The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 181

"I don't have to pay all the renovation costs upfront, so I still have some cash on hand for now. Plus, I'll be getting a salary soon enough."

Quinn knew how much the orphanage meant to Riley; she was just venting out of sheer worry. "If you need cash, call me. I'm not exactly loaded, but I can scrape together a few thousand for you."

"I don't need money right now, I need manpower. Since I'm moving to Statenbury, I need you to keep an eye on the renovations for me when you have the time."

"Don't worry, I've got it covered."

By the time all the loose ends were tied up, six days had passed. Riley, Alora, and Mrs. Gable caught a flight to Statenbury that afternoon. After settling Mrs. Gable and Alora into a hotel, Riley headed straight to the First Medical Center to report in.

By the time the onboarding process was finished, the sun had already set. Exhausted from running around handling the orphanage over the past few days, Riley went straight back to the hotel to crash.

Early the next morning, she left the hotel to start apartment hunting. Buying a place was completely off the table—she was dead broke—so renting was her only option.

Finding an apartment that was close to the hospital, in a nice neighborhood, and actually affordable was proving to be a nightmare. On top of that, she was entirely unfamiliar with the city. After half a day of exhausting searching, she still had nothing to show for it.

She was starting work tomorrow, yet she still didn't have a roof over her head. Living out of a hotel permanently was impossible on her non-existent budget.

The weather was sweltering. After running around for hours, Riley felt dizzy and lightheaded. Dejected, she trudged along the sidewalk when a black SUV suddenly pulled up beside her. The car looked strangely familiar.

Just as she was wondering where she'd seen it, the driver's window rolled down, revealing Franklin's rugged face.

Franklin greeted her with feigned surprise. "Riley."

Riley thought the heat must be playing tricks on her. Statenbury was a massive city—what were the odds of running into Franklin here?

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