Chapter 13
1720 Words
With such a sudden turn of events, Ava naturally had to return home.
However, this "returning home" did not involve Liam at all.
Her immediate priority was to discuss with her family how to face the Xu family—after all, she couldn’t simply ignore the situation after such an unusual incident.
As Ava and Lucy knocked on the door, her aunt hurriedly intercepted them, craning her neck to peer down the empty hallway: “Where is he?”
Ava, feigning ignorance, asked, “Who?”
“Who else could it be!” Her aunt lowered her voice. “When Xiao Xu called earlier, I answered. I intended to keep it from you, but Old Yu snatched the phone away and was waving a flyswatter, threatening to beat both of you!”
“Ah?” Lucy’s face turned pale with fright. “If it’s about beating Ava, that’s one thing, but why include me? I haven’t done anything wrong…”
“Be quiet! Is it not enough trouble already? Go away and don’t cause more chaos!” Her aunt shot a glare at Lucy. “What your father meant was Ava and… and him!”
“Oh—” Lucy then realized. “So, you mean the handsome guy~”
Ava was most unwilling to hear the words “handsome guy.” She gently patted her aunt’s hand in comfort and proceeded into the living room.
Three people sat solemnly on the sofa: Grandpa Yu, Grandma Yu, and Uncle Yu.
Uncle Yu, seeing Ava alone, immediately scowled and asked the same question as her aunt: “Where is he?”
Ava repeated, “What person?”
“Your dashing boyfriend!”
At the mention of “handsome guy,” the elder Yu couple’s eyes sparkled with excitement—they had been eagerly anticipating a son-in-law for years and had heard he was exceptionally handsome. Could they not be thrilled?
In contrast to the elders’ excitement, Ava felt like her head was about to explode: “I do not have a boyfriend!”
“Still lying to us?!”
Uncle Yu jumped from the sofa, brandishing the flyswatter. “Xiao Xu told us everything! If you had a boyfriend, you should have brought him home, regardless of whether he’s handsome or not. At least let the elders have a look. Instead, what is this trick you’re playing? Your aunt and I just went to Xiao Xu’s place to apologize, and we were kicked out!”
The elder Yu couple, however, were understanding: “Ava, don’t be shy. Bring him here and let Grandpa and Grandma judge—”
Ava remained composed and said firmly, “Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, today’s incident was indeed my mistake. I will make amends to Xiao Xu in person. As for a boyfriend, I am truly without one.”
“Oh, oh, oh… I remember now…” Uncle Yu looked enlightened. “Yesterday, when Lucy and I visited your home, I heard a man’s voice, definitely heard it. It must be him! So, Ava, after spending so much time at your place yesterday, he didn’t show himself, which means he must have been hiding in your bedroom! How ambitious of you! Learning from ‘hiding beauties’!”
Ava: “…………”
This was all so confusing… Family disputes were becoming as complex as criminal cases…
“Where is he!”
Uncle Yu angrily swung the flyswatter.
“Scoundrel! Hiding behind a woman—what kind of man is that!”
Sitting on the flower bed downstairs, Liam suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and turned his gaze towards the fourth floor of the brown building in front of him.
He had desperately tried to face the situation with Ava, after all, he was the instigator, and he couldn’t let Ava bear the entire consequence alone.
How could he bear to be so heartless!
But Ava’s anger was palpable, and Liam dared not add fuel to the fire.
He could not afford to gamble.
He couldn’t bear the worst outcome of this matter—
He feared losing Ava.
After several minutes, Liam had imagined a hundred possible scenarios in his mind…
The building door slowly opened.
The figure he yearned for, whom he had been obsessing over, appeared before his eyes.
Ava wandered aimlessly down the street.
Liam followed her closely—everything seemed to have returned to the beginning, to the initial point.
Ava’s life had been monotonous and uneventful for years, calm and steady. Her days revolved around work, cases, meetings, and patrols… and then eating, sleeping, being pressured to marry, and bickering with Lucy…
Never had it been so chaotic and confusing as recently.
Of course, the root of all troubles was Liam.
If we traced it back, it was her own softness.
She softened towards him—seeing him caught in the stormy night, she couldn’t help but take him upstairs; seeing him on the brink of homelessness, she even took him in…
Even though she knew clearly: Liam was dangerous.
Yet, it seemed a small part of her harbored a glimmer of hope.
Just as he had said, perhaps he was indeed pursuing her, and his occasional jealousy was quite endearing… Moreover, he had served his sentence, perhaps he had truly turned over a new leaf.
But a series of events made her sense his destructive tendencies.
Undoubtedly, Liam’s appearance today was to sabotage her date.
He even planned to follow her home, thus disrupting her family!
Because her professional instincts flared up, and she softened her heart, now even her uncle and aunt were entangled, leaving her unable to hold her head high in front of old friends—
It was time for her to make a decisive decision!
Returning to the neighborhood.
Ava strolled slowly, even spending a few minutes at the fitness area before heading home.
Liam trailed her as usual, and as Ava opened the door, just as he was about to follow her in—
The door slammed shut!
Liam: “…………”
He was locked out! Trapped in the empty corridor!
Sounds of clinking and clattering came from inside, and after a few minutes, the door opened a crack, and a plastic bag fell onto the ground in a parabolic trajectory.
“Thud—”
“Leave! Those are towels, toothbrushes, soap, and other personal items you’ve used. I’ve packed them for you. Go away, find a family or a shelter if you like—”
As she spoke, the door was opened a second time.
Several red banknotes fluttered onto Liam.
“This money should be enough for you. We’re settled now!”
Liam certainly didn’t pick up the items.
He stood motionless.
The oppressive heat of summer was enough to make anyone sweat profusely, but Liam felt as if he were in the frigid Arctic.
“Ava…” His voice trembled slightly. “What did you say?”
Ava, still at the doorway, listened to the sounds outside. Hearing his question, she repeated firmly, “I said! We are settled now!”
“Settled…”
Liam’s smile turned sinister, and he was unsure whether to laugh or cry:
“‘Settled,’ huh…”
Ava bit her lip.
Was she about to be driven to retaliate against society once again?
Liam ceased laughing, his voice resolute: “Ava! I’ll tell you this! You are destined to be mine for life. Go ahead and clear things up in your dreams! No, you must be entangled with me even in your dreams!”
Ava’s eyes blazed with fury. In her twenty-some years of life, no one had ever spoken to her with such insolence. She retorted loudly:
“Even in my dreams, I’ll settle things with you!”
“Perhaps in the next life!”
She kicked the door forcefully several times: “Liam! Have some shame!”
With that, she turned and dashed into the living room, collapsing onto the sofa.
What nonsense Liam had spouted!
Ava grew increasingly furious.
What had she done wrong? Just because she had misidentified him and because she was a police officer with a sense of duty, and because she had softened her heart a few times—
Was that reason enough for him to speak to her like that?
After the explosive argument, silence reigned both inside and outside the door.
Ava lay on the sofa, unable to discern if she was more angry or aggrieved…
After a few minutes, a faint sound came from the door.
It was Liam gently knocking.
Then, although his voice was subdued, he deliberately softened it: “Ava, Ava…”
Originally, Ava had no intention of responding to Liam, but when she heard him carefully ask, “Are you crying?” she threw a cushion from the sofa:
“I’m not crying!”
“I’m a police officer! It’s beneath me to cry over such a minor issue!”
Liam sighed in relief: “It’s good you’re not crying. You used to cry so much, and I was always afraid of your tears…”
Ava snorted.
What a fantasy! In the few days they had known each other, when had she ever cried?
“Ava, Ava…”
Liam knocked softly again.
Ava pretended to be disengaged.
Liam stopped knocking and, after a two-minute pause, asked in a pleading tone: “I was wrong… I shouldn’t have yelled at you… Ava, forgive me, open the door—”
Ava pretended to be disengaged
After waiting for a while, seeing the silence inside, Liam asked again, “So, what will it take for you to forgive me? You can’t just sentence me to life imprisonment…”
Ava could no longer keep up the pretense. She stormed to the doorway, hands on her hips, breathing heavily with anger
. After a moment, she said sternly, “Fine! If you want me to give you a reprieve, the decision isn’t up to me, but rather if the heavens forgive you—if it snows in Pu'er City in August, then I’ll forgive you!”
This was the most troublesome condition Ava could think of.
Like the sun not rising tomorrow, it defies natural laws and is utterly unrealistic!
Unexpectedly, Liam nonchalantly replied, “Snow, huh? Alright, Ava, for you, I can do anything! Just wait—”
- Writer
