Although Adeline and Brendan hadn't officially divorced yet, their marriage had already come to an end. He never loved her anyway, and now that she had decided to let go of him, whoever he decided to date was no longer a concern of hers. Still, when Adeline saw that Tiffany was about to move in with Brendan and live in the villa she once called home, she felt sad. The moment she arrived back at the office, she took a few moments to calm herself down and then went straight back to work. Now all she could think about was the architectural style and layout of Treacly Honey. She had gained a lot of inspiration from the field trip to the hotel. She didn't like to be disturbed when she was working, and she liked to finish all her tasks for the day in one go. As night fell, everyone in the office began packing up and heading home, but Adeline stayed, determined to perfect her design plan. She stared at her computer screen intently. She was so immersed in her work that she didn't notice the passage of time. The night deepened. Next thing Adeline knew, someone was offering her a cup of hot latte. Adeline snapped back to her senses and looked up. Rodger Stevenson, the boss of Preco Design, was smiling down at her. "Hi, Mr. Stevenson. Thank you. It's late. Why are you still here?". Rodger was one year younger than Adeline. He had become the boss of the company at such a young age. He was the perfect, handsome gentleman, and he had such beautiful eyes. Many women were fascinated by him, and he was usually very easy-going. He especially liked joking around with Adeline. Rodger looked at Adeline with a gentle smile. "I'm the boss. I should be the last one to leave. You've been rendering a lot of overtime lately. I feel like I should give you a 'most hardworking employee' award or something. Adeline blinked and then chuckled. "That'd be awesome. She took the cup, took a sip of the latte, and beamed. "Will that award come with a bonus? It's okay if it won't. At least your coffee is delicious. "Of course. I put four lumps of sugar and two packets of condensed milk in it for you. Just the way you like it. After finishing his words, Rodger sat down in front of Adeline and stared at her affectionately with his bright eyes. Adeline was a little surprised. She didn't like bitter things, so she didn't like drinking coffee. But sometimes, she had to consume caffeine to keep herself alert, especially when she was working overtime like she was now. To kill the bitterness in her coffee, she put four lumps of sugar and two packets of condensed milk in it. She didn't expect that Rodger knew that detail about her. Looking at Adeline's widely opened eyes, Rodger couldn't help grinning and tapping the tip of her nose with his finger. "Are you wondering how I know your little coffee recipe? Well, I also know that on your first day here, when you learned that there was real cat feces in Kopi Luwak, you got so scared that you avoided the coffee machine for a long time. Adeline's face suddenly bloomed with color. She felt a little embarrassed. She just wasn't sure if it was because of her ignorance in the past or the warmth left by Rodger on the tip of her nose. "Oh, please, don't remind me how stupid I once was. It was embarrassing. " Then, she asked, "It's really late. Why don't you go home?". Rodger raised his eyebrows and replied, "What about you? Why don't you go home? You used to be the first one out the door at the end of every day, and I remember your reason was you wanted to get home as soon as you could to cook dinner for your husband. Adeline's face darkened. Observing her expression, Rodger ventured, "Adeline, I heard that. You and your husband are getting divorced?". He didn't bother disguising the hint of hope in his voice. As he raised his question, his heart leapt to his throat. Adeline and Rodger were close to each other. The news of Adeline's impending divorce spread quickly in the office. It wasn't surprising that Rodger knew about it. Adeline didn't intend to hide anything from him, so she nodded and said, "Yes. We're not happy together. If we spli t up, it will be a relief for both of us. " After getting a positive reply, Rodger smiled from ear to ear, and his ey es glinted with joy

"Addie, you know my feelings for you. Since you're single now, why don't you give me a chance?" . Adeline was just taking another si p of her coffee and almost spat it out after hearing Rodger's remark. "Stop maki ng fun of m e, Rodger. "Why do you think I'm joking?" Rodger said in a serious tone, "You know that I've liked you for quite some time. I jus t kept my distance because you told me that you were married. To be honest, I've tried dating other women, but I just couldn't find someone that I liked as much as I liked you. Now you're single and so am I. Why don't we give it a shot?" . Before Adeline could reply, Rodger continued, "Addie, we have known each other f or a long time. You know what kind of person I am. I really, really like you. Do n't refuse me in a hurry, okay? At least tell me you're going to think about it. He looked at her exp ectantly. "Well. I'm still technically married as w e speak. Our divorce isn't final yet, so I c an't jump into a new relationship just yet. "Does that mean you will consider g oing out with me after your divorce is final?" Rodger asked in haste. "We ll. Rodger interrupted her, "I'll take that as a yes. Don't worry. I won 't force you to be my girlfriend if you're not yet ready. Just give me a chance. It's late now. Let me help you check your design draft. Rodger was an expert in design. He had won a lot of awards in the field, so Adeline was h appy to welcome his opinion on her work. She immediately took out her own design plan, and they began to study it. With Rodger's guidance, sh e was able to come up with a whole new slew of ideas. It was already very late in the night when they finished. They left the office together. Rodger said to her, "It's no t safe for you to go home al one. Let me give you a ride. Adeline w anted to r efuse, but . considering that it was indeed dangerous for a woman to travel alone at this time of night, she agreed. "All right. Thank you. In the next few days, Rodger accompanied Adeline as she worked overtime in the office. One t ime, when they finished and went home early, he invited her to go and grab some sweet treats, saying that it was his way of rewarding one of the most dedicated employees in the company. Adeline felt flatte red and embarrassed at the same time. One night, when she was about to head home, she stopped Rodger a nd told him, "You've been so kind to me, and I feel like it's a treatment that's more than I'm entitled to. How can I repay you?" . "Really?" Rodger smiled. "You wa nt to repay me?" . "Uh-huh. " Adeline n odded. She didn't w ant to owe anyone. "Well, it's easy. " Rodger said, "I'm busy with my work every day and seldom go home. To be honest, I' m getting bored and a little sick of eating takeout and restaurant food. I miss eating homemade dishe s. I heard that you were a good cook. If you really want to thank me, you can prepare a meal for me. Adeline expected that Rodger would ask for s omething special, but it turned out that he just wanted to eat something that she made. She beamed and said, "Okay. That I can m anage. But please don't hate me if the fo od isn't appetizing or up to your taste. After that, she asked about what Rodger liked to eat and got off work early the next day. She went to the supermarket and bought the ingredients that she needed . Then, she got up early the next morning, made soup, and cooked Rodger's lunch. At noon, Ade line went to see Rodger. She went to his offic e with the lunch box she put his food in. She handed the lunch box to him and said, "I'm not a professional chef, but I stil l hope you'll enjoy what I made for you. The lunch box was small and delicate, and the meal insi de it was a nutritious combination of meats and vegetabl es. Both its appearance and scent were very appetizing

Rodger praised her, "Well, it m ust be delicious. How could our Addie's food not be delicious?" . He had been used to calling her "A ddie" these days. Adeline smiled. "Go ah ead and have a taste. I made it just for you. The two of them smiled at each other and sat across fr om each other. They were going to have a working lunch . They would eat while talking about the design plan. At this moment, the d oor to Rodger's office suddenly swung open. Adeline turned around and saw a man standing at the door with a sullen face. "Mr. Clemons. What are you doing here?" she asked and c lenched her fork nervously. Without saying a word, Brendan fixed his eyes on the two people in front of him. He walked in on Adeline and Rodger while they were sitting together and conversing happily. When Adeline was with Rodger, she was rela xed. For the first time, Brendan saw the s eemingly warm camaraderie between the two. But when Brendan showed up, Adeline was looking at him with sharp, vigilant eyes, which made him feel a horrible pang of some emotion he couldn't place. Was Adeline looking at him like that b ecause he disturbed the wonderful time she was obviously having with Rodger? . But what frustrated Brendan even more was the fact that A deline had prepared a meal for Rodger and was now having lunch with him. What kind of relationship did they have? . In the past, before he left for the office in the mornin g, Adeline would always urge him to bring the lunch she had prepared for him. But he had always been reluctant. Adeline wasn 't very good at cooking. When they first got married, she didn't know how t o cook at all. Every time she went into the kitchen , she would make a mess and scream in frustration. She would cook pasta, and the noodles would be undercooked. She would make de sserts and use salt instead of sugar. Because she knew that she wasn't good a t making meals, she would taste her food first and then bring it to Brendan. Brendan still remembered the first time he had some soup that Ad eline made. She blew on the soup to let it cool slightly before c arefully pushing the bowl to him. She looked at him expectantly. "Does it tast e good? Or is it just okay?" . He nodded, and then she finally breathe d a sigh of relief. Whenever he would take the lunch box she had prepared for him, she would be overjoyed. She woul d stand at the door and smile at him, revealing the two small dimples on her face. She would wa ve at him and say, "Remember to eat on time, okay? Don't starve yourself. I'll see you tonight. He hadn't seen that bright, beautiful smile for a while. In fact, after they got married, she sm iled less and less. Was she disappo inted? Had he br oken her heart? . At this time, Rodger's voice i nterrupted his reverie. "What c an we do for you, Mr. Clemons?" . Brendan was angry. R odger was perceptive enough to notice it. Rodger was also a man. By observing Brendan's reac tion to what he saw after walking through the door , he knew that he still had feelings for Adeline. However, Rodger had liked Adeline forever, and he had done his waiting. Now that he had a chance to be with her, he wou ldn't just give it up no matter how powerful his rival was. Rodger looked at Brendan defiantly. Meeting Brendan's eyes, he told him firmly, "Mr. Clemons, yo u should've told us in advance that you were coming to visit today. It's our lunch break now. I don't mean to be rude, but don't you think it's impolite for you to just barge in like you did?" . Clenching his fists, Brendan considered striding f orward and punching Rodger right in the face. But he took a deep breath and regained his composure. Brendan shifted his eyes to Adeline and gl ared at her. Then, he stepped forward and k nocked over the lunch box in front of her. The lunch box fell to th e floor, and the food in it scattered everywhere. Adeline couldn't help shouti ng angrily, "Brendan! What a re you doing? Are you crazy?" . "What am I doing? What about you? What are you doing?" Brendan said thr ough gritted teeth, "You and I are still married. We haven't divorced ye t, and you're already with somebody else. Can't you live without a man?"