Neither I nor Melanie spoke in the elevator. She pouted and lowered her head while leaning against the elevator wall. Frankly, I couldn’t be bothered to engage with her. Although her brother often spoiled her, I never had the patience.

When we reached Matthew's office, he was indeed in a meeting. One of his employees saw me and Melanie and called Matthew out. Matthew seemed shocked as his gaze shifted between our faces before stopping at me.

After some thought, he asked, “What are you—”

“Did I embarrass you? Why should I dress up since I only went to the market?” I interjected, knowing what he was about to say. Irritated, I retorted, “Pass me the keys. Ava’s still asleep.”

Immediately after, Matthew rushed to his desk and retrieved the keys from his bag to hand them to me, saying, “Didn’t you ask Mel to send them to you?”

I took the keys and glanced at a displeased Melanie. "Does she have the time to bring me the keys? Pretending to be Mrs. Murphy here seems more important than pa