Jeremy's tone was the same as usual, but he fixed his gaze on Melody the whole time. He also had a particular solemn look that made it look like he was trying to read her every microexpression.
Holding Echo in her lips, Melody pursed her lips. "You've brought my luggage back. What more can I say?"
Tiffany grumbled, "What is this? He took matters into his own hands without asking—typical machismo.
"Melody, he's unreliable. If you can't take it, my door is always open for you."
Jason was already on his feet, not bothered to hide his resentment for Jeremy. "Stay at my place instead!"
Jeremy's voice slightly deepened. "I made this decision to keep you safe."
Melody looked at Tiffany and Jason, and she shook her head. "It's fine. It'll be the same if I stay here, and it's more peaceful here too."
Jeremy had a high standard of living in the first place. So, he went for a high-end apartment with particularly good privacy and security when he bought it back then.
If Melody stayed here, she would never learn what happened out there in the real world if she cut herself off from the internet and stayed indoors.
Tiffany saw the point in that and decided she would stop persuading Melody. She and Jason stayed for a while longer before they left. As he walked to the door, he kept turning back to look at Melody, his face laden with concern.
Eventually, he couldn't stop himself from giving Jeremy a warning. "Don't you be mean to her."
He spat those words through gritted teeth, making sure to enunciate each word.
The moment they left, silence draped over the apartment once more. Melody carried Echo in her arms and got up to return to her room. However, she saw the luggage in Jeremy's hand and turned to reach out for it.
He didn't let her take it. He said slowly in a deepened voice, "It's going into the master bedroom."
Melody's hand immediately froze, and her entire body trembled momentarily. Her voice was hoarse when she responded. "It's not necessary."
Jeremy stared at her with unblinking eyes. He had been getting off work and going home on time for the past few days because he didn't want her to be scared.
He was also aware that she was terrified. In fact, she might've exhibited symptoms of acute stress reaction. So, he let her have her way with everything and even brought her dog back.
That said, Melody couldn't keep going like this. Gazing at her, Jeremy said, "You'll have to go to the hospital for a check-up if your fever still doesn't go down tomorrow."
Her stomach churned at the idea of going outside. Seeing a crowd of strangers triggered the unpleasant memory of how she was helplessly restrained and how the onlookers apathetically filmed her with their phones.
As a matter of fact, Melody was also aware that she had been oversensitive or overly stressed for the past few days, but she couldn't help it.
Whenever the terrifying memories came flooding back, she would have either nightmares or sleepless nights.
Biting her lips, she added, "I know myself best, and I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm just drained from before. A couple of days' rest will fix me right up."
Jeremy fell silent briefly. Then, he revealed, "The middle-aged couple is locked in the police station. Don't you want to see them?"
Melody paled a little the moment he brought them up. She pressed her palms uneasily and asked in a dry, raspy voice, "W-Why should I?"
"Don't you want to know who ordered them to mess you up?" Jeremy asked in a warm and gentle voice as he lowered his gaze and looked at her.
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