Sherry was left speechless, as she stared at Linda's receding figure. After all, it was still working hours,
and as a manager, she should be focusing on her work.
She had said everything she wanted to say, and she hoped that Linda would understand where she
was coming from. She was afraid that Linda would ignore her and regret it later when she had fallen
completely into it.
After a day's work, everyone else was hoping to get off work early, but Sherry was very reluctant to do
so.
She felt like she would fall ill at the thought of going with Steve to the piano concert.
It was not the pianist's fault, of course, as she was very fond of that pianist, and if she could go to the
concert alone, she would be very happy.
But now, she didn't want to go at all because of Steve.
As soon as Sherry stepped out of the office building, she saw a car parked just a small distance away,
a man about to get off.
Steve stared back at her with an arrogant smirk, and as her eyes trailed down, she noticed that his
black shirt accentuated his wide shoulders well. She wanted to feel appreciation for this man, but all
she could feel at that moment was dread.
"Sherry, come here!" Steve suddenly shouted while Sherry was still far away. Her heart jumped
nervously, and she hurried towards him with her shoulders hunched down, trying to make herself
smaller, so that no one would look at her.
Once she was near enough to his car, she hissed angrily, "Can't you keep it down? Do you want
everyone to know about this?"
She was enraged. Did he want to let everyone in the company know she was going out with him?
She did not care about the others and could easily ignore them, but how could she explain this to
Linda? If she saw him going out with Steve, it would break her heart. Sherry had no idea how to face
her good friend.
"Why not? Why can't I let others know?" he asked indignantly. "We are both single, and it's normal for a
man to ask a woman out, isn't it?" He originally wanted to pursue Sherry in a grand and outlandish way
as if to say that she was his and no one else's.
But when Sherry heard how open he was about this, she became so angry, hissing like a feral cat. She
pushed her way towards his car with big steps as if there were wings on her feet that enabled her to
walk quickly in her high heels.
"Sherry!" Steve caught up with her in a few steps and leaned close to her, but before he could whisper
to her ear, she leaned away, glared at him heatedly, and said,
"Don't be so loud and obvious next time, okay? Park your car somewhere farther away and wait until I
come," she told him as she eyed him with an icy expression. Steve frowned at this and said, "What's
wrong with you? Why are you acting like you are so ashamed of me?" He could not understand why
she was acting this way when any other woman would have begged just to be treated like he was
treating her. Unfortunately for her, he was accustomed to being unrestrained, and he never cared about
what anyone would say.
This was why he could not figure Sherry out.
"I don't want to have too much contact with you, and I don't want my colleagues to see it either." There
was a firm determination behind Sherry's words. She didn't want to have anything to do with Steve
because in her heart, Steve was just a disgusting bastard!
"Why? Am I not presentable? I always pursue women without restraint, and I don't want to hide my
feelings." As he said this, he opened the door for Sherry with a flourish that annoyed her even more.
He wore an arrogant smirk as if he was challenging her to stop him from doing outlandish romantic
gestures.
Sherry gave a cold smile at this and said, "If that is what you want, then you can go out on your own
next time. There is no need to call me."
She had already conceded once, so after this, if Steve dared to threaten her with Linda again, she
would take extreme measures.
"I don't want to fight. Let's shelve that topic for now, okay?" Steve said with a placating smile, looking
calm and unaffected by Sherry's anger. He would force himself to put up with her, even if he was very
angry with her.
It was not until that moment that Sherry realized what she had just said, and she suddenly regretted
her words so much that she wanted to cut her tongue. Why would she say that there would be a next
time? This should be the last time! It was a clear hint that he would still ask her out in the future, wasn't
it?
She really didn't want to have anything to do with this man. Every time she saw him, she felt nothing
else besides annoyance.
She would give anything just to be rid of this awful man that could not seem to take a hint.
As she was about to get in the car, she found a bunch of roses on the passenger seat.
There were still water droplets on the roses, and they looked so delicate and red which made them
extremely attractive.
She stared at the flowers for a few seconds, and then she heard his gentle voice from behind her. "So,
do you like it?"
Sherry didn't even glance at him. Instead, she kept a cold expression on her face, and she did the
exact opposite of what women would normally have done if they were faced with the same scenario.
She snatched it and roughly threw it to the back seat, as she snapped, "I don't care. Just throw them
away!" Then, she sat fuming on the passenger seat.
Helpless, Steve just closed the door and started driving.
"I am sure you will be satisfied with today's performance!" It was like he was allergic to silence, as he
kept chattering at Sherry, even when she refused to answer him. She even managed to not utter a
word until they arrived at their destination.
Since the concert hadn't started yet, they spent some time waiting by the hall where Steve spotted
someone selling snacks. He gestured for Sherry to wait, and then he went to buy some snacks.
"Do you like these? I can buy others if you don't like these." He handed a bag to Sherry, but she only
gave it a cursory glance and said,
"I don't like eating snacks when I watch concerts."
Of course, she was lying and wanted to eat too, but she did not want to eat the food that Steve had
bought.
She hoped to embarrass him with her answer, but Steve did not feel awkward at all. He acted like it
was perfectly natural to be rejected, with no trace of embarrassment at all.
"Are you tired? Why don't you go there and take a seat?" Steve moved to take Sherry's hand, but she
was quick to evade him. She turned back to the concert hall and said, "It's about to start. We should
go."
The concert was a great success with beautiful and melodious music that amazed everyone present.
Sherry tried to enjoy the music, which would have sounded heavenly on any other occasion, but it was
difficult because Steve spent the whole concert gazing at her.
Once the concert wrapped up, Steve didn't wait and invited her once again.
"There will be an art exhibition next time and all the seats are sold out already, but my friend has two
tickets. Do you want to come with me?" said Steve while he tried to keep up with her brisk pace.
"I'm not interested in that." Sherry sighed, resting her hand on her forehead
"I don't believe you. You like that artist a lot, don't you?" Steve asked with a frown, and his words and
disbelief stopped Sherry in her tracks. She turned to him with a similar frown on her face and asked,
"How do you know I like this artist's work?"
She looked at him with confusion, as she was sure that she didn't mention that to him.
"I got the information from your good friend Linda. We talked about you last night when we were picking
clothes," Steve answered with a smirk, pleased that he seemed to have outwitted her this time.
Sherry, catching this look, was suddenly overcome by sadness at her situation, as she was forced to
spend time with a man she loathed very much.
"What else have you asked Linda?" Sherry asked with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I did not ask much, don't worry. But I think that I know you better now," Steve answered mysteriously,
his muscled arms crossed over his chest.
"I'm warning you, don't ever exploit Linda again. A man like you is not worthy of her."
She hissed at him like an angry cat because she hated that her friend was being involved without her
knowledge, and he had no right to do that.
She could bear the pain alone, but Linda was innocent, and she should have a man who loved and
protected her, not a playboy like Steve.
"Don't worry. As long as you promise to go out with me and give me a chance, I won't exploit her
anymore." When Steve saw that she looked seriously upset about this, he stopped smiling and
touching her.
Sherry kept silent for a while and helplessly said to him, "I don't like you. Just stop wasting your time,
please."
As soon as Sherry finished saying this, she stood up to leave, but Steve grabbed her arm and refused
to let her go.
He took both of her hands in his, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Don't turn me down in such a hurry.
I am serious about you, so please believe me."
It was unbelievable how he could say something so seriously!
"Just give me one more chance, okay? You don't even know me. You haven't even given me a chance
to prove myself!" Steve insisted anxiously.
'Why is this woman so different from other women?' Steve thought and wondered why she was always
avoiding him. Shouldn't she be happy that someone like him wanted her?
Why was it so easy for her to dismiss him?
"I'm not the same as other women, so please don't bother me from now on." Sherry tried to pull away
from his grasp, but his hold on her remained steadfast.
His eyes were burning with intensity, as he leaned towards her and said, "Why do you think so lowly of
me? I don't understand. Just give me a chance, and you will understand that I am not the kind of man
you think I am."
Sherry looked at him helplessly, and she opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.
"Please, just give me a month at least, so you could see that I am sincere. If after a month, you still do
not want anything to do with me, then I won't bother you anymore."
Sherry almost laughed in his face. After all, she would never fall in love with him, not even if they were
given a year to spend time together.
But as he looked into her eyes, she could not find the words to refuse him.
"I won't bother Linda anymore, okay?" Steve added further.
And when she heard this, she was moved.
In her mind, she could do anything for a good friend, and she was willing to do this just so Linda would
not get hurt.
After a long while filled with hesitation, she finally nodded minutely, and the movement was so quick
and hesitant that anyone would have missed it, but Steve, who was eyeing her like a hawk, did not
miss a thing.
"Good, then it's a deal. We will spend a month to know each other, so you can't refuse my invitations,
okay?"
The happy expression on Steve's face was a sharp contrast to Sherry's dead eyes, as she accepted
the deal.
Steve laughed joyfully but Sherry couldn't find a trace of happiness in her, although, she did feel a little
relaxed.
After all, the deal was reassuring on her part because one month was surely not enough time to fall in
love with him, and it meant that he would leave her and Linda alone after a month.
'I'll just go out with him. It's not a bad deal,' she thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Jessie was just exiting the concert hall, and she spotted Steve and Sherry at once.
Even though Sherry was facing away from her, Jessie could still recognize her clearly. Her eyes
narrowed as the man who was standing in front of her caught her attention.
'Was that Steve? Why are they standing so close to each other?' she wondered.
She did not waste any time and immediately took out her phone, but when she was about to take a
picture, Sherry suddenly slapped away Steve's hand. Then, they walked out of the music hall side by
side.
A cold smile tugged at the corners of Jessie's mouth, as she looked at their departing figures.
When they were out of her sight, she made a phone call and then went to a private detective agency,
where she made an appointment to meet as soon as possible.
In the detective agency, Jessie showed up with big sunglasses that covered almost half of her face.
She threw a pile of documents onto the desk, and told the private detective, "I want you to follow these
two around and take photos for me. I want to know what is going on with them, is that clear?"
The private detective looked up at her in a daze, distracted by the bright red lipstick smeared on her
lips, but when he saw that Jessie was dressed in a fancy dress and her bag alone seemed more
expensive than his whole attire, he immediately agreed to take the case.
A strange smile spread over her face.
'Sherry, you are done!
If I show these photos to Jeremy, you'll be screwed! We will see who will have the last laugh!'
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