Melissa had a fever and felt very unwell.

But she refused to take a ride from Marcus. She stood on the steps, gathering her thin overcoat around her, and said softly, “I'm grateful for your kindness, Mr. Fowler. But I can take a taxi."

Marcus' expression darkened.

He fixed his gaze on her and asked, “Why? Are you afraid that you will owe me a favor?"

Melissa dropped her eyes to the ground as she replied, “Of course not. I just... It's inappropriate. You have a girlfriend, don't you, Mr. Fowler? I don't think you want to become the subject of rumors."

Marcus' mind flashed back to the newspaper article he had seen that morning, and it struck him that Melissa must have come across it as well.

With a blank expression, he asked, “Are you jealous?”

"You reading too much into it. Mr. Fowler, we're both from very different worlds."

After saying that, Melissa took out her phone to call a Uber for herself, ignoring him. Marcus scowled, opened his door, and stepped out of the car. Grabbing her phone, he insisted, "I said I will drive you to the hospital."

"And I said there's no need for that."

He didn't expect Melissa to put up a fight. During their struggle, her phone fell to the ground, cracking the screen.

The air around them went still.

Their heavy breathing was the only sound in the silence. After several moments, Melissa finally bent down to pick her phone up.

Unexpectedly, Marcus also reached for it at the same time. Their hands brushed against each other.

Melissa instinctively snatched her hand back.

But Marcus was quicker in catching it. At the same time, he also plucked up her phone and slid it into his coat pocket. Melissa asked in a gruff voice, "What are you doing?"

"I'll drive you to the hospital. I don't have any other motive. I'm just passing by the same way.”

After explaining this stonily, Marcus tugged her to the car's front seat, opened the door on the passenger side, and gently shoved her inside. Before she could escape, Marcus placed one hand on the roof of the car and moved in close to her. “Melissa, you don't want to create a scene here and stir scandals, do you?"

Melissa slowly sat up straight.

She leaned back into the seat and mumbled, "Marcus, you're a much bigger jerk than before."