Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Return to the Old Taylor Mansion!!
Emma scratched her head, feeling a bit perplexed, then suddenly had a bright idea. She made a ‘Yay‘ gesture with her hand and exclaimed, “A good rabbit never gives up!” This cheerful proclamation matched her whimsical Peter Rabbit pajama dress perfectly.
This amused Lisa on the other side of the video call. “Emma, do you have to be so comical? How old are you now? You’re acting like we’re still kids!“}
Emma flashed a bright smile, showing a row of neat white teeth. “I’m forever eighteen, always youthful! But Lisa, I won’t chat much longer. I need to get some sleep. Goodnight!”
“Hahaha… My dear Emma, has your childlike innocence returned? When will you be your usual self again? It’s still early, isn’t it? Remember, you promised to come to the high school reunion. Many classmates we haven’t seen in ages are hoping to catch up.“@
Emma hesitated for a moment but then nodded. It would be nice to get out and socialize a bit. With only Luc on her mind, she had little interest in anyone else.” “In a few days, I’ll post the list of classmates attending the reunion in my friend circle. Don’t forget, you promised to be on that list!“Я
Hearing Luc enter the room made Emma feel a bit flustered. She quickly told Lisa, “Let’s continue this later; I need to rest now.” She ended the video call in a hurry. From Luc’s perspective, something seemed off. With a teasing glint in his eye, he looked at Emma and smirked slightly. Was she seeking advice from Lisa again?! Emma ignored him and continued scrolling through Tik Tok and reading posts on social media. She noticed a notification that a user named ‘Q&H‘ had started following her.2 Usually, she shared fun anecdotes and sweet moments with Luc online. But as she browsed her past posts, she realized there wasn’t a single picture of the two of them together, since Luc disliked taking photos. Their only shared image was from their marriage certificate–they even skipped taking wedding photos due to Luc’s busy schedule.
She thought they could always take pictures later, but after hastily obtaining their marriage certificate, Luc probably wouldn’t have taken a photo with her at all if it hadn’t been required.
Feeling overwhelmed, she deleted all memories of their sweet moments from her social media. It was just an illusion, anyway–a facade she had created. What was the point of keeping them?
After an hour of diligent deleting, she erased every moment and feeling tied to Luc from the past few years. In the end, everything associated with him was gone.”
Lisa, also using social media, noticed that all of Emma’s posts from recent years had vanished. Suspecting Emma’s account had been hacked, she sent a message on Messenger: “Emma, was your account hacked? All your posts are gone! You should check it out.“@
Just as Emma was about to sleep, she received Lisa’s message and was taken aback. How could she have overlooked this? Deleting her posts meant revealing to the world that her marriage was on shaky ground.”
Wasn’t it like those celebrities on TV? As soon as they delete posts about certain people, everyone speculates about a falling out. If it was a couple’s account, did that mean trouble in paradise?”
Realizing everything had been deleted, including unfollowing some people, Emma felt a wave of anxiety. How could she explain this? But Lisa provided a perfect excuse–her
account was hacked.0
Riding that wave, she replied, “What??? Lisa, you can’t be serious. My account was hacked!“0
“Wow, your account was hacked! No wonder! You love Luc so much; if anything happened, you wouldn’t have the heart to delete all those sweet memories!“>
This made Emma’s heart sink. Did everyone think she was so infatuated with Luc?0
The realization was crushing. Should she tell Lisa about her decision? She had no idea how to face everything around her. Should she distance herself from their circle? Start anew? Maybe things would be simpler without Luc, without anyone connected to him.
Luc thought Emma had been acting a bit off these past few days, so after showering, he went to the study to sleep. This made Emma feel lighter, both physically and
emotionally.
After returning from the old house, she made an excuse to stay with her parents. She didn’t have to face Luc anymore. For the next month or two, she would spend time in the West, and hopefully, things would gradually improve. She, the supporting character, would bow out, leaving the stage to the main actors.
The next day, Luc and Emma planned to visit the old house together. When Luc saw the thermal box Emma was carrying, a glimmer of interest sparked in his eyes. He got into his car and drove off.”
As usual, Emma hailed a cab toward the old house.
Minutes later, Luc parked next to the old mansion. As soon as he stepped out, the housekeeper, Karen rushed to welcome him, her face beaming with warmth. “Luc has returned. Mrs. Taylor has been waiting for you.”
“Karen, hello!” Luc greeted as he stepped out and entered the mansion. Two workers in the yard were trimming the bushes and called out in unison, “Hello, Dr. Taylor!“&
Luc nodded slightly and continued into the house.
Karen didn’t see Emma around and didn’t seem concerned. She followed him inside.>
“Granny, I’m back!” Luc called out as he entered.
“Come closer, let me see you!” His grandmother, overjoyed to see her grandson, stood up from her chair and walked toward him.
“Granny, how have you been? Please take care of yourself,” Luc said, supporting her as they returned to the sofa.
“Let me see, have you lost weight?”
Karen served them coffee and brought out some fruit desserts. “Mrs. Taylor, Luc is busy with work, but he looks radiant,” she implied he hadn’t lost any weight and was full of energy.
There was no sign of Emma, which seemed to be of no concern to Luc’s grandmother. She appeared to have completely forgotten about her, focusing instead on her grandson.
Granny, why do you want me to be fat?” Luc, now 28, still felt like a child in front of her.
16.29
His grandmother laughed, “You’re such a cheeky boy! Almost thirty, and yet you’re still my little boy.”
“Has your stomach issue returned?” A special concern flickered in her eyes as she asked.
“It hasn’t come back,” Luc replied, peeling a piece of fruit for her and handing it to her.
Hearing that the stomach issue hadn’t recurred, his grandmother smiled with satisfaction. Emma’s gentle personality should be a good fit for the family. But she was just a
bit worried…
