The location Jack picked for his meal date with Roxanne was a café with a quaint flair. In fact, it had a vibe similar to the Damaris residence. When she arrived, Jack was already waiting for her inside. Upon noticing her, he stood and gestured at her. She quickened her pace and sat opposite from him.
Having learned their lesson from the last time, they sat at a table in the corner this time. A sandalwood incense was burning nearby them. Roxanne felt strangely comfortable when she took in the scent of the incense, possibly because she was used to the smell of traditional medicine.
Hence, she didn’t give it too much thought because she assumed it was the café’s specialty. “I’m sorry for being late again,” apologized Roxanne with embarrassment after taking her seat. We’re meeting up this time because ! wanted to make up for the fact that my disappearance last week caused a delay in the project’s progress. Yet, I’m late again. I feel so rude.
Jack smiled nonchalantly and poured her a cup of coffee. “It’s fine. This café is quite far from the research institute, and I just happened to be near this area.”
As he spoke, he casually fiddled with the incense burner. Seeing that he didn’t seem to mind her tardiness, Roxanne let out a sigh of relief. “I should be the one apologizing to you,” Jack abruptly said.
That puzzled her. Why is he apologizing to me? “In the end, I was the reason the public focused on you.” Gazing at her apologetically, he continued, “If I hadn’t changed the time to nighttime, those reporters wouldn’t have taken those pictures and said those things on the internet.”
When he brought that up, Roxanne felt conflicted. I suppose he is right. As though Jack had read her mind, he explained sincerely, “I really did have something I needed to attend to during noon that day. One of Damaris Group’s companies that sells medicinal herbs had a bit of a problem that required my assistance.”
Of course, she had no intention of blaming him. She merely thought what happened that night was too coincidental. Thus, she replied, “I know you didn’t change the time without reason. Neither of us would’ve expected reporters to be following us. Besides, the incident’s over.”
Out of nowhere, Jack sighed a little. “So, you’ve gotten back together with Mr. Farwell.” That dumbfounded Roxanne for a few seconds. What am I supposed to say to that? My relationship with Lucian can’t be easily explained.
The look in his eyes darkened when she didn’t immediately respond. However, when her line of sight landed on his countenance again, he acted normal and questioned icily, “I’m assuming you spent your time away with him?”
Instead of denying it, Roxanne answered, “We needed to lie low because the media had their sights on us.”
Jack was displeased that she didn’t reveal where she went or what she did with Lucian. However, he didn’t want to keep himself in a bad mood, so he changed the topic. “In the period you were away, I did some research related to the development of the new medicine. I feel like perhaps we can change the trajectory of the project. The market’s been lacking in anti-cancer medicine, especially ones centered on traditional medicine.”
In response, Roxanne pondered the issue with a grim expression. “I noticed that previously. However, it’ll be difficult to pull off because the public prefers to rely on western medicine to combat cancer.”
He proceeded to brief her about the result of his research and concluded, “Perhaps we can be the first to achieve that feat.”
