Chapter 2: Rivalries and Revelations

Julian’s assistant told me that although he was dead drunk the previous night, he wasn’t late by even a minute for the morning meeting.

Julian only ever loses his composure in front of his damned love.

Of course, that’s just gossip. The assistant was actually there to tell me his boss wanted to see me.

The last time Julian took the initiative to find me was to pass on a gift from his grandmother.

Looks like I have a new gift this time.

When I dressed up beautifully and got into Julian’s passenger seat, the driver’s side door quickly opened too. As Julian got in, I caught a whiff of cold cedar from him.

"You smell so good."

Julian was silent for a few seconds. "Can you shut up?"

I provoked him with my most innocent expression. "If I hadn’t taken care of you last night, no one would’ve looked after you."

Julian was quiet for a moment. "I know. And I won’t let you clean up my mess for no reason again."

I hooked my arm through his and said softly, "You said I’m your little sister—what’s wrong with me helping you?"

"No one clings to their brother like this." Julian pried my hand off. "Did anyone come looking for me last night?"

"Yes," this time I wasn’t trying to provoke, but it sounded like I was. "I asked Savannah to come see you. She said she was busy."

Julian froze, then smiled self-deprecatingly.

She was drinking with someone else.

As vicious as I am, I should have said that too, but since it involved Chris, I could only swallow it.

"Mariah."

"What?"

"There’s a gift on your left."

There really was.

I said to Julian, "Since there’s a gift, I don’t mind chatting with you a little longer."

Julian was heartless—he actually asked me, "You live near Savannah and see her often. Do you know if anything has happened to her recently?"

"If she doesn’t have you in her heart, then she has someone else."

Julian looked at me intently. "Who do you think it is?"

That photo flashed in my mind.

I thought of Chris, then felt sad.

But I didn’t say it, not even if I died.

Suddenly, I felt very annoyed—why should your entanglement with Savannah drag Chris into it?

Ever since Savannah’s heart changed, my patience with Julian faded a lot.

My distance from becoming the much-envied Mrs. Carter grew further.

When I was feeling down, I happened to receive a message from Chris, so I took the opportunity to say goodbye to Julian.

As soon as I met Chris, he asked, "Whose cologne are you wearing?"

"A man’s."

Chris’s expression was calm, but the faint veins on his neck betrayed his turmoil.

I suddenly smiled. "Let me tell you something interesting. I think Julian is about to break up with the Lee girl."

"That’s not really good news for me," Chris was always frank with me, "but I do think Savannah is different now."

My expression changed, my gaze sharp. "You know her well?"

Chris didn’t avoid my gaze at all, and said seriously, "You’ve fought with her for so many years—how could I not remember her? Besides, I’ve actually seen her a few times recently."

My heart skipped a beat. "Where did you see her?"

"At The Field."

I snapped, "You drank with her there, didn’t you? Don’t ever invite me there again. Even if you do, I won’t go—not in a million years."

Chris got nervous and quickly explained, "I didn’t drink with her. I didn’t know she was there. When I ran into her, she came over to talk, but after I finished my drink, I paid and left."

"So many girls chase you, you can be with anyone—just not Savannah."

Chris’s tone softened. "Neither of those things will happen."

As soon as he finished, Chris was stunned for a moment.

He quietly stared at me for a while, until a phone call came in.

Chris glanced at the screen, his expression softened, and he hurriedly put the phone to his ear. I heard two words—

"Savannah Lee."

I felt all the blood in my body rush backward.

Chris was happily answering Savannah’s call, as if he was looking forward to her contacting him.

I stiffly picked up my bag and turned to leave.

"Mariah!"

Chris grabbed me hard and turned the phone screen toward me. The call wasn’t connected at all, and the caller ID wasn’t Savannah, but marked as a spam call.

I was immediately dumbfounded.

"Mariah, why are you so nervous?" Chris’s tone was meaningful. "Was it because I looked happy just now?"

I immediately retorted, "I’m not nervous."

Chris suddenly burst out laughing, looking at me like I was an idiot, his eyes curving like crescent moons.

He laughed for a while, and only spoke when I was about to leave again.

"You don’t like Julian as much as you think." Chris stated calmly.

"I like him very much. I’ve dreamed of him three times this month."

Chris’s expression changed subtly. He seemed to be asking, but every sentence was actually leading me: "Back in high school, your interaction with Julian was just greeting each other. The closest you got was having dinner at his house, because you said you’d played together since childhood and were bored of it. In college, you said he was so cold from being put on a pedestal that you didn’t even want to greet him. So why did you suddenly fall madly in love with him after graduation?"

"It was a secret crush before, now it’s an open crush. I just didn’t tell you." I looked playfully into Chris’s eyes and smiled. "I don’t tell you everything."

Chris was unmoved. He pressed on, "Are you sure?"

Though he was asking, Chris didn’t need to hear the answer.

Because, he knew everything about me.

Back in high school, even when my skirt was stained red from my period, I would complain to Chris.

Then, when Chris ran off by himself, I would complain about him in my diary.

When Chris came back, his face flushed as he stuffed his jacket and a pack of pads into my hand.

"For daytime use." Chris’s voice got quieter and quieter.

"Did anyone see you buy them?"

Chris shrugged. "Let them think what they want."

I looked up and saw a few boys in class pointing at Chris and laughing.

"When my stomach stops hurting, I’ll beat them up."

Chris struggled to hold back his laughter.

……

After getting along like this, Chris was probably the person who knew me best in the world—oh, except for my sudden infatuation with Julian, which he really didn’t understand.

But now, he was breaking down my deepest secret.

I had planned countless times in my mind that after Savannah and Julian got together, on Savannah’s birthday I would fall down the stairs and call Julian to my side. On their anniversary, I would be kidnapped. When they got engaged, I’d cut my wrist. And Julian, because of our relationship, would soften toward me, always coming to me and leaving Savannah aside.

These events all had specific scenes in my mind. But the scene of actually dating Julian—I could never picture it, no matter what.

Julian and I had known each other since childhood, but my feelings were strongest the moment I discovered he liked Savannah.

Wanting to take what belonged to Savannah was programmed into my brain.

If this were a script, I would be the destined villainess.

"Mariah," Chris’s eyes flickered, "if I had chosen to be with Savannah last night, would you have fought for me at all costs? Or would you love me?"

Chris was stripping me bare, making me stand naked in broad daylight.

I grabbed my bag and left.

No, I ran away.

Gentlemanly as Chris was, he usually never crossed the line. But at this moment, he chose to stop me, pressed me down to sit, and pinned my calf with his knee, completely restraining me.

"I was just hypothesizing. What I want to say is, not everyone likes Savannah," Chris said. "For example, I really like you, not her."

This was Chris’s ninth confession. It was a little different from all the previous ones.

"I know, I always knew."

Chris chuckled: "Is this being fearless because of favor?"

I lost control: "But you and I can’t be together. You watched me chase Julian, and if I suddenly agreed to be with you, it would make me look even worse."

Yes, even worse.

Chris was stunned, then said in a low voice, "I never thought you…"

He swallowed the word.

As I stood there, Savannah’s call came in.

This surprised me even more than when she brought me soup.

When I answered, for some reason, I put it on speaker.

"Mariah," Savannah’s voice was gentle on the other end, though I found it a bit unsettling, "I’ve decided to get engaged to Julian."

Everything was developing so unexpectedly: "So sudden? Why?"

Savannah still smiled: "Guess?"

At this moment, Chris snatched my phone and said coldly to the screen, "It has nothing to do with Mariah."

I saw Chris’s expression become very serious.

I didn’t understand.

"It has nothing to do with you, no need to understand," Chris’s face quickly returned to calm, his eyes smiling at me. "Hungry? Let’s go eat."

"Hungry."

As Chris pulled me away, he said crisply, "Mariah Jennings, if you run off because of Julian while eating with me, give me a million."

"Why?"

"It affects my appetite."

"Fat chance."

Chris: "If you go after someone else’s fiancé, same, don’t even think about it."

"Did you take the wrong medicine?"

"Is this your first day knowing me?" Chris’s pale face was almost bloodless. "Every time you go to Julian, I never want you to. Every time, I find a way to keep you."

Suddenly, scenes flashed through my mind.

Chris pitifully calling me, saying he crashed his car into a tree and was waiting for the insurance company alone.

Or telling me over the phone that he got the shoes I wanted, but they had to be picked up that day or they’d be gone.

Once, while I was on a call, Chris’s hand got scalded by hot water, his fair hand instantly turning red.

And…

Many things happened right before I was about to go to Julian—those spur-of-the-moment decisions I made, so I naturally thought Chris’s accidents were just coincidences.

Beneath his calm surface were waves surging.

In a way, we were quite alike.

No wonder we’d been entangled for so many years.

"Thinking about what to eat?" Chris showed an innocent smile.

"I’m wondering if my parents knew about Savannah’s wedding before she did."

If it were someone else, they wouldn’t know how to respond. But it was Chris, he could: "Your parents aren’t her parents."

Chris paused, and when he spoke, he sounded casual but was watching my reaction. "Because you two are about the same age, they brought her over to play with you when you were little, bought two sets of clothes and gifts, even made extra food for her. They only praised her in piano class because she was the neighbor’s kid, same with flower arranging and riding lessons. Do you understand?"

I shook my head. "That’s too deep. How did you figure it out?"

Chris: "I know all your business, and after I know, I think about it."

"You still didn’t explain clearly."

Chris would never say I was dumb. He would only think for a while, then continue to explain: "Your folks only love you. I do too."

The tenth time.

I was stunned for a while, then said, "Chris, I’m so hungry."

"I’ll eat with you."

On the way to eat with Chris, I saw Julian’s car.

Julian rolled down the window and said to me, "Mariah, something came up, get in the car."

When Chris grabbed my wrist, his low voice, suppressing emotion, came to my ear: "Mariah Jennings, a million."

Julian’s gaze slowly fell on Chris’s face, and he said directly, "I just want to say a few words to her."

Chris asked Julian directly, "You’re not going to ask Mariah to be your bridesmaid, are you?"

"On the contrary," Julian stared at me, "if Savannah asks you to do that, refuse her."

My curiosity was piqued: "Why?"

Julian blurted out, "Am I crazy?"

Oh, right, my obsession with Julian is well known. If I really became his and Savannah’s bridesmaid, it would definitely be the joke of the circle.

Savannah really contacted me, asking me to be her bridesmaid.

She even got my parents to persuade me.

But I would have agreed even before it got to my parents.

I seemed to no longer care who Julian’s bride was—Savannah or Lila, it didn’t matter.

But since there was some special history between me and Savannah, I agreed easily.

After all, she had a day when she needed to ask me for something.

But as the wedding approached, I vaguely felt something was wrong with Julian.

That day by the car, I could tell at a glance that his reaction was unexpected.

When Julian mentioned marriage, there was no joy at all. On the contrary, his eyes and brows were still filled with loneliness.

When Savannah talked about bridesmaids, I was at Chris’s house. After I hung up with Savannah, Chris’s voice came, "If you really don’t want to go, I’ll refuse for you, and I suggest you don’t go."

"I’ll go, I have to."

Chris waved the fruit knife in his hand, then quickly put it down along with the apple to be peeled. "Are you going to smash the wedding chandelier or flip the wedding table?"

"Can’t I just be a quiet beauty?"

Chris shook his head seriously. "You’re only beautiful when you’re asleep."

"I’m not beautiful when I’m awake?"

"Mariah Jennings," Chris was not joking at all, "You have to tell me your plan so I can be ready to clean up the mess."

I put away my smile and said word by word, "I sincerely hope they get married."

"Why?"

"I don’t like Julian anymore."

"Not even a little?" Chris asked.

"Of course, he’s getting married."

Chris showed an expression of having expected this, but his eyes still showed joy and anticipation. "Then can you start liking me now?"

"A million."

Chris: "Okay."

I originally wanted to ask Chris what he was after, but then I remembered Julian once asked me that too, so I felt there was nothing to ask.

But I couldn’t help it. I asked Chris, "Why haven’t you given up on me?"

My pursuit of Julian was an obsession, taking what belonged to Savannah was an obsession, like a program engraved into my heart and lungs. If this were a novel, all of the above would be settings.

So is Chris’s love also an obsession?

Thinking about it carefully was scary.

When Chris heard this, he lowered his head as if thinking.

After a while, he looked up at me: "Mariah Jennings, I don’t know."

I felt vaguely disappointed.

I was actually expecting something.

"If you suddenly want me to answer why, I can’t. But we’ve been together almost every day for so long," Chris noticed my unhappiness and his tone changed, "It’s not just habit, I always want to find you and see you. That’s really, really liking you, right?"

I might not know now, but I know he’s feeling aggrieved now.

He’s kind of cute.

Very cute.

So I went and held Chris’s now cold hand.

Chris lowered his head and kissed me.

My heart was beating so fast, it was about to jump out.