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Chapter 50

What? Back to Riverford again? Calla couldn’t quite process the information.

“Mrs. Garland, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now,” Ally said before disconnecting the call.

Calla was taken aback. He had driven back at 2:00 am, only to leave again at 6:30 am. Since he knew that he had work in the morning, why did he spend over four hours driving back and forth? Was it really just to

see her?

At this thought, her heart began to race.

The breakfast today was sumptuous, with milk, risotto, sandwiches, and croissants. As Calla enjoyed her meal, she found herself missing Mercer. She realized she was starting to like him more and more.

The morning’s activities included a boat ride, flower viewing, and tea drinking in the resort. Calla was distracted the entire time, her mind filled with thoughts of Mercer.

During lunch, she barely touched her food.

Alicia glanced at Calla and chuckled. “Why are you so listless today? Is it because you haven’t seen the scrooge?”

Only then did Calla realize why she had been so unenergetic. Shocked, she quickly retorted, “What are you talking about? I’m pregnant, remember? Of course I’m going to be sleepy and hungry all the time.”

Alicia thought about it and realized Calla was right, so she nodded in agreement. “I thought the scrooge had completely charmed you in just two days.”

“Yeah, sure.” Calla rolled her eyes.

As they chatted, a colleague from the finance department approached with a smile. “Alicia, Calla, not only did you get a free trip, but you also won a few hundred bucks off us. Shouldn’t you treat us to a meal wher we get back to Riverford?”

With that, several other finance colleagues joined in, teasing Alicia and Calla about winning their money- demanding compensation for their wounded pride.

Alicia laughed. “You lost fair and square. You bet that Mr. Garland wouldn’t join us on the trip, and we bet

he would.”

“Hey, don’t be so stingy. Each of you won 400 dollars. You could at least take us out for some barbecue,” another colleague suggested.

Before Alicia could respond, Calla patted her shoulder and stood up. She then announced loudly, “Fine, we’ll treat you. But it’s only going to be barbecue, nothing fancy!”

“Just beer and barbecue, then.” The colleagues agreed.

“Alright, tomorrow night it is!” Calla declared cheerfully

At that moment, the colleagues noticed someone behind Calla and quickly stopped laughing. They bowed respectfully and called out, “Mr. Garland!”

Calla’s expression froze at once. She slowly turned around to see Mercer standing right behind her. His expression was unreadable.

+15 BONUS

“Mr. Garland,” Calla greeted with a lowered head.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mercer’s gaze linger on her before he turned and walked away, looking displeased.

After he left, the colleagues began to murmur nervously.

“Do you think Mr. Garland is upset because we bet on him?”

“We might have offended him big time.”

“Surely Mr. Garland isn’t that petty, right?”

Calla felt a pano

of anxiety. Mercer’s face had indeed been very dark just now. Could he really be angry?