Chapter 1652:

Pivoting to leave, Leland glimpsed Corrine wielding a slipper, clearly having just swatted an intruding insect.

The unfortunate bug lay smashed against the wall.

Corrine’s earlier words suddenly replayed in his mind, unleashing perhaps the most excruciating embarrassment of his entire existence. Especially considering the accusatory attitude he’d harbored toward Nate…

Shame-faced, he cast a furtive glance at the man, relieved that Nate seemed unbothered.

Downstairs, Carl sipped his coffee with feigned casualness, his eyes darting repeatedly toward Nate.

The hour had grown late, yet the man showed no signs of departing. Could he possibly be intending to stay the night?

Carl set his cup down deliberately and drew a theatrical breath.

“Oh, it’s already past nine. How time escapes us.”

He cast a pointed glance at the three men seated across from him, his meaning unmistakable.

Jules spoke up.

“The hour is indeed late. I must retire—an early meeting demands my attention tomorrow.”

He had no intention of being the scapegoat.

Moreover, the laboratory still depended heavily on Nate’s research team, making any slight against him a luxury they could ill afford.

As Jules left, Jayden and Waldo squirmed in mounting discomfort, caught in the purgatory between staying and fleeing.

After an eternity of silence, Jayden finally mustered his courage.

“Mr. Hopkins, considering the hour, perhaps you should…”

Nate lifted his gaze languidly, fixing Jayden with an inscrutable stare. In that piercing moment, Jayden’s mind emptied completely, and his sentence veered in an unexpected direction.

“Stay here tonight.”

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A ghost of a smile touched Nate’s lips.

“Wouldn’t that be considered inappropriate?”

“No.” Jayden’s reply came swiftly.

“You and Corrine are already engaged. You’re practically family now. What impropriety could possibly exist? I’ll have your room prepared immediately.”

With that, Jayden could no longer bear the suffocating tension and rose abruptly to depart.

As he retreated, he felt the weight of Carl’s and Waldo’s contemptuous stares boring into his back.

Jayden hadn’t intended to surrender so readily to Nate’s demands. But something in Nate’s presence commanded submission—an invisible force too powerful to resist.

Thus, that night, Nate claimed a guest room in the Ford Mansion.

None could have foreseen, however, that under the veil of darkness, Nate would sneak into Corrine’s room. The gentle tapping against her window initially registered as mere imagination in Corrine’s drowsy mind.

Only when she heard the distinct sound of the window being carefully pried open did reality pierce through.

She leapt from bed, her bare feet touching the cool floor, and moved toward the sound.

There was Nate, fingers gripping the white marble balcony rail as he pulled himself over with practiced ease.

Remembering his last apologetic visit, Corrine couldn’t resist teasing.

“I see you’ve been perfecting your climbing technique!”

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