Chapter 7

There were only a few days left before they parted ways, and Nathaniel didn't want to argue over something so petty. When they arrived at the mall, Yvonne led them straight to a men's clothing store. After she picked out a few smart-looking suits, she strode toward Nathaniel. For a brief moment, he mistakenly thought that Yvonne still cared about him. But in the next second, she walked right past him. "Louie, you're having your interview at my company tomorrow. Even though I'm the lead interviewer, we still have to follow the procedure. You need to dress appropriately for such formal occasions. "Look at these suits I picked for you. Which one do you like best?" "I'll like anything you pick, Yvonne," Louise answered. Upon hearing that, Nathaniel felt ridiculous for even entertaining the thought from earlier. Instead of waiting around, he went off to the bookstore and picked up a few travel guides on Feacliff. After paying, he came out just as Yvonne and Louie finished their shopping. Louie had already changed into one of the new suits. He deliberately stood right in front of Nathaniel and fixed his collar. "Nathaniel, don't I look good in this suit? Yvonne sure has good taste." As he spoke, he scanned Nathaniel from head to toe. Nathaniel's clothes, slightly worn from years of use, contrasted sharply with Louie's brand-new tailored suit. Nathaniel had gotten used to living frugally. All the money he'd saved ever since he started working had gone into repaying Yvonne's debts. Even though Yvonne's business was booming now, she had never bought Nathaniel a single piece of new clothing. In fact, Nathaniel himself hadn't bought any new clothes in years. Nathaniel understood what Louie was trying to do, so he simply smiled and said, "You look great. That suit really suits you." When Yvonne noticed the shopping bag in Nathaniel's hand, she grabbed it to take a look. "Why would you want to read books like these?" she asked with a frown. Nathaniel replied, "It's just something to pass the time during night shifts." Yvonne scoffed and handed the book back to him. "What a boring hobby." Just as the three of them were about to leave the mall, chaos suddenly erupted near the entrance. "There's a murderer! Run!" As the crowd was panicking, Nathaniel saw a man in his 40s outside the mall, charging in with a knife. The route the man was taking brought him right toward where the three of them were standing. Nathaniel immediately pulled Yvonne aside, just barely avoiding the oncoming attacker. Since the man's goal was to get inside the mall, he didn't stop in front of them. However, Louie had fallen behind—about 30 feet back—because he was distracted by his phone. Now, the attacker was rushing straight toward him. Yvonne, having just narrowly escaped, screamed in horror when she saw the attacker closing in on Louie. "Louie! Watch out!" At that very moment, she used all her strength to shove Nathaniel toward the knife-wielding man. Nathaniel stumbled and crashed into the attacker. The man then lunged at him with the blade. However, Nathaniel had been bullied in middle school and was trained in self-defense. Naturally, he reacted quickly and threw a solid punch right in the man's jaw. As the attacker fell to the ground, he rushed forward and tried to kick the knife out of his hand. With the help of mall security, the man was finally subdued. However, Nathaniel was left trembling uncontrollably. Images of how the attacker had stabbed toward his neck kept replaying in his mind. If he had been even a second slower, the knife could've sliced open his carotid artery or even pierced his heart. He looked at Yvonne with a gaze full of despair. Even though he was already set on leaving her, his first instinct was still to protect her. Yvonne, however, had pushed him toward danger just to protect another man.