In the room, Harper and Patrick were having dinner when they heard a knock on the door.
"I think Aria's back." Harper glanced and put down her fork, preparing to get up to open the door.
"I'll go," Patrick pressed her shoulder and jokingly said, "She's out on a business trip and playing outside so late. As her superior, I should educate her properly."
Harper shrugged and smiled. "Lead the way."
Patrick opened the door. But instead of Aria, there was a waiter outside.
She handed him the water with a smile. "Sir, sorry for the delay in delivery. These two bottles of water are complimentary for you."
Patrick then remembered that he had requested two bottles of water over the room phone.
He nodded, took the water, and thanked her.
He took a step outside, using a flashlight to light the way down for the waiter.
The waiter smiled gratefully and turned back to him. Patrick nodded and closed the door.
Just as he took that step out of the room, Joseph, who was at the corner of the stairs, saw him.
His long fingers clenched the handrail tightly with displeasure.
Why was he in Harper's room?
She knew that Patrick had impure intentions toward her, yet she was alone with him late at night?
Was it his initiative, or did Harper personally invite him?
The more Joseph thought about it, the angrier he became. He wanted to see what they were doing inside.
But after taking two steps, his footsteps paused.
Thinking about the various frustrations of the day, Joseph felt very annoyed.
But another voice in his mind was saying that he shouldn't care.
She was always thinking about divorcing him.
She said such things to him before, and now she should act like this.
Joseph sneered. Suddenly thinking of something, a cold gleam flashed in his eyes. And then he took out his phone and dialed the hotel reception.
"Hello. I saw a fire in room 806 just now. It seems like it's on fire. Please send someone to deal with it as soon as possible."
After speaking, he hung up, glanced deeply at Harper's room door, then turned and left.
In the room, Patrick placed the water on the table.
"Here is the water. Shall we have the tiramisu together?"
Harper nodded, opened the dessert box, and took a spoonful.
She liked sweets but was also picky. Perhaps due to the recent scare, her appetite was particularly good.
"Patrick, it's delicious. Try some."
Patrick took a bite. "It's indeed very good, but I'm full. You go ahead and eat, replenish your energy for tomorrow's competition."
Harper nodded slowly. "Okay."
Suddenly, Patrick said, "Wait."
Harper looked puzzled. "What's wrong?"
"You have something on the corner of your mouth."
Before Patrick could finish, he leaned forward and gently wiped away the cocoa powder from the corner of Harper's mouth with his fingertip.
The candlelight on the table shone just right, reflecting a gentle curve in their eyes.
Patrick couldn't help but lean toward Harper slowly.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, Harper watched Patrick getting closer and raised her hand to push him away.
But before she could react, there was a loud bang from the door.
The door was pushed open from the outside, and two security guards holding fire extinguishers rushed in, aiming the extinguisher at the candle on the table.
"Don't worry. We'll put out the fire right away!"
"Yes! Stand back!"
"I got this!"
Startled by this, Harper instinctively moved aside.
Patrick wasn't as lucky. His once fiery heart was completely extinguished at that moment, and the powder from the extinguisher splattered all over his face.
"What are you doing?"
Patrick wiped his face with his hand, revealing clear fingerprints.
Harper was startled by his appearance and only then did she realize what was happening. She quickly shouted, "Stop! You sprayed it on him!"
The two guards quickly moved the extinguisher aside, looking confused. "There's no fire here?"
One guard quickly put down the extinguisher and fumbled for tissues to help Patrick wipe his face.
"Sorry! But didn't you call saying the room needed to be extinguished?"
Patrick and Harper looked at each other, completely unsure of what was going on.
"We didn't call, so you guys might as well investigate what's going on." Patrick took the tissues from the guard, his tone not pleasant.
At that moment, Aria happened to return.
Seeing the scene in the room, she was genuinely shocked.
"What's going on? Power outage is one thing, but how did it catch fire?"
Harper sighed. "It must be a misunderstanding."
The security guard apologized, nodded, and then left with the fire extinguisher.
Aria shone her phone's flashlight around and saw the mess in the room. "This is unacceptable. Let's ask the reception for another room."
Harper shrugged. There was no other choice.
"Patrick, you should go handle this first."
Patrick nodded. He really couldn't stand it now, feeling embarrassed and ridiculous.
Moreover, with Aria back, he had no reason to stay here any longer.
"You should rest in a new room, and get ready for tomorrow. See you then."
Harper and Aria nodded, then started packing up and moved to a new room.
The next day, the fashion competition took place as scheduled.
This competition was an on-the-spot creation, with judges and the audience surrounding the participants in a circle to see them from all angles.
The contestants selected three types of fabric, which were from the materials provided by the organizers, for their design creations.
Harper and Aria encouraged each other and then began to work busily.
On the other side, Joseph and Olivia were also attending the final networking event.
Doctors from other hospitals were speaking, but Joseph kept glancing at his watch, appearing somewhat distracted.
Olivia noticed his actions and wanted to ask if something was wrong.
But at this moment, besides the speaking doctors, the entire venue was quiet. So she held back.
"Please take a moment's break next, and later on it will be free time for everyone to talk."
This was the last segment of the forum.
Olivia was about to ask Joseph if he wanted to go somewhere after it ended, but someone next to her started talking.
When she turned back, the seat next to her was unexpectedly empty.