Chapter 306

“Well, that kid? He’s just my neighbor’s. I was just helping drop him off,” Teresa replied, totally unfazed.

With Lysander causing trouble, Teresa had learned to be extra careful. No one knew what other hidden dangers might emerge. She wasn’t about to let anyone discover her child so easily. Honestly, Ivy seemed nice enough, but Teresa didn’t know her well enough to let her guard down.

“I thought he was your son,” Ivy said, without much thought. “You said you were married. Was that for real or not? Come on, tell me! I promise I won’t tell Ms. Thompson.”

“What’s real is real, what’s fake is fake. You figure it out,” Teresa said mysteriously.

“Seriously, who answers like that?” Ivy laughed helplessly. “Ms. Thompson said you’re definitely lying just to avoid her brother, and that you’re all high and mighty.”

Teresa thought, ‘Just because I don’t like her brother, don’t want to date him, and won’t give Tina any face, that makes me stuck-up?’ She couldn’t even be bothered to argue. They’re just coworkers, not friends. No reason to get upset.

Back in her office, Teresa was about to head to her first class when her phone buzzed twice. She pulled out her phone and saw a message: [Jonathan has accepted your friend request. You can now start chatting.]

Teresa was speechless. It wasn’t until Jonathan sent a question mark that she realized what had happened. Michael must have been messing with her phone yesterday and accidentally sent a friend request.

Now Teresa could only bite the bullet and reply: [Sorry, I tapped the wrong thing by accident.]

Jonathan: [You accidentally tapped it six times?]

Teresa thought, ‘Michael, that little troublemaker, actually added Jonathan six times.’ She was speechless.

Teresa quickly followed up: [My hand slipped yesterday, and my phone froze. The screen just happened to be stuck on the friend request page. I swear I didn’t mean to add you.]

[Let’s just delete each other. I promise I won’t mess up again.]

Right after she sent the message, Ivy called from outside, “It’s time! Why aren’t you heading to class yet?” Teresa snapped back to reality and put her phone away without checking it again.

When Teresa checked her phone again, she saw that Jonathan had sent her the cab fare. Teresa messaged him: [It was just a few bucks, and you didn’t have to send it.]

Jonathan replied: [Take it. If you want to keep things so clear between us, then I’ll do the same. Every cent counts.]

Teresa thought, ‘Alright,’ and accepted the money. She figured he’d probably delete her again.

But Jonathan messaged: [No need to delete. This account is just for our future money matters.] It was like money was all they had left to talk about.

Teresa replied: [Okay, just don’t tell my family about this new account. I’m usually busy with work and don’t really have time to chat.]

Jonathan shot back: [A sub with only two classes a day. So busy? Or are you just busy dating?]

Teresa thought, ‘Weren’t we only supposed to talk about money?’

She typed: [From now on, this account is only for money stuff.] Jonathan didn’t reply after that.

It was late afternoon, almost time to clock out, when Ryan showed up at the office again. Teresa was already getting ready to leave. Ryan followed her, holding a bouquet of roses. “Ms. Johnston, have you thought about it? Why not give me a chance? I promise you won’t lose out.”

Teresa, already on her electric scooter and wearing her helmet, shot Ryan a warning. “If you keep bothering me, I’ll call the police right now. I won’t care that your sister is my coworker anymore.” With that, she took off.

But Ryan kept following her in his car. When Teresa got to the bank, he finally stopped. Teresa was just there to withdraw some cash, so Ryan couldn’t follow her inside and had to wait by the ATM.

Out of nowhere, a black Lexus LM pulled up, and a slightly chubby man emerged from the back. The moment Ryan spotted him, he hurried over, bowing and scraping. “Mr. Powell! What a coincidence! You’re here at the bank too?”

This was Kevin, Ryan’s boss and the general manager of Apex Group, a subsidiary of Horizonlead Group where Ryan worked.

Kevin replied, “Just here to take care of some business. Why aren’t you heading home after work?”

Ryan quickly explained, “My girlfriend needed to withdraw some cash, so I came with her.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say you didn’t have a girlfriend, Ryan?”

Ryan looked over at Teresa in the distance, pride written all over his face. “We just started dating—the girl at the ATM. She’s my girlfriend.”

Following his gaze, Kevin saw Teresa’s tall figure. He was just about to compliment Ryan on his taste when Teresa finished at the ATM and turned around. The moment Kevin saw her face, he froze in shock.

Kevin thought, ‘Isn’t that Teresa, the CEO of Teresouth Group? She’s the one Mr. Lynn cares about most!’

Kevin had been transferred from Horizonlead Group’s headquarters to Everport. Back when he was at Nareigh, everyone used to say that the female CEO of Teresouth Group was personally promoted by Jonathan. On top of that, Jonathan kept a photo of Teresa in his wallet. One time, the photo accidentally slipped out, and Kevin, who was just walking by, almost stepped on it. Even though Jonathan said it was fine, Kevin still remembered that icy look in his eyes—a chill he hasn’t forgotten to this day.

Kevin snapped back to his senses, pointed toward Teresa, and asked Ryan, half-skeptical, “You’re telling me that beauty is your girlfriend?”

Ryan, not wanting to lose face, grunted, “She’s nothing special, really. Sorry to make you laugh.”

Kevin suddenly burst out laughing. “Nothing special? You little punk.” He gave Ryan a hard slap on the shoulder, kept his eyes on Teresa in the distance, then leaned in and warned him with a meaningful tone, “Don’t try to act tough. Be careful you don’t get in over your head.”

Chapter 307