The Day I Kissed An Older Man

"Umm... About earlier, I—"

"I'm sorry, Miss Rita," Sherman interrupted with an apology. "I hope you'll pay no mind to my earlier comments. As you can see, she wasn't in the right frame of mind. I was angry, and her frustration rubbed off on me too. I hope you don't take it to heart, and I sincerely apologize if it offended you."

At that moment, Rita felt as if she had been thrown into an ice-cold bath. "Oh... Don't worry, I didn't take it to heart. With that said, I'd like to ask if you could explain why I became the subject of conversation between you and Miss Claire. If you don't want me to misunderstand anything, it would be better for you not to mention my name at all. That way, I wouldn't be placed in a tight spot either."

Sherman could sense Rita's anger, despite her smile. "I'm sorry," was all he could offer, as he found himself unable to admit that the entire blow-up happened because Claire thought he had fallen in love with Rita.

"Miss Rita, why did you come to see me today?" Sherman changed the topic.

Rita took a deep breath and decided not to argue with Sherman. After all, there were more important things at play there. "I was hoping you'd agree to let me investigate the developer with you."

Sherman's first instinct was to refuse. He frowned and rejected Rita's proposal sternly. "I've reminded you many times not to get involved. Or perhaps you're under the impression that this will work the same way as your last interview where a bit of patience and perseverance will eventually pay dividends?"

"Why won't you let me investigate with you? Parr Group is involved, so are you refusing to let me join you because you're planning to remove the clues?" asked Rita, irritated. She had been mentally prepared to try and persuade Sherman, yet she was taken aback when he rejected her outright.

"Or do you think I'm so incompetent that I'm not even qualified to investigate this matter with you?" she pressed.

"This isn't so much a question of your ability as it is a question of safety. There's more to the developer than you think, and I trust I've already told you that. You have my word that I will get to the bottom of this. Do you not trust what I've said?"

Sherman did not care that Rita had goaded him, as his only concern was that he did not want to get involved in the matter. She was a newcomer who had little knowledge of how things worked in their field, unlike Sherman who had years of experience.

If Esmond was able to evade the investigation on the electronics

Bu

business and sold them the piece of land as if nothing ever happened to them, then the scope of their influence ran clearly far wider than at first glance. Sherman himself went the extra mile to be cautious when investigating the matter, so there was every reason not to letContent protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Rita get involved.

Furthermore, working alone would allow him to focus on the task without worrying about anything else.

"You're underestimating me. I've

been investigating for so many days already, so wouldn't say I don't know a single thing about them. And besides the duty of a reporter is to uncover the truth. Am I supposed to hide behind other people like a coward whenever something like this happens in the future?" Rita remained persistent.

She took two steps forward and said

to Sherman in earnest, "I didn't choose this case for the sake of accolades and whatnot. I simply want to uncover the truth for Virgi and the others. Something tells me that Esmond has persecuted many more families, and all I want is for those people to get the justice they deserve. That has always been my intention when I chose this field, and I hope you can provide me with the necessary support."

Rita then assured Sherman, "I promise not to hold you back or disregard my own safety. Now let me ask you again: can you let me investigate this matter with you?"