After dinner, the two of them walked together on a slightly crowded street. For the first time, Sophie Smith felt that Asher Land seemed to have stepped down from that pedestal, and there was not much distance between them.
The weather wasn’t cooperating, as thunder rumbled overhead, signaling an impending downpour.
"Where did you park your car?" Sophie asked.
"In the parking lot across the street."
"Then let’s hurry over. It’s going to rain soon." A gust of cold wind blew through, making Sophie shiver involuntarily. The bustling crowd was somewhat panicked, seemingly disrupted by the imminent rainstorm.
Without thinking, Sophie reached out and grabbed Asher Land’s arm from behind.
"Can you hurry up? It’s about to rain."
Asher’s tall frame jolted slightly. Did she just take his hand willingly? Geez, unbelievable.
He let her lead him through the crowd, but they weren’t lucky enough. The rain fell as expected, and by the time they reached the parking lot, they were drenched.
Sophie couldn’t stop coughing for a moment. Asher retrieved a dry towel from the back seat and handed it to her.
"Take off your wet jacket."
Sophie wrapped her arms around her chest. If she took off her jacket, she would be left with just her strapless top underneath.
Ignoring her reaction, Asher rolled up the car window and turned on the heater.
"Do I need to help you take it off?"
"I don’t want to take it off."
"I’m not going to take advantage of you, what are you afraid of?" Asher lost his patience and turned her around, adeptly unbuttoning her shirt.
Before Sophie could react, he had already taken off her clothes and tossed them onto the back seat.
Asher took off his suit jacket, removed his still-dry shirt, and threw it to her.
Sophie clutched the edge of the shirt tightly, hesitated for a long while, but eventually put it on.
His shirt was absurdly large on her, but it was warm enough.
Back home, she felt a bit dizzy. She took a shower in the bathroom, and as soon as she lay down in her room, she fell asleep.
Asher quietly entered the room and looked at the sleeping Sophie. Somehow, he felt a twinge of pity.
What was happening to him?
Asher was supposed to be heartless, not to care about anyone—especially since he knew exactly how much this woman despised him.
"I’m sorry... I’m sorry," she mumbled in her sleep. She said many things, but he couldn’t make them out clearly; he only vaguely heard a "sorry."
"The person in your dreams must not be me, right?" Asher laughed at himself. Sophie would only tell him over and over, "I hate you," not "I’m sorry."
Restlessly, she kicked off the covers, and Asher tirelessly tucked her back in until she finally stopped resisting.
Sophie overslept again. Fortunately, Julia Brown sent a message in the morning saying today’s shoot was postponed by a day due to site issues, allowing her to relax. She didn’t know why she felt so out of sorts lately.
Dragging her heavy steps into the living room, Asher was nowhere to be found; it seemed he’d already gone to the office.
Suddenly, her phone rang. Sophie’s gaze fell on the sofa; it was Asher’s phone.
She intended to ignore it, but the phone kept ringing persistently.
Having no other choice, she decided to answer it. It might be an important call after all.
Sure enough, the person on the other end mentioned an urgent matter.
"President Land isn’t here at the moment. I’ll have him call you back later," Sophie said, then hung up the phone.
She had no choice but to go to the office to find Asher Land.