But as time passed by, his feelings for her had become unexplainable.

Moreover, he had never been in a relationship before and the notion of love for a woman was foreign to him.

ALL Stefan knew was he wanted Raegan to be happy, whether he was a part of that happiness. As long as she was delighted, nothing else mattered.

Raegan appreciated Stefan's effort to comfort her. Sometimes, there were things she couldn't tell Erick because she feared he would be impulsive. But with Stefan, she didn't have such kind of worry. It seemed he could always guess her thoughts and would never do anything to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Thank you, Stefan. I understand." Raegan agreed with Stefan. She wouldn't force her heart to suddenly turn indifferent to Mitchel she had loved for a decade. She would let nature take its course. Anyway, she was doing fine. Like now, she could already eat with Mitchel in the same restaurant calmly. She couldn't avoid him forever.

Eventually, she would move on.

The dinner ended earlier than expected. When Raegan got up, she spot Mitchel not far away, his face icy.

Raegan averted her gaze, treating him like any other stranger she might see anywhere.

After taking a few steps, Stefan's phone rang, a work-related call.

He cut it off without answering, but the phone rang again.

Stefan was about to dismiss it again when Raegan suddenly stopped him.

"Stefan, why not answer it? What if it's something important?"

Stefan frowned, still reluctant to answer it. “It can wait. I'll drive you home first."

"Just answer it first and see what it's about."

Stefan relented and answered the phone. After Listening to the person on the other end of the line, his expression changed. He asked, “Is it serious? Which hospital?"

Stefan fell silent, listening to the person on the other end of the line again. Then, he hung up and looked at Raegan with a troubled expression.

Stefan's lips moved, wanting to say something. But before he could speak, Raegan quickly said, "It must be something serious. Go ahead. Don't worry about me."

Stefan explained, “It's a student who messed up an experiment and injured his hand. His parents are not in Ardlens, so no one can take care of him."

"Then, go. It's an emergency. You should leave now." Raegan nudged Stefan. "I'm fine. I'll just call my driver to pick me up."

Stefan looked at her worriedly. "But it will take thirty minutes for the driver to get here. I'm not comfortable leaving you to wait that long."