When one is in love, they become blind. They keep giving more of themselves and falling deeper than
ever, even if the other person will never love them back. Love is indeed a bitter drink. The one who
drinks more will be scarred more deeply.
And, the one who gives more, loses themselves even more.
In her sleep, Molly felt the air becoming oppressive. She got a little uneasy. Her lips became itchy, as if
someone or something was touching them, making her afraid.
Anxious, this made her drowsiness gone. As she opened her eyes, she saw a faint shadow of a man
beside her. Her eyes became wide-opened when Brian's sharp eyes came into view, staring at her. She
didn't know how long he had been in the room. But alas, she finally knew what that touch on her lips
was. It was Brian. He had been kissing her lovingly while she was asleep. Her cheeks started to feel
hot as she thought about this. Brian, on the other hand, continued staring at her, like she was some
precious gem he didn't want to lose. She tried to avert her eyes, but didn't know where to look. Her
eyes wandered as she tried to calm her racing heart. But her head went blank from embarrassment
that she even forgot to push him away.
While staring at her beautiful face, Brian didn't expect her to wake up. Her breathing was so calm when
she was asleep. Otherwise, he would've thought she'd been pretending.
Noticing her embarrassment, for a moment, he thought of leaving the room to spare her from the
awkwardness. But, the crimson on her cheeks worked like a spell on him. His lips that were pressed
lightly against hers suddenly pressed harder, wanting her even more.
Breathing heavily, he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead slightly against her. It was like he was
trying to gather his courage to say something. Suddenly, he swallowed hard and said in a deep voice,
"Molly Xia, you are such a nuisance."
Hearing this, Molly was gasping. Her mind was a mess. His husky voice was like a drug, keeping her
from thinking straight.
Suddenly, his coarse fingers stroked her smooth neck. The movement was gentle as a feather's touch,
but it was enough to arouse her.
Slowly, Molly came to her senses. Then the same question as the one she had had in mind before
falling asleep filled her thoughts once again. As she continued to ponder, the scent on his body started
to linger on her nose, making her twitch. "Bri," she blurted out quietly. His body froze at the soft calling.
"What you said this afternoon, did you mean it?" she asked.
"Hmm?" he replied, with a faint smile curling up at the side of his mouth. While looking at her, his
fingers slid to her earlobes and then rubbed them. With her question in mind, his breathing got heavier.
From the silence, Molly chewed her lip. No words left her mouth for she didn't know how to express
herself in front of him.
Noticing her uneasiness, Brian gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. His nose rubbed against hers and he
said in a low voice, "Molly Xia, you silly woman." and then kissed her once again.
After giving her another kiss, he got off the bed and lifted her in his arms, even before she could react.
Surprised, she jolted and said, "What...what are you doing? Put me down, Bri!" She panicked.
Without responding, he carried her towards the bathroom. With his chest resting against her body, he
carefully put her down in the tub and started to run the water.
After getting the hint, Molly said, "I...I can do it myself," she said softly and shyly. Once again, her
cheeks started to feel hot despite the cold water touching her body.
"Okay," he replied. For quite some time, Molly waited for him to leave the bathroom, but it seemed like
he didn't want to.
Trying hard to contain her embarrassment, Molly stared at him with her crimson cheeks. Suddenly, she
realized something. "Um...well... you first. I will wait," she stood up from the tub, got out from it and
walked towards the door with water dripping from her body.
As she was about to leave, Brian seized her and pinned her against the wall. Looking at her intensely
with his dark, bright eyes, he asked, "We already have a son. We have already seen each other, what
are you so shy for?"
Hearing his words, her embarrassment grew even more. But, everything he just said was all true so
she tried to act brave. Molly bit her lips and stayed in the bathroom.
While bathing herself in the tub, she kept her head lowered and cringed in the corner, while Brian
continued to watch her across the other end. She bathed herself briefly and got out of the tub as fast as
she could. Then, she grabbed a bathrobe hastily, trying to avoid Brian's sight, and rushed to get out of
the bathroom.
Seeing her act like that, Brian didn't say a word. A thin smile fitted across his eyes. He then stood up
and stepped out of the tub, naked, water beaded on his tan skin. The reflecting on his wet skin made
him even more attractive. However, it wasn't impossible to notice the scars placed all over his body.
The scars on his shoulder and his waist were left by bullet wounds. The skin surrounding them became
rough and uneven.
At the sight of him getting out the tub, she had intended to leave, but these two scars made her want to
stay. She stared at them so hard. Her hand couldn't help but try to reach the scar on his shoulder as he
put on his bathrobe.
Wondering why, Brian stopped moving. His eyes followed her hand and saw the scar.
With heavy eyes, Molly stroked down and across the scar on his waist. All of a sudden, all the
memories came flooding back to her. Her nose twitched at the memory of those two dangerous
experiences she had gone through with Brian.
The images from then were so clear that it felt like she was experiencing it again. She had thought she
was going to die then.
"Mol, do you believe in me?" he had asked during those critical times. His words were her only
assurance. Those moments had been life-threatening. While it seemed like there was no way out, she
believed in him during those hard times.
Recalling all of these, her eyelashes fluttered. Tears welled up in her eyes, blinding her. Her heart
trembled and she felt heavy, she couldn't breathe. Aside from all the painful and heart-breaking
memories they shared, there were some moments that she found hard to forget, and those memories
were among them.
The pained look on her face troubled Brian. He lifted his hand and wiped her tears.
Gazing up, she said in a hoarse voice, "Brian Long," but even before she could continue, he grabbed
her and took her in his arms. With her head under his chin, he smelled her hair but said nothing.
Feeling that no words were enough to calm her down, he just hugged her tightly for quite some time.
With her head against his chest, she closed her eyes. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. In his
love game, she had lost herself. She had loved him from the start. And after so many years, those
memories were still vivid in her mind.
However, she didn't dare wish for a future with him, no matter how much they loved each other. There
were just too many obstacles between them. Each step forward seemed extremely hard that she felt
scared and was cautious of her every move. She was exhausted. She wanted to escape, to be out. For
her, that would be much easier. She didn't want to be hurt even more.
Amidst the silence between them, "Molly Xia, don't leave me ever again. Otherwise, I don't know what I
will do next time," he said slowly.
Hearing this, Molly cried. His tone was as overbearing as it had always been. She used to hate it, but
right now, his words touched her deeply. Somehow, she felt warm.
'I am sorry Brian Long, ' she thought to herself. 'I'm afraid I might leave you again when I get the
chance. This love is just too painful. But this time, with Mark, I have to consider a lot of things. I am not
so sure anymore, ' she continued with tears falling down her cheeks.
After pouring her heart out, Molly finally calmed down. A mixture of sadness and sweetness filled the
bedroom. She fell asleep in his embrace, her face tear-stained from the long crying. Looking at her
sleeping soundly, Brian lowered his head and kissed her eye, contented yet worried.
Meanwhile, in the study, Shane was waiting on the screen.
While on standby, he felt bored. He had been waiting for Brian who had gone to the bedroom to get
some materials. Ten minutes had passed, half an hour had passed, one hour, two hours… still, he
continued to wait. Brian was still nowhere to be seen, yet he didn't dare to leave.
Bored from waiting for so long, he had nothing better to do but to get a deck of poker cards and played
with it to kill some time. Time passed by slowly. When he noticed the sunshine streaming through the
window, he realized it was morning already.
Looking at the empty study on the screen, he sighed, picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"What?" an impatient voice said on the phone.
Sitting in the chair, Shane asked flatly, "Worried about your brother, huh?"
"..." Harrow didn't respond immediately. He was in the hospital and Spark was in a coma. His fever kept
on coming back and it was starting to drain his energy. Harrow looked at his brother worriedly and said
on the phone, "Get to the point."
"You sound so unfriendly," Shane complained.
Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard. Toot-toot-toot. The phone was hung up.
Shane looked at the phone, confused. He dialed back and the other line answered quickly.
"Speak!" Harrow said impatiently. Shane's persistence started to get on his nerves.
"What's going on with Mr. Brian Long and Molly Xia right now?" Shane said in a serious tone.
Hearing this, Harrow frowned. Shane never pried about others' business. He knew that he wouldn't
have asked without a reason. So he told him what had happened in the hospital the day before. "Why
ask?" Harrow wondered.
"He stood me up the whole night," Shane replied.
"You deserved it!" Harrow said in response.
Upon hearing this, Shane shrugged. He lowered his eyes to look at the card in his hand. The spade 3
had become the spade ace. Then, he said with a mischievous smile, "Mr. Brian Long had been celibate
for years. Last night must have been a big night for him." As soon as he finished that remark, he looked
up on the screen. At that moment, how much he wished he could take everything back!
Brian was back, sitting in the study and staring at him from the screen. On the other line, Harrow was
saying something on the phone, but Shane could hear nothing. His eyes were glued on the screen,
staring at Brian who was also staring intensely at him. He then told himself, 'Darn it! I will never ever
gossip about Mr. Brian Long ever again. This time, I am in huge trouble!' He didn't know how Brian
would react, but one thing was for sure--he already had something up on his sleeve for Shane.
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