I was frozen in shock, "Conrad, you..." Conrad wiped the corner of his mouth and then turned away. My legs twitched, but in the end, I didn't move. Perhaps it was for the best. This way, he could finally give up and stop pursuing me relentlessly. "Do you blame me?" Phipps asked after Conrad left, glancing at the blood on the floor. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just saw how annoyed you were by his constant pestering and wanted to help..."

I didn't respond, just handed him his jacket. "You should go."

Phipps took the jacket, changed quickly, and came out holding a bag with his dirty clothes inside. He didn't leave immediately but used a wet wipe to clean the bloodstains Conrad had left by the door. After he closed the door behind him, I sank onto the couch.

I sat there for a long time, eventually lying down, too exhausted to stay seated. That night, I slept on the couch, haunted by the image of Conrad spitting blood in front of me, as if he had spat directly onto my heart.

I spent the night in a daze. When I woke up the next morning, the sunlight was blinding. I stared out the window for a moment before getting up to wash up. In the mirror, I saw dried blood stains on my face and clothes-remnants of Conrad's blood from the day before. I wiped them off with a wet cloth, as if erasing his mark from my life.

Allen called me just as I arrived at the office. "Heard you got hit by a car at my place?"

He reached out before I did, so I didn't hold back. "What's Mr. Clark planning to do about it?"

"Of course, anyone who messes with you on my turf is messing with me," Allen said, sounding as if he had some claim over me.

His statement wasn't wrong. Messing with someone on his turf was a direct disregard for him. "Someone did try to run me over. You might want to look into it, Mr. Clark," I said, although I knew Conrad might investigate, but wasn't sure if he still would now. On the other hand, it might be easier for Allen to look into it since it happened in his parking lot.

"Tell me the details," Allen asked.

"I'd rather not relive it. Just check the surveillance," I replied.

е

"Alright, I'll handle the guy you knocked out too," Allen said, which wasn't surprising. Since that person was sent by Dustin, I wondered if Allen handling it would cause any issues with Dustin. I didn't care much about the intricacies, simply responding, "Thanks for having my back, Mr. Clark."

"I'll say it again: making trouble on my watch, no matter who it is, is a challenge to me," Allen said, not ready to hang up yet, probably wanting to ask about Phipps.

Sure enough, he asked, "So, Phipps spent the night?"

Images of Phipps and Conrad vomiting blood flashed through my mind. "Yeah."

Allen laughed in a halting manner. "Impressive, respect."

I didn't quite catch his meaning, only replying indifferently, "These things are about mutual consent, aren't they?"

"True, Phipps is lucky to have met

Ms. Hudson," Allen said before hanging up. I put down my phone, offering a distracted smile before turning on my computer to start working.

Despite not feeling well and being in a poor mood, my work wasn't affected. What was strange, though, was the absence of Grant. He never missed a chance to show his face in my office whenever he was in the company. Today was indeed strange.

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