Independence

Paul waved his hand. I’m not in a rush to get it back.”

It was just a jacket. He had more in his closet.

“I just came back to grab a few changes of clothes. I’m heading back to the lab right after,” he said nasally. He was also wearing a mask. Just from the sound of his voice, Miranda could tell that he was down with a nasty cold.

“Wait,” Miranda said. She turned and headed back inside. When she returned, she had a thermos in her hands. “I made this cauliflower soup last night. Remember to

drink it while it’s hot.”

When Paul heard “cauliflower“, he frowned imperceptibly. Miranda didn’t notice and continued, “There’s also some over–the–counter cold medicine in the bag. The dosage is written on the box.”

Paul was typically healthy and rarely got sick. His hands paused at her words. For the first time, he felt the urge to give the thermos back.

However, Miranda added, “After all, you only got sick yesterday because of me.”

He retracted his hands again. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he was running late. “Thanks for the cauliflower soup and the medicine. I’ll have them.”

After Miranda watched Paul leave, she closed the door and went back inside.

There were some parts that she had to amend in her thesis. Thus, she had been reading up a lot on the Internet.

Not only that, the books and essays that Christine had given her were in their original language, Aurenese. Her Aurenese was only at a conversational level, so she still had to look up jargons when she came across them.

Miranda was lost in the world of academia, and her brain was running a mile a minute. Her hand never stopped as she took notes nonstop. At that moment, her phone rang.

Despite being slightly irritated that her thought process had been interrupted, she still put down her pen and answered the phone.

“Hello, Miranda. I really want to apologize to you for what happened yesterday. Still, there are some things I would like to say to you in person.”

It was Sam.

Miranda was silent for a few seconds. Coincidentally, she also wanted to talk things.

out

After agreeing on a time and place, she ended the call.

Hansel’s furious expression flashed in her mind. However, she shook those unnecessary thoughts out of her head and continued to bury her nose in her thesis.

Miranda and Sam had agreed to meet at the café that they had gone to before, which was not far from Bedford College.

When she pushed the door open, she found Sam sitting at the same table as before.

Sam’s back was to the door, but as though he had sensed her arrival, he turned the moment the bell above the door rang.

His coat was resting by his arm, and he was dressed in a Gucci shirt. The collar was parted slightly, revealing his sexy Adam’s apple and half of his collar bones.

The young women sitting at the neighboring table would peek at him from time to time.

Miranda ignored the gazes of the others as she sat across from him. He then asked. her what she would like to drink.

She wasn’t in the mood to drink coffee, so she went straight to the point. “I came because I wanted to finish our conversation from the other day.”

Sam knew the underlying meaning of her words, but he didn’t seem affected. On the contrary, he smiled. “I also want to tell you that I meant everything I said.”

Miranda frowned. “Then you should know that I don’t like you, and nothing will ever happen between us.”

Sam shrugged. “I know that in this world, no one is infallible, and nothing is ever smooth–sailing. However, so long as it ends well, isn’t that good enough?”

He was born with perseverance. Once he set a target, he wouldn’t stop until he reached it.

At the same time, he was also very patient. He could slowly wait for Miranda to

soften up.

At the start, Hansel had pursued her with his persistence and stubbornness. In the

end, he still ended up winning her over, hadn’t he?

If Hansel could do it, then why couldn’t Sam?