Tenant’s Secret Love

Chapter 87: Lost Contact

I stared at the screen of my phone for a long time, and finally dialed Renee's number. I waited for the call to connect, but to my surprise, my phone was already turned off.

I made another meaningless call, and I still got the shutdown prompt.

I suddenly became worried, and this worry then evolved into wild speculation. But I didn't know of any other way to contact her. I couldn't just go to Suzhou to find out what was going on now.

I turned off the lights and lay on the bed, trying to focus on my recent work and suppress this worrying feeling that was making me uneasy. But all kinds of bad assumptions still took control of my thoughts without any suspense.

I became more and more irritated, and finally couldn't hold back any longer. I took out my phone again and found Harlan's number, and immediately dialed.

Harlan answered the phone quickly, as if he had already gone to bed, yawning and asking, “What's the matter, you little brat, calling so late?”

I was stunned. I felt that if I asked him about Renee so directly at this late hour, he might misunderstand, so I said, “I'm going to get engaged.”

“What? Say that again.”

“I'm going to get engaged.”

Harlan reacted, and then I heard him say to Natalie in a rather agitated tone, ”Honey, honey, wake up...Lucas said he's going to get engaged!”

Natalie first let out a “huff,” as if suddenly waking up, and took the phone from Harlan's hands. Her tone was even more excited than Harlan's as she asked me, “Lucas, Harlan said you're getting engaged? My God...”

I laughed and said, ‘Don't get all emotional about something that's absolutely true.”

“When? When? Is it that Daphne you met on a blind date?”

“We're getting engaged after the New Year, and we'll go shopping for engagement jewelry tomorrow,’ I said succinctly.

Natalie was silent for a long time, presumably coming to her senses in the silence, and then exclaimed with emotion, “God is merciful, Lucas, you have finally returned to the right path... No, I want to cry!”

“Then go find somewhere to cry for a while, and give the phone to Harlan, I still have something to ask him.”

After scolding me, Natalie gave the phone to Harlan.

Harlan smiled and said to me, ”You gave us one week's notice before the engagement, so Natalie and I can get ready.”

“Hmmm...” After a pause, I pretended to suddenly remember something and asked Harlan, ‘By the way, have you... seen Renee recently?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Her phone is not working, so I'm just concerned. Don't think too much about it, I don't mean anything, just like a normal friend would be concerned.’ I emphasized the word ‘normal’ friend.

“I'm not thinking too much, you don't need to explain to me like this.”

“Who's nervous? Hurry up, have you seen her or not?”

“I haven't seen her before. She's a senior executive at Jumei, and it's not like we can just see her whenever we want. Last time, I had to go through a lot of people to get an appointment with her to tell her about the help you gave her,” Harlan said with emotion.

I wanted Harlan to ask around again, but in the end I didn't say anything. For one thing, Renee might just have run out of battery, and for another, I would have looked too eager, which would have made me seem like I had an ulterior motive.

After a short silence, I said to Harlan, “Okay, I mainly just wanted to tell you that I'm getting engaged. It's getting late, so I won't disturb you and your wife.”

Harlan responded, and after I said goodnight to Natalie, I hung up.

After hanging up, I turned off the lights in the room again. The bright moonlight outside shone on the drawn curtains. I took advantage of the moonlight to light a cigarette, and I was surprised to find out why I was so nervous about Renee. Maybe it was really because I felt sorry for her pitiful life. I didn't want anything to happen to her, because that wouldn't be fair to her. She had already lost her family, so God should compensate her and give her a happy life... I also sincerely hoped that she could find a man who would love her with his whole life.

I stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray and kept telling myself that she just ran out of battery or didn't want to turn on the phone to disturb her rest. In this self-comforting manner, my mood gradually calmed down, and after a while I fell asleep.

...

The next morning, I was woken up by my mother, who was holding a bank card in her hand and said to me, “Lucas, there are 30,000 yuan in this card. Take it and use it to buy engagement jewelry for Daphne this afternoon.”

I felt a little embarrassed, but I had only been working for more than a month and didn't have much savings. I took it from my mother and said, “I'll consider this money a loan from you. When I have saved up some money, I'll pay you back.”

My mother patted me gently and said, ”My dear, what are you talking about not paying it back? We can't take our money with us. You just work hard and treat Daphne well, and that will be the greatest repayment to us!”

I was moved, nodded heavily, and my mother left my room after telling me that breakfast was ready. I took my clothes from the bedside and put them on, but then suddenly remembered that I had not yet contacted Renee. I didn't have time to put on my pants before I picked up the phone and found Renee's number to dial.

The result still disappointed me, the phone was still turned off, and I felt restless again, just like last night.

During breakfast, I was still a little distracted. It was only then that I remembered it was the weekend and perhaps Renee hadn't yet woken up. I didn't need to worry too much. Maybe if I called her again at noon, she would answer.

I finished breakfast with yet another self-comforting thought. After a short break, I went for a run. By the time I finished, it was almost 10am. I guessed that Renee should have woken up by now and called her again, but I still couldn't get through.

After that, I called every half an hour, and continued to do so until 1:00 p.m. I couldn't get through, and my sense of unease grew stronger and stronger. I managed not to lose my head, and I thought of CC again. Renee also liked to go to the restaurant “Empty City” for dinner, so maybe she had been there recently.

Without thinking any more, I immediately called CC's phone number, and after a short while, CC answered the phone.

This time, I cut straight to the chase and asked CC, “CC, has Renee been to your restaurant for dinner recently?”

“Why?“ CC asked, puzzled.

“Just tell me if she's been there,” I said, my tone becoming increasingly urgent.

CC thought for a moment before saying, “She came about a fortnight ago, but hasn't been back since. What's wrong with her?”

“I've been trying to call her since last night, but I can't get through. She has no one to turn to in Suzhou, so I'm really worried that something's happened to her!”

“No way!”

“How about this, CC, why don't you go and check on her now? It's the weekend, and if she's not away, she should be home. Maybe she just forgot to turn her phone on.”

“Okay, I'll go over there right away. Don't worry, I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

“Yes, you must let me know right away,” I stressed again.

CC reassured me and hung up, and I prayed in my heart that I was just being paranoid! But I was even more eager to hear CC's answer in a little while.