“B–Boss, Mr. Lim,” Assistant Jiang cleared his throat. “I am just sad that you will let Ms. Lin go so easily. I thought showing you the invitation will remind you that there’s not much time left. Tomorrow, Ms. Lin is going to tie the knot with another man.”
The assistant lied through his teeth. However, he was still worried about the wedding. If his Boss let her go, wouldn’t it mean there would be no more cure for him?
After that night at the parking lot, the assistant had hoped Ms. Lin would finally consider his Boss’s request.
But he also didn’t expect his Boss to fall asleep immediately after she entered the car. The man must have been so tired from the lack of sleep. Maybe he had reached his limit.
Well, he didn’t open his eyes till the next morning. And Ms. Lin left in anger.
“You’re becoming an expert at this, Assistant Jiang.”
“Huh?”
“Lying.” Andrew glared at him. “And who told you I’ll let her go easily?”
“But Mr. Lim–“
Andrew shredded the invitation card to pieces.
“How many event halls are there in this city, Assistant Jiang?”
“I’ll– I’ll confirm right now.” The assistant brought out his phone and fiddled with it. He quickly logged into the web and searched. “Ah, they’re more than thirty.”
Assistant Jiang was a bit disappointed. He had an inkling of what his Boss was up to. But he didn’t have time to be happy yet. With thirty event halls in the city, they might rent the next one if the other one wasn’t available.
“How about we rent them all, Assistant Jiang?” The man’s words interrupted his thoughts and the assistant jumped.
That was too much money!!!
…
Annie sat on her bed, staring at the window. Nothing was particularly fancy about the window or curtains. However, the girl had been staring in that direction for quite a while now.
Her eyes weren’t on the window though. She seemed to be staring through it. Lost in her thoughts, she was oblivious to the sounds in her room.
“Big Sis! Big Sis!” Dylan’s voice invaded her ears now and then, and she finally payed him attention.
“What are you thinking about? I’ve been calling you for several minutes now.” The guy frowned.
Apart from not saying more than two words since she woke up this morning, she also appeared to be spacing out.
Since he entered her room to help her pack, she was staring at the window as if some invisible person was standing there.
“Are you done packing?” She asked. Like the morning breeze, her expression was calm and her lips held a gentle smile. Yet, her eyes seemed to be shrouded by some mystery that even he couldn’t understand.
“Yeah.” Dylan looked away and scratched his head. Looking around the once filled-up room, he let out a sigh. “Guess I’ll be the one occupying this room from now. Big Sis, you don’t have to worry about your sleep being interrupted in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll tell Ma to remove the window.” Annie chuckled. “Stop trying to act smart, Dylan.”
“Yeah, I get it. You’re the smartest.” Dylan pursed his lips.
“And never sneak into the apartment again. You can’t keep acting like a child.”
“I get it, Sis.” Dylan gave her a helpless look even though her back was to him.
A small book was sitting beside her and she picked it up. She was back to spacing out again as she fixed her eyes on the book’s pages.
“What’s in there?” Dylan craned his neck to take a look but she closed the pages instantly.
“It’s a diary. You can go downstairs and help Mum out in the store, Dylan.”
Dylan shook his head and left the room. He was done parking anyway. His sister didn’t seem to want any company this morning. When had she ever wanted company?
Since she came back three years ago, she had become even more reserved, like a fading light that barely illuminates its surroundings.
“Annie, why didn’t you come down to the store?” Her mother came in after a while.
The woman had been alone at the store since morning. She was finally free when Dylan came to join her.
“Ma, I was about to.” Annie dropped the diary and stood up.
The woman raised an inquisitive brow and dropped both hands on her waist. “Where did you spend the night last week, Annie?”
Mrs. Lin had traveled with Dylan that day to get some goods for her store. But this morning, she overheard some neighbors gossiping that her daughter only came back home the next day.
But her daughter didn’t tell her anything about it. Did she perhaps spend the night at Jason’s place?
But knowing the girl, she would rather come back home even though it was in the middle of the night than sleep at someone’s home.
How could Annie forget that night? But what use would it be thinking about it? “I spent the night at the company, Ma.”
“Did you work overtime?” Her mother asked. The girl was supposed to get her leave that day. Was that why they made her work past the work hours?
“Not really.” Annie shook her head. But she didn’t look to want to divulge any further. She busied herself with piling the boxes in a corner of the room and her mother had no reason to linger there.
“Before I forget–“ Mrs. Lin turned around as she was about to leave the room. “Your Aunty said she’ll come from the other city. I’m not sure if she’ll make it, though. At least, someone from Old Lin’s side should be present.”
Hearing the word ‘Aunty’, Annie’s hands halted in the air. Her body went stiff for a second before she continued with what she was doing.
The slight change in the girl’s demeanor didn’t miss Mrs. Lin’s scrutiny. The woman walked back into the room and stood in front of her.
“Annie, did Sara treat you badly when you were at her place?”
“Uh.” Annie shook her head.
“Then why is it that whenever I mention her you begin acting strangely?”
Mrs. Lin just hoped that her Sister-in-law didn’t have anything to do with why her daughter became a different person.
Three years ago, her family was in a great dilemma and she had no choice but to send the girl away. She was communicating with Sara at that time, however, whatever her daughter was going through was still a mystery to her.
Sara never talked about the girl during their phone calls. She only reassured her that Annie was at her place.