Chapter 51: Try your best just for you

She didn’t stay long in the room and went out to pick up a delivery order.

The store was a bit busy, so she could only wait nearby.

“Jerome Taylor is really impressive! He made at least a trillion H coins from that battle, and he married the daughter of an oil tycoon, Xena. Her mother is supposedly royal, a real princess. He’s a total winner in life—money, status, beauty, he has it all!” Some customers nearby were chatting.

Angelia heard about Jerome Taylor and instinctively wanted to avoid the topic, prompting, “Is 8710 ready? What about 8713?”

“Just wait five more minutes,” the staff replied.

“I have a secret about Jerome Taylor,” one of the customers said mysteriously.

“What is it?”

“On the day of his engagement, he almost died,” the man said.

Angelia’s heart tightened, and she looked at the man in surprise, blurted out, “Why did he almost die?”

The man, noticing Angelia’s beauty, enthusiastically replied, “At the hotel where he got engaged, a friend of my friend who works there said there was a shootout. Jerome Taylor apparently got shot while trying to save his fiancée or something. But the news was covered up by the authorities, so only the engagement announcement made it to the media, no pictures or anything.”

So that’s how it was…

Angelia stood there, dazed, feeling her heavy breaths and a stabbing pain in her heart.

He should be healed by now… that’s good, that’s good.

“Your delivery is ready,” the staff said to Angelia, who seemed lost in thought. They gently tapped her arm.

Angelia snapped back to reality, looking blankly at the staff.

“Your delivery is ready,” the staff repeated, handing her two bags.

“Oh, okay, thanks,” Angelia said, taking the food and putting it in her delivery box before driving away.

“Hey, is your friend’s friend zacky She told me a different version. Apparently, Jerome Taylor didn’t even want to get engaged, and that’s why there was chaos,” one of the guys said.

“Whatever the reason, it’s not our concern. Let’s just drink,” the other replied.

“Right? Let’s drink. By the way, that girl from earlier was pretty. What’s she doing delivering food? Such a waste.”

“Man, if I had even a fraction of what Jerome Taylor has, I’d go after her.”

“Yeah, keep dreaming. You’re already tipsy and haven’t even had much to drink…”

＊

Angelia rode her bike to the entrance of Building 17, Unit 02 of Blue Sea Community. There was a gate, so she couldn’t get in. She called the customer, “Hello, your delivery has arrived. I’m outside; could you come out to get it?”

“Oh, hold on.”

A man in a white shirt and black fitted pants opened the door.

Angelia smiled and handed him the food.

The man couldn’t hide his surprise, “Angelia.”

Angelia froze for a moment, recognizing the gentle-looking guy as the pilot from her flight to Saudi.

Her junior, whose name was… “Ryan Steele?”

“Hey!” Ryan Steele smiled. “What a coincidence! This is my home. Are you delivering food now?”

“Yeah,” Angelia replied, not wanting to be too friendly. “You enjoy your meal. I have another delivery to rush to; if I’m late, I’ll get complaints.”

Ryan Steele looked up at the sky. “Looks like it might rain soon. Do you have a raincoat?”

“I have one on my e-bike. I’ll head out now. Enjoy your meal!” Angelia turned and rode away.

After finishing her last delivery and heading back, Alyssa was already asleep.

After taking a shower, Darcey came to chat with Angelia, handing her a cup of ginger water. “You’re going back to work tomorrow. You shouldn’t be delivering food. What if you end up at a coworker’s house?”

“What’s the big deal? I earn my living; it’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Angelia drank the ginger water and started pulling out the outfit she planned to wear.

“That’s true, but they’ll definitely gossip behind your back.”

“I don’t care about their gossip. I know what I’m doing. Once I start work, I won’t have as much time, and I want to spend some with Alyssa.”

“You’re my boss. I’ll sneak out early to pick up Alyssa,” Darcey said with a grin.

“They’ll be fine; the kindergarten teachers help with the kids until around six.” Angelia was ironing her clothes.

“Then after work, I’ll pick up Alyssa, and you can come home to cook.”

Angelia nodded. “That sounds good. Bring your outfit over, and I’ll iron it too.”

“Got it!” Darcey happily ran back to her room to get her clothes.

Angelia’s phone rang, and she looked at the screen to see… Jerome Taylor was calling.

She froze, subconsciously resisting the idea of answering, feeling both reluctant and scared.

This person had once been the sunshine in her life, but when the sunlight disappeared, the darkness became even scarier.

“Uh-oh, Angelia, your shirt is smoking!” Darcey shouted.

Angelia snapped back to reality, putting the phone aside and grabbing the iron to check on the shirt.

There was a hole burned into the fabric.

“What were you thinking? I didn’t want to let you iron,” Darcey said pitifully.

“It won’t ruin your shirt,” Angelia said, tossing the ruined shirt into the trash, sighing in frustration.

She couldn’t let Jerome Taylor’s phone call throw her off. Life had to go on.

Darcey plopped down on the sofa, curious. “Angelia, do you think Jerome Taylor will come back?”

Angelia paused, careful not to burn another shirt, and said expressionlessly, “Even if he comes back, it’ll just be for project stuff. Taylor Corporation has investments all over the world and will keep expanding. He’s been on-site for the initial projects.”

“So that means he won’t stay in one country for long, right?”

“Yeah, once the projects here are on track, he probably won’t come back for a year, since he has to continue with projects in other countries,” Angelia said calmly.

“So being his wife sounds tough. You hardly see each other, and it’s all long-distance. Why not find a solid guy who can be around every day? If you get sick, feel lonely, or get bullied, at least there’s someone to care for you and listen to your complaints,” Darcey pondered aloud, clearly trying to make a point to Angelia.

Angelia nodded, a slight smile on her face, appearing open-minded.

“Life doesn’t give all the good things to one person. There are only 24 hours in a day. If work takes up too much time, family gets less; if you focus on family, work suffers. The more ability you have, the bigger the responsibilities. So…”

“But so what?” Darcey asked eagerly.