His Wicked Obsession (Archer and Virginia) novel Chapter 171

"Hello, I am GR-03. How may I assist you?"

The voice was gentle, carrying a hint of electronic modulation, but it didn't sound rigid at all.

Virginia Caldwell was pleasantly surprised and stepped closer in curiosity.

"You can give it a try," Archer Vanderbilt said, leaning against the edge of the console. His hands were tucked into his pockets, and he gave a slight lift of his chin.

Virginia glanced at the pile of test clothes near the console. After a moment's thought, she said, "Help me fold the clothes on the table."

Receiving the command, GR-03 glided over. Its mechanical arms extended, precisely laying out, folding, and neatly stacking the garments one by one.

It wasn't particularly fast, but every single item was pressed with perfectly crisp creases.

Virginia tested a few more commands—sweeping the floor, wiping the table, and sorting items into storage.

GR-03 completed all of them with effortless grace.

"Did you write its recognition system?" Virginia asked, looking back at him as a thought crossed her mind.

"Just the core algorithm."

Virginia didn't ask further, but she felt like she had gained a deeper understanding of Archer.

This was how he always did things.

Precise, restrained, and pursuing absolute perfection.

She pulled her gaze away and said sincerely, "That's really impressive."

Archer didn't reply. His deep, dark eyes were locked onto her, a fleeting hint of a smile flashing in their depths.

...

It was nearly midnight by the time they walked out of the laboratory.

They hardly spoke on their way downstairs.

When the elevator doors opened, they stepped inside one after the other.

Virginia pressed the button for the lobby. Once the doors slid shut, she spoke in a distant tone, "Mr. Vanderbilt, about what happened today, I'd prefer it if..."

Before she could finish, the lights in the elevator flickered violently. Suddenly, the entire car jolted hard, shuddering wildly.

Caught completely off guard, she lost her footing and slammed her shoulder against the elevator wall. Above them, the lights flickered rapidly before dying completely.

Archer had never seen her like this. His brows furrowed slightly as an unfamiliar ache rippled through his chest.

Virginia shrank against his chest, continually drawing from his warmth and steady presence until the suffocating terror finally began to recede.

She knew she shouldn't get close to him.

But it was too dark... She couldn't hold on by herself.

His heart aching for her, Archer lifted a hand to cradle the back of her head. With his elegant fingers, he slowly and rhythmically stroked her hair.

He didn't say a word, just held her securely.

It wasn't until her breathing steadied that he shifted slightly, reaching out to press the emergency button on the panel.

But at this hour, there wasn't a single soul left in the building besides them.

...

By the time the maintenance crew pried the elevator doors open, it was early the next morning.

During their routine inspection, they had noticed the elevator malfunction. When the doors were finally forced apart, they were greeted by quite the scene—the man was sitting on the floor in the corner of the car, with a wrinkled overcoat draped over the woman sleeping soundly in his arms.