Chapter 23

That evening, I wanted to send Ryan Chen a message to explain everything.

But as I held my phone for half the night, I couldn’t figure out where to start, so I ended up sending nothing.

I curled up on the living room sofa, hoping to see if Liam Evans had started packing.

Turns out, he hadn’t.

After a night of muddled thoughts, I finally realized one thing: I was quite reluctant to let him go.

The next morning, I got up early to see him off, but my dad said, “You’re up late, his plane has already taken off.”

I stood there, feeling empty inside.

“This morning, our boss personally came to pick him up,” my dad said, his eyes gleaming.

“Oh, congratulations.”

“When he left, he told us not to wake you. That kid seems unreliable, but he’s quite considerate, knowing you like to sleep in.” My mom smiled with a mother-in-law’s warmth.

“Stop dreaming, if you want such a handsome son, have one yourself.”

“You should find someone for mom, how’s it going with Ryan Chen?”

“It’s over.” I mumbled evasively.

My mom wanted to ask more, but I quickly shut the door to my room. What a headache.

After Liam Evans left, all the news about him came from my dad.

The most shocking was that his marriage with Sophia Martinez was off.

“Li has a temper, he stubbornly refused the engagement. My boss had no choice but to let him choose between studying abroad and getting engaged. He stood up to the entire family’s pressure and chose to go abroad,” my dad said, looking at me.

Why look at me?

“The company is buzzing…” My dad said, sizing me up again.

“Buzzing about what?” I pretended to be calm, munching on sunflower seeds.

“They’re saying Li fell for a much older woman. The boss was furious and beat him up, but the young man remained defiant, declaring he’d marry no one but her in this lifetime.”

My heart skipped a beat.

Clearly, it wasn’t about me, but why did I feel so involved, already starting to get nervous?

“I thought…” My dad grabbed a handful of seeds.

This suspense was enough to drive me crazy.

“Thought what?”

“Never mind,” my dad withdrew his gaze, “I don’t think it’s you. You and he are not the same type, no spark.”

I buried myself in my phone, pretending to know nothing.

“I’m not the same type as you either,” my mom couldn’t help but roll her eyes at my dad.

“It was different in our time,” my dad immediately moved closer, feeding her fruit and massaging her legs, coaxing her.

I sat beside them, feeling a bit redundant, so I got up and went back to my room.

Back in my room, I sat on the bed, dazed.

Maybe influenced by my parents’ affection, I suddenly felt like falling in love.

But when I picked up my phone, I didn’t know whom to message.

I recalled what my dad said earlier and thought about the ambiguous moments before he left, my mind was a tangled mess.

Unable to sort it out, I hesitated for a long time and finally added his number on WeChat.

After being deleted last time, we had been communicating through text messages. Suddenly, I wanted to see his moments, to know his updates.

Unsurprisingly, there was no response.

I tossed my phone aside, burdened with thoughts, and fell asleep.