Can't Let It Go

Chapter 9 Chapter 9. Will You Look Down On Me?

　　It was ten o'clock when Mia returned to the Yiyuan garden. There was a car parked in the yard. She knew that Alfred was back.

　　The lights on the first floor were off, which meant that Mrs. Li must have gone to sleep, so Mia went up the second floor lightly.

　　The lights were ablaze all over the corridor. She went straight to her room, and when she was just got to the door, the door of the opposite bedroom suddenly opened. The man with slightly wet hair came out in a bathrobe. It seemed that he had just finished a bath.

　　"Hi!" Mia was stunned for a few seconds and greeted him.

　　Alfred glanced at her. He was about to go downstairs to drink some water, but when he saw the bruise on her arm, he stopped.

　　"Place like the bar is not suitable for you. You are still a student, you should focus on study!" This was his advice.

　　Mia froze. If she was not sure before, now she could be positive about her thoughts. The figure she saw in the bar was Alfred, and Troy was out from his compartment. It turns out that Troy didn't come out for no reason tonight.

　　At the thought of this, Mia felt a little sad. He must have seen her being harassed.

　　"I'm just a waitress there!" She looked up at him.

　　She didn't know why but felt that he looked stern, as if he was looking at a girl, a naughty bad girl.

　　"If you need money, you can go and get it from Mrs. Li!" Alfred looked at her and said, glancing over her pale face. There was a ghastly fingermark on her pale arm.

　　Mia lowered her head, and for the first time, his words made her realized the inequality between them.

　　Recalling these days, she tried hard to remain natural and graceful in front of him but in vain.

　　Money was indeed a good thing. It was because she had no money that he saw how embarrassed she was.

　　"Will you look down on me?" She looked up at him. There was no shame in her eyes, only frankness.

　　Alfred looked at her frank and stubborn eyes: the girl in front of him was really so young that people would want to protect and care about her.

　　"My opinion doesn't matter. What's important is that girls should protect themselves!" This was the last piece of advice he gave her.

　　Mia looked at his back and was a little stunned. "Does he care about me?"

　　The next day, the sun rose as usual, and life continued.

　　In the small attic of the villa, there were some paintings brought by Mia.

　　Alfred said that she should focus on her studies, and she did not forget that she was a student in the art department. However, it was very unrealistic to expect to become an artist after graduation. First of all, she needed to be able to support herself.

　　The two paintings stacked against the wall were her works which helped her win prizes at the school exhibition. Mia gently pulled off the cloth on them and put them into a cloth bag.

　　After she walked out of the house, she took a taxi to the location sent by Grace.

　　It was a relatively quiet street lined with cafes and bookstores. It was clean and tidy, and the sides were covered with pink flowers.

　　Mia stopped at a gallery called Cloud Painting. This was where Grace did her summer internship. She said there would be a large exhibition here in September. Anyone could participate in the exhibition. If you were lucky, your work might be bought by someone.

　　"Dear, you're finally here!" Seeing Mia standing at the door, Grace immediately ran out to welcome her.

　　In fact, it hadn't been long since the summer vacation started, but she still missed her.