Nacy narrowed her eyes and sneered. 'Here comes a foxtail!' she disdainfully thought.
"Eve," Nathan greeted her. Grinning, his features mellowed at the sight of her.
Nacy instinctively held Nathan's arm with her eyes full of hostility. She never liked Eve since their
childhood. She had unfavorable impressions of her. Having had confidence in her sixth sense, she
always felt that Eve was hollow and deceptive.
"You are also here, Nacy," Eve acknowledged softly. Despite her knowing Nacy hated her, she was
helpless and could do nothing about it. After all, Nacy was Nathan's favorite cousin. And she couldn't
afford to go against her right now. 'Perhaps, our relationship would be better soon after I married
Nathan, ' she thought.
"Yes," Nacy responded coldly with her usual chilly and distant courtesy.
"Nacy, I have heard that your new movie will be coming out next month. I wish you a big box office hit!
Congratulations in advance!" Eve babbled aloud as she smiled generously. She did not change her
attitude even though Nacy was treating her coldly and distant. But instead, she made her more
dignified and graceful with her words.
"Thank you," Nacy replied curtly, looking rather impatient.
Nathan was never fond of this kind of scene. He quickly turned to Simon and grunted, "I have
something to tell you, buddy."
Simon appeared to realize something and readily agreed, "Okay, let's go over there. I haven't talked to
you for a long time."
They eased their way towards the brightly lit yard.
The mansion of Ye Family was luxurious in every essence. Johnson, Simon's father, had a deep affinity
with mountains and rivers. So the unique style of their mansion manifested his love of nature. It was
patterned resembling mountains and rivers. And it even had an artificial waterfall in the courtyard that
looked realistic. Indeed the mansion had the vibe of a natural resort.
"Why did you invite them at the same time?" Nathan skeptically raised as he put down the champagne
and sank himself into the firm cushion of the lounge chair, resting his arms crossly behind his neck.
The starry sky in the summer night never failed in mesmerizing him. Gazing up into the heavens, the
stars in the sky glittered like jewels against the midnight backdrop. Soon Nathan became too
engrossed with it, that unknowingly his thoughts went far.
"The more, the merrier," Simon explained, chuckling.
"Next time, don't invite them to your home at the same time. I can't bear it." What annoyed Nathan the
most was when Nacy and Eve were together, and they didn't get along well with each other. He hated
the drama.
"Nathan, whether you like it or not, you have to learn to get used to it. Sooner or later, you have to deal
with the relationship between your wife and your sister in the future," Simon laughed as he crossed his
long slender legs. He watched Nathan in front of him with an amused expression on his face.
"You brat, don't you know that you have nothing else to do?" The moment Nathan blurted those words
out, something dawned on him, as if it was a late realization. Darting a glance at Simon, he finally
understood that his cousin was only trying to be mean to him.
Simon just laughed heartily, depriving him of an explanation.
The two men continued to lay in the courtyard and stared at the stars for a while, unmoving. Simon,
who became suddenly serious, broke the silence. Devoid of any expression, he began, "Nathan, it's
time for you to forget her after all these years."
Nathan heard it. His face became somber and sad. Of course, he knew who she was!
Like a sharp knife blade, the girl's name could hurt his heart deeply. Nathan couldn't take that name off
his mind, and for all these years, it kept on haunting him!
A tinge of pity clouded his black eyes. And with a self-deprecating smile, he opened his thin and cold
lips while shaking his head.
"If she's still alive, I would have a home now!" Nathan sounded forlorn. There was a trace of sadness
that appeared in his eyes, which he rarely displayed. Only when someone had mentioned that girl's
name, would he show such a sad expression.
"Don't be like this, Nathan. Anyway, she is dead. We can't bring her back to life. If you can't get out of
the past, you will suffer endlessly by yourself," Simon pleaded, throwing a look at Nathan. He also felt
sorry for his good friend. And from the bottom of his heart, he understood his pain well.
She was such a nice girl, but it was unfortunate that she had passed away so early.
"Have you ever loved someone, Simon?" Nathan, in return, asked him in a deep voice. His eyes were
in a dreamy state, while he stared intently at a solitary star that seemed to wink at him. Nathan's face
softened as he imagined her smile as bright as a sunflower.
He reminisced again about that one day before the sun rose, when he had watched the starry sky for a
whole night on the windmill road with her. They were together until the sunrise.
The love between them had been uncomplicated when they were young. Nathan had never revealed
his identity to her. And she had no idea who he was. They were simply both persistent in love, and life
was way simpler back then.
"Never!" Simon sheepishly admitted. He sounded defeated. And with a faint smile, he shook his head.
"You will never know the feeling that you are emotionally attached to a girl until after you have fallen in
love with her," Nathan explained quietly. The gloomy look was still on his face. He seemingly engulfed
himself with a heavy mist, which was undoubtedly hard to disperse.
Simon fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and threw a stick to Nathan.
He knew at this moment, Nathan needed it. In the men's world, some unspoken thoughts and feelings
could only be expressed through smoking.
"Let's talk about something else, some happy things. Have you heard of the event of the Zhou Group?"
Simon went on softly. He felt somewhat relieved as he caught sight of Nathan lighting up a cigarette.
He then quickly changed their topic.
Nathan merely nodded, still devoid of any expression, and indicated for him to go on talking.
"The Zhou Group had signed a contract with us last month. At that time, their company's cash flow was
insufficient, so we took their house as collateral. You see, their family was really in dire financial straits.
But the last thing I heard was that the Zhou Group was now back in the hands of Stanley again," Simon
narrated indifferently, as he puffed smoke.
"Oh, what's wrong?" Nathan probed casually, acting like he was not interested.
"Daniel is arrogant. I have never liked him since he came to talk about collaboration with me," Simon
continued with a smirk.
"Please don't tell me that you have undermined the Zhou Group," Nathan interjected.
"Ugh… It's not me. You know, I'm a gentleman. I have morals and ethics. And besides, I also need to
cooperate with them," Simon further elaborated. He initially thought that no one could doubt his moral
standards.
"Really? I don't think so!" Nathan countered as he laughed meaningfully. The troubles of the Zhou
Family had been resolved by him earlier. And further, he had ordered Fred to ensure a news blackout,
so even Simon wouldn't know about it.
"I heard as well that when Daniel's ex-girlfriend went to the police station to see him the other day, she
cried hysterically. Nathan, don't you think the people in the world are so strange? They love each other
so much, yet they hurt each other too. What two weird people they are..." Simon spoke, but his voice
soon trailed off as he sighed deeply from the bottom of his heart.
Nathan squinted his eyes as he listened intently to every word until he could no longer bear to hear
another word. His face grew darker when Simon mentioned Mandy, who cried sadly for another man.
His heart was now in a mess. The corner of his mouth curled up into a sneer as his eyes held a strange
and malicious glimmer.
'Well, Mandy, when I am away, you surely were hanging out with another man behind my back!' Nathan
thought inwardly.
A malicious look crept up on Nathan's face, immediately replacing its gloominess. Then he stood up
abruptly.
"Where are you going, Nathan? We haven't eaten the barbecue yet," Simon failed to notice anything
wrong on Nathan's face. He thought Nathan was only feeling sad for his ex-girlfriend.
"You eat more barbecue. I have something to do," Nathan replied as he urgently left the backyard.
Simon was baffled by Nathan's reaction. 'What have I said wrong now?' Simon sighed.
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