As a doctor, Axell prioritized health, normally avoiding smoking.

Yet now, he retrieved a cigarette from the console, lighting it. But halfway through, he stubbed it out, turning to Jessie. "Do you still stay in touch with each other?" he asked, his tone strained.

Jessie's eyes stung with discomfort.

She had anticipated Albert's influence on their future, but she hadn't expected the awkwardness to arise so soon. Avoiding Axell's gaze, she turned her face aside. "No," she replied curtly. "Didn't I refuse to tutor his child?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Axell abruptly turned her face toward him, claiming her lips in a fierce kiss.

His fervent mouth pressed against hers, his bite nearly drawing blood.

Jessie gasped for breath, her hand clutching Axell's shoulder. She tightened her grip, first on his clothes and then on his shoulder.

Fragile, she seemed to yield effortlessly to him.

This was a side of Axell she hadn't seen before.

His voice, now husky with desire, emitted a sound belonging to youth.

Unbeknownst to them, a black Rolls-Royce had pulled up a few meters away. The windshield wipers swayed steadily as Albert sat inside, his fingers gripping the steering wheel tightly, his complexion pale.

Albert watched silently, his gaze fixed on them.

Seeing that picture of them kissing before didn't faze him. It was more of a courtesy kiss and inconsequential in his eyes.

However, he couldn't brush it off this time. He thought they were a long way from being real lovers, but this scene in front of him was different.

This was a man's possessive kiss, and Albert could see the intensity in Axell's eyes, the forceful grip on Jessie.

As a man, Albert recognized Axell's desire to claim Jessie as his own. Discovering the truth had ignited an urgency in Axell to make Jessie his.

Albert reached for a cigarette, his hands trembling as he lit it.

He needed the nicotine to dull the ache, to quell the impulse to intervene and beat Axell to death-something he couldn't really do.

Albert couldn't help but feel sorry for Jessie. He knew he couldn't meddle in her affairs, no matter how much he disliked Axell.

As he smoked, Albert abruptly stubbed out the cigarette with his bare hand, disregarding the sparks that singed his palm. His heart ached with a deep sense of sorrow. The thought of Jessie marrying Axell filled Albert with dread.