Page 209 of My Ruthless Opponent

He loves to visit here. He is an animal lover. Whenever he is sad or stressed, he often spends time with these cuties, looking after them.

I’ve volunteered here a couple of times with him but between my hectic job and Dad, I couldn’t come here often.

Archer doesn’t have a fixed schedule of volunteering here.

It’s been five days and I haven’t seen him here. After asking a few of the female volunteers, they told me he visits either in the morning or noon.

It's noon now. And I just entered the shelter. I walked straight to the open ground where I spotted a few of the dogs playing.

I understand why Archer likes it here. It’s peaceful with a touch of melancholy.

Watching the animals and their sad eyes hurts my soul. But on the other hand, spending time with them, playing with them makes my heart smile.

Archer is good with them. Even with the traumatized animals that are skittish toward everyone. They somehow calm down around him.

He helps the staff with the tasks like bathing the animals, feeding them, or taking them for a walk.

My heart squeezes when Lucy stumbles while trying to lick my face.

“When did you guys get her?” I ask as I pet her.

“A year ago.”

“What happened to her?” I ask quietly

Kayla kneels beside me and scratches her fur. “She was hit by a car when she was a puppy.”

“Oh God,”

“Yeah. Her spine was damaged.”

I turn my widened eyes to her, speechless. Just imagining the small puppy in so much pain makes me emotional.

“The vet didn’t think that she was going to make it. She suggested that we should put her to sleep.”

“Then how did she survive?”

She smiles at Lucy. “She was a fighter. Archer suggested putting her in a wheelchair. We did and she got better.”

“Oh my god.” I gasp before breaking into a grin.

“Yeah… Archer saved her.”

Emotions make me unable to speak so I just stay silent and play with Lucy.

After a couple of minutes, Lucy jerks her head up and glances at something over my shoulder, and takes off. She breezes past us.

Still kneeling, I turn my head behind and see Archer crouching down to greet a very excited Lucy.

I get to my feet and face him. As if sensing my eyes on him, he looks up. Our eyes meet, mine pleading and his hard.

He straightens to his height before walking my way.

I start to smile. He is not ignoring me. That’s progress, right? I prepare myself for his scolding. I mentally go over the points I am going to say.

When he reaches me, my smile gets wistful.

I missed my best friend. “Hey—”

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