"I'll do my best"

Ronald Richardson sat beside Murray, feigning nonchalance as he glanced to his left, where Haley Bertie was asking Jean Harry if she wanted some cake.

Jean agreed, and Haley stood to fetch a slice from the table. Just as his hand reached for a piece of red velvet cake, Ronald abruptly stood up, stretched out his arm, and snatched the slice Haley was eyeing.

In front of everyone, he offered it to Emily, "Try this? The best cake in Sandviken."

Emily internally scoffed at his childishness but accepted the cake without a change in expression. Having only eaten lunch that day, she was famished and didn't care whose cake it was.

Besides, she was a stranger to this group and unlikely to cross paths with them again, so she wasn't bothered.

She tasted the cake, finding it delightfully soft and sweet but not cloying, perhaps the best red velvet she'd ever had.

Undeterred by Ronald's public slight, Haley Bertie even smiled at Emily, asking warmly, "Do you like it?"

Emily's eyes widened in surpri