Tessa thought that she would actually burst a vein in exasperation. Why did Zachary refuse to leave her alone?

She stood in front of her door and shouted, “You better leave right now, Zachary! If you don’t, I’m going to call the police on you for harassment!”

It was suddenly quiet outside her door. After a few moments, he replied, “I’ll leave the breakfast here outside your door. Remember to eat it later.”

Tessa rolled her eyes. She padded back to her bedroom, ready to return to her sleep once more. However, now that she was awake, the heaviness weighing on her heart came back in full force, making it difficult for her to go back to bed.

She lay on the bed, tossing and turning but still unable to find sleep. She sighed and ruffled her hair in annoyance. She got up from the bed and headed into the bathroom to freshen up.

Meanwhile, Stephen’s black Maybach was parked at the entrance of Marina Apartment. After what had transpired last night, Stephen was keenly aware of how sensitive the current situation was. He didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself, so he switched to the Maybach, which was less eye-catching.

He alighted from the car with a bodyguard dressed in a black suit shadowing his movements. When they made it to Tessa’s building, Stephen ordered, “Wait here for me.”

The bodyguard nodded. “Understood.”

Stephen strolled up to Tessa’s unit and knocked on her door. There was no reaction, so he tempered his patience and knocked again.

“Enough with your games, Zachary! I’m really going to call the police on you!” Tessa bellowed as she pulled open the door.

Stephen was frozen in place as they locked gazes. Confusion flashed in his eyes. “Zachary?”

Tessa was also stunned but quickly recovered, replacing her initial expression of hate with a bright smile in the next second. “You’re here, Stephen.”

He stared at Tessa sternly. “Did you say Zachary just now?”

There was no reason for her to withhold the truth. She answered honestly, “Zachary knocked on my door earlier.”

It was only at that moment Stephen spotted the bag of breakfast leaning against the wall next to Tessa’s door. Since he had lowered his eyes, it was hard to discern whether he was angry or upset from his voice. “Who bought breakfast for you?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I was sound asleep when he suddenly knocked on my door and woke me up.”

Tessa recalled the unpleasant encounter with disdain and annoyance.

“How does he know the building you’re living in and your unit number?”

Stephen’s question stumped Tessa. He had a point. Tessa had never revealed her address to Zachary. How did he find out?

“I don’t know.”

Stephen’s brow knitted together. “Don’t worry, Tess. I’ll investigate this. Let me in for now.”

She turned her body sideways, allowing Stephen to enter her apartment. He removed his grey cashmere coat and carelessly hung it up on the coat rack.

Then, she dropped a pair of men’s indoor slippers by his feet.

As Stephen switched out his shoes for the slippers, Tessa acted as nonchalantly as she could before asking, “Oh right, Stephen. You said you had something urgent to handle last night. What was it? Has it been resolved?”

He froze a moment before saying in a neutral tone, “It was related to Susan.”

Seeing that he was being honest, she felt the heaviness that had been weighing in her heart disappearing.

She sighed in relief, the tension

melting away from her body, and

was thankful that Stephen came

clean. She knew that her judgement was correct-Stephen was nothing like Zachary.