The city lights glimmered brightly. Inside the private room at Dusk Club, Andrew's eyes were sharp, but all he saw was an empty space.
Sweat dotted the manager's forehead as he quickly said, "Mr. Andrew, please wait a moment, I'll go get the waiter who was just in this room."
He dashed out like the wind and soon returned with a waiter in tow. "Mr. Andrew, he was the one assigned to this room."
Andrew lifted his gaze slightly, his voice carrying a hint of urgency. "Where did the people in this room go?"
The waiter replied respectfully, "They left just about five minutes ago. You must've just missed them."
At that moment, Andrew felt something strike his heart. Without another word, he turned and rushed outside.
A figure flashing past at the end of the corridor kept replaying in his mind. Was it her?
Assistant Ryan didn't hesitate and followed right after him.
Outside, the heat rolled in waves. Andrew's brows furrowed tightly, a sense of unease building inside.
His steps halted at the entrance of the club. He looked around, but in the endless night, that familiar slender figure was nowhere to be seen.
Watching his boss so anxious, Assistant Ryan spoke softly. "Sir, should I call Dr. Katherine and ask where she is now?"
Mentioning her reminded Andrew that Katherine had deleted all his contact info. His mood soured further.
Andrew's lips pressed into a thin line, his face dark and cold. After a moment of silence, he said stiffly, "Why contact her? She has nothing to do with me anymore."
He turned and walked back inside. His back looked confident, but there was a subtle loneliness and stubbornness to it.
Behind him, Assistant Ryan mumbled, "If she really doesn't matter, why were you so worried and anxious? And you still say she's nothing to you."
"Boss, just admit you've fallen for Dr. Katherine. Is it really that hard?"
He sighed and followed.
Meanwhile, inside a car, the atmosphere was quiet and tense. Katherine and Joshua focused on organizing the evidence related to the truth.
Joshua carefully watched the surveillance footage, not missing a single important detail.
Once they finished watching everything, he gave a slight nod, as if he'd come to a conclusion.
Katherine looked up with anticipation and a bit of uncertainty. She asked softly, "Joshua, do you think this will be enough to make her confess?"
Joshua paused to think, then nodded. "Yes, it's enough. But what's your next step?"
A cold resolve flashed in Katherine's eyes. "Our department has a morning meeting next Monday. I plan to show all of this then."
What Shanshan did had crossed her bottom line.
If it were a small, harmless matter, she could have chosen to be forgiving and let it go. But not this time. She was done tolerating it.
Joshua frowned slightly, concern showing on his face. "Will you really be able to show this? Weren't you suspended?"
Katherine's lips curved into a confident smile. "Don't worry, Joshua. I have a good friend in the department. She'll help me make it happen."
Seeing her so calm, Joshua relaxed a little and nodded. "Alright then."
At that moment, Katherine glanced at her watch. The hands pointed to late night.
She turned to Joshua with a bright smile. "Let me treat you to a midnight snack before you head back. Thank you for everything tonight."
Joshua raised an eyebrow, teasing her. "What, trying to repay the favor so soon?"
Katherine responded playfully, "No way. A meal isn't enough to repay this. At least ten meals. I'm just really hungry right now."
Joshua finally realized that neither of them had eaten anything since they left the office.
They had been too focused on gathering evidence.
"Alright, where do you want to eat?"
Katherine thought for a moment. "How about hotpot? I'm in such a good mood right now, really craving something spicy."
Seeing her laugh so freely made Joshua happy too.
"Okay, let's go for hotpot."
They picked a hotpot restaurant in Beijing with pretty good reviews.
By now, dinner hours had passed, so the place was a bit quiet, with only a few tables occupied here and there.
Katherine and Joshua walked in, scanned the mostly empty room, and chose a window-side seat.
Though the view outside was a bit blurry in the night, it still had a peaceful vibe, just like the calm feeling they both shared.
A waiter came quickly and handed them the menu.
Joshua passed it to Katherine without hesitation, his gaze warm and full of trust. "You choose."
Katherine didn't hold back. She tilted her head slightly, a hint of concern in her voice. "Joshua, is there anything you want to eat?"
Joshua smiled lightly. "Same as you. I'm not picky."
Katherine smiled back. "Alright, then I'll take the lead."
Her slender fingers danced across the menu while she thought about their food preferences.
She remembered Joshua wasn't too into spicy food, so she decided to order a divided pot with both spicy and non-spicy sides.
After placing the order, Katherine happened to glance up and caught Joshua staring straight at her.
She instinctively reached up and touched her cheek, feeling puzzled. "Joshua, is my makeup smudged?"
Joshua chuckled and shook his head quickly, trying to ease her concern. "No, you look great."
Katherine grew more curious and asked without thinking, "Then what were you looking at just now?"
Joshua suddenly felt flustered, like his deepest thoughts had been exposed.
His eyes flickered for a second before he rushed to make up a reason. "I… I was looking at your eyelashes. They're really long."
Katherine burst out laughing. "My eyelashes? I'm wearing falsies."
Joshua froze for a moment, clearly embarrassed. A blush crept onto his face.
To hide his awkwardness, he quickly picked up the water glass and took a sip, trying to calm himself. "They look nice."
The water in that glass felt like it could put out the sudden flame of emotion inside him, giving him a moment of peace in this small but awkward exchange.
Katherine smiled and then turned to look out the window. She remembered how she used to wish Andrew would sit here with her, eating hotpot together.
Especially in winter, watching the snowfall while eating something warm.
That scene had always seemed so beautiful in her imagination.
But now, it was clear that would never happen.
Andrew, I'm leaving. We'll never see each other again.