cafeteria when Ron came over and knocked on my door. "Ms. Kay, care to join me for lunch?"

The uneasy look in his eyes made it clear he had something on his mind.

Chapter 220

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I gave him a light smile. "Sure, why not?"

In the cafeteria, we both grabbed our standard work meals. Ron glanced at my plate and raised an eyebrow. "Why so little? Are you on a diet or something? You're in great shape already. Don't lose any more weight-you don't look good when you're too skinny." Even though Ron was technically my superior, he always seemed to tread carefully around me, like he was worried about saying the wrong thing. He might come off as intimidating to others, but with me, there was always this undercurrent of caution.

I looked down at my plate and thought about Hayden's cooking. I decided to be straightforward. "I'm not on a diet. I've just gotten kinda picky about food lately.

"Huh?" Ron seemed taken aback, then quickly nodded like something clicked. "Oh, right, right."

He probably assumed that growing up with the Johnston family meant I was used to fancy meals. But what he didn't know was that it wasn't the Johnston family who spoiled me-it was Hayden. Thinking about how Hayden promised to cook something amazing tonight, I actually started getting excited for dinner. The food in front of me suddenly looked even more unappealing.

"How about I take you out for something better?" Ron suggested, way too... enthusiastically.

Thanks, but I'm good," I said quickly, forcing myself to take a bite.

"So, uh, Ms. Kay," he started, clearly hesitant, "was that guy yesterday really your boyfriend?"

Ah, now it made sense why he'd been acting all weird around me today.

Steve's assessment of him echoed in my mind, and I couldn't help but smirk a little. "What do you think?" "He seemed... alright," Ron said, struggling to replace the right words. "But he doesn't really give off that' reliable' vibe, you know?"

I took a sip of my mushroom soup, raising an eyebrow that said, "Keep going."

"A girl like you deserves someone more, uh, manly," he went on.

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