Chapter 129: Has a Boyfriend
Harriet brought Tristan to the noodle shop, and the owner recognized Harriet right away. "Isn't this the Getty family's daughter!"
"Long time no see, you still remember me?"
"The prettiest girl in Dewdrop town, how could I forget you?"
"Thank you." Harriet thanked him sweetly, "Two bowls of noodles for us."
"Coming right up!"
Tristan's phone rang. He got up to take the call by the door, but his eyes stayed on Harriet the whole time.
The owner quickly brought the noodles to the table, and then Tristan heard him say, "Oh right, good thing you're back. Your boyfriend came looking for you a while ago!"
Tristan froze.
Boyfriend?
Harriet had a boyfriend?
That's impossible!
Harriet didn't know Tristan was watching her, much less that he'd heard. She asked the owner anxiously, "When was this?"
"Last month. He said he just got back from abroad and came to find you first thing. That guy was tall and handsome, made my granddaughter all starry-eyed when he came in for noodles. When he couldn't find you, he left that same day."
Harriet pressed on, "Did he say where he was going?"
"No."
"Thank you."
Harriet lowered her eyes, lost in thought, her expression somewhat troubled.
Tristan's brow furrowed tight, and his fingers holding the phone trembled slightly.
"Mr. Lancaster... Mr. Lancaster? Are you listening?" Ryder asked from the other end.
Only then did Tristan snap back, "I'm listening, go on."
When he finished the call and returned to the table, Harriet was still spacing out.
"Harriet?" Tristan called to her.
"What?" Harriet finally pulled herself together with difficulty and served some side dishes to Tristan. "Their side dishes are really good, try some."
Tristan sat down, "Okay."
He wanted to ask for details, but seeing her calm down, he held back in the end.
After finishing the noodles, Harriet brought Tristan home.
The day before, she'd asked a relative to help find a cleaning service to tidy up the house and air it out. The place was clean and neat, even the bedding had been sun-dried, so they could move right in.
Harriet took out the sheets and duvet covers she'd brought and put them on.
Tristan was checking out her room.
The room wasn't big, but it was decorated in a girly style, with quite a few novels on the bookshelf.
Tristan picked up a romance novel and flipped through it casually, "You actually like reading this kind of stuff?"
"Don't touch my things!" Harriet rushed over and snatched it back, "I read these when I was in school."
Tristan wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, forehead touching hers, "Is there some racy content in the book, is that why you grabbed it back?"
Harriet's face flushed, "No such thing!"
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I'm not blushing!"
"Should I take you to look in the mirror?"
Harriet quickly changed the subject, "Help me make the bed."
"Okay."
The two of them quickly made the bed. Harriet found a chess set in Kai's study, and they sat down to play a few games before washing up and going to bed.
Harriet hadn't lain in this bed in a long time. The familiar feeling washed over her, strangely comforting.
The bed suddenly shifted as Tristan next to her turned over and kissed her directly.
Harriet felt warm inside from his kiss, her hands clutching his pajamas, breathing slightly harder.
Tristan couldn't wait to remove her pajamas, his intentions obvious.
Harriet suddenly remembered something and quickly pushed his hand away, saying seriously, "You can't take those pills anymore!"
"What pills?"
"Those pills that help you get it up. They're really bad for your body, they could even cause accidents. That's why they're banned substances."
Tristan laughed softly, "I didn't take those pills."
"You're lying. Didn't you get injured and couldn't have sex? How could you have sex without taking those pills?"
"Looks like Mrs. Lancaster is doubting me." Tristan kissed her again, "Give me a chance to prove whether I can have sex or not, okay?"
Before Harriet could resist, he took her breath away, and soon he took her completely.
Harriet's eyes went wide.
They'd been together all evening, and Tristan really didn't seem to have taken any pills?
Before Harriet could ask more, she pushed against him again, "No, my room only has one wall between it and the neighbors', and the soundproofing is terrible. They can hear what's going on in here!"
Tristan chuckled and kissed the corner of her lips, "Just keep your voice down, then."
Harriet's face flushed red to her ears, "That won't work either!"
Tristan kept teasing her relentlessly, "Can't let those romance novels go to waste."
Moonlight filtered through the white curtains onto the two bodies tangled on the bed.
Harriet bit her lip tightly, trying not to make a sound.
But the old bed wouldn't cooperate, creaking with Tristan's movements, especially loud in the quiet night.
Harriet's eyes went wide, "Be gentler!"
But Tristan only got more excited, "Mrs. Lancaster, I can't be gentle!"
Harriet was going crazy, especially when a cough suddenly came from next door, making her whole body tense up.
Tristan groaned, "Mrs. Lancaster, are you trying to torture me to death?"
"Stop first!"
With her being so uncooperative, he was affected too. He looked around, then got up and carried her to the desk.
Harriet's face got even hotter.
This was where she used to do her homework as a kid, and now they were making love on it!
Before she could process this, Tristan took her again.
Harriet tilted her head back, the world spinning as he dragged her down with him.
After it was over, Harriet's legs were weak and she couldn't stand at all. She was covered in sweat, all sticky.
Tristan carried her to the bathroom to shower, but once they started washing, he got frisky again, and they ended up taking over an hour before coming out.
When Harriet lay in bed, she was already exhausted, but she still remembered to ask, "Didn't the doctor say you injured your kidney and it affected your sexual function?"
Tristan said casually, "I got better."
"How could it heal on its own!" Harriet suddenly realized, "Tristan, you lied to me, didn't you? You never injured your kidney at all!"
Tristan didn't deny it, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Of course it's good, but how could you lie to me?" Harriet was both shocked and angry, "Do you know how guilty I've felt since you got hurt?"
"I know." Tristan held her, "I apologize."
He just wanted to keep her by his side.
The more serious his injury seemed, the more guilty she would feel, and the more determined she would be to stay with him. That's why he had the doctor secretly change his medical records.
"Tristan, you've gone too far!" Harriet was truly angry.
All this time, she'd really felt guilty.
Thinking about how he might spend the rest of his life feeling inadequate because he couldn't have sex, thinking about how he could never have children, her heart had been breaking.
But it turned out it was all a lie.
She hated being deceived.
Harriet held back tears and angrily turned away.
"Are you really mad?" Tristan quickly moved closer, "I know I was wrong, but I really did almost injure my kidney."
Harriet was still angry, and a bit hurt, choking up, "Tristan, tell me the truth. Watching me feel guilty and sad all this time, did it make you feel good?"
Tristan frowned, "Why would you think that?"
"If you lied to keep me by your side, I'd already made up with you, so you could have told me the truth long ago, but you didn't." Harriet couldn't hold back the tears that slid down from the corners of her eyes, "You must have enjoyed watching me feel guilty and sad, watching me stay by your side wholeheartedly. You didn't consider my feelings at all!"
"It's not like that."
"It is like that!" Harriet said angrily, "If it wasn't, you would have told me already."
"I'm telling you again, it's not. Don't overthink it."
"Am I overthinking, or are you just too much?" Harriet closed her eyes, "Whatever, I'm tired. I don't want to talk to you."
Tristan's chest felt tight with frustration, especially thinking about the "boyfriend" the noodle shop owner mentioned. His anger flared up.
"What about you?" he asked in a low voice, "Harriet, have you been one hundred percent honest with me?"