"Anne, why don't you go to bed early? I need to head out as I have to deal with something."
Before Anne could even respond, Sam had already left. As she watched his receding figure, she
couldn't help but feel sad.
In such a stormy night, she was left alone in the room, and only the baby inside her could keep her
company.
When Sam arrived at the cafe, it had already closed. He looked around and couldn't see Emily
anywhere.
Holding the umbrella in his hand, he stood under the rain.
After a while, he figured Emily wasn't stupid. She must've left already.
Meanwhile, Emily had just returned home. She had caught a cold from staying in the rain for too long.
As a result, she had a fever.
She lay on the bed, her lips turning purple while her face was white as a sheet. Even though she was
bundled up in a thick quilt, she still shivered.
Every now and then, Amy would come in and check on her.
The servant found the whole thing to be strange. Didn't she just come home from a date? Why did she
come home with a fever?
Oddly enough, Emily hadn't said a word since she came back. She'd been staring at the ceiling with a
blank look on her face the whole time.
She didn't budge until she heard her phone ringing.
"Mrs. Wang, who's calling?"
"Oh, it's Mr. Sam." Amy picked up the phone, looked at the caller ID before handing it to Emily.
She thought Emily would answer the call. Instead, Emily merely stared at the phone as it continued to
ring. When it finally stopped, Emily said, "Next time this person calls, don't bother telling me."
"Okay." Amy had no idea what had happened but she merely nodded.
She guessed that something must have happened between Sam and Emily. They were good friends
but if Emily didn't want to answer his call, something wrong must have gone down.
Emily closed her eyes and said weakly, "Mrs. Wang, you can leave now. I'll just lie down for a while."
"Okay, miss. Good night." Amy tucked in her quilt first before leaving.
She made sure to turn off the lights before closing the door behind her.
In the dark, Emily stared up at the ceiling as tears streamed down her face.
If she were being honest, she wanted to answer Sam's phone call. She wanted to ask him why he
didn't show up but she didn't have courage to do so.
Perhaps this was what it felt like to be in love.
She'd never felt so heartbroken before.
She turned and glanced at her phone—his name was written on the screen, a missed call.
She had thought to change his name on her phone into something sweet. However, in fear that
someone would see, she decided against it. As she dwelled in her sadness, she began to consider if
she was just overthinking this.
Maybe he didn't care about her at all.
The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt. She couldn't sleep. At that moment, she
couldn't help but think of Anne.
However, it was already so late. She couldn't possibly disturb Anne at this hour.
Her eyes were red and swollen while her voice was hoarse. The late hour didn't stop her from dialing
Anne's number. Fortunately, it only took one ring before Anne picked up.
"Emily?"
When Emily heard Anne's voice, her hand trembled. She didn't expect that Anne would still be up so
late. Suddenly, she found herself at a loss for words.
"Anne, were you asleep?"
Her voice was guttural and frail. Anne immediately sat up, closing the book she was reading. Uneasily,
she asked, "Are you okay? Why do you sound like that?"
"What?" Lips quivering, Emily explained, "Nothing, nothing. Why aren't you sleeping yet? It's so late."
"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping too?" 'I don't really feel like sleeping. Kevin hasn't returned yet,'
Anne thought to herself. He must have gone to see Cherry. She never stood a chance with him.
"Well, I can't fall asleep." Emily shifted to a more comfortable position. Hearing Anne's voice put her in
a much better mood. "May I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead." Anne tried her best to sound lively. Emily probably had something on her mind which was
why she was still up. The least Anne could do was listen to her.
"If you had an appointment to meet up with someone but that someone didn't show up, what does it
mean?"
Emily's heart pounded in her chest. She'd never experienced this before.
He was the first person she ever liked yet it seemed that she meant nothing to him.
She was willing to do anything for him. Still, she didn't want to talk to him in fear that she would disturb
him. She had to be careful with what she did and what she said.
But even so, she still felt utterly lost.
"Maybe he had something else to do." Anne could tell how upset Emily was just by the tone of her
voice. "Did you ask him why?"
"No." Smiling bitterly, Emily said, "I don't have the courage to ask him. Anne, what do I do? I feel so
worthless. I waited for him in the coffee shop for hours until the coffee shop closed. It was raining
heavily and he didn't show up. He didn't even give me an explanation."
As she spoke, she began to sob.
She'd never cried this hard before. This was also the first time that she had complained about
something. She always thought that she was a positive and optimistic person. She was a fearless
woman who didn't care about anything.
However, Sam was her weakness.
Just a single word from him was enough to shatter her into pieces.
"Anne, am I annoying? Why else would he treat me like this?"
Emily began to sob harder. Anne remained silent as she listened to her crying in silence.
"I don't need him to do anything for me. As long as he talks to me, I'd be very happy already. It's just so
sad that he forgot what he had promised me."
Emily exhaled sharply, her pillow already damp with her tears. She didn't want to cry anymore.
"I'm done crying. I've decided that I won't like him anymore starting tomorrow. I don't want to see him."
"Emily." Anne finally spoke up. "You like him, don't you?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
Wiping away her tears, Emily nodded and added, "My heart still hurts."
"That's love." Anne smiled. "You silly girl, why didn't you tell me that you had fallen in love with
someone?"
She grimaced at the thought of sweet Emily being treated like that.
"It's not that I didn't want to tell you. It's just that I didn't think there was a chance for me to be with him.
I wanted to keep it to myself." Emily explained, "At first, I thought maybe we could just be friends. It's all
my fault. At the back of my mind, I still thought I held a chance to win his heart if I gave it a try. Now I
feel so ashamed."
"Emily, you're an amazing girl who deserves a good man." Anne checked the time. She figured Emily
was probably pretty worn out from all the crying. "Go to sleep. Why don't you come over tomorrow? I'm
just at home."
"Okay." Emily grinned and said, "You're right. I'm a great girl. I'll meet a good man sooner or later. Good
night, Anne."
"Good night."
After hanging up the phone, Emily placed her phone aside and promptly closed her eyes. She just
wanted to get Sam out of her head and sleep well that night.
Meanwhile, a wave of complex emotions surged in Sam's chest. He put his phone down. He figured
Emily was probably angry. Why else wouldn't she answer her phone? Still, this was quite
uncharacteristic of Emily. She had always been a spirited girl. Even if he did stand her up, she would
still answer his call.
It seemed that things were much more serious than Sam had estimated it to be.
He stood in front of the window, looking solemn. He knew he owed Emily an apology in person.
"Son, what's on your mind?"
By the time he came back, his parents were already sleeping. So he was a bit startled when he heard
his mother's voice.
"Mom, I thought you were sleeping."
Sam turned around and threw his phone towards the sofa. He looked worn out, his eyebrows knitted
together. So many things were happening recently—way more than he could handle.
Lynne, Sam's mother, walked up to him. She couldn't help but notice his exhaustion. "Why did you
come home so late?" she asked, her tone laced with worry.
"Something happened to Anne. I went to see her." Sam sat on the sofa and gestured for his mother to
do the same
"Alas," Lynne sighed as she sat next to Sam on the sofa. She rubbed the back of his hand. "Son,
maybe you shouldn't be focusing so much of your attention and energy on that woman. She's someone
else's wife, not yours!"
Sam frowned. "Mom, what are you talking about?"
He didn't seem all too pleased with what his mother had said. It was his responsibility to take care of
Anne as her doctor and her friend.
He couldn't possibly ignore Anne especially if she needed his help.
"I thought you were bringing home a girl tonight," Lynne said meaningfully. "Your father and I waited up
for you but you didn't come. We intended to call you but we didn't. Do you want to know why?"
Sam turned his head, his eyes gleaming.
"Why?"
"Because we know that you always keep your promise. You're a man of your word. This is the first time
that you didn't keep your word. No matter what happened, you shouldn't do it again."
"Mom, I know. It was my fault," Sam said, frowning.
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