Hans then drove Natalie to the nearest mall to buy a new outfit.

Elsewhere, Maria arrived at Hans's office in the afternoon. She headed to her husband's office, but it was empty with no one inside.

Confused, Maria walked to her husband's secretary's office, but the secretary was also not there. Maria assumed that her husband was attending a meeting in the conference room.

With growing curiosity, Maria walked to the meeting room with a slightly anxious feeling. True enough, her anxiety increased when she saw the empty meeting room.

As she was about to leave the meeting room, Maria ran into a former office friend.

"Hey! Santha! In a hurry? Where are you going?" Maria asked Santha.

"Oh, hi, Maria. Oops, should I call you 'madam' too? Ha ha ha," teased Santha.

"Oh, no need for that! Relax," Maria replied while holding Santha's hand, indicating their close friendship. "Oh, are you having a meeting?" Maria asked Santha.

"No, hufftt, Mr. Hans left in the middle of the meeting, so we have a chance to fix our mistakes. That's why I'm in a hurry. We're afraid Mr. Hans might change his mind and return to the meeting room," Sangga replied, slightly relieved.

"What? Left in the middle of the meeting? That can't be right; he never did that before, did he?" Maria expressed disbelief because she was the one who always accompanied Hans in meetings as his secretary. She remembered well that Hans would never leave a meeting with anyone, including his employees.

"You're right. Oh, before leaving the room, Mr. Hans seemed to be taking a call. At first, I thought it must be you calling him. You used to be quite attached to Mr. Hans," Santha teased.

"Oh, yeah, I did ask him where he was earlier. Hmmm, did we accidentally meet on the street?" Maria seemed flustered in responding to her friend's statement. Maria was sure that she hadn't called Hans earlier, so she was confident that someone else had caused him to leave the meeting.

Maria, not wanting her friend to know about this, pretended that she was the one who called Hans.

"Hah, I knew it. Why did you choose to start your own company if you're still clinging to your husband, ha ha ha," Santha teased Maria again. "Well, madam, your employee is excusing herself now because I have a lot of work," Maria's friend said before leaving.

At that moment, Maria felt confused and restless. She called her mother-in-law, hoping nothing bad had happened.

"Hello, Mom?" Maria greeted through her phone.

"Yes, my daughter-in-law, what's up?" the voice on the other side asked.

"Um, is everything okay at home, Mom? Is there anything happening there?" Maria asked with a worried tone.

"No, dear, why are you asking that? Oh, by the way, since you called, please order food for me. I'm too lazy to eat homemade food. You know my favorite, right? I'll wait, thank you," her mother-in-law said.

Maria became even more anxious. The fact that Hans's mother was fine made Maria's feelings even more confused.

"Where is this damn man!" Maria cursed.

She tried to call her husband multiple times, but there was no answer from Hans.

Maria tried to think of other possibilities, but one name came to her mind: Natalie.

Maria quickly called Natalie, and shortly after, Natalie answered the call.

"Hello?" Natalie greeted through her phone.

"Did you call my husband while he was in a meeting?" Maria asked suddenly.

Natalie smiled slyly.

"Oh, sorry, ma'am, I didn't know he was in a meeting," Natalie said to Hans while choosing clothes for herself.

"How do you know? Never mind, let's change your clothes quickly!" Hans instructed, handing her the clothes.

Natalie deliberately made Maria even more jealous. Maria, hearing their conversation, exploded with anger. However, when Maria was about to scold Natalie, her phone call was cut off.

"You jerk! What are they doing? Change your clothes? What does that mean? Are you having an affair behind my back? How dare you, Hans!" Maria swore angrily. Her face turned red due to her exploding emotions.

Elsewhere, Natalie looked satisfied after making Maria listen to sentences that surely made her angry.

"What if we look for a building near my office? We can have lunch together every day," Hans suggested to Natalie, who had changed her clothes by then.

"All right, sir, that's a great idea," Natalie happily replied.

They continued their journey to Hans's office.

Shortly after, Natalie had decided on a building that was not too big but seemed sufficient for her small boutique.

"Hah, I'm so happy. We've found a suitable building, and it's close to your office, sir," Natalie said, blushing.

"Of course," Hans replied confidently.

Natalie was asked to sign a contract by the property agency as a down payment for the purchase of the building.

"We will send the documents to your and sir's home. Thank you for entrusting this to us," the agency representative said while offering a handshake.

Hans, thrilled at being addressed as "sir" and feeling a sense of importance, gladly accepted the handshake.

"Thank you, we hope to maintain good relations in the future!" Hans said with a broad smile.

After the agency representative left the room, Natalie chuckled as she looked at Hans.

"Mr. and Mrs.," Natalie said, also pleased with the terms.

They both laughed at the same thing, but then the atmosphere suddenly became silent.

Hans and Natalie, alone in the empty room, locked eyes. Natalie seemed to divert her gaze from Hans's eyes several times.

Hans, feeling that Natalie sensed the same thing he did, tried to approach her. Initially, they stood a bit apart, but now there was only a short distance between them.

Natalie seemed unbothered as Hans moved closer.

Hans tried to hold Natalie's hand, and she didn't object. Hans began to grip Natalie's hand tightly. He brought his face closer to hers.

Natalie recoiled a bit, but Hans's hand skillfully grabbed Natalie's waist and pulled her towards him.

Now there was no gap between them. Hans's heart raced; he felt challenged by Natalie, who had never rejected his touch before.

However, in an instant, Natalie avoided Hans, who was almost about to kiss her lips.

"Sir, not the right time yet," Natalie said, turning her face away.

Hans understood and released his embrace.

"Forgive me. Ah, we better go home now; I'll take you home," Hans said calmly, as if nothing had happened.

Natalie nodded, agreeing with Hans's words. And they left the empty building.