Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Gregory has returned to Harborview City.

He wanted Juniper to go back with him, but unfortunately Juniper hadn't had enough fun yet.

He wanted to stay behind and keep Juniper company, but there were things back in Harborview City that needed his attention.


He left reluctantly.

Unlike him, Juniper didn't feel much about it.

Gregory had turned a lot clingier, which made her kind of uneasy. She got the feeling that something wasn't quite right.


But she quickly forgot about this odd feeling.

Today she had plans with Juno and Freya.

Before leaving Aurora City, she needed to tell them everything that had happened to Christina over the past three years.

After she left, these two would be the ones keeping Christina company.

Juniper felt regretful.

Although she could come to Aurora City anytime, it was still different from living here all the time.

Looking at the empty seat where Christina should have been sitting, Juniper sighed.

Juno and Freya comforted her, "Don't be sad. Christina's just busy. Even Gabriel complains that she doesn't have time for him."

Juniper shook her head, "It's okay, I'm just worried about her. Lately Austin has been going crazy asking everyone about Christina. He's been buying back photos Christina posted on social media with others, birthday gifts Christina prepared for people, or various celebration gifts - all at several times the price. I feel like," Juniper said, pointing to her head, "there might be something wrong up here."

Then she brought up Mary, "Mary has also been asking around about details of how Christina and Austin used to get along. I feel like she's going to cause trouble for Christina again."

"Also," at the end, Juniper's face flushed red, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Also what? Come on, tell us." Juno and Freya had heard half the story when Juniper suddenly hesitated. Their hearts were hanging in suspense and they got anxious.

"There's one more thing about Gregory. He hasn't told Christina because he feels Austin used to be his friend and he's embarrassed, but I still want to ask Christina for help."

As it turned out, the person Austin was in touch with most often was Gregory, who was still keeping contact with Christina and had even gotten an invite to her and Gabriel's engagement party.


At first, Austin only asked about Christina's three years in Harborview City.

Gregory told him everything he could.

He just didn't expect Austin to actually seem regretful.

The more Austin found out about the things that had gone on between him and Christina during those three years, things he'd had no clue about, the more his heart just broke.


Finally, he started questioning Gregory - since he knew so much and saw everything so clearly, why didn't he try to talk some sense into him?

Maybe if Gregory had given him some advice back then, he would've treated Christina better, and if he'd treated her better, things between them wouldn't be such a mess right now.


"Listen to how shameless he is!" No matter how many times she brought this up, Juniper got angry. "He's being completely unreasonable! Weren't there enough people around him trying to advise him back then? He didn't listen at all, and many people even changed their attitude toward Christina because of his attitude. Only Gregory and I kept trying to talk to him, and he didn't take it seriously. Now he's actually blaming Gregory. After a few words went wrong, he even threatened Gregory, saying he'd go after the Lopez family. Gregory has already blocked Austin. This time he went back to Harborview City because Austin actually took action against the Lopez family."

At this point, Juniper felt somewhat like the rabbit mourning the fox's death.

"Actually, if it weren't for Christina starting to work with the Glenn family, the first person Austin would have targeted this time should have been me."

Juno and Freya frowned, not expecting Austin to be this kind of person.

What did Christina see in him back then?

Thinking this, they asked it out loud.

Juniper coughed lightly, "This definitely isn't a problem with Christina's judgment. At the beginning, everyone in our circle thought he was a good match for an arranged marriage."

...

Gabriel was on a business trip.

The Stone family had too many people for him to deal with, and he couldn't be everywhere at once.

Fortunately, they were there for each other.

But Gabriel's sudden three-day business trip made Christina feel uncomfortable during her busy schedule.

If Gabriel were here, he would show up around now, take her to eat something delicious, make her laugh, and then all the pressure would disappear.

Just as she was thinking about it, her phone rang. It was Gabriel calling.

Christina was delighted, but suppressed her excitement before answering, "Done with work? How do you have time to call me?"

"If I don't even have time to call my fiancée, I'd be pretty useless."

Christina laughed, "Well, you've made the call, so what now?"

"Telling you to come home. Eloise has already prepared your favorite roasted shrimp."

"I want to eat what you make." Christina acted spoiled without thinking.

After the words came out, she froze. When had her easy rapport with Gabriel slipped back to the way things were three years ago, so naturally she hadn't even noticed?


Gabriel on the other end of the phone clearly noticed Christina's change too. Christina could hear his soft laughter.

"Okay, I got it."

"What did you get?"

"I know you miss me. I miss you too. Don't worry, I'll come back as soon as possible. I won't leave you alone for too long."

"Gabriel!" Christina's face flushed bright red. Why did it seem like Gabriel was getting more and more shameless every time he was around her?


She hung up the phone, and it took a while for the heat in her face to fade.

Work was never-ending.

Christina put down her work and checked the time - 11 PM.

It was time to go home.

Eloise's roasted shrimp was really delicious.

When Christina got into bed, it hit her, she'd actually been pretty anxious lately, but because Gabriel was around, she'd been sleeping fine.


Tonight Gabriel wasn't here, and she suddenly realized she couldn't fall asleep.

She sat down at her desk, instinctively wanting to work.

Remembering she had promised Gabriel to work until 11 PM at the latest, she closed the files again.

If she got up early to work tomorrow morning, that wouldn't count as breaking her promise, right?

She spun around in her chair, for the first time really looking around this connected study.

"What's this?" Christina said to herself, getting up to look closer at something that seemed like a cabinet tucked into a drawer-shaped opening.


She seemed to have the key to this cabinet.

Christina's heart raced.

Even though she had the key, she felt like a thief.

Gabriel had never told her she could poke around, but he'd given her all the keys to the house, so it was probably fine, right?


With that thought, Christina didn't hesitate anymore and tried the keys one by one.

When the lock opened, Christina held her breath. Success!

Christina didn't know what it was that Gabriel treasured so much yet kept so carefully here.

She slowly pulled open the cabinet door.

"What's this?"

Two neat stacks of photos and letters appeared before her eyes.

Christina picked them up - they were photos of her and Gabriel together.

Further down, there were quite a few photos of just her.

All ones she had never seen before.

Some were from before, and some from her three years in Harborview City.

What shook her heart the most was that stack of letters.

The recipient's name was written on them.

All of them said - Christina.