"It's personal. I don't think I owe you an explanation, Miss Ye. You understand, of course." Edward smiled disapprovingly. She was just the daughter of the commander, after all. He didn't have to take orders from her. Edward was a civilian. He didn't give a damn who she was.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. If you don't feel like talking about it, that's okay." Louisa had concocted her own little story about the relationship. She figured that Leena was Edward's half-sister. Maybe they shared the same father. It happened a lot in rich families. Rich men always cheated on their wives. It was like a biological imperative or something.

  "Now give Miss Ye the laptop, please. I need to get back to work. Busy day and all that." Daisy wanted to hide the unpleasant matter from the commander. So she had pretended she needed to borrow Louisa for a few minutes so that Louisa could leave the commander's office and he wouldn't suspect a thing. The truth would humiliate him. He'd see how his daughter behaved and would probably punish her. This way, he never had to know.

  "Oh, the computer is for Miss Ye. I didn't know that." Edward hesitated to hand over the laptop. He worried that someone might start a rumor saying that Daisy bribed the commander's daughter. She'd already been the target of rumors and suffered for it. She didn't need any more trouble. That kind of thing had happened before. This time, he had to think everything over to stop it from happening again.

  "It's a replacement, not a gift." Daisy didn't want to talk about it in front of Louisa. As an intelligent man, Edward could tell Daisy's thoughts from the expression on her face. He didn't ask any more questions about it. He just bent down, grabbed the box the computer was in, and handed it to Louisa. He didn't know why Daisy had to replace Louisa's computer, but since Daisy didn't want to discuss anything, he didn't have to know right now.

  That didn't stop Louisa from being embarrassed. However, it had gone so far that a new computer was her only choice. Her face turned crimson.

  "Miss Ye, now that you have the computer, we're even. If there's a problem with it, it's under warranty. The company should help you. Their number's in the manual." Dai

  hance? He might even get promoted, if he does well." Kevin regarded Daisy while he talked about this. He knew there was bad blood between Hank and her, and was worried that she'd be against this.

  "Makes sense. We all make mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. Hank deserves one too. You think he learned his lesson? At least he isn't all evil." Daisy smiled. She hated Hank for what he did to her. He used to be an asshole, but he had paid for it. He'd been nothing but respectful since then. She didn't want to kill his career just because she hated him. It would take a lot to earn his old rank back. She felt sorry for him.

  "How about this? I'll recommend Hank. That's all I can do. After that, it's up to the commander. Okay?" Kevin wasn't going against orders. He was doing what he thought was right. He and Daisy were the best in the commander's eyes. He thought other officers should have a shot too. Two people weren't the whole army.

  "Good. We could use the time to relax, and let other officers show what they can do. That way they won't think we're getting any special treatment. They don't understand —— we didn't just get the credit, we earned it." Daisy started thinking. They never stopped being suspicious of Kevin and Daisy. It had been going on for a long time, but the commander and other higher-ups just ignored it. They always gave the best men the best opportunities. Everyone else who was working hard to become one of the best was passed over time and again.