Love's Change of Heart

Just as she stepped onto the stairs leading to the eighth floor, she instinctively looked up and met a

pair of calm eyes.

We are bumping into each other again, she thought as her eyes fell upon a crushed cigarette butt.

Feeling rather speechless, she quickly averted her gaze and nonchalantly asked while continuing to

walk up the stairs, "How is Zoe doing?"

Louis withdrew his hands and slipped them into the pockets of his pants. "She's resting in the ward."

When Daphne finally arrived on the eighth floor, she took a short minute to catch her breath before

asking, "Aren't you going in?"

"I'll go in later."

"I'll wait too, then." Daphne fanned herself with her hand and leaned against the wall to rest.

"Feeling warm?" Louis looked at her, to which Daphne responded with a nod. "A little."

As he looked at her, he noticed that her sweat had already dampened the stray strands of hair on her

forehead.

His hand hanging beside his torso moved, and he was gently removing the mask from her face the next

moment.

Daphne clearly didn't expect this action, as her eyes widened when she stared at him in astonishment.

After a few seconds of locking eyes, Louis shifted his gaze to the side and handed her the mask he

took off. "Wearing a mask during exercise can lead to oxygen deprivation."

Daphne also came back to her senses and she hurriedly reached out to take the mask. "Oh. Thank

you."

"Do you still feel hot?"

"A-A little bit."

"I'll go buy you some water."

With that, he turned around and left.

"Hey, there's no—"

Before Daphne could finish her sentence, Louis had already disappeared into the corridor.

She stood there holding the mask, and her gaze once again fell on the nearby cigarette butt.

She only let out a breath after a long time.

When Louis returned with the water, Daphne was sitting outside Zoe's ward.

He then handed her the bottle after he twisted the cap open for her.

"Thanks." She reached over and took it before she stood up, pointing at the ward. "Are you coming in?"

"You can go ahead. I won't be joining you."

Puzzled, she asked again. "Why not?"

"It's inappropriate for me to do that. I'm just glad to see her fine. I'm off."

Daphne nodded. "Goodbye."

After Louis left, she looked away and pushed open the door to the ward.

Inside the room, Zoe was sitting on the hospital bed, staring blankly out of the window.

She quickly composed herself when she heard the sound of the door opening, as she thought Leanna

had returned to the room. But when she turned her head and saw Daphne, she paused momentarily

before asking, "Why are you here?"

"I went to your studio this morning and heard that something happened to you. And since I couldn't get

in touch with Leanna, I contacted Jonathan instead. He was the one who told me. So, what happened

to you?"

Hearing that, Zoe smiled and lowered her head. "I'm alright. I'm doing well."

However, Daphne could tell from the woman's condition that things weren't quite okay. But seeing how

Zoe didn't want to talk about it, Daphne didn't ask further. Instead, she said, "By the way, Louis also

came. He was standing outside the door, but he didn't come in. He said it's enough for him to see you

alright."

"Has he left now?" Zoe asked.

Daphne nodded at that. "He left when I came in."

After chatting for a while, Zoe questioned, "Has that sc*mbag harassed you again?"

"No."

"Good. He has probably learned his lesson."

Daphne continued to stay in the ward with Zoe until Leanna brought food.

After leaving the room, Daphne took out her mask and put it on, but not before staring at it for a few

seconds.

Young men these days are really something else. Not only are they good-looking, but they also know

just what to do, she mused.

On the way back, Daphne's assistant sent her the upcoming schedule. The filming of a new movie

would start in a month. Before that, there was a new product launch event and two advertisement

shoots.

It was neither a relaxed nor busy schedule.

After checking it, Daphne leaned back in her seat and slowly closed her eyes.

When the car arrived at the underground parking lot, she asked the driver and her assistant to go

home, and she went ahead and took the elevator herself.

As the elevator went up slowly, she remembered that she accidentally broke her water cup this

morning, and there weren't many toiletries left. Since it was still early, she pressed the elevator button

for the first floor to head to the mall for a bit.

The sun had just set, leaving behind a few traces of the evening glow.

Daphne had just walked out of the residential complex and was about to head toward the mall when

someone suddenly stopped her.

It was Theodore, who sported a gloomy expression with a hint of exhaustion. He seemed to have just

recovered from a serious illness. His voice was cold when he stated, "You have finally shown up now.

I've been waiting here for days."

Daphne took a step back, her face devoid of any emotion as she peered at him.

"I'm warning you—stop trying to do something if you don't want everything to fall apart. Do you have

any idea how much I have lost because of you?"

"You brought it upon yourself. What does it have to do with me?"

As soon as he said that, he grabbed her wrist and tried to drag her to a nearby car.

However, a security guard walked over before Daphne could say anything. "Hey, you! What are you

doing? Let her go!"

Theodore only ignored him and exerted more force as he attempted to drag Daphne away.