Help! My One-Night Stand Is Examining Me?!

Chapter 141: Chapter 141 The previous day

“But be careful next time, don’t make such a rookie mistake again!”

Alana lowered her eyes. “I understand.”

Seeing that Alana was reasonably sensible, Grace didn’t bother to argue with her any further.

“Find a seat!”

Alana walked over and sat in the farthest corner.

Throughout this, Cole’s gaze never left her.

*******

The meeting ended.

Everyone began to leave one by one.

Alana gathered her notes and was about to stand up.

Suddenly, Cole called out.

“Alana, stay behind.”

The colleagues who hadn’t left yet all glanced curiously at Alana and Cole. They wondered why Cole had called Alana over, could he be planning to settle the score later?

After all, it was a fact that Alana had stained his clothes.

Carla shot Alana a worried glance.

Alana smiled at Carla, signaling that she was fine. Carla sighed and, with no other choice, left first.

Once everyone had left the conference room, leaving only Alana and Cole behind,

Alana looked at Cole with a neutral expression. “Manager Cole, did you ask me to stay because there’s something important?”

Cole stared at Alana, pursed his lips, and finally said, “Just now... I didn’t mean to.”

Alana was already in a foul mood, and now that he’d brought it up himself, she was furious.

She clenched her teeth, feeling deeply aggrieved. “You didn’t mean to, but you didn’t explain to everyone that it was your fault, did you?”

Cole’s eyes, hidden behind his glasses, were deep and inscrutable. “Lana, are you blaming me?”

Alana took a deep breath.

“I wouldn’t dare. How could I possibly blame you, Manager Cole?”

Cole spoke up, “Oh stop with the Manager Cole, it’s making my ears bleed. Call me Cole, or Coco. You sweetly used to call me Coco. Remember when I didn’t like the name. But you still fondly called me that until I grew to like it.”

“Manager Cole” sounded too formal, making it seem as though they were merely in a superior-subordinate relationship. Cole couldn’t take it anymore.

As if deliberately defying him, Alana replied coldly, “I’m sorry, Manager Cole, As an intern, I wouldn’t dare overstep my bounds!”

Cole furrowed his brow. “Lana, I had no idea you had such a stubborn streak. Where has that well-behaved girl from back then gone?”

Alana replied, “Manager Cole, I’ve always been this way, I’ve never changed. It’s just that you’ve never tried to understand me. The one who changed was you, wasn’t it?”

She had once granted his every request because she believed he was someone who treated her well.

For every bit of kindness others showed her, she was willing to return tenfold.

But when she discovered that his kindness was all pretense, she had to let go of him for good.

Cole’s eyes darkened.

Not wanting to delve deeper into the subject, he asked, “Who did you go out with at lunchtime today?”

“That’s my private business.”

Cole said, “Yes, I know it’s your private matter. But I hope you won’t get involved with any shady person and that you’ll maintain your purity and innocence...you know...for me.”

In his eyes, Alana was as pure and pristine as a white flower; he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone tarnishing her in the slightest. He wanted to do the tarnishing. He had been waiting for it for a long time.

“In your dreams.” Alana snapped.

Cole frowned. “Lana, I’m genuinely concerned about you!”

Alana looked up at him, her eyes clear as crystal.

Really?

Does he really care about her?

In what ways did his concern for her show itself?

Cole gazed at her intently and continued gently, “Lana, not only do I care about you, but during these past few months apart, I’ve been thinking of you constantly, every single moment.”

Alana didn’t understand. “Why?”

Wasn’t he about getting married to Sophia?

Bloody two-timer!

“I...” Cole was momentarily at a loss for words.

Whenever he was with her, he always felt an awkwardness that made it impossible to express his feelings.

“I miss you.”

“I didn’t miss you.” She replied.

That was indeed the truth.

At first she had been heartbroken and so upset.

But then later on, she had met Stephan who kept chasing after her relentlessly.

Now thinking about it, it felt as if Stephan had helped her moved on without him knowing.

She had been so occupied with dealing with the overwhelming pursuit of Stephan and she had no time to think about anything else.

“Manager Cole, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”

Cole sighed helplessly, “Alright.”

Alana turned and left.

Cole remained seated where he was, staring blankly at her retreating figure.

Alana returned to her desk, where her colleagues cast curious glances her way.

Carla leaned in and asked with concern, “Lana, did Manager Cole give you a hard time just now?”

Alana shook her head. “No.”

Carla breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I thought Manager Cole might come after you later, after all, you accidentally spilled tea on his clothes just now, and he looked pretty upset.”

Alana smiled. “Don’t worry about it. It’s really fine.”

Carla thought about it for a moment and nodded. “You’re right. After all, Manager Cole had stood up for you in front of everyone.”

Alana thought of how Cole had just stood up for her, and her eyes dimmed slightly.

Was he really defending her?

But if his hand hadn’t accidentally brushed against hers, her hand wouldn’t have trembled with disgust, and she certainly wouldn’t have spilled the tea.

Clearly, it all started because of him, wasn’t it only natural for him to speak up in her defense?

She recalled how his own sister had bullied her in the past, simply because she had accidentally stained his sister’s dress.

His sister had gathered a group of people and cornered her outside school to ridicule.

In the end, it was Cole who showed up and saved her just in time.

And he warned his own sister.

At the time, she had seen Cole as her savior and was deeply grateful to him.

But now that she thought about it, given how badly his sister treated her, wasn’t it only natural for him, as her older brother, to step in and stop it?

After warning his own sister, he reassured her, telling her not to worry about it and not to tell anyone. He promised that as long as he was around, he wouldn’t let anyone bully her, especially his own sister.

Looking back now, wasn’t this simply Cole’s way of shielding his own sister from negative repercussions?

After all, if the matter had blown up, it wouldn’t have been good for his sister either, it would have damaged her image and reputation.

Unfortunately, being younger, she hadn’t considered this aspect; she simply thought that since this guy had helped her, he must be a good person.

How could she have known that his concern and protection for her were laced with a bit of calculation?

Now he said he cared about her.

But how much of that concern was genuine, and how much was feigned?

Alana didn’t want to guess or figure it out; she just wanted to stay far away from him.

********

After work that evening.

Alana waited until most of her colleagues had left before mentioning the gift she’d prepared for Stephan, then hurried out.

She had just received a message that he was already waiting near the office, and she didn’t want to keep him waiting.

Stepping out of the office, Alana spotted the man’s familiar Bentley from a distance. Before anyone noticed, she quickly jogged over, opened the car door, and tried to get in. But what caught her eye was a huge bouquet of vibrant red roses.

It was even larger than the ninety-nine roses he’d sent her last time.

She looked at the handsome man inside the car in astonishment.

“You... you’re giving me flowers again?”

Stephan raised an eyebrow. “Do you like them?”

Alana bit her lip. “I do, but next time, could you please not send so many? Because they take so much time to take care of.”

Stephan said magnanimously, “No need to take care of them. I’ll send you a new bouquet daily. You just have to throw away the one I sent the previous day.”