"Chloe, go for it! Don't be shy." Valerie, not realizing Chloe's gaze had been on someone other than Wayne, misinterpreted her disappointment as shyness.

Chloe regretted her impulse to attend this engagement party with Valerie. True, she had wanted to see Horrace. Although unsure of what seeing him would accomplish, she'd been thinking about him constantly since receiving those shoes yesterday.

However, Horrace's cold indifference just now had crushed these thoughts ...