Preston Vance pushed up his glasses, the lenses hiding the glint in his eyes. He lowered his gaze slightly and nodded. "Okay, since it’s not convenient for you right now, we’ll put the studio matter on hold. I’ll keep the project open. When you’ve handled your affairs, you can come find me again."

Chloe, however, said, "You don’t need to hold it for me. If I decide I want to do this again in the future, we can just draw up a new plan."

"I can’t do that," Preston Vance said with a faint smile. "If I keep this project open, at least it’ll stay on your mind. If we shelve it for good, you might not even think about coming back."

His words seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

But Chloe didn’t seem to pick up on it. She simply picked up her glass and took a sip of water.

Preston Vance stood up. "If you need anything at all, just let me know. I’ll do everything I can to help."

Chloe smiled faintly. "Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Preston Vance turned and left the study.

Chloe saw him out. When she turned back, her eyes met her grandmother’s pensive gaze.

"Grandma, what’s wrong?"

Chloe walked over and asked, puzzled.

Her grandmother took her hand. "Chloe, are you intentionally pushing Preston away?"

Chloe’s eyes darted away. "What are you talking about? Of course not."

Her grandmother studied her closely. "Really? Was I just imagining things?"

"Grandma, you must be mistaken. Preston and I are just friends, and friends are supposed to keep a reasonable distance, aren’t they? Getting too close wouldn’t be good for either of us."

Her grandmother asked, not quite ready to give up, "You really don’t have any romantic feelings for him?"

Chloe shook her head honestly. "No, really, I don’t. Please stop trying to play matchmaker. You’ll just make things awkward for everyone."

"Alright, I understand." Her grandmother nodded, not pressing the issue any further.

Chloe watched some TV with her grandmother for a while before heading off to shower and go to bed.

「Three days later.」

Walker Grant was discharged from the hospital and returned to Jardinelle to recuperate.

Stepping foot in here again after several months, Chloe felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Walker said coolly, "You can sleep in the guest room."

Hearing this, Chloe shot him a look. "Did you think I was going to ask to sleep in the master bedroom?"

"Which is why you’re sleeping in the guest room."

"..."

’She was speechless.’

’Could he really not tell she was being sarcastic?’

She went to the guest room. The furnishings were simple, but it had fresh bedding and was fully stocked with toiletries.

After a quick look around, Chloe went to find him. "Have you started the investigation?" she asked.

Walker was sitting on the living room sofa, reading a file on his tablet. At her words, he glanced up at her. "I was just discharged. How could I have started investigating?"

"It’s not like you have to do it personally," Chloe retorted. "Don’t you have an executive assistant?"

"My executive assistant has to handle company business," Walker said, his expression mild.

At his words, Chloe’s face fell. "What are you trying to say? Did you lie to me?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Seeing her about to get angry, Walker finally said, "I did find a few things before... but they weren’t very useful."

Chloe suppressed her temper. "What did you find? Where are the files?"

"In my study."

Walker lowered his gaze back to his tablet, his long, elegant fingers tapping the screen a few times.

Chloe went straight into his study. She found where he kept the files with almost no effort.