“Then you need to go shopping and buy more dresses," she suggested.

“The weather is getting warmer. I haven't seen you buy many clothes for yourself in the last few years. For crying out loud, you used to like dressing yourself up!"

"Yeah, I used to, but not anymore," Jessie retorted. "I now know how difficult it is to make money. I do home tutoring now and get paid by the hour. Can you imagine that? And I have to be humble to make them feel that they're getting their money's worth."

Jessie almost never talked to her mother about her job, but now, she was doing just that. Lettie frowned as she listened to her. "Wow. I didn't know it's so difficult," she gasped in disbelief. "Why don't you just quit then? I can ask my friends to help you get a stable job. I don't want you to wear yourself out with stress."

But Jessie wouldn't hear of this. "I want to earn my own bread," she stated stubbornly with a smile. "You know, Mom, in the end, we can count on no one but ourselves.

Lettie couldn't help but laugh. "You're right." She nodded in agreement enthusiastically. “It's always better for us to rely on ourselves. But frankly, I think Axell is quite a reliable man. He comes from an average family, but he has a doctorate degree in medicine. Both of you can make a smart baby in the future. Besides, he's smart and will help the children with their schoolwork."

But all Jessie could think of was how Axell had fawned on Albert earlier in the day.

She tried her best to suppress her anger and forced a smile to her face. "Let things take their course," she said to her mom. "So far, we're barely friends."

"You're right." Lettie nodded.

Later that night, Jessie took a shower and stayed in her room to prepare for upcoming lessons. Her studio had just been launched, so she only had 20 students so far. For now, some of them were being taught by the teachers she had hired.

Using a reading lamp, she concentrated on the books and read them carefully.

But all of a sudden, her phone beeped. It was the notification of a friend request.

She looked at it briefly and quickly came to the conclusion that it was Albert that had sent her the friend request using another number.

She hesitated for a while before finally making up her mind to decline it. But unsurprisingly, Albert sent another one.

This time, Jessie accepted it.

Then she sent a message to him, “Albert, I thought we were already clear about this. There's no need for you to contact me anymore. As you can see, I already have a new boyfriend!"

She sent it all at once, not in parts.

Then she threw the phone aside and sulked silently. How could he?

How could he bother so much, again and again?

About a minute later, Albert sent a reply, saying, "By boyfriend, do you mean Axell, your blind date? I heard he's a medical practitioner with a PhD. Well, he's indeed a promising young man. But that's not why I contacted you. I heard you've opened a studio where you teach kids foreign Languages. Jeslyn needs a Spanish teacher, so I decided to contact you. Is there anything wrong with that?"