When fate plays its hand

Chapter 0506

+25 BONUS

After visiting the garden and enjoying the castella, Mindy felt completely satisfied. The next day, she and Lionel headed back to Lumberville. Miranda had accompanied them to the train station.

Upon hearing the news, Warren rushed over. “Ms. Harrison, these are letters from your fans sent to the publishing house. They asked me to pass them on to you.”

Mindy was pleasantly surprised–it was the first time she had received fan letters. There were quite a lot, enough to fill a large bag.

Back home, Miranda took advantage of the sunny weather and washed the bed sheets and covers from two rooms. By the end of October, the summer heat had finally begun to recede, replaced by the cool hint of autumn.

She also reorganized her wardrobe, putting away the clothes and dresses she wouldn’t be wearing for a while and moving her fall outfits to a more accessible spot.

By the time she finished all that, it was already 2:00 pm, and she still hadn’t had lunch. The fridge had only two tomatoes.

Sighing in resignation, Miranda put on her shoes and headed out, realizing she had no choice but to go to the grocery store

“Heading out now?” She had just descended one floor when she ran into Paul coming up the stairs.

“Yeah.” Miranda nodded. “I’m out of groceries at home, so I’m off to the supermarket.”

“Perfect timing, I’ll join you,” Paul said, immediately turning around to walk with her.

“What are you planning to buy, Dr. Jefferson?” Miranda asked.

Paul subtly sidestepped the question and simply replied, “Which supermarket are we going to?”

There were three supermarkets nearby, all quite close. Miranda named one and asked, “Is that okay?” Paul nodded, “Works for me.” And just like that, they skipped past the earlier question.

In just a few minutes, the two were inside the supermarket. The convenience of living in an older residential area was unbeatable; everything was close by, and the facilities in the neighborhood were more than sufficient.

The only downside was the lack of elevators, but that seemed a small trade–off.

Miranda walked ahead while Paul followed, pushing the shopping cart. Whenever she stopped, he stopped too, maintaining a half–step distance between them. They gave off the feeling of an old married couple shopping together.

When they reached the seafood section, they noticed it was peak crab season. Miranda wasn’t too fond of black pepper crabs or anything whole crabs as she found them messy to eat, but she did love crab rolls.

“Miss, today’s crabs are really fresh. Would you like to buy some?” the vendor offered.

Miranda nodded. “Could you give me a bag, please?”

+25 BONUS

Chapter 0506

“Of course,” the vendor replied.

As she bent down to select the crabs, her hair fell to both sides, almost dipping into the water. Miranda quickly stood up, reaching for a hair tie, but realized she’d forgotten to bring one.

She sighed and remembered the gray hairpin in her bag, the one she’d bought at the night market the previous day.

She casually twisted her hair up, securing it with the hairpin. Although it wasn’t a perfect style, it at least kept her hair from falling.

Miranda happily returned to picking crabs, but within seconds–her hairpin gave way, and everything fell apart.

She stood there, slightly embarrassed. Paul then let out a sigh, took the hairpin from her hair, and said, Stand up straight.”

Okay,” Miranda complied automatically.

Paul’s hands moved skillfully as he twisted and secured her hair, fixing it in place with the hairpin in less than 30 seconds.

Like usual, Miranda moved her head slightly; the hair stayed put, firmly secured by the hairpin.

“Dr. Jefferson, have you done this before?” she asked with a curious look.

“This is only the second time. The first was the other day,” Paul answered.

Miranda couldn’t help but feel a bit defeated by his nonchalant skill.

With the crabs now selected, Paul took them to be weighed while Miranda picked up a few pounds of flour, which she also handed to Paul. He took it smoothly, and their coordination was seamless.

After weighing the crabs, they continued to shop for vegetables, meat, and eggs, each moving in sync like they’d done this a hundred times before.