Chapter 382

“No need to take off your shoes. I’ll have the maid clean it up later,” Claire said, making it obvious that tidying up was never on her to-do list.

She grabbed the remote, flicked on the TV, and the three of them each took a corner of the couch. Detective Conan was on—classic brain teaser, and honestly, one of the few shows they all agreed on.

Before long, Edison and Ramsey made their way back. Sophia had met Edison before, so she was the first to pop up and greet him, Len right behind her. Claire introduced both of them to Ramsey, and after a round of “Hi, Ramsey,” they settled into the room.

“Thanks for cooking, Ramsey. Claire told us you’re the chef today,” Sophia said.

“Yeah, is there anything you guys don’t eat?” Ramsey asked.

Sophia and Len weren’t shy about listing their favorites, and Claire added hers too. None of them were fussy. Ramsey listened, nodded, and within minutes had a menu in mind-five dishes and a soup.

He whipped up some spicy boiled beef, stir-fried beef, poached shrimp, sautéed asparagus, braised chicken wings, and a tomato meatball soup. The whole apartment was filled with delicious smells, making everyone’s stomachs grumble.

For someone who didn’t cook professionally, Ramsey’s food was legit. They dug in, chatting and laughing, and when they were done, Len and Sophia even started clearing the table without being asked. Claire felt a little guilty. She was the host, but she hadn’t really done anything at all.

Later in the afternoon, Ramsey and Edison said their goodbyes, leaving Claire with her friends. Not that Claire could hang out for long—she still had tutoring.

It was Sophia and Len who didn’t want to leave. They flopped back onto the couch, looking way too comfy.

“We’re just going to watch TV for a bit. I really don’t feel like going home,” Sophia sighed.

They both had the same problem. With big exams coming up, their families were in constant “reunion mode.” Relatives were always dropping by, asking about their grades, lecturing them about studying harder and getting into college. It was non- stop, the kind of talk that made you want to crawl under a rock. But even hiding at home didn’t help relatives would just show up and ask the same questions anyway.

Now that they’d escaped to Claire’s place with its rare peace and quiet, there was no way they wanted to go back.

“Okay, you two can stay as long as you want. Want to go grab some snacks?” Claire asked.

She’d just moved in, and the cupboards were still empty.

Sophia and Len glanced at each other. “Sounds good, we’ll go downstairs and stock up,” they said.

There was a big supermarket right downstairs, so they planned to go all out—a bit for themselves, but mostly as a little housewarming for Claire.

The three of them headed out together. Claire drove off to her tutoring session, and Sophia and Len made a beeline for the supermarket.

When Claire got back that evening, she found the coffee table absolutely covered in snacks and fruit.

“Did you guys blow your whole New Year’s money on all this?” Claire asked, genuinely surprised.

Looking pleased with themselves, both of them grinned.

“I’ve still got plenty of pocket money left,” Sophia said.

Len added, “We didn’t know if you eat frozen stuff, so we also grabbed some steaks

and put them in your freezer. If you get hungry, you can just cook one p>

“Wait, Claire, do you actually know how to cook steak?” Len teased. She

wasn’t being mean-it was just that,

Claire had al

Claire had always been the rich-girf type, so imagining her at the stove seemed a little off.

it

“Frying a steak is no big deal,” Claire said with a shrug. When she was home alone and hungry, she’d do herself Octavia couldn’t care less, and the maid had nights off anyway, so she was used to fending for herself sometimes.

As she was saying this, her phone rang. It was Shirley.

“Claire, why didn’t you tell me you

were moving? If Sophia hadn’t

posted about it, I would still be in the I dark!” Shirley’s tone wasn’t just surprised-she clearly wanted an explanation.