"I'm really sorry for causing so much trouble for you tonight, especially stopping you from getting rest. I saw that you'd already turned the lights off earlier." Pearl pointed in the direction of his room.Darius smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to worry about these things. In any case, I wasn't asleep yet. If I were, I wouldn't have come downstairs because I heard you crying."Pearl looked surprised, unsure how to respond to this. She knew Darius was trying to alleviate her guilt over disrupting his rest, but she didn't necessarily want to hear him say these things. She fidgeted, wondering how to react.Darius sighed and patted her on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go upstairs. Honestly, you don't need to overthink these things. We're friends, so I'll always be around to help you when you're sad or upset, as long as you need it." He looked at her seriously.Pearl met his gaze. In the past, she'd never been able to understand what people meant when they said someone had brig

"He's an excellent professor, and he and Professor Plinsky go back a long way. In fact, if not for that, Professor Kurt wouldn't have agreed to take me in. Because of this, there's nothing to worry about. Professor Kurt won't abandon me, if only because of his friendship with Professor Plinsky. In any case, I called him as soon as I was discharged from the hospital to update him on my recent whereabouts," said Darius.Pearl didn't take her eyes off him. Her gaze was still filled with concern as she asked, "Are you sure he'll help you out with this? I heard your last conversation with him; he didn't seem to like you all that much."Darius felt helpless. "Yes, he will. Have some faith in Professor Plinsky's friend." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Alright, it's really time for you to go to bed. I have plenty to do tomorrow."Pearl looked guilty again, but she didn't give Darius the time to console her this time. Instead, she turned to head into her room. However, with every step s

Darius rested his elbows on the desk and buried his head in his hands, sighing again. He knew he'd upset Erin by telling her about Pearl, but from an emotional viewpoint, he wanted to stop her from harboring any fantasies about him. Though he couldn't deny he'd occasionally felt the urge to form a relationship with her outside of their professional one, he knew it was more important to keep things between them professional. That was why he'd told her about Pearl moving in with him. Darius knew Erin would overthink this matter and that it wasn't exactly fair to either her or Pearl for him to do this, but he'd still done it.Another reason for his decision was that Darius didn't think Erin had any right to get angry over the fact that he was sharing his abode with another woman, especially because he and Pearl were literally only staying in the same house. Nothing would happen between them, whether physical or emotional. His final reason for doing this—it was almost negligible—was tha

Back in the day, many companies had been fighting to get Erin to join them. However, they'd all failed because of one reason or another. And it was because of this that Darius had managed to get her to join him. However, this all changed after Erin realized her feelings for him. She'd started losing her rationality and ability to accurately deduce something, resulting in her making errors in running the company. If she continued like this, she would no longer be indispensable to the company; that wasn't something Darius wanted, and he believed she wouldn't want that either. Darius sighed and pulled his phone out to tell Erin exactly how he felt. Regardless of her shortcomings, she was still an important comrade to him; he would never forget the time she'd spent by his side. Because of this, he was willing to be honest with her so she could make a decision that best fit her situation. She could decide how she wanted to handle their relationship and her future career development.

"I haven't had the chance to meditate until tonight, but when I visualized my body earlier, I saw that my life force had condensed into a square. I have no way of reaching into my body and touching it, but I believe that if I could, I could take that square out, and it would be exactly like actual gold," said Darius. To his relief and pleasure, Teivel started laughing at his words. There was a mixture of relaxation and excitement in his laugh, but there was also a trace of something indiscernible. Still, there was no denying that these were all good things, so Darius leaned back and opened his eyes. They gleamed in the darkness.As expected, Teivel's voice was filled with happiness as he said, "This is great—you've ascended to another stage in your meditation. Now, you can truly be considered an enlightened martial artist. You're close to invincible in your current environment, but once you're placed among the true experts, you're nothing." Teivel paused here, feeling like his words

"I only have one class in the evening, so I'll wait for the doctor to come and only head to campus once he's done with the examination." Pearl beamed at Darius.Darius focused on his food, not meeting her eyes. "Erin will bring the doctor over later; all you need to do is trust them and do whatever they tell you to, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. As for the doctor himself, he's someone I hired specifically for this purpose and is definitely trustworthy. Also, if you have any opinions about Erin, hold them in and wait for me to return to deal with them." With that, he put down his cutlery and stood up. "I know you might not like being instructed to do these things, but trust that I'll give you a reasonable explanation for this once the results are out."Pearl nodded and smiled. "It's fine, Darius. I've known you for some time now and have been by your side this whole while. I know you definitely won't hurt me, and I trust every decision you make." She fixed a resolute gaze on him

Erin's tone was frosty. She had her hands behind her back, and her expression was severe as she looked at Pearl. Pearl gulped and lowered her head, looking aggrieved. Erin didn't say anything else because she could sense that Pearl truly felt wronged. She was no enlightened martial artist and didn't have heightened senses, but after being around Darius and Bridget for so long, she'd learned how to read people well and was confident she was right eighty percent of the time.Pearl wasn't putting on an act. Even if she were, there was no one to admire her acting. Darius had moved into this villa immediately after purchasing it without telling anyone, so there weren't any people around or surveillance cameras installed—who could possibly be watching Pearl? As Erin tried to think of something to appease Pearl, an ugly look crept onto the doctor's face as he skimmed through the results of Pearl's blood test. "Damn," he cursed, sounding frustrated. "Mr. Reid's truly intelligent; his guesse

The doctor sighed again and said to Pearl, "I'm sorry to say this, but I've already told you everything I can. As for the rest of the information related to this, either I'm not privy to it, or you aren't. You're fortunate enough to be allowed to stay by Mr. Reid's side, so please refrain from asking any more questions." He stood up and hurried out of the villa without a second glance at Erin and Pearl. To his relief, he'd just managed to hail a taxi and was getting in when he saw several black cars speeding toward the villa. The doctor sucked in a breath and urged the taxi driver to put the pedal to the metal. They left before the black cars circled the villa.At this moment, Pearl sat at the dining table, trembling as she stared at Erin, who stood at the villa's entrance. Pearl mustered the courage to move to stand beside her, making Erin smile helplessly. "You can return to your room now. The fact that these people are making such a grand entrance actually guarantees our safety—m

Ursula's jaw dropped. Never had she imagined she'd meet someone who would ignore her completely. She stomped a foot on the ground and shrieked, "I've had enough of you acting like you own the place. Don't think too highly of yourself, or you'll regret it. Your employer won't let you off the hook!" Unfortunately for her, Erin continued making her way into the villa. This time, she acted like she hadn't heard a thing.At this moment, an old voice rang out from the car. "That's enough. You'll only make the situation worse for all of us if you continue acting like this."Ursula's face darkened at this. "But—" She gritted her teeth and snarled, "Alright, alright. I came to apologize, and I'm sure you're ready to accept my apology. There's no need for us to be so hostile."Erin stopped and raised an eyebrow. She could tell from Ursula's tone that she was angrier than before. She turned around, tucked her hands into her pockets, and looked at Ursula. "Mr. Reid's always believed in resolvin

Pearl sagged in relief at Erin's words. "Alright. I'll return to my room now, then." She did indeed feel exhausted from the morning's events, so she went to her room to get some rest.At the same time, in another part of the city, Kingston University welcomed its dean after a long time apart. Henry didn't expect to run into Darius as soon as he stepped foot on campus. He put his hands behind his back and stared at Darius, who stood there with his back to him, looking more like the dean than Henry did. After a few moments, Henry couldn't take it anymore and cleared his throat, saying sternly, "Darius, what are you doing here at this hour? Why are you hanging around the main hall?"Darius raised an eyebrow at this and turned to look at him. "Great timing. I'm here to look for you," he said calmly.In that instant, Henry felt like his fury would suffocate him. Darius' words were a blatant challenge to his authority; he stuck his hands on his hips, looking like the furthest thing from a