"Then why don’t you have a girlfriend now?"

"That’s because I’m always stuck working for you."

Desmond gave Lucas a resentful look. "Do you think I have time for dating? I can’t even spare a moment. Every day I’m trailing after you, and if I slip up, I get threatened with being shipped off to Southwest to dig mines."

Lucas' gaze flickered, his hand curling into a fist as he covered a cough against his lips, as if Desmond wasn’t talking about him at all.

Awkwardly, he said, "All right, I get it. Once this is settled, I’ll make sure you get some vacation time."

"Thank you, Mr. Carter." Desmond grinned from ear to ear. "When we’re back tonight, I’ll put together a proper guide for you to study. I believe Mrs. Carter will definitely soften if you follow it."

"Mr. Carter, the road ahead is long. Our revolution hasn’t succeeded yet–we comrades must keep working hard!"

Seeing the determination on Desmond’s face, Lucas felt confidence rise in him too.

That evening after work, he did exactly as Desmond suggested and ordered a bouquet of ice-blue roses. He made his way to Aurora’s studio, with a restaurant reservation already set, convinced that in a quiet setting the two of them would finally talk things through.

When Lucas appeared at the studio door holding the bouquet, Megan nearly jumped. She rubbed her eyes several times, staring in disbelief, then even circled him a few times before blurting out, “Wait, are you really my cousin?”

Lucas cast her a sidelong glance and replied carelessly, “Have you seen Aurora today?”

“Not yet. I just woke up and came by to ask her out for a meal.”

“Good.”

Lucas’s lips curved. If Megan hadn’t seen Aurora yet, that meant his plans weren’t exposed. Watching Megan’s happy expression, he thought of the cold reception that awaited her later and couldn’t help the smile tugging at his mouth. As long as he wasn’t the only one treated that way, having Megan there as backup was good enough.

Megan, puzzled by his half-finished words, could only frown in confusion.

“Lucas, what do you mean by that?”

Megan scratched her head, thinking hard, but still couldn’t figure it out. “Why are you suddenly asking me something so random? I’ve been trying to make sense of it and still don’t get it."

Since the trending posts online had already been taken down, Megan hadn’t seen anything.

Lucas, however, kept his air of mystery. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t need to know the details.”

“Why shouldn’t I know?”

The more he brushed her off, the angrier Megan became. She was naturally curious, and now Lucas was deliberately withholding details from her. That felt worse than death–how could she possibly tolerate it?

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll go straight to Aurora and complain.”

That trick had always worked on Lucas before, without fail.

But now, Lucas’s reaction was strangely calm. Even while holding the bouquet, he didn’t so much as shift.

He didn’t even glance at Megan, only said lightly, “Then go. Tell Aurora.”

Megan was speechless. What on earth had gotten into her cousin today? Why was he acting so completely out of character?