The night winds blew gently. She didn't care if he was happy or not.
The tears she shed flowed like water.
She buried her sadness in her heart, and denied her own feelings.
Molly cried for a while. And sobs racked her body. That was when she realized that she and Eric were
too close.
Angrily, she pushed him away. She turned to glare at him with tears in her eyes.
Eric was a little miffed, but he shrugged and put on a smile. "Done crying?" He pretended not to care
so that she wouldn't be able to figure what he was really thinking.
Molly glared at him again.
"Wow. Ice queen over here!" Eric grumbled. Then he raised his eyebrows and asked,"Are you hungry?"
Before Molly could answer, he added,"How does the South Street Alley sound?"
Molly looked at Eric suspiciously, a little surprised at his suggestion.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Eric sulked,"I'm bored of fancy restaurants and it's time
for a change. Besides, the food there is quite good and delicious."
Molly breathed deeply to compose herself. After wiping tears from her face, she typed a string of
words. "I'm exhausted and hungry and tired of crying."
Picking up the phone, Eric glanced at the screen and smiled. "I don't know what to do with you
sometimes."
Molly blew her nose and typed on her phone again. "When I'm happy, I laugh. I cry when I'm sad.
That's normal. No need to hide who I am. Unlike you, I can't smile when I'm not happy. You're such a
hypocrite."
Eric smiled resignedly and thought, 'She would be so cute if she could actually say that out loud.' When
he thought about this, he didn't feel upset anymore, but happy.
"Yeah. You may be right." Eric shook his head and drove to the South Street Alley. He talked all the
way through, and Molly was listening to him, giving him some expressions every now and then.
Knowing that Molly couldn't speak, Eric was upset, but he kept this hidden behind an even expression.
He wondered if Molly's throat would ever be healed. He felt extremely sad at the thought that she might
never utter another sound again.
Soon they were at their destination. Eric parked his limited-edition Jaguar XK R on the side of the road,
attracting everyone's attention. People started to talk, reminded of the stir that Park Shin Chun caused
a few nights ago. It seemed that there was a similar sports car parked here then.
Molly got out of the car, stretched, and typed on her cell phone. "We couldn't get here the other day
because of the accident. Wanna try the sausage like I planned?"
"Sausage?" Eric asked doubtfully.
Molly looked at his suspicious expression and pouted,"Never mind. I'll eat it myself. Huh!"
"OK. OK. OK! You're the boss. Now let's go in." Eric pressed his lips. Seeing that Molly was still upset,
Eric gave her another ingratiating smile.
Molly looked up at Eric and walked with him into the bustling night market.
In just a few days, they were in better spirits than the last time they visited the place. They sat in a stall,
talking and laughing, as if they had forgotten their unhappiness and nothing had happened in the car.
In the crowd they ate happily. No one paid attention to what they were doing, because everyone else
was doing it too. They were quite happy. And it was a good thing to just laugh without reservation, and
just forget being sad for a while.
"Oh, I'm so full!" Eric leaned his seat back and burped loudly.
"What do you think of sausage now? I thought you didn't like it? So why did you down three of them?"
Eric raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips as if he didn't know what Molly's words meant. He handed
her back the phone and said slowly,"The unknown scares people. So they say 'yuck' before even trying
something."
Molly rolled her eyes. She knew Eric would never admit he was wrong, so she stopped trying.
So Molly, having had her fill, sat up straight and pointed at the road, indicating that it was time for them
to go.
As Eric was about to drive away, he glanced at Molly and noticed the necklace around her neck. He
reached out his hand and touched the bauble.
Molly was embarrassed, and then looked down at the small shell that Eric cradled in his palm. The little
shell was an antique. Right now she wanted to do nothing more than hide.
"That's why you can't talk..." Eric looked Molly in the eye and said,"Have you ever gotten angry?"
Molly glanced at Eric, then looked at the shell on the necklace and didn't answer. She didn't know what
she was feeling, but she wasn't going to let him know that.
Eric frowned and asked,"Are you going to keep it?"
Molly looked up at Eric's earnest expression and thought, 'He has never been that serious before.'
Thinking of this, she hesitated, but eventually typed,"Yes, I'll keep it with me. This is my first gift. You
gave it to me."
Eric smiled as he looked at the words "You gave it to me." And he didn't know exactly what was going
on, other than he felt something he had never felt before. He was a little happy, a little excited, a little
hesitant and worried. The feeling was indescribable. Eric stared at the words on the phone. He didn't
take his eyes off his phone until the screen dimmed. He just thought that Molly was funny, and wanted
to make Brian unhappy, but he didn't want to fall in love with the same woman as his loathsome
brother. No one would be happy if that happened.
Eric slowly turned his head to Molly and gave her an uncertain smile. "I'm glad. It's getting late. I'll take
you home."
Molly thought Eric's sounded a little off, but she didn't think about it too much. She just frowned and
nodded.
It was after midnight when Molly got home. Daniel wasn't home. Sharon was already asleep, and
hadn't waited up for her.
Molly sat quietly on the old sofa in the small living room, looking at the stars outside the little window.
She really didn't feel like sleeping. Right now, she felt some bitterness in her heart.
Today was the first day she had left Brian. Even one day without him was exhausting. This kind of
fatigue was not physical, but mental.
There was a big man making trouble at the casino, but she didn't feel sad, even when he mocked her
for not being able to speak. But when Brian called her... That was when her heart broke.
Didn't he want her to leave? Why did he ask she to stay at the Grand Night Casino? And why did he
call her, since he was holed up with Becky?
Molly thought self-deprecatingly. She leaned back on the sofa and looked helplessly at the faint light on
the roof. She still thought of Brian. 'Bri, I miss you. I don't know why, but I miss having you by my side.
It feels so strange.'
*
On the 17th floor of the Imperial Garden Mansions.
"Mr. Vice President, Howard just sent us an Activities Report." Jona, an assistant, respectfully handed
Justin the documents sent by the fax machine.
Justin took the documents, glanced through them quickly, and then slowly asked,"Did Howard meet
with him?"
"Yes!" "They got together last night." Jona said. "By the way, Miss Becky will be back in the city this
evening."
"Becky's back?" After hearing that, Justin frowned. "Does she know Rory took off?
"Probably not." "She will come back alone," Jona whispered. "Mr. Rory Yan doesn't know she will
back."
"It seems this girl really cares about Mr. Brian Long." Justin sneered, and then said,"Let Howard be
careful. Mr. Brian Long is a hard nut to crack."
"Yes, sir!" Jona answered.
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