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Ian Sterling touched the tip of his nose and mumbled, “I just wasn’t familiar with the area. That’s how I got lost and ended up here.”

Lynn Winslow scoffed and ignored him.

Ian didn’t mind, dogging her every step. Despite the unbearable heat, he was in a cheerful mood, humming a song.

The constant humming got on Lynn’s nerves. She frowned, glared at him, and asked coldly, “Why are you following me?”

“Huh? Aren’t you taking me to get something to eat?”

Lynn couldn’t help but let out a couple of angry laughs. “When did I ever say I was taking you to eat?”

“But you didn’t say no when I asked you just now,” Ian pouted, looking aggrieved.

Lynn stopped and turned to face him, her gaze calm as she sized him up.

‘Ian wasn’t like this before. He could be a little temperamental, sure, but he never acted so coquettish and pitiful all the time.’

She couldn’t resist. She reached out, pinched Ian’s cheek, and gave it a little shake. “Are you still Ian Sterling?” she asked, bewildered.

Ian let her pinch him, moving his head along with her shakes as he narrowed his eyes.

This was the first remotely intimate thing Lynn had done to him since his return.

“You don’t really think I’m a fake, do you?” Ian’s lips curved into a smile. He chuckled softly. “Like a skin-stealing demon? Or plastic surgery?”

Lynn froze for a moment. When she finally snapped back to reality, she snatched her hand back, huffed coldly, and continued walking forward.

“Why aren’t we driving? Aren’t you hot?” Ian asked in a gentle voice as he caught up to her, falling into step beside her.

Lynn didn’t want to talk to him. She kept her lips pressed together, staring straight ahead. Ian shrugged. When Lynn turned a corner, he turned. When Lynn took a step to the side, he took a step to the side, relentlessly forcing her toward the edge of the road.

Lynn stopped in her tracks, suppressing her anger as she said, enunciating every word, “Are you trying to run me off the road because you can’t stand me, or are you just trying to crush me to death?”

Ian chuckled, reached out, and pulled Lynn back into an embrace. He didn’t let go, murmuring softly, “I just want to be a little closer to you.”

“My deepest thanks,” Lynn said, glaring at him irritably. She took a few steps before realizing his arm was still draped over her.

She irritably shoved him off and strode forward.

Lynn’s mind was a complete mess. Ever since the breakup, she had just barely gotten used to life without Ian. Now, he’d reappeared, shamelessly parading around in front of her, trying to hold her hand or hug her at every turn.

Lynn felt like what little pride she had left was being ground into dust.

But she hadn’t even processed it yet. This was only the second time Ian had seen her since their breakup. The first time was that night, and they had only exchanged a few words.

Ian stopped walking, a faint smile playing on his lips.

If other people could read Lynn’s heart with eighty percent accuracy, then he was surely at one hundred percent.

How could he not understand what she was thinking right now? The scales in her heart, weighing her pride against him, were already tipping. In fact, the side with her pride was about to hit rock bottom.

Ian lowered his head and rubbed his reddened eyes. He then jogged to catch up with Lynn and grabbed her hand. No matter how she struggled, he wouldn’t let go.

“Stop acting like a shameless brat. We’ve already broken up,” Lynn snarled.

Ian blinked innocently. “I think I might be getting heatstroke. I’m afraid I’ll fall. Can you hold my hand?”

Fearing she would still refuse, he quickly added, “Just think of it as friends helping each other out?”

Lynn felt like *she* was about to get heatstroke from sheer anger. She let out a laugh—”Kiki”—but still left her pinky out for Ian to hold.

There were plenty of Western restaurants just outside the villa district. Lynn walked into the first one she saw. Not caring whether Ian was used to this kind of food, she simply ordered a second serving for him of everything she got for herself.

She leaned back in her chair, turning her head to watch the people coming and going outside the window. During the meal, she kept her head down and focused on her own food, pointedly refusing to look at Ian.

Ian, however, kept beaming at Lynn until she felt so uncomfortable all over that she couldn’t take it anymore and shot him a glare.

“What are you staring at me for? Do I look delicious?”

“Mhm,” Ian nodded seriously. He licked the corner of his lip and said with a straight face, “Delicious.”

A blush crept onto Lynn’s cheeks. She had a strong feeling that the “delicious” he was talking about wasn’t the same “delicious” she had meant.

“You pervert! Just eat your food!” Lynn gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore his gaze and continue eating.

Ian retracted his gaze with a look of regret. As he ate, he thought, ‘What excuse can I use to stick to Lynn after we finish eating?’

Just then, Ian’s phone rang. It was Jasper Jennings.

His ringtone was still the one Lynn had set for him back when they were together. He actually hadn’t changed it.

Lynn glanced at his phone. It wasn’t his old one. ‘He must have synced his data to the new one himself.’

She looked away as Ian answered the call.

“What is it?”

Lynn couldn’t hear what the person on the other end said, only Ian continuing, “In Morelia.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk when I get back.”

“What does me being here have to do with you guys? Stay out of it.”

“I’m hanging up. Don’t bother me unless it’s important.”

He hung up without waiting for Jasper to finish and placed the phone back on the table, its screen still lit.

When Lynn saw it out of the corner of her eye, her heart skipped a beat. The photo on his screen—a picture of them together—was the same one she still used as the background image on her social media.

The hand holding her fork and knife trembled, and she had to force the feeling down until it passed.

After the meal, before Lynn even had a chance to pay the bill, Ian had already handed his card to the server. “Where to next?” he asked Lynn excitedly.

Lynn frowned. “What do you mean, ‘where to next’? We’re going our separate ways.”

Ian’s lips curved into a smile. Following Lynn out of the restaurant, he whispered to her, “Mama.”

“…”

Lynn was practically in awe of his shamelessness. Her shock had escalated to horror, and she looked at him as if he were some kind of monster.

“Did your stay in the hospital mess with your brain?” Lynn asked slowly, every word dripping with her utter confusion.

She stood on her tiptoes to place her hand on Ian’s forehead, checking it again and again. “You don’t have a fever,” she said. “No, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out. See if there’s something wrong with you mentally.”

“Don’t worry, I’m perfectly normal,” Ian said with a carefree laugh. He blinked at her. “But… how did you know I was hospitalized?”

The abrupt change of topic left Lynn speechless. She turned her head away and continued walking out, not answering his question.

Ian didn’t press the issue, simply following Lynn all the way to her home.

He said pitifully, “Can I come inside and sit for a bit? I’m a little dizzy. I think I might have heatstroke.”

Lynn watched him quietly before saying flatly, “I can call the hospital for you.”