"Tell me you missed me." Nia was baffled. What exactly does the CEO want? "Alright, alright, I missed you, okay? Now please leave," she implored. Nia finally managed to push Maxwell away. She flopped back onto the bed, grinning so widely her eyes crinkled into crescents. Maxwell nodded and finally stood up. Only after Maxwell had fully left the room did Nia truly relax, sprawling carelessly on the bed. At that moment, Charles Northwood was heading towards his apartment. If you got close enough, you could smell the alcohol lingering on him. Dressed in his usual pristine white, a subtle dark aura nonetheless surrounded him, making his thoughts all the more impenetrable. Under the dim lamplight, he pulled out his phone, hesitated briefly, then pressed a few buttons. "I need to know where Hendry Hampton is now." After listening to the response from the other end, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he lowered his arm. Fiona, squinting, saw it all from a distance. She unsteadily sat down near the entrance of the apartment building. Only then did Charles notice her. He approached, looking somewhat surprised. "Why are you still here?" Didn’t Fiona leave a while ago? "My Knight," Fiona slurred, her gaze hazy as she looked at him. "Oh, how I wish you were truly *my* Knight." She stood shakily, knocking over several wine bottles that littered the ground. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩 "Have you been drinking again?" Charles asked, rubbing his temples. Although he’d just had a few drinks himself, he had managed to stay sober. Fiona swayed, her cheeks flushed bright red. Clearly, she’d had quite a lot to drink. The usually resilient and outspoken Fiona now had tears welling in her eyes. "My... Knight..." she mumbled. As she spoke, a belch escaped her, and the stench of alcohol immediately assaulted Charles’s nose. Charles quickly scrunched up his nose at the strong smell and waved the air in front of him, hoping it would dissipate. "How much have you drunk?" he grumbled. For a young woman to get this drunk and sit outside in such a state, didn’t she realize how dangerous that was? "I’m not drunk!" Fiona yelled, slapping away the hand Charles was waving. SMACK! A red welt instantly appeared on the back of Charles’s hand. "My Knight, I love you." Fiona mustered all her strength to stand straight, but she still swayed unsteadily. "I... love you..." Fiona shouted, spreading her arms wide. She kept repeating the words, her arms slowly dropping. She lowered her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. Charles froze, not because her words didn’t affect him, but because... She had said the same thing when they were in the USA. And he had clearly told her then: what they had was friendship, not romance. She was mistaken. Someone as proud as Fiona, how could she believe she’d mistaken friendship for love? "Fiona, we are friends," he said, his eyebrows furrowed, an air of exhaustion enveloping him. Fiona shook her head, her mind spinning. After hearing Charles’s words, she finally lost consciousness. Shocked, Charles quickly caught the fainting Fiona. With a helpless sigh, he unlocked his apartment door and carried her inside. I really can’t get a break, can I? Charles glanced heavenward. He left her in the Guest Room, then turned and walked to the bathroom to get a washcloth moistened with warm water to wipe her face. "Fiona, we are friends. You and Nia are the same—you both hold the same place in my heart." But why, after seven years, do you still think you’re in love with me? Why... do you always feel that I treat Nia better than I treat you?