Independence

Chapter 0033

Sam didn’t ask further. Smiling, he said, “We just opened a bottle of Burgundy. Do you

want a glass?”

As he spoke, he filled half a glass and handed it to Hansel.

Hansel took a small sip. “Not bad. After a pause, he pretended to ask casually, “Didn’t you say Miranda was here earlier? How come I don’t see her?”

“Did you intentionally come here just to see her?” Sam swirled his glass with a faux smile

“Heh.” Hansel’s expression darkened slightly. “I just happened to come here for some alcohol. Since you ran into her, is it illegal for me to ask?”

Sam shrugged. “I bumped into her in the corridor. She was just here to have a drink. Given how late it is, she must’ve gone home a long time ago.”

Hansel said nothing, but his expression looked evidently more relaxed. As he’d thought, this kind of environment didn’t suit Miranda.

Putting down his glass, he stood. “I have work tomorrow, so I’ll get going. Put this on my tab.”

As Sam watched his retreating back, his gaze dimmed. After a brief moment, he sighed. lightly. “I’m sorry, bro.”

Winter and Miranda didn’t even spend an hour in the private room. After Winter downed half a bottle of wine, she passed out.

Miranda also had a little to drink, so she couldn’t drive. In the end, she called a designated driver to take Winter back to her condo. Then, she went downstairs hailed a cab back to her apartment.

s and

Along the way, it began to rain. Because it was so dark, the cab was only willing to drop her off at the alleyway near her home.

Miranda didn’t have an umbrella, and she didn’t know when the downpour was going to stop. Thus, she decided to brave the rain and run home.

“Miranda!”

A clear voice calling her name from behind stopped her in her tracks. When she turned around, she saw Paul emerging from the rain with an umbrella.

“Were you planning to run home in the rain?”

He wasn’t wearing a button–up shirt today. Instead, he wore a casual T–shirt, which made him look less stern than he usually did.

Miranda nodded slowly. That had indeed been her plan.

“Use this umbrella.” He shoved the umbrella into her hands.

She frowned. “What about you?”

In truth, she wanted to say that they could both huddle under the umbrella.

“I’ll borrow one from a shop.” With that, Paul ran into a restaurant across the street and

borrowed a foldable umbrella from the owner.

Miranda blinked. That restaurant owner had a temper and didn’t like dealing with customers. How had Paul managed to do that?

“He had some issues with the electric circuits in his restaurant in the past. I happened to be passing by, and I fixed it for him.” Paul didn’t intend to explain further. Seeing that the rain had lightened up slightly, he opened the umbrella and walked into the rain.

Miranda stared dumbly at his back for a couple of seconds before following him..

In this old neighborhood, the street lamps were already dim enough. However, because of the rain, the light appeared even weaker.

Lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, and the trees rustled from the strong winds. Miranda tightened her grip on the umbrella handle and increased her pace.

The two of them wove through the alleyway amidst the harsh storm. Miranda realized that she had kept a constant ten–foot distance between herself and Paul–not too far but not too near either.

Was he… intentionally slowing his footsteps because he knew she was scared?

At that moment, he suddenly turned around. “What’s the matter?”

She was taken aback. “It’s nothing.”

“Can you keep up?”

“Yes.”

The rain had really been heavy. When she got home, her pants were so drenched that she could wring water out of them.

She quickly stripped out of her sopping wet clothing and took a hot shower. After she put on her pajamas, she even took an immunity supplement to ward off a potential cold. As she swallowed the bitter tablet, the image of Paul carrying an umbrella surfaced in

her mind. His back was tall and broad, just the look of it seemed reassuring.