Chapter 574

575
575
Owen was lounging on the sofa, watching the news, while Aria sat at her desk, reading a book and debugging code on her computer at the same time.
Whenever she hit a snag, she’d just ask Alan.
Alan was explaining things to her when he unexpectedly got stuck himself.
Alan: [Ms. Saxon, could you take a look at this for me? I just can’t get the fidelity up to the theoretical value.]
After looking into it for a bit, Aria messaged: [Try a new algorithm. I’ll send it to you.]
They messaged back and forth for half an hour.
Alan: [Ms. Saxon, your problem-solving approach is quite ingenious.]
Aria smiled. [A fresh perspective never hurts.]
At five o’clock, Owen set down his book and walked over to the desk. His eyes swept over the code-filled screen before lingering on her fingers. “How much longer till you’re done?” he asked.
Without looking up, Aria’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Almost done,” she murmured.
A few minutes later, she finally closed her laptop. Just as she was about to stretch her aching fingers, Owen’s hand gently covered hers. “Let me help,” he offered softly.
His hands were larger than hers, with well-defined knuckles.
They applied just the right amount of pressure.
Aria smiled and teased, “Wow, you’ve got magic fingers. Did you train for this?”
Owen replied, “Yep, took it as an elective in college.”
His roommate had actually signed him up for the class by mistake. Back then, he didn’t think it would ever come in handy.
Now it was finally coming in handy.
His fingers gently worked over Aria’s, the ache in her fingertips slowly melting away under his touch.
Aria smiled and said, “You’ve got some pretty good technique.”
Every time he massaged her, she’d feel so relaxed she could just drift off.
Owen’s gaze darkened slightly as he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a teasing whisper. “I’ve got even better skills- care to try?”
His gaze was just too suggestive, and Aria’s mind went straight to the gutter. She shot him a strange look and teased, “Don’t you ever get tired?”
Owen chuckled and gave her nose a playful tap, “What’s on your mind? I meant massaging other spots.”
“You already gave me a massage at lunch,” Aria said, averting her gaze with a slight blush.
Owen said softly, “You’ve got teaching tomorrow. One massage session won’t be enough.”
Owen kept massaging for another half hour.
1/2
“What would you like for dinner? I’ll whip something up,” he asked.
Aria thought for a while. “Something light-just an omelet would be fine.”
Owen nodded. “Got it.”
*****
When it was Tuesday, Aria texted Flynt: [Location.]
Flynt replied almost instantly with a location pin: [The building next door. Room 1 on the 13th floor.]
Aria texted Owen with the location pin: [I’m heading there directly. It won’t take long.]
Reviewing case files, Owen frowned slightly and quickly replied: [Got it. Stay safe.]
Owen closed the case files, stood up, and decided to head out early.
Just as Lydia and Mason entered the lobby, they both froze for a moment when they spotted Owen.
“Mr. Shaw?” Mason asked in surprise. “Calling it a day already?”
“Yeah,” Owen replied. “All done with work.”
Lydia cheerfully greeted him, “Owen, the company I’m interning at has settled out of court-no lawsuit needed anymore.”
Her eyes lit up as she looked at Owen, but then, remembering something, her eyes dimmed, and she quickly composed
herself.
“Congratulations on the settlement. I’ll leave you two to your work.” Owen gave a brief nod in acknowledgment before striding off.
Lydia watched his retreating figure, her heart heavy with an aching bitterness.
She thought to herself, ‘If Owen weren’t already taken, I might still have a shot. But he’s already with Aria. If I keep going after him knowing he’s taken, I’d just be the other woman.
Lydia knew she was completely out of the game. All she could do was slowly let go.
*****
Aria made her way to the thirteenth floor of the adjacent building and rang the doorbell.
O