Chapter 66

"I once worked as a janitor at a martial arts academy," Valerie said lightly. "I picked up a few self-defense tricks by watching the instructors." Jonah stared at her. "Self-defense tricks?" "You worked at a martial arts academy, too?" Noah asked in surprise. "Poor kids do whatever they must to survive," Valerie replied. Noah fell silent. On the other hand, Jonah clearly didn't buy it. "What kind of academy produces skills like yours?" Valerie's tone didn't change. "A private school back home. They only took children between five and eight." Jonah fell speechless at that and didn't press on. Valerie gave a small bow and said politely, "Apologies for earlier. I hope you'll both forgive the offense." Noah chuckled. "Offense? Don't make it sound so formal. Any friend of Kieran's is a friend of mine. "Honestly, when I saw those two women giving you trouble in the jewelry store, I was about to step in. Who could've guessed they'd end up tearing into each other instead? It wasn't t