Tenant’s Secret Love

Chapter 44: Exposed

Harlan opened the personnel file of Jumei Shopping Center in doubt, and his expression changed instantly when his eyes rested on the first page, no less shocked than when I first saw it.

Natalie, who was by his side, noticed Harlan's unusual behaviour, said ‘What's wrong?’ and also looked at the personnel file in Harlan's hand. After just one glance, she was so shocked that she covered her mouth and then stared at me with wide eyes. After a while, she said, ‘Mom, the CEO of Jumei Shopping Center is your girlfriend! ... This is too exaggerated, or am I hallucinating?’

Harlan put down the personnel file in his hands and looked at me with the same expression as Natalie and said, ‘Lucas, what's going on? You never mentioned it before. Renee is the CEO of Jumei!’

‘I also learned about it this morning when I read the personnel file. I feel the same as you guys, I also think it's my own hallucination!’

Harlan and Natalie glanced at each other, still with shocked expressions, and asked me, ’How did you meet her anyway?’

‘Do you remember when I told you that the old house I used to live in was bought by a woman in a fancy car?’

‘Yes, you told me.’

‘Renee bought it, and then we naturally got to know each other.’

Harlan nodded, as if suddenly he had thought of the crux of the matter, and asked with a piercing look in his eyes, ‘In less than a month, she became your girlfriend?’

I tried to hide it, ’There's nothing I can do about it, when fate strikes, you can't stop it!’

‘The CEO of Zhuomei was wooed by you, Lucas, in less than a month? No novel plot develops this quickly!’

Natalie agreed, saying, ‘At first, when you introduced Renee to us, we all thought you had been dating her for a long time, just hiding it from us. We never imagined that you had only known each other for less than a month. Lucas, your skills at picking up girls are truly at their peak!’

‘Can you two stop talking to me like this,’ I said, glaring at the two of them angrily.

Harlan and Natalie asked in unison, ‘Then just be honest with us, what exactly is your relationship with Renee?’

In fact, the moment I showed Harlan Renee's file, I already knew that today the truth would come out. Who would believe that the CEO of a top shopping mall would fall in love with an unreliable little clerk? If anyone is to blame, it's life being so damn crazy. Why did Renee happen to be the CEO of Charmacy? Even if she were the daughter of a township enterprise boss or had sprung from a rock, I wouldn't be facing this embarrassing situation of being exposed.

After a while, I impatiently said to Harlan and Natalie, who were staring at me, ‘Don't look at me like I'm a criminal. I'll confess, okay?’

‘Hurry up, if you don't confess, we'll torture you,’ Natalie said, holding up her pink fists at me.

I lay back on the chair, finally looking at the ceiling, and said with a sense of desperation, ‘She's not my girlfriend. That day at your wedding, I felt quite empty inside, so I called Renee and lied that I was inviting her to dinner, tricking her into coming to your wedding banquet. Then I met Brittany, and in a moment of heat, I said she was my girlfriend. Then I kept covering up the lie with more lies, until everyone really thought she was my girlfriend...’

‘Oh my God! Lucas, does this mean you still can't get Brittany out of your mind?‘ Natalie asked me in shock, regardless of the crowded restaurant.

‘Harlan, give your wife a sedative, she's so noisy!’ I said in the calmest tone possible.

Harlan gave Natalie a look to tell her to be quiet, and Natalie finally looked at me apologetically, then fell silent, leaving the conversation to Harlan and me.

After a moment of silence, Harlan said to me, ‘Lucas, why do you have to deceive yourself with such childish behaviour?’

I laughed and said, ’Childish? I just want to make myself feel better, and Brittany and Robert, at least we don't seem so miserable, at least we can still talk like friends.’

Harlan sighed, then fell silent. The most helpless thing in the world is love between a man and a woman. It comes and goes without anyone's permission, and no one can save me from the past with Brittany. Harlan chose to remain silent because he understands this truth.

I was silent too, helpless in my silence, sad in my helplessness, but there was no boat to take me away from my sadness on this late autumn night. So I suppressed my desires, dangled my soul, and looked around uneasily...

After dinner, I walked alone on the street. I couldn't say I was distraught, but I kind of wanted to leave this city. In fact, I've wanted to leave for a long time, because this city has made me dream for two years, and it has also made me tired for two years.

Countless sleepless nights, I fantasised that Brittany would come back to me one day, but the fantasy was shattered time and time again, and so I grew tired. Now I finally don't have to keep fantasising, because Brittany already has someone else in her heart. I woke up when Robert put the engagement necklace on her.

I really want to leave all my fantasies, my loss and loneliness behind in this city, just walk away, and let the cold autumn wind shred all this s**t, so that it has nothing to do with me from now on. How f*****g great would that be!

I want to leave! Leave here and go back to the city where I grew up. When I'm cold, I have my mother's knitted sweater, and when I'm hot, I have my Stubborn Father's herbal tea...

But I can't leave this city. My soul has long been buried here. There is a guitar singing of loneliness, an empty city hiding the past, and an old house comforting me.

Sitting on the bench at the bus stop, I looked blankly at the buses carrying passengers to every corner of the city, but it seemed that I had nowhere to go this night.

The last bus, No. 32, pulled up at the bus stop, and I suddenly woke up. I hurriedly ran up, put in the coin, and finally had an identity as a passenger. This night, I would ride with this bus No. 32 through six streets back to that old house.

...

Deep down, I didn't want to leave this old house, so this morning, I took a desperate risk and went to Renee's room again. I found a set of keys to this house and naively thought that Renee had really left this house to me and would never come back.

I took out the keys and opened the door to the house, but unexpectedly heard the sound of washing in the bathroom. I looked at the shoe rack and saw a pair of crystal sequined women's leather shoes from Chanel. That was undoubtedly Renee coming back.

I stood silently at the bathroom door, watching Renee washing her face. Suddenly I said, ‘You're back?’

Renee was not startled. She had probably heard the sound of me opening the door a while ago, but she ignored me, still angry at my shameless behaviour yesterday.

‘Did you just rinse your mouth?’ I asked Renee again.

Renee subconsciously looked at her toothbrush before saying, ‘Why do you ask?’

‘I got up late this morning and didn't have time to buy toiletries, so I used yours,’ I replied.

Renee's expression suddenly became uncertain, and her breathing became heavy: “You...’

‘You left so resolutely yesterday, I thought you weren't coming back, otherwise I would definitely have told you in advance, or bought you a new set.’

Renee seemed to be the expression she saw the cockroach the other day, angrily said: ”Are you disgusting?’

‘You're a beautiful woman, I'm sure I don't feel disgusted. Just use it!’ I told her the truth. In fact, this was really a trivial matter for me. When I was in college, a few guys would smoke a cigarette, squeeze their saliva into their mouths, and smoke. Using this as a reference, who would mind using a toothbrush that a beautiful woman had used? Besides, I really planned to buy her a new set. Who knew she would be back tonight.

‘I mean, your behaviour is disgusting!’

I said innocently, ‘I really don't feel disgusting using your toothbrush. You really don't need to worry about me.’

Renee's expression became even more angry. She threw the toothbrush, towel, and even cosmetics into the trash can, walked up to me, who was blocking the bathroom door, gave me a heavy push, and for the first time, swore, ’Get out of the way!’

I grabbed Renee and said, “I see now,” and added, “Oh! So you don't like it when I use your toothbrush! Look at your ability to express yourself, you can't even explain it clearly!”