Angela and Annie sat in the car, but the latter couldn’t stop talking about the subject just now. She
pestered Angela with questions, asking. “Angela, tell me about Richard. Is he easy to get along with? Is
he handsome at work?”
Angela nodded. “H-He’s quite easy to get along with, but he seems very busy. I rarely saw him, so I
don’t know much about him.”
“Yeah, that’s understandable. He left in a hurry before the end of our engagement dinner last time.”
Richard was a workaholic in Annie’s mind’s eye.
“Annie, when will you get married to him? Has the date been finalized?” Angela asked tentatively.
Annie’s face blushed. She replied shyly. “It’s still early for that! We’ve only met once, after all. But
Grandpa said that Richard’s grandfather wishes us to get married sooner because he wants to have a
great-grandson.”
Angela looked at Annie as emotions surged within her. Her feelings were mixed, but she was also glad
that she didn’t ruin the latter’s happiness. “Congratulations, Annie.”
“Thank you, Angela. By the way, did Richard mention me when you met him? I sent him a lot of text
messages, but he didn’t reply to any of them. I once suspected that I had the wrong phone number,”
Annie said with a bitter expression.
Dumbfounded, Angela looked at her. “He didn’t reply to any of your text messages?”
Annie gave a sigh of disappointment. “That’s right! I sent him almost 50 text messages. I wonder if he’s
so busy that he doesn’t have time to text me back.”
Angela was suddenly enraged. Like hell he is that busy! He spends lots of time reading over there. But
how could he be so cruel as to not reply to any of Annie’s messages? “How could he do this to you?”
she said angrily at once.
Annie comforted her instead, saying, “It’s okay, Angela. I know that he’s busy; perhaps he’s rushed off
his feet with lots of stuff to do. Please don’t blame him for that.”
Angela’s chest heaved up and down. She really wanted to tell Annie that Richard wasn’t busy at all,
and that he had plenty of time and was ignoring her text messages on purpose. She also felt sorry for
Annie, whose feelings for Richard weren’t reciprocated at all.
“Annie, aren’t you angry about that?” Angela asked while looking at Annie.
Annie shook her head understandingly. “I’m not angry. I’m happy as long as he saw my messages. I’m
just texting him about my feelings, anyway. I’m afraid of bothering him, but I can’t help wanting to chat
with him.”
Angela stretched out her hand and patted Annie on the head while looking at her with sympathy. It’s too
bad that such feelings aren’t cherished. She hoped Richard would give Annie a quick answer as soon
as possible instead of letting the latter get her hopes up for nothing.
Doesn’t he want to break off their engagement? If he really doesn’t love Annie, he can do that and stop
making a laughingstock of her sacrifice, she thought somewhat indignantly.
Just then, Annie said with a look of envy. “Angela, I’m so envious of you for being able to see him. If
only I were quarantined along with you at the time. That way, I’d be able to see him as well.”
Angela’s heart stopped. She also wished she could travel back to the day of Annie’s engagement. If
only I knew that he was Annie’s fiancé. That way, what happened after that wouldn’t have happened.
She knew that she was the origin of all the tragedies between them. “Don’t be envious of me. That
place is sealed off, so you won’t get used to living there.”
“Then how did you manage to get through?”
“I- I killed time by reading.” Angela pursed her lips, not daring to look Annie in the eye.
“As long as I’m able to see him, I’ll be happy no matter how bored I feel. It’s too bad that I didn’t know
he was the one protecting you at the time. Had I known. it earlier, I’d have gone with you no matter
what,” Annie said with a look of regret.
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