Chapter twenty-six

"Did you hurt yourself?"

As the figures around her moved, Nick's voice, mingled with the chill wind, pierced into Zoe's ears.

Zoe supported herself with her arms, trying to get up. Nick reached out, took her hand, and helped her up.

Once standing, she finally noticed that Nick was wearing a suit, his tie undone and hanging loosely on both sides. His hair also seemed neatly trimmed.

Behind him stood the assistant she had seen before.

Zoe struggled and let go of his hand.

Just then, a laugh rang out, "Isn't this President Sampson's secretary?"

In the shadows stood another person. Zoe glanced over and saw the CEO of that tech company, Silas, and his wife, Mrs. Green. It was Mrs. Silas who spoke, her smile half-mocking, with an ambiguous undertone.

Zoe's heart skipped a beat.

What about Sampson?

With smiles, Silas and his wife said to Nick, "We'll take our leave now."

Nick turned his face, his expression indifferent, "Take your time."

Nick's assistant glanced at Nick and Zoe, gestured, and escorted Silas and his wife. "I'll see you out."

"Thank you."

There were too many people here, and it wasn't advisable to stay for too long.

Zoe watched as the three of them left. Mrs. Green even turned her head and looked at Zoe briefly, her gaze finally shifting to Nick's face before reluctantly turning away.

They were far away now.

Zoe's mind was still a bit chaotic, but she was sure that Nick's meeting with them tonight must have been about the acquisition.

And in this central district, it was evident that the couple had come to see Nick personally.

She wiped her hands, sticky with milk tea.

Just as she turned around, she felt herself lifted into the air.

Nick scooped her up from the waist, and Zoe was startled, looking at Nick, "I can walk by myself."

Nick lowered his gaze, "Didn't you notice your knees are bleeding?"

Upon his reminder, Zoe realized that her palms and knees were aching, but she could still walk.

She struggled, but Nick ignored her, strode with his long legs towards the parking lot.

Behind them, Luna's shouts rang out, and Zoe grasped Nick's arm, wanting to get down but also wanting to respond to Luna.

"I'm here, Luna."

Nick chuckled, his laughter dissipating in the air as he walked even faster.

Carrying a person, he walked without any pressure.

The crowd of people gathered there instinctively moved aside, clearing the way for this man.

The clicking of heels followed closely.

Zoe could hear the sound of Luna's heels.

Meanwhile, Nick had already reached the parking spot in front of the café. He opened the car door, pushed Zoe inside, and she almost fell onto the passenger seat, which was cramped.

Zoe struggled to get up, but Nick, with a flick of his fingertip, clicked the seatbelt into place and then closed and locked the door.

Zoe was trapped.

She suddenly leaned against the window and shouted, "Nick!"

Nick leaned against the car, looked down at her, took a cigarette after half a second, and blew out a cloud of smoke, casual and indifferent. "Stay put."

Zoe: "..."

In no time, Luna, Ellie, and Stella caught up with them and saw Nick. All three of them stopped in their tracks.

Nick held a cigarette between his lips, the orange tip of it flickering in the air. He raised his eyes and gave them a cold stare, then walked around the front of the car and leaned one hand on the roof. "I'll take you back."

Luna protested, "We don't want you to take us."

Nick replied calmly, "That's best. I'll take her alone."

After saying that, he got into the car. Zoe had undone her seatbelt, but the door wouldn't open.

Seeing this, Luna and the others quickly walked over and opened the back door. The three of them squeezed in.

Zoe was speechless.

Nick glanced at the rearview mirror where three pairs of eyes stared back at him. He arched his eyebrows and pressed down on the accelerator, sending the black sedan roaring down the road.

The backseat was occupied by Luna and the other two.

Zoe gave up struggling.

She turned to look at Luna and the others. Luna smiled at her, making Zoe feel a little more at ease.

Ellie glanced around the car and whispered to Stella, "Is this car expensive?"

Stella replied, "It's probably around a million."

Ellie exclaimed, "That's a lot of money."

Luna chuckled and said, "It might be second-hand."

She didn't lower her voice, and Nick could hear her. He leaned back lazily with his chin resting on his palm, turning the steering wheel with one hand, seemingly not caring about what they were discussing.

Only when Zoe glanced at him did he notice and casually remark, "It's not second-hand."

Zoe retorted, "I'm not interested in knowing."

Nick simply said, "Oh."

The car didn't head straight back to the university. Instead, it went to a clinic near the school to treat Zoe's wounds on her hands and knees.

Zoe was wearing flesh-colored thermal pants, which weren't particularly thin, but the fall had been severe enough to cause some blood to seep out.

Fortunately, no bones were broken, just some skin was grazed.

The palms of her hands were also scraped.

After applying some medication, Zoe had to roll up her thermal pants, making her look a bit pitiful.

Holding onto Luna's hand, the four of them walked towards the exit.

Nick was leaning against the car smoking. When he saw them coming out, he reached out and opened the passenger door for Zoe.

Luna whispered, "He actually looks decent this way."

Stella nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he seems a bit indifferent and doesn't talk much, but he's certainly not as crazy as before."

Ellie concurred, "Exactly."

Zoe, however, remained silent. As the four of them approached Nick, Zoe hesitated for a moment and said, "We can walk back by ourselves. You can go ahead."

Nick's gaze fell on her slender legs, pale and fragile in the cold wind. With a hint of impatience, he said sternly, "Get in the car."

Zoe hesitated, but Luna whispered something to her, making her roll her eyes and climb into the car.

Nick slammed the passenger door shut and walked around to the driver's side.

Luna and Stella exchanged glances, and the three of them followed suit into the backseat.

It was clear to see that Nick's eyes only held Zoe. He was sparingly generous with his attention to other girls.

Once in the car, Nick's phone rang. He glanced at it briefly and put it away. It rang again shortly after, but he ignored it.

The car drove smoothly into the university and stopped at the dormitory building.

Nick looked at Zoe's legs and raised his eyebrows, asking, "Does it still hurt?"

Zoe unhooked her seatbelt and replied, "No, it's fine now."

Zoe subconsciously added, "Happy New Year."

The back door opened, and Zoe stepped out. Luna and the others were waiting for her outside. The four of them headed towards the stairs.

Nick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, watching Zoe's figure disappear into the stairwell before finally answering the persistent calls. He turned the steering wheel with one hand and said, "Yeah, I'm coming now."

Zoe's intuition was correct. She had gone to Shengding Law Firm during the holiday. As soon as she entered, she could sense the low mood. Walking to Sampson's office, she noticed his face was as dark as a pot of coal.

Half an hour later, three men in suits entered the company and headed towards Sampson's office. Soon after, they could hear raised voices coming from inside.

Zoe was familiar with Sampson's assistant, who told her that the acquisition of the technology company had fallen through. Hunt Domain had intervened and snatched the deal.

The assistant also mentioned that Hunt Domain had some sort of connection with the CEO of the technology company, Green, which allowed them to acquire the company.

Zoe had seen Nick's business card before. The name Hunt Domain was not unfamiliar to her.

Zoe paused for a moment and asked the assistant, "What does 'having a leg' mean?"

She felt like she must have misheard something.

The assistant gave Zoe a strange look and said after a while, "It means they're having an affair. Don't you know that?"

"This kind of thing is quite common in the workplace. I can't imagine how that old Green CEO could attract the attention of the partner from Hunt Domain..."

Zoe was speechless.

It suddenly made sense why she had felt something was off about the way Green CEO looked at Nick.

She felt a strange sensation, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

While they were still gossiping, the office door opened.

The assistant immediately stopped talking and turned to look at his computer.

The three men left, and Sampson escorted them out. When he passed by Zoe's desk, he looked at her with a slightly chilly expression.

Zoe was taken aback.

But when Sampson walked back and saw Zoe again, he had already regained his usual gentlemanly demeanor, though his face still looked unhappy.

He tapped on Zoe's desk and said, "There are some documents in my office. Come in and get them. Organize them a bit and give them to me before you leave."

Zoe nodded and obediently stood up to follow him inside.

Before leaving, Luna came to find Zoe and chatted with Sampson for a while. She noticed that Sampson seemed a bit down.

Luna pulled Zoe aside and asked about it. Zoe had to tell her about the recent project. Luna raised her eyebrows and said, "I've heard about it... the acquisition..."

Zoe was surprised that Luna knew about these things too.

Luna explained, "There's no wall that doesn't leak. Plus, I have a lot of friends. We chat and gossip when we're together."

Zoe nodded.

Then she glanced at Luna again.

Luna was typing on her phone, probably inviting Sampson to dinner.

Noticing Zoe's gaze, Luna looked up and smiled, "What's up?"

Zoe hesitated for a moment, wanting to ask but unable to bring the words to her lips.

Luna tilted her head and suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the corridor. She pinched Zoe's cheek and said, "Are you wondering if Nick is having an affair with that Green CEO from Zheng Ling Technology?"

Zoe was startled. She was just curious.

She tightened her scarf and blinked.

Luna leaned closer to Zoe and whispered with a smile, "Everyone is talking about it, so it must be true."

"Really?"

A lazy, deep voice sounded behind them. Luna jumped and pulled Zoe back a step, their backs pressed against the doorway of the corridor.

Nick stood there, a cigarette between his fingers, leaning casually against the window. His lips curved into a sneer as he said, "Gossiping about me, huh?"

Luna retorted, "It's all true, so how can it be gossip?"

Nick flicked the ash from his cigarette and then bent down to stub it out on the trash can next to the corridor.

He put his hands in his pockets and walked towards Zoe. Luna pulled Zoe backwards, their backs against the door. The door wasn't locked, but Luna wasn't the type to run away easily. She insisted on holding onto Zoe.

Zoe wanted to escape, but her hand was being held by Luna.

The corridor was bright and long, empty except for the three of them.

Nick's long legs blocked the door behind Zoe. He turned his head slightly to look at her and snorted, saying, "In my entire life, I only want to be with Zoe. Got it?"