Chapter 571: Obsessed

Although I knew very well that Kyle's condition last time was because he was possessed by a vengeful spirit, which made him act like he had depression.

Even though I'd already gotten rid of the spirit possessing him, with his current low mood, I was really worried those spirits might possess him again.

And I knew very well that for young people our age, other difficulties were nothing, what we feared most was emotional turmoil, especially the shadow of a breakup, which could easily damage us both mentally and physically.

"Kyle," I said, dragging my suitcase while walking with him along the tree‑lined path, "there's something that's been on my mind. I've always wanted to tell you, but for various reasons I could never bring myself to say it. I was afraid you couldn't handle the blow."

Kyle misunderstood what I meant. He gave a bitter smile and said awkwardly, "I know what you want to say. You mean that Sophia liked you from the start, and you stepped aside out of consideration for our friendship, right? If she's with you now, I have nothing to say, but..."

"No, you're overthinking it," I shook my head. "Last time when you were detained at the police station, Vice President Smith's wife beat up Sophia at the entrance of the school cafeteria, accusing her of seducing her husband."

Kyle clearly didn't know about this and looked at me in shock.

I patted Kyle on the shoulder and said, "Kyle, what I'm trying to say is, you can't judge a person just by their appearance. Sophia is indeed very feminine, but she's not worth you pursuing at all costs."

Kyle's already dejected face became increasingly ugly, but after a while, he suddenly let out a long sigh.

"Nolan, we're adults now, and friends don't lie to each other. If I were still my high school self, of course I wouldn't bother pursuing a girl like her. But now it's different. I've been with women, and almost died because of it. To put it bluntly, I'm like this myself, so how can I demand my girlfriend be squeaky clean?"

"Listen to yourself, that's way too self‑defeating!" I tried to persuade him. "After college graduation, whether you go back home or venture out, who's going to know about your past?"

"But I know! Besides, isn't that just how things are between men and women? The pursuit of pure and romantic love is already a luxury for us. What I want is stability."

"How can you be so sure that Sophia can give you a stable relationship and marriage?"

"If Sophia really has something going on with Vice President Smith, unless she can replace his wife, she'll have to get married eventually. And having that kind of experience would definitely be a dark chapter in her past. If she really marries me, I believe she'll treasure our relationship."

Kyle's words made some sense, but I felt his love for Sophia wasn't that deep yet. Maybe he was just saying this to save face in front of me, forced to make this magnanimous statement?

Kyle continued, "Besides, things between men and women are hard to figure out anyway. Maybe Vice President Smith likes her, or maybe his wife is just making things up. I can't give up on her because of this."

It seemed my judgment of him was correct. His love for Sophia hadn't reached the point where he could forgive everything she'd done in the past. He was still hoping that Chloe had wrongly accused an innocent person.

"But the problem now is, she already has a boyfriend, and they're practically at the point of talking about marriage. You being all sentimental now is just adding to your troubles for no reason."

"Isn't that why I came to you? No matter what, she has a pretty good relationship with you and Emily. I can't ask Emily, so I can only ask you to step in. As long as you can make her come back, from now on, my life is yours, Nolan."

"Kyle, you're not just putting me in a difficult position, you're overestimating me. I definitely don't have the kind of charm you think I have with Sophia. Otherwise, wouldn't she be chasing after me?" I sighed. "Although we're classmates, I think her current boyfriend is a better match for her than you, whether it's their age or the guy's family background."

"Nolan, that's not something a friend would say."

"It's precisely because I consider you a friend that I'm being honest. You know Emily has a boyfriend too, right?"

"You mean that Robert guy?"

"Then ask yourself, if we asked Emily to give up Robert and get back together with Gavin, do you think that's possible? Robert is just a street punk with no steady job. From what I understand, Sophia's current boyfriend is named Sidney. His father is the deputy director of the City Building Department, and he himself is the office director there. I'm not trying to discourage you, but what makes you think you can compete with him?"

"What's so great about a deputy director and an office director? If they're not corrupt, they only make so much salary per month. Their family can't have that much savings. Once I enter society, maybe after a year or two of hard work, I could surpass his family."

"That's true, but the problem is, why would Sophia give up what's right in front of her to blindly wait for your promise that might never come true?"

"Do you look down on me that much? Think I'll never amount to anything?"

"It's not that I look down on you, it's why should Sophia wait?" I shook my head dismissively. "It's like if I liked a big movie star and went to her now, asking her to date me, promising that after graduation I'd work hard to become the richest person and open a film company just for her, making movies only for her. Do you think she'd believe me and reject all other temptations to wait for me to graduate and start my business?"

Kyle wasn't ignorant of this logic. He'd once criticized that saying online, something about preferring to cry in a BMW rather than laugh on a bicycle.

How could a bicycle compare to a BMW?

A woman crying in a BMW, if she sat on the back of a bicycle, would probably cry herself unconscious, let alone laugh.

Whether comparing family backgrounds, personal qualities, or even their ages, Sidney was more suitable for Sophia than Kyle. Kyle should know this very well, he was just unwilling to accept it and trying to make one last effort.

The problem was, if he wanted to make an effort, he needed to do it himself. Turning to me at this point was completely useless.

Because I didn't think highly of him and would never let Sophia go into a bad situation.

Kyle walked forward silently for a while, then suddenly stopped and said to me, "Nolan, without Sophia in this life, I feel like I'll die!"