"It's good that you understood." Rylan joked before he turned his attention towards the girl who had been silently drinking her coffee.

"Let me help you in applying the medicine on your bruises."

He offered as he took out the little porcelain bottle from his bag and took hold of one of her hands.

"No need."

Emily said with a little bit of coldness present in her tone as she pulled her hand away from his grasp.

Rylan looked at the girl who was still staring at her coffee as she tried to hide her expressions.

He could not stop his hand as it ended up softly ruffling her hair, immediately making her look up to glare at him.

"What? Stop being angry. Your bruises need to get taken care of. After all, you have another defense class tomorrow." He told her with a small smile playing on his lips.

A groan left her lips as Emily too realized that she still had one more day of defense classes before she could get a break from all the punches that she had been receiving lately.

"Are you regretting continuing your defense classes with Mark?"

Shane asked when he saw her depressed expressions.

"I'll be lying if I reply with a No," Emily muttered as she took a big gulp of her hot coffee.

Both Rylan and Shane burst out into chuckles at her reply.

Right at that moment, Rylan's phone buzzed, alerting him of the new message that he received.

Since she was looking at him as he read the message, Emily clearly saw the change that appeared in his expressions and so did Shane.

Rylan looked up from his phone as his eyes landed on the girl who was keenly looking back at him.

"Something urgent needs my attention. I'll be leaving now but don't worry, I'll leave a group of my men along with yours to keep you company before Daniel picks you up." He informed her as he placed the porcelain bottle in her hand.

"Remember to not end up in any kind of trouble. Alright?" Shane added as he too stood up.

"I know, I know. I won't leave Joy's sight even for a single second."

Emily promised as she looked at the two boys who were definitely not comfortable with the idea of leaving her alone, even when she had dozens of guards protecting her.

It only meant that whatever the sudden emergency that Rylan was talking about, it was really important.

After giving quick instructions to Joy and bidding their goodbyes, the boys left the cafe.

Emily took out her phone to check the time and realized that it was almost the exact time for the start of the Miller twins' working hours at the cafe.

It barely took ten minutes before the two cute siblings who were also around her age entered the cafe and made their way towards her table which was located in one of the farthest corners.

"Oh my! Did you get punched today too?" Grace asked as she observed the bruises that were covering Emily's bare skin.

Emily just replied with a soft shrug as she smiled at the siblings who had become her close friends in the past month.

"Guys, your shift will be starting within the next ten minutes. Don't be late." Manager Pam, an old lady in her mid-fifties, came towards their table to remind the siblings.

"Don't worry, Miss Pam. We will be at the counter even before our shift will start." Joe immediately replied with her beautiful smile.

Manager Pam just smiled at the three girls before she returned to finish her work.

Joe did not waste any more time as she hurriedly opened her phone and handed it over to Emily to take a look at the files that she had arranged.

To say that Emily was impressed by the skills of the twins would an understatement.

"What do you think about it?" Grace asked as soon as Emily quickly went through the summaries of the documents.

"It's perfect!"

Emily immediately replied with a huge smile on her face as she followed the girls towards the counter.

"Here. I've forwarded all eight files to your phone. You can take another look at it and maybe it can really help you with whatever you are planning to do with this information." Joe said as she took off her outer shirt.

Both the girls were wearing the orange-colored t-shirts that all the staff members of the Sunshine Cafe were required to wear during their work hours, under their outer shirts.

They hurriedly put on the aprons along with the caps before both of them were ready to serve the customers.

"By the way, have you decided about joining us the next weekend to surf the new northern zone that has finished its construction?" Grace questioned her as she watched her sister clearing the mess that was decorating most of the counter.

"I searched about that area and to be honest, I really want to take a look. Since it is located in the neutral zone, I think I'll be able to join you guys. I'll ask my brothers tonight and let you guys know." Emily replied as she too made her way to help Joe.

"You are such a sweet and obedient sister, Em! Moreover, you are really hard working. How do you even keep up with such a busy schedule?" Joe asked while she praised her friend.

"Stop overpraising me! I'm just trying my best to not cause trouble for my brothers." Emily said as she gave the twin sisters one of her rare genuine smiles.

Her smile was contagious because immediately the Miller sisters were too smiling as they nodded their heads in acknowledgment of her defense.

The three continued to chat about their boring school day while they also made sure to take care of their duties.

Emily loved to help them every now and then, even though they barely let her do any work.

The fact was that the Miller sisters were too sweet, polite, and warm towards Emily that it was almost impossible to not doubt their motives.

However, she had a strong feeling in her heart that the twins were not a threat to her.

Just when Emily was submerged in her thoughts, the door of the cafe opened, and a very familiar scent entered her nose, awakening each of her body cells on its way before it consumed her completely.

He had arrived!