Chapter 197
I quickly asked, "Where are you right now?"
"Outside. Just finished dinner with Ryan."
"Did you two have a fight?"
"Not a fight. We broke up. Completely broke up."
Lily took a deep breath.
Even though she was trying her best to control herself, I could still hear the trembling in her voice.
But drinking couldn't happen at a bar.
I had just promised Jason last time.
And he was sitting right next to me, his face tight as he stared at me.
I was silent for a moment before saying softly, "Go home and wait for me. I'll come to your place in a bit."
Lily choked out a response.
Only then did I hang up.
When I looked up, sure enough, I met Jason's face. He was very unhappy.
He looked at me with clear displeasure.
I blinked, reached out to rub his cheek, then tugged at his arm, speaking softly, "Jason, you heard. I need to go to Lily's place."
Jason pressed his lips together but didn't say much. Instead, he stood up, "I'll drive you."
I jumped right onto Jason.
He immediately lifted his hands to hold me.
Looking at Jason's incredibly handsome face, I gave him a big kiss, "Can you carry me upstairs to change clothes?"
Jason's expression clearly softened.
He raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue lightly, "Like a little temptress."
I moved closer, my tone playful, "Will this temptress come back tomorrow to spoil you?"
"You're not coming back tonight? Staying over there?"
Jason's face, which had just softened, darkened again.
I nodded helplessly, "Yeah, Lily's really upset. I need to stay with her."
After all the times Lily and Ryan had broken up and gotten back together, this was the first time I'd heard Lily say they were really done.
I really felt for Lily. Her love life had been so rough.
After meeting Ryan, I could actually feel that Lily was trying to open her heart.
I didn't know what happened between them, but I knew clearly that for Lily to make this decision, she must be hurting terribly inside.
Jason's eyes were dark, "I'm upset too."
I patted his face helplessly and kissed him again, "Be good. Don't be jealous. When I come back tomorrow, we'll go get our marriage certificate, okay?"
Jason stared at me with deep eyes, "You mean it?"
I nodded, "Of course."
Only then did Jason carry me upstairs, "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning."
"Okay."
After changing clothes, I grabbed my car keys to head out.
"I can just drive myself. You rest."
Jason picked up his coat and draped it over his arm, already walking toward the door, "No way. It's too late. I'm worried."
I couldn't argue with him, and I was really worried about Lily, so I had to agree.
Jason drove me downstairs to Lily's place.
I hurriedly opened the car door.
Suddenly my wrist tightened as Jason pulled me back.
"Jason—"
Before I could finish, Jason kissed me.
He held the back of my head with one hand, pressing me close as he kissed me for a while before letting go.
When he finally released me, I was breathless, my face red as I looked at him helplessly before getting out and heading upstairs.
At Lily's door, I knocked.
A moment later, Lily opened the door.
The moment I saw her, I was completely shocked.
Lily looked haggard, her eyes empty and lifeless.
I had never seen Lily like this.
"Lily..."
As soon as I spoke, Lily hugged me directly.
Her voice was muffled, hoarse from crying, "Sue, let me hold you for a bit. I feel terrible."
My heart was full of worry, but she clearly didn't want to talk about it yet, so I didn't ask. I just gently patted her back to comfort her.
Seeing the door still open, I freed one hand to close it behind us.
As soon as the door closed, I immediately saw a case of beer by the entrance.
I'm allergic to alcohol and don't drink.
Which meant this whole case was for Lily herself.
She was planning to drink herself to death!
As I was thinking this, Lily had already let me go.
She listlessly went to collapse on the sofa, completely lifeless.
I took off my coat and set it down, sat next to Lily, held her hand and asked softly, "What happened? Why did you two break up again?"
Honestly, I couldn't really understand these two anymore.
Getting back together, then breaking up, then back together, then breaking up again.
Like now—they'd broken up again.
But I could feel that this time Lily was the most heartbroken.
When she broke up with Chris before, I'd never seen Lily this sad.
Lily didn't answer my question. Instead, she got up on her own, brought over the beer, grabbed a bottle, opened it and started chugging.
I watched her with concern.
Lily downed half the bottle in one go and sat listlessly on the sofa, "Ryan and I are completely done."
Hearing this made me even more confused, "Didn't you two just get back together?"
Lily smiled bitterly and shook her head, "We did get back together, but the problems between us haven't been solved. We can't make it work. We have no future."
Lily raised her hand to wipe away tears, choking as she shook her head, "Rather than things getting ugly later, better to separate now."
Watching her in such pain, my heart ached too.
After thinking for a moment, I asked softly, "Lily, you always told me to be brave and move forward. How come when it's you, you're holding back? And these are things that haven't even happened yet. Why are you so negative?"
Lily gulped down more beer.
She sighed deeply, "Because of love—that's why I care, why I'm afraid."
"Sue, I think I've really fallen for Ryan this time. I really love him. I love him so much that I can't accept the possibility that someday he might use what happened with Chris as a weapon to hurt me."
Hearing this, my heart felt especially heavy.
On this point, I could relate to how she felt.
I squeezed Lily's hand and spoke more gently, "Lily, I used to be as scared as you. I was afraid Jason would mock me, afraid that the gap between our backgrounds was too big, and if he got tired of me someday and fell for someone else, what would I do? So I didn't dare get back together with Jason. I was afraid breaking up again would hurt even more."
"But later I figured it out. Who knows what the future holds? We shouldn't be anxious and afraid about things that haven't happened yet. If we don't move forward, how will we know what the future will be like?"
"So later I stopped hesitating and decided to follow my heart and be with Jason. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I know clearly that right now, I want to be with him."
Lily finished one bottle and opened another, tilting her head back to drink.
She sighed, "Sue, our situations are different from yours. From start to finish, you've only had Jason."
I understood what she meant.
"Lily, don't think like that. So what if it's different? How many people love only one person from beginning to end? You just loved a bit more broadly. Don't hurt yourself."
Lily covered her face, shaking her head in pain, "I can't. I really can't. When I think about Ryan looking at me with disgust in the future, saying cruel and heartless things to me, my whole body goes cold."
She looked at me almost pleadingly, "Sue, I can't take it. I really can't. Just thinking about that possibility, I'd rather not have this relationship at all. If I don't have it, then it won't hurt."