Never Too Far Novel

Chapter 881-890

Angela then moved as if to reach down his pants.

Immediately, Richard grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She then slipped down to place her head on his lap. With a tug at the elastic holding her hair together, the long strands sprawled out across his thighs.

Her beautiful slanted eyes softly shimmered up at him. She looked so enticing, yet her gaze looked so clean and innocent.

Sunlight shining in through the window made her skin appear as fair as snow. Her cheeks were gently dusted with an embarrassed blush, and she looked so charming that he was mesmerized.

There was a slight hitch in his breathing. His hand was still wrapped around her wrist, but he did not know what to do next.

Angela was a woman, after all! She knew just how to make a man happy with her pretty looks.

She smiled as her bright eyes shone with pride. “Am I beautiful, Mr. Richard?”

Richard looked back at her with eyes so deep that there was no way to tell what emotions were hiding in them.

“Get up,” he coldly commanded.

Realizing how boring he was being, she moved to stand up. Just then, there was a sharp tug on her hair.

“Ouch!” she cried out in pain, instinctively moving her head closer to where the stuck tendrils of her hair were. Without thinking, she moved to fiddle with the object that her hair was stuck on—his belt buckle.

“Don’t move,” he rasped out. Still, he was too late. Angela had touched something she should not have.

Her hands immediately shot back as if she had been zapped. Her blush extended up to her ears.

He was…

With brows tightly knitted together, he moved to untangle her hair from his belt.

It was at that moment someone pushed open the door. Four pairs of eyes were immediately greeted with the shocking sight of the two in a compromising position.

The men cursed themselves for their bad timing.

Moreover, when were Richard and Angela so close? They were even making out now!

“We will be back later, sir. Please, continue,” Will said, pushing the other three out of the room before swiftly closing it behind him.

The other three men had wanted to spend a few more seconds looking at the couple. It was rare for them to see Richard acting all friendly with a girl. How they wished they could have kept staring.

Angela was so embarrassed. It was clear the four men had misunderstood the situation.

Richard did not care about what his subordinates thought though. His broad hands were gently untangling her hair from his belt. As the strands were wrapped tightly around the belt, one mistake and she would be hurt.

“Are you done yet?” she awkwardly asked.

“Soon.” His fingers were unraveling her hair, one strand at a time.

She buried her face in her palms from the embarrassment. How could she look the others in the eye now?

Finally, her hair was free. As soon as she could move, she shot to her feet. Her hair tumbled wildly across her back, emphasizing the innocent beauty of her demure face.

“Trevor and the others must have mistaken what we were doing for something else. Can you clarify things to them?” she asked.

“Clarify what?” he said with a huff.

“Do you not want to clarify what happened?” She pursed her red lips together. She did not care what they thought, but she did not want his image and reputation to be ruined. He stood up and grabbed his laptop. “You were reading here.”

He then walked out of the room, leaving her all alone.

Watching him leave, her heart stopped pounding with anxiety the moment the door closed behind him. She felt like crying and laughing at the same time while a strange and sweet sort of giddy joy rose in her.

At that moment, all she wanted to know was if he found her annoying.

The moment Richard stepped into the meeting room, questions began flying his way. “How far have you and Miss Angela gone, Mr. Richard?” asked Trevor.

“Is she going to be your wife?” Jared asked.

Richard calmly looked at them and answered, “Mind your own business.”

“Stop asking. We will be the first to know if he has any happy news to share,” said Willy.

“Yeah, we are waiting for Richard’s wedding invitation.”

While listening to his subordinates, Richard did not intend to explain much. However, work-related matters were not occupying his brain right now. Instead, he kept rewinding what had happened on the couch earlier. He wondered if she always took the initiative to flirt with a man whenever she met one.

Just then, his phone rang. When he glanced at the number, he reached out to answer it, “Hello!”

“Richard, it’s me, Annie.” A shy girl’s voice sounded on the other end. “I miss you so much, so I asked your grandfather for your personal number. Did I disturb you?”

Richard stood up and walked toward the door of the conference room. When he got out, he responded, “I’m sorry, Miss Meyers. I’m currently on a mission. Let’s talk once I get back.”

“Why do you keep calling me Miss Meyers?! I’m your fiancée now! You can call me Ann or Annie.”

“It’s not a convenient time for me to talk now.”

“Oh! Is it? Are you very busy? Can I text you later? You don’t have to reply right away. You just have to reply to me when you have time. I really want to talk to you. This is my number. Please remember to save it!” Once Annie blurted out a string of sentences in her lovely voice, she confessed, “Richard, I like you and miss you very much.”

After that, she hung up the phone shyly.

Richard sighed. His marriage with Annie was not what he wanted. It was just that he did not manage to refuse the marriage in front of his grandfather the last time. He knew that once his current mission was over, he would return and cancel the engagement with Annie.

Besides, Annie was also Angela’s cousin.

Meanwhile, Angela did not sleep well last night. After reading a book for a while, she passed out on the couch.

Richard did not return to the conference room. He stood outside the door for a while, recalling that there was a document he forgot to take.

When he returned to the room and reached out to open the door, he saw the figure of a woman sleeping on the couch. She had nothing to keep her body warm. Since it was now the start of fall, it was very easy to catch a cold.

Richard grabbed a small blanket from his bed and draped it on top of her. Walking to the bookshelf, he tried looking for a file that had been placed there the night before.

After he picked up the file and was about to leave, he heard the groaning of a suffering woman.

Richard glanced at Angela, who was lying flat on the couch, only to see her frowning and a thin layer of sweat oozing from her forehead.

Was she having nightmares?

Richard crouched beside her and squinted his eyes to check on her.

At this moment, Angela fell into a nightmare. After her mother’s car accident, she started having nightmares frequently. Even during the day, nightmares would break into her dreams after she fell asleep.

Presently, she was running in a forest. There were gunshots from time to time. The drone hovering above her head gave her an infinite sense of oppression, as if there was this ardent killing intent that was entangled with her. Though she had run with all her might and panted violently, the murderous aura was still looming over her.

She ran and ran.

Just as she thought she was about to escape the fate of being hunted down and was out of the woods, she saw a row of men with their faces covered in front of her. They were pinning a man down with their hands. The man was wounded and pressed to the ground, and then she saw Richard’s face.

He was trampled on the back by a man with a gun pointed at his head. At the same time, the killer was laughing sinisterly at her.

The scene in the dream made Angela’s face cringe in pain while asleep. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she began to mumble, “Don’t kill him… Don’t kill him…”

Richard felt a strong tug at his heartstrings. What could she be dreaming about? She trembled as if she was suffering some kind of intense torture.

“Angela, wake up,” he called her gently, trying to wake her up from her dream.

At this moment, however, Angela’s trembling red lips called out a name, “Richard… Run! Run!”

After she was done speaking, her hands struggled to grasp onto something.

Richard’s big palm grabbed her hand in the next second, and his handsome face froze. Was he in her dreams?

Why would she tell him to run away? Was her pain caused by him?

At this moment, tears started pouring out of Angela’s eyes. She panted and pleaded, “Richard, please don’t die… I can’t let you die…”

Angela almost cried in her dream. She watched as the masked man held the gun at Richard, as if he was about to end the latter’s life at any moment. Angela stood there in pain and felt so helpless that she could only call out for help and cry.

However, she was not aware that in the real world, her painful appearance was being watched by a man on the spot. She grabbed his hand tightly and cried so much in the nightmare that she could not extricate herself.

Richard could not stand to see her being haunted by nightmares anymore, so he stretched out his other hand and patted her face. “Angela, wake up.”

There was a hint of coolness on the back of his hand, and it was her tears. Richard continued to pat her face until she finally woke up in pain.

The last scene before she woke up was a bloody one. She heard the gunshot, and even though she dared not open her eyes to see it, it was petrifying for her.

When she opened her eyes and saw the man beside the couch with tears in her eyes, she could hardly tell whether it was reality or a dream. Nevertheless, the first thing she did was wrap her arms around the man’s neck tightly, burying her whole face in his chest.

She wanted to make sure that he was real.

Richard froze, letting her hug him for a while. When he recalled that she cried because of him in the nightmare, he stretched out his hand and patted her back.

“You only had a nightmare,” he comforted her in a low voice.

Angela had come back to her senses now. It turned out to be just a dream.

However, the pain still could not go away in her mind. She closed her eyes and simply rubbed her tears on his clothes.

Richard unfolded her arms around his neck, lowered his head, and tried to decipher her expression. Angela turned away and covered her face in embarrassment. After taking a deep breath, she warned,

“Don’t laugh at me.”

In fact, he did not find it funny at all. All he wanted to know was if he was that weak in her dreams.

“I dreamed that you were abducted, and… you were shot with a gun on your head…” Angela consciously explained what happened in the dream to him.

Richard’s thin lips curled slightly after hearing that. Did she worry about him so much that she bawled?

She did not even want him to die.

This time, he suddenly felt the urge to laugh, but he pursed his thin lips to endure it.

Angela looked up at him and noticed that he was stifling a laugh. She hit his arm with her fist out of anger and scolded, “Do you have any conscience? I’ve cried so much for you, yet you’re laughing?!”

Richard stopped smiling this time and locked his gaze on her seriously. With a deep voice, he reassured her, “Don’t worry. Your dreams won’t happen in reality.”

“Why?” Angela blinked.

In Richard’s eyes, his self-confidence was burning. “I’m strong.”

Angela looked at his sharp and stern face. The confidence in his eyes was by no means false. It was a strong confidence that emitted from the depth of his eyes.

The lingering fear in Angela’s nightmare quickly dissipated after seeing his gaze. She believed that he would never turn her nightmare into a reality. He would always be strong.

Now she was exhausted. The consecutive nightmares made her face pale, and her eyes lost the luster of the past. She was still sleepy, but she dared not fall asleep.

“Have you finished your work?” Angela asked him.

Richard gave her a doubtful look.

“Can… Can you stay here with me for a while? I’m sleepy, but I’m scared of having nightmares. If you’re by my side, I might sleep better,” Angela expressed her inner thoughts.

Richard glanced at the file next to him without her noticing and nodded, “Okay, I’ll stay here and finish my work. Get some sleep!”

“Can… Can I sleep on your bed? The couch is too small.” Angela was getting greedy now.

She did not only want to occupy his time, but she even asked for his bed.

Surprisingly, Richard did not refuse her request. Raising his brows, he agreed, “Sure.”

Angela was so sleepy that she started yawning. After getting up, she felt light-headed and fell into Richard’s arms. Seeing that, he quickly embraced her, causing her head to slam against his shoulder blades. Her face quickly wrinkled in pain.

“Why is your body so hard?!” Angela muttered in annoyance.

Richard smirked lightly and helped her to get up. Angela walked over to his huge and tidy bed that was filled with masculinity. Angela felt much more at ease when lying on it.

She then looked at the man sitting on the couch. Although it was merely the back of his head, she thought he was good-looking. No man had ever attracted her with the back of his head.

After taking a few more glances at him, she felt her eyelids getting heavy, and she soon fell asleep once again.

Richard picked up the book she read earlier and noticed that she had folded the edge of one of the pages cutely.

He then turned his head to look at Angela, who was sleeping on her side. She was probably so exhausted that she fell asleep after a while.

Fishing out his phone, he dialed Trevor’s number and ordered, in a low voice, “Bring my laptop into the room.”

Trevor responded curtly and brought the laptop in after a while. Just as he pushed the door and intended to step in, he saw Richard bringing his finger up to his lips in an attempt to tell him to stay quiet.

Trevor was a little puzzled until he saw Angela lying on Richard’s bed. Suddenly, he understood something. Smiling subtly, he tip-toed into the room and left the laptop on the coffee table. After that, he leaned over and asked in a whisper, “Are you sleeping together now?”

Richard warned, “Don’t talk nonsense after you leave the room.”

Trevor covered his mouth and smiled. Did Richard just admit it? Anyway, he was happy for him because both of them looked good together.

While Richard did some work on the sofa, Angela switched various sleeping positions on the bed. She slept on her belly, crossed her legs, and slept soundly.

When it was almost six in the evening, Angela woke up feeling recharged. She opened her eyes to find that Richard was still working on the couch, and the corners of her mouth curved into a sly smile.

Somehow, Richard could always trigger Angela’s mischievous side. She wanted to make fun of him.

Angela closed her eyes and deliberately pretended to have a nightmare. She murmured, “Richard…”

Sure enough, she heard some rustling movements coming from the direction of the couch and the sounds of footsteps scooting over to her bed. Now, she felt that a man was standing beside the bed.

Angela stretched out and tried to grab something, and soon a big palm held her tightly. She immediately leaned over, as if she lacked a sense of security, holding the man’s arm.

While acting, she could not help but open her eyes slightly. Soon, a triumphant smile appeared on her face.

Richard stared at her with deep eyes, watching her continue with her act. To be frank, he already found out that she was awake after she made grabby movements earlier. He knew that she just wanted to tease him.

When Angela was still being proud of her acting skills, he uttered, “Get up already if you’re awake. Stop fooling around.”

Angela’s pretty face flushed red. Since he already saw through her act, she opened her eyes and whined like a child. “Captain Lloyd, my legs are numb. Can you pull me up?”

Richard looked at the lazy and charming girl on the bed. He could have ignored her, but involuntarily, he stretched out his hand to hold her slender wrist and pulled her up.

Angela smiled happily like a child, and her beautiful eyes sparkled. She looked pretty.

After washing up in her own room, she came to the cafeteria. Everyone had finished eating around this time. Richard sat at the table with perfect posture while his four men were sitting around him eating.

“Miss Meyers, this way!” Trevor happily waved to her.

Angela sat down beside them after choosing her menu. Suddenly, she felt something off from the four pairs of eyes currently staring at her. After blinking her eyes, she inquired amusingly, “Why are you all

looking at me?”

The four immediately looked away. They were just admiring their captain’s future wife! What else?

“Miss Meyers, do you want to go for a walk after dinner? I’ll take you to a place that’s great for stargazing!” Sean suddenly suggested.

Three pairs of eyes stared at him, thinking he was digging his own grave! How dare he flirt with Miss Meyers in front of their captain?

Since Angela had enough sleep today and was worried that she had nothing to do at night, she nodded happily after hearing that they would see stars. “Sure! Where are we going?”

“There is a short way to the top of the rocky mountain. I can take you there.” Sean was not afraid of death, pretending not to notice the three pairs of eyes that were madly hinting at him.

Richard ate the food on his plate gracefully, as if he hadn’t heard their conversation.

“Is everyone free tonight? Why don’t we go together?” Angela thought it would be more fun if there was a crowd, so she invited the other three to come along.

The other three looked at each other and saw Sean winking at them.

“Sure! We don’t get to relax often. Let’s go together!” Trevor quickly understood that Sean was deliberately asking Angela out, and at the same time, he was also looking for an opportunity to invite their captain out!

“Captain, let’s go together!” Jared said to Richard.

“I’m busy.” Richard raised his head and refused.

“You’ve been working for the whole afternoon. Just come and unwind with us!” Angela looked at him expectantly.

“She’s right! Captain, you always remind us that work-life balance is important! Come with us!” Willy even joined the team to persuade him.

Richard nodded this time. “Okay! Let’s meet at the door in five minutes and set off together.”

Angela beamed. She had hoped that Richard would come along.

Five minutes later, everyone gathered at the door and set off with a flashlight. Trevor also prepared some drinks. They were all set for their stargazing date.

Angela had never experienced strolling in the forest at night, so she was excited. While her long hair hung loosely on her shoulders, she wore light-gray sportswear with long sleeves and trousers, as well as hiking shoes. She looked full of vigor, even in the dark.

The entire team consciously let her walk in front of Richard, while Trevor and Jared explored the way in front, leaving Sean and Willy walking behind, chatting.

In the mountains, fireflies and swaying shadows of trees could be seen everywhere, making the whole mountain a mysterious and vibrant scene.

“Ah—” Angela accidentally kicked a stone and fell forward. Richard, who was behind her, immediately grabbed her arm and helped her stand firm.

Behind him, Sean and Willy looked at each other knowingly and smiled. They were creating opportunities for their captain.

They managed to navigate through the narrow path and admire the peculiar rocks at night. There was also a little fountain nearby, accompanied by the lively sound of frogs. Eventually, they arrived at the

top of the hill. The tiled stones were suitable for lying down and gazing at the starry sky. At that moment, the starry sky in fall was clear and cloudless, as if the Milky Way flowing through the vast starry sky was visible, which was extremely spectacular.

Richard sat on a rock, and Angela sat beside him. He stretched out his hand to pull her up, while the others lay down on the other rocks and started chatting about the fun of growing up.

Angela hugged her legs, looked up at the starry sky, and listened to their interesting stories. Compared with their colorful lives, Angela’s life had been a regular growth process since childhood.

Since her mother was reluctant to have a second child, she became the only child in the family. She had worked hard to attend various expensive cram schools since she was a child. She was not a pianist, but she passed the eighth grade; she was not a dancer, but she had great dance skills. Her mother wanted her to take over the family business, so she went abroad to study finance. Later, however, she could not continue her studies and suffered from anxiety, so her mother made her switch to a philosophy major.

At that time, the nerdy Angela met Dexter, hoping his love could be her redemption. However, he turned out to be a liar, which almost ruined her life.

Now, she wondered, why was life so tiring? Doing what she wanted was the best way to live in the moment.

“Willy, it seems like I still have a program to write,” Sean suddenly said and stood up.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I have some work to do as well,” Trevor hurriedly agreed.

“Let’s go. Let’s get back to work. We’ll let Captain accompany Miss Meyers to watch the stars!” Jared pulled Willy up as they all turned to leave.

“Hey! Don’t you guys want to look at the stars?” Angela shouted to their backs.

“Miss Meyers, let the Captain accompany you! It’s time for us to get back to work,” Sean turned back and said with a smile.

In a blink of an eye, the four people disappeared at the corner of the downhill stone, and the sound of footsteps soon faded away.

Without their boisterous voices, the mountain top suddenly fell silent as the cool night breeze brushed upon their figures.

At this moment, Angela’s involuntarily started turning crimson. She soon realized that Trevor and the rest weren’t trying to stargaze at all! They were just deliberately creating an opportunity for her and Richard to be alone!

Sure enough, they had misunderstood. They thought the two of them were together, so they arranged this.

She stole a glance at the man beside her and noticed that he seemed unconcerned about this matter at all as he stared at the distant starry night sky; she didn’t know what he was thinking.

Angela couldn’t help but smile when she saw this. Why should she bother? She should just enjoy and live in the moment.

At this point, her neck was a little sore from sitting and looking up at the stars, so she laid down on her arms instead. Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

As she looked at the vast starry sky, it seemed like all the worries in her mind had disappeared, and her heart felt freer.

When she looked at the man’s straight back, wild thoughts popped up in her mind; Would Richard like a girl like her?

Did he like her, even a little bit?

“Let’s go back!” Richard glanced at his watch and said to the girl lying behind him.

“We’re going now?” She asked in surprise; she still wanted to enjoy the beauty of the starry night sky!

Richard noticed the drop in temperature and did not want her to catch a cold, so he nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting too cold.”

“I’m not scared of the cold,” Angela hurriedly answered; she liked the feeling of being alone with him under the stars. Even if he didn’t speak, the atmosphere was comforting.

Regardless, Richard had already stood up and waited for her below the stone. She had no choice but to stand on the rock reluctantly. At this moment, she was half a body taller than him. It was a rare opportunity for her to look at him from such a height.

Frankly speaking, some people didn’t have to do anything but stand there to make people’s hearts skip a beat. Richard was such a person.

He was looking into the distance, so silent like a statue under the moonlight. His features had just the right amount of manliness; instead of having a pair of upturned eyes that would make him popular among the ladies, his eyes were narrow and long, while his gaze was focused and determined.

What was even more exquisite about him was that he exuded a sexy ascetic aura. The more serious he was, the more women desired to conquer him.

Women craved to break his abstinence and see how wild he was inside.

Angela’s eyes couldn’t help but fall onto his lips; the feeling she had the last time she touched it was still lingering in her heart.

Under such circumstances, wasn’t it more reasonable if a man were to have imaginations about a woman?

Suddenly, she was dumbfounded when she seemed to realize that she was the one having thoughts about him instead.

“Captain Lloyd, can you help me down?” Angela opened her arms, and an idea popped up in her head.

Richard withdrew his gaze when he heard her; there was no hint of impatience in his eyes. Then, he reached out to hold her.

“I meant…carry…” She pursed her red lips and looked at him expectantly with her beautiful eyes.

The moonlight was dim, so it was hard to see Richard’s expression, but Angela felt that his handsome face was covered by shadows, making it challenging to observe his expression.

After she made this request, she began to regret it a little as she figured she would suffer the embarrassment of being rejected by him later.

Therefore, as she received no reply from him after a long time, she tried to come up with an excuse to ease the awkwardness.

“F-Forget it! I’ll go down myself!” Once she said that, she began to look around for somewhere to place her feet. After all, the stone was more than half a meter from the ground; she was afraid she might fall.

However, at this moment, a large palm wrapped around her waist tightly, and he carried her.

Angela let out a small yelp after being caught off guard. Then, her thin arms instinctively wrapped around his neck as she buried her face in his shoulders.

Her soft lips brushed against the man’s neck, causing his body to tense up in response.

In the next second, she was lowered onto the ground. Unfortunately, because of the uneven ground, she stepped directly onto a protruding stone, and her entire body stumbled backward.

So, the man reached out and wrapped his arms around her, preventing her from hitting the stone with his arms.

Suddenly, the distance between the two closed; when he lowered his head as she raised hers, their faces were no more than an inch apart.

Angele’s breathing became rapid as she thought about how unreal this was. She was reluctant to push him away but did not dare to grab the opportunity to make a move as well.

The two of them stayed in position for a while as they stared into each other’s eyes as a hint of anticipation hung in the air. Of course, it didn’t help that she gulped when she lowered her gaze at the man’s thin lips.

She was considering whether she should pick up the courage and kiss him again.

A cold wind blew mercilessly at this time, messing up her long hair and making her shiver.

Under the moonlight, the man’s sharp gaze fell onto her face. “You’re shivering, and you still want to stay?”

Angela felt like she couldn’t let this opportunity go and wrapped her arms around his neck before pressing her lips to his. Almost instantly, she removed herself, took off, and ran, looking like a runaway rabbit. But because this was a rocky hilltop, she stepped onto a stone before running two steps and fell.

“Ah!” She let out a cry as she sat down in pain.

Richard immediately rushed over to her side to check on her. Angela was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole and hide. This was a really horrible ending to their kiss.

“Why did you run?” He scolded in a low voice.

She lowered her head, blushing. “If I don’t, won’t I just be waiting to be scolded?”

He didn’t say anything as he moved on to check her foot with a flashlight. Luckily, she wore protective sports shoes, which prevented her from getting hurt.

When she noticed that he had ignored her, she felt that she had offended him again. She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even look at him. It was said that it would be easier for women to make the first move, but she felt that there was a chasm between them!

Could it be that it was the other way around for them? Did she have to chase him across the mountains?

“Your foot is fine. Can you walk?” Richard asked seriously. Then, he noticed that her shoelaces were untied and placed the flashlight aside before helping her tie them.

Angela, who had her head turned, looked back and down at the man gently tying her shoelace. He clearly cared about her and took care of her in everything he did, but why did he have to look like an emotionless machine?

Did he not know that everything he was doing was making her misunderstand?

After he was done tying her shoelaces, his phone flashed in the dark, indicating that he had received a text. Then, he stretched out his hand and took his phone to check. This phone of his wouldn’t have any spam.

Anything sent to this phone was considered important information.

Yet, when Richard opened the message, it was a series of texts from Annie. Immediately, he frowned as he read through them.

Angela watched him read the texts with a stern face and stretched out her neck curiously to take a look. She wanted to know who had texted him and if it was a beautiful woman.

He noticed that she was poking her head forward and instantly kept his phone in the pocket of his camouflage jacket.

Angela was stunned for a few seconds when Richard instantly kept away his phone like that; were the texts so important that she couldn’t even steal a glance at them?

“Let’s go back!” He stood up and said.

“Was that a girl that texted you?” She raised her head and inquired.

Naturally, he did not need to answer her. Besides, he would call off his engagement with Annie once he returned. So, there was no need for Angela to know about it.

“Since you aren’t denying it, then it must be true! It seems like there are quite a few girls that like you!” Angela exclaimed as she stood up, swinging the torch around and shining it into Richard’s eyes. He reached out his hand and blocked it before saying, “Be careful when you walk.”

She actually did that on purpose because she felt a little uncomfortable that other women were texting him. He was looking at the messages so seriously, and when she glanced at it just now, she noticed it was a long text. That woman might be confessing to him.

And Angela’s guess was correct; Annie did send a long love-sick text to Richard!

Angela was strolling ahead as she was in no rush to go back. On the other hand, Richard was frowning as he trailed behind her. A woman’s heart was like glass; he did not know how he upset her.

As she was walking, she suddenly noticed a big black shadow on the treetops in front of her and scared her out of her wits. She immediately turned around and hugged the man behind her tightly. “T- There’s a ghost.”

When he shone his torch in that direction, he saw that it was just a frightened monkey. Nevertheless, Angela still hugged him tightly, wishing she could hang herself on him.

“It’s just a monkey,” Richard lowered his voice and assured her.

At this moment, she also heard the monkey’s cries; that noise in the dark also frightened her. Although she quickly let go of him, she did not dare to go far. Instead, she held onto his hand. “I’m scared. Let’s hold hands and walk.”

She didn’t care whether he was agreeable to her arrangement or not. Nonetheless, she felt that there was still too big of a gap between them when they held hands, so she grabbed his arm instead, her whole body leaning onto his.

Richard let out a sigh when he noticed that she was petrified. Therefore, he pulled away and offered, “I’ll carry you down.”

“Really?” Her eyes immediately lit up since that was what she really wanted.

He didn’t answer with words and merely squatted down in front of her as she made herself comfortable by lying on his back. She felt safe being carried down as she laid onto his broad back.

After that, the two worked together tacitly as Angela illuminated the road for him. It was not an easy task to carry her down the mountain, but Richard didn’t falter the whole time.

Although she enjoyed how he treated her, an envious thought grew in her. She thought that he would only carry one woman on his back in the future and no one else.

“Richard Lloyd, you didn’t answer my question!”

“What question?” Richard cocked his head slightly.

“If another female target who needs your protection suddenly shows up, and if she is young and beautiful, will you treat her like how you’re treating me?” Angela went to great lengths to come up with this hypothetical situation.

He continued to ignore her and walked down the hill, step by step. Angela, who was on his back, stared at him with some resentment. “Is it that hard to answer this question?”

“There’s no need to answer such a meaningless question,” he replied faintly.

“It might not mean anything to you, but it does to me,” she blurted out.

“What does it mean to you?” He questioned quietly.

She was rendered speechless by his blunt response. After all, she had never been in a situation where she would have to confess to a guy first. So, she vaguely said, “You need to answer me first. Would you treat other girls like this as well? Once you’ve answered that, I’ll give you yours.”

This way, she could hear what he had to say first. If he said yes, there was no need for her to answer him.

Unfortunately, Richard remained stubborn and continued to ignore her.

Angela laid her chin on his shoulder as she waited for a moment. When she saw that he was genuinely ignoring her, she took advantage of the dark and that there was no one around to whisper in his ears,

“Captain Lloyd, I actually like you quite a bit. Do you like me?”

As soon as she confessed, Angela watched Richard’s side profile as she waited for his answer.

She waited for three seconds, ten seconds, a minute…

Three minutes…

They were already almost at the bottom of the mountain, yet he hadn’t even answered her.

At this point, she had given up. When she noticed that the ground was flat, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Let me down! I can walk by myself.”

As for Richard, he didn’t reject her and carefully placed her down. Under the moonlight, he locked his sharp eyes onto hers, but no emotions could be seen.

Therefore, she wanted to walk past him silently, but in the next second, her arm was clasped by a firm hand.

Her heart began to thump against her chest. She almost allowed herself to be pulled by his force and into his embrace, but a cold male voice came into her ears in the next second, “Don’t waste your time on me. It is impossible for you and me to be together.”

When she heard this, her face immediately flushed red before she turned pale again. Sure enough, she had been ahead of herself.

This rejection was simple and gave no room for argument.

“To me, you are just someone I need to protect. That’s all. There’s no room to talk about liking each other here,” Richard added.

Angela retracted her hands in embarrassment at his blunt rejection, pursed her lips, and endured a sense of grievance. At this moment, the monkey had returned to the branch next to her. It was probably attracted to the light as he began screeching next to her.

This time, she did not react. Instead, Richard, who was beside her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his side, fearing that the monkey might attack her.

Meanwhile, she lowered her head and looked at the arms that were holding her tightly. She realized that he was just protecting her as part of his job; it didn’t stem from any interest in her.

With her head still lowered, she quickly walked back to the base as she tried to widen the gap between herself and him. This was probably the only way that she would retain her dignity.

This was the first time in her life that her confession to a man was rejected, and her arrogant self- esteem was utterly shattered.

She finally relaxed after she returned to her room and leaned back against the door. Although her face was painted with annoyance, she felt that she had done nothing wrong. She had just confessed to a man that she liked and was rejected. It was normal.

Why did Angela have to drown in self-pity? Being rejected did not mean that she was not a likable woman!

Forget it. It was time to sleep. Tomorrow morning would be another beautiful day. Angela admitted that she was not worthy of Richard.

However, as she lay in bed, her mind began to wander. Could it be that she was with Dexter before? Or was it that because she had shown her immense love for Dexter in front of Richard, making him feel that she was a fickle, flirtatious woman?

After careful calculations, she realized that she had only been at the base for less than half a month. Yet, she had already confessed to Richard. How embarrassing! Angela thought about this again and again before calming herself down and deciding to let those feelings go and just be herself!

Early the following day, Angela got up and went for a run. She wanted to do something to distract herself; she couldn’t utterly focus on Richard like that.

“Good morning, Miss Meyers!” Trevor and Jared greeted Angela when they bumped into her.

“Good morning,” she replied breathlessly with a bright smile.

It was evident that she was in a good mood, and this made Trevor and Jared exchange glances. They thought that the date they had arranged last night made Richard and her take their relationship to the next step!

Angela couldn’t help but ask when she saw them, “Is it convenient for me to ask you a question?”

“Go ahead,” Trevor said, happy to help.

“Has your captain never had a girlfriend?” She asked directly.

This made Jared burst into laughter. “Miss Meyers, don’t worry. Our captain’s love life is as blank as paper. He absolutely does not have any exes.”

“Yeah! We’ve been around him for so long, yet haven’t even seen him around a female, let alone a girlfriend. So, you can pursue him without any worries,” Trevor added with a smile.

Angela lowered her head and smiled shyly as bitterness filled her heart. Finally, she raised her eyebrows and replied, “You’ve misunderstood. I’m not trying to date him. I’m just asking.”

The smile on Trevor and Jared’s faces froze as curiosity flashed across their faces. Then, Trevor asked urgently, “Why?”

“Your captain is too good for me. I don’t deserve him. Don’t misunderstand us, and don’t try to set us up, or it would be awkward for the two of us,” Angela reminded them. Running had made her hair loose, so she pulled out her rubber band; her long, thick hair swayed casually under the morning sun.

This made Trevor and Jared stare. Her beauty was out of this world. Any ordinary man would fall for her if they looked a little longer.

“Alright, I’ll go and continue my run.” She felt she hadn’t run enough and pointed at the path beyond the mountain. “I’ll head over there.”

“Be careful, Miss Meyers,” Trevor prompted.

Angela waved her hand as she ran into the morning fog. The mountain in the autumn, coupled with the falling maple leaves, was breathtaking. She sat on the stone beside her and noticed a fish swimming around her foot.

This made her smile. This fish was kinder than someone else!

Angela stayed here for almost the entire morning. She was unaware that back in the cafeteria, Jared and Trevor, who were about to get their food, realized that she did not show up for breakfast.

“Is Miss Meyers lost? Why isn’t she back yet?” Jared asked worriedly.

“Exactly. She said she was going to jog up the mountain. She shouldn’t climb it alone. That mountain is dangerous!” Trevor thought that Angela was adventurous and was afraid that she had climbed the mountain alone.

“Miss Meyers should be smarter than that,” Sean chimed in.

“Was Miss Meyers in a bad mood?” Willy asked as well.

In the room, Richard, who had been quietly eating his breakfast, suddenly got up and left.

The four men immediately looked at their captain, who had just sat down.

“Captain must be going to look for her!”

“I think he might have broken Miss Meyers’ heart last night. When I met her this morning, she said that Captain was too good for her and that she wasn’t worthy of him.

“How could she not be worthy? There are so many men after her,” Sean defended Angela.

Willy, who was usually a man of few words, saw the bigger picture and gave the other three a blank look. “What do you guys know? Look at what we’re doing. We’re all protecting Miss Meyers, even the Captain. So, how can he talk about his feelings here? It’s precisely because he wanted to protect and ensure that Miss Meyers is completely safe that he did not allow his personal affairs to affect his reasoning and judgment.”

“That’s right. I seem to remember hearing from Richard that having a woman will affect his job efficiency.”

“That makes sense. So, it’s not that the Captain doesn’t like Miss Meyers. He just doesn’t want to date her at the moment since we’re working. I understand now.”

“It is also our top priority to keep Miss Meyers safe. But don’t forget that great danger lurks behind her. So, we cannot take things lightly,” Willy reminded.

At this moment, the other three suddenly felt a rush of enlightenment through their mind.

The fog next to the mountain was still thick, clouding her view. Angela was in a daze when she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned her head and looked at the foggy path as her heart tightened.

Who was that?

Just as she was about to call out and ask, she noticed a tall, straight figure breaking out of the fog. Who else could it be other than Richard?

This made her frown. Why did he come looking for her?

However, her heart still hammered in her chest when she saw that he was here; she couldn’t help but gently press her palm against her chest.

Calm down.

“Don’t stay out here too long. It’s not safe,” Richard approached and reminded her.

Angela nodded obediently. “Okay. I know. I’ll go back now.”

He stood there momentarily and noticed that she did not move, so he suggested, “I’ll walk you back.”

“No, it’s okay. Thank you. I want to sit down here a while longer. Captain Lloyd, don’t waste your time here. Go do what you have to do,” she answered politely.