Clark's voice carried a hint of supplication.
Alison didn't know how she should reply, so she simply said nothing, and then left Clark's room
somewhat awkwardly.
By the time she returned to her room, Alison felt particularly lonely.
It was clear that they were all her family, but she didn't feel the sense of belonging that comes with
blood.
She could see the guilt and heartache Old Mrs. Close and Clark felt for her, as well as Kelly's fondness
for her, but she could not fit into the family.
Maybe it was because they had different world views, or maybe it was because of the beliefs in her
heart. She didn't know, but she felt loneliness like a vine that wrapped itself tightly around her and was
getting tighter and tighter, suffocating her.
Alison didn't care what the Close family would find out, but simply took out her phone and made a call.
But at the sound of beeping, she hung up again.
What was she going to say?
She had disappeared since the start of Project Laurence and hadn't contacted him for so long. What
could she say now that she had suddenly contacted him?
Alison gave a bitter laugh, but her phone rang so violently that Alison almost dropped it in fright.
On the screen was the familiar number she had memorized, but she was afraid to answer it, and her
eyes suddenly turned red.
Ernesto hadn't heard from Alison in a long, long time. At this point, she contacted him out of the blue
but hung up abruptly, leaving Ernesto with bad feelings.
She couldn't be in some kind of trouble, could she?
The phone kept ringing but there was no answer, and Ernesto's frown grew tighter and tighter.
He solicitously sent a video chat invitation, but Alison hung up quickly.
Ernesto was instantly furious.
"Alison, if you don't fucking answer the phone again, do you believe I'm going to ignore you for the rest
of my life?"
He sent a voice message.
At the sound of Ernesto's familiar voice, Alison could no longer hold back her tears as she bit her lower
lip.
She hadn't cried talking about the past, and she hadn't cried when she was alone in the Close family,
but she had cried when she heard Ernesto's growl.
How dare he yell at her?
She was the one who was holding him down.
Ernesto couldn't wait for Alison's reply and sent her a video invitation again. He called over and over
again, as if he would keep on calling if she didn't answer.
Alison finally tapped the answer button when Ernesto had sent the video invitation for the tenth time.
"You finally answered. Alison, just don't answer my phone for the rest of your fucking life if you dare!"
Ernesto yelled under his breath but found Alison crying.
He was stunned.
Holy shit!
Alison was crying?
It was so unexpected and shocking.
"You're crying? Did someone bully you? Fuck, where are you? Send me a location and I'll go chop that
guy who bullied you right now!"
Ernesto yelled, but it warmed Alison's heart. She wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "How dare
you yell at me?"
"It's none of your business!"
Ernesto's voice softened when he saw that Alison had finally become a little bossy like she used to be.
"Where are you these days? Are you having a good time? You must be having a bad time, right? If you
were having a good time, you wouldn't be crying when you see me. You quite like to bully me. How
could you possibly shed tears in front of me? Alison, you've gone too fucking far!"
As he spoke, Ernesto choked up too, while his eyes turned slightly red, which made Alison freeze for a
moment.
"You ..."
"What? I know you're special, you're on a mission, you had to leave, and you couldn't say anything to
me, but you could have at least sent me a text message to let me know you are alive! Would you have
given me something to look forward to? It's like you've just disappeared. I understand you have a
mission or a task, but can you think of me even a little bit? I know I'm just an assistant and I'm a bit
delusional to catch up with you. But you have to give me a chance. What's a chance? At least I have to
be able to see you and touch you. You said before that if I beat you, you'd give me the chance to woo
you. I've been training these days and I'm confident I can beat you now. Really, Alison, you can't go
back on your word."
Ernesto rambled on like an aggrieved child. And as he said it, his nose twitched, and he got a little
choked up.
"Alison, I miss you. I'm probably a bit of a bitch, and I don't feel good when no one hits me. I'm training
every day to make myself stronger. In this way, at least you will be able to hit me more comfortably,
right? How can you do this? How can you do this?"
Ernesto bowed his head while a drop of tear dripped down the corner of his eye onto the back of his
hand, and he quickly hid his hand behind his back.
How could he be so bashful?
But he was really worried about her these days. He was worried that when he heard from Alison again,
she had been wounded or sacrificed.
Ernesto's heart ached at the thought of those two words.
He hated the feeling that he couldn't ask anything, that he didn't know anything.
He told himself to like someone else.
But he looked at the single women in the company and all he could think of was Alison's stubborn eyes
and cold look.
Alison suddenly felt that Ernesto looked particularly handsome in this way.
So this was what it felt like to be missed.
When she was growing up, apart from Chad, it seemed that this silly man was the only one who cared
about her. And he was the only one who was afraid that she would die.
Alison suddenly had a sense of belonging.
No matter how far she went in the world, no matter what was going on around her, it was as if a string
was pulling her and making her anxious to rush back after she was done with her work.
"Ernesto."
Alison suddenly spoke up.
Although her eyes were red, she sounded pleased and even smiled, which instead made Ernesto a
little overwhelmed.
"You are smiling?" Alison, I'm crying like an idiot and you're laughing at me?"
Ernesto got a little grumpy.
He knew he was disgraced.
But why was she laughing at him?
She was so unkind, wasn't she?
Seeing him like this, Alison suddenly felt that the gloom had gone from her heart and that those
miserable childhood years were not so depressing to her.
She smiled even brighter.
"You're still smiling!"
"If I can get back safely, you marry me."
Alison's words made Ernesto freeze.
"What did you say?"
"I said I want to get married, so you marry me."
Alison suddenly felt a sweet taste lingering in her heart as she uttered those words, like the taste of the
candy she had loved to eat as a child.
Maybe Ernesto was her candy.
Ernesto couldn't hear anything else, and all he could think of was this sentence.
"You marry me!"
He suddenly laughed like a fool.
"Alison, say that again."
"Ernesto, I want to get married, so you marry me."
Alison said it again without feeling annoyed at all, and heard Ernesto laugh and say, "I'm recording it! If
you go back on your word, I'll tell Mr. and Mrs. Green! Or I'll get Mr. Shaw to speak up for me!"
How cute he was being so petty!
Alison's eyes shone brightly while she said, word for word, "Ernesto, just wait for me."
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