Natalie watched the body tumble down the stairs. She let out a cold laugh, and the pressure in her chest eased a little. She'd been holding back a storm of emotions all day, and now these fools had walked right up to her door, begging for trouble. Everyone froze in shock, dumbfounded by the whole situation. The man in front, the one she'd been pointing the gun at, doubled over and vomited hard. Natalie frowned and raised the barrel at him. "Don't throw up on my doorstep!" He had nothing in his stomach, so only some liquid came up. Startled by her voice, he tried to swallow it back and choked, coughing until his face turned red. Olivia, who lived in the opposite apartment, had heard the gunshot. She rushed out from her house. "Nat, what's going on? Are you okay?" Natalie shook her head. "I'm fine. They're the ones with the problem." She turned back to the strangers and lifted her gun again. "Who's next?" The group panicked, shaking their heads wildly. "No, no! We don't want anything from you!" No matter how scary the stories were, fear only became real when you saw it yourself. Right now, they finally believed every word about this psycho. She wouldn't save you. She'd kill you without a second thought.Crying and pleading, they scrambled down the stairs, fighting each other to get away. They knew—dying of hunger later was still better than dying right now. Olivia watched them scatter, then asked, "Those people ... They're from Clearview Court, right?" Natalie tilted her head, curious. "How do you know?" Olivia started, "Because yesterday I—" She suddenly stopped, eyes widening in surprise. "Nat! What happened to your mouth? Why is it swollen?" Natalie, who had looked so fierce a moment ago, was flustered at the question. "What?" She covered her lips quickly, avoiding her friend's gaze. "Where is it swollen?" Olivia grabbed her wrist, pried her hand away, and gasped. "Don't think you can hide it from me! Look at this—wow. How long were you two kissing?" Natalie's face flushed bright red. "Don't talk nonsense! I just ate too much spicy food." Olivia laughed, eyes sparkling with gossip. "Come on. That excuse might fool an eighteen-year-old, but not me. Tell me—how far have you two gone?" Natalie pressed her lips shut and refused to answer. Olivia clapped a hand over her mouth in mock shock. "Oh no. Don't tell me you already—" Natalie nearly shouted, her voice rising high. "Of course not!" She bolted toward her apartment. "I need to go now! Dinner's still on the stove!" Olivia watched her flee back with a radiant smile."Go on, go on. Someone's waiting for you at home." Inside, Cassian was still in the kitchen, calm as ever, making lunch. The gunfire outside had nothing to do with him. A few minutes later, he carried dishes to the table and said gently, "Had enough killing for one day? Come eat." Natalie glanced at him, then walked slowly to sit down. She stared at the food in surprise. "This isn't what I ordered yesterday." Cassian smiled. "Yeah. I changed my mind. Wanted to try something different." Natalie pouted. Typical man. Yesterday he told her to order whatever she wanted, and today he did the opposite. Why bother asking her in the first place? Still, she examined the food on the table. They surely looked good. And honestly, anything he cooked tasted amazing. She picked up her fork just as Cassian took his seat. Natalie was ready to dig in. "Hold on." Cassian suddenly stopped her. "I haven't told you the name of the dishes yet." Natalie blinked. "What? Why would we need this?" This guy really thought he was the head chef at some fancy restaurant? Cooking was one thing, but giving dishes dramatic names? He hadn't pulled this stunt before. Before she could question him further, Cassian went on. "This one," he pointed, "is called A Kiss Seals the Deal." Natalie was sipping water and almost spit it across the table."What? That is spicy Cajun fish!" What on earth was this man babbling about? Cassian ignored her and moved on, pointing at another dish. "This one, Hand in Hand Forever." Natalie squinted. "Those are pork knuckles." He didn't stop. "This one, A Perfect Pair." She nearly rolled her eyes. "Garlic honey chicken wings." "And this one," he finished, "Through Thick and Thin." Natalie stared at the plate of steamed chicken breast. Her jaw dropped. Was he seriously using dinner as an excuse to force her to admit they were a pair? Her face darkened. "All these are meat! Too greasy. I don't want any of it." She got up to leave, but Cassian caught her arm. "Wait. There's still dessert." He walked into the kitchen and came back with a plate of caramel pudding. Natalie sighed with relief when she saw it was just some pudding. At least this one didn't come with some weird romantic meaning. She picked up the spoon, ready to taste, when Cassian said with a straight face. "This dessert is called Sweet as Love." Natalie's hand shook. She slammed the spoon down, finally reaching her limit. "That's enough! Take your cheesy love lines and keep them to yourself!"