Scott called Ryan about 30 minutes ago. He claimed that Anna had left the party early and turned off her cell phone. As a result, he was concerned about Annaâs safety. Also, he told Ryan about what Lillian said at the party.
Then Ryan said hesitantly, âWell, thank God Scott and Randall were both there, and they saved Anna from being humiliated in time. Otherwise, she would have felt very embarrassed. Do you think this whole thing is true?â
Wayne stared blankly into the distance, not paying attention to what Ryan was saying Ryan replied to his own question, âWell, | donât. In fact, there will be many coincidences in this world. So, you have no idea who youâll run into the next second/â
He then stood up and walked to his room after finishing his Coke. Wayne wasnât paying attention to what Ryan was saying at all.
He went to knock on Annaâs bedroom door after that but froze. He didnât know what had happened on his way to the bathroom, but he seemed to have noticed that there was something fishy about the whole incident.
When Anna was humiliated, Wayne was on the phone with Henry, and then he went outside and ran into Rachel.
He finally understood why Rachel had said such a thing to him, but he regretted not asking her where she had heard it Wayne was immediately disappointed. He remembered promising Anna last night that he would protect her at the party, but he failed, making him feel like an i***t.
Anna stepped out of the bathroom after taking a shower. She wiped her hair and looked out the door. And she hadnât heard anything from outside.
She hadnât gotten much sleep that night. She tossed and turned in bed, watching the moonlight shine through the curtains into the bedroom.
Ithad been freezing recently, and Anna could feel the cold wind stinging her bones as she walked back home with Wayne.
On the other hand, peopleâs hearts were colder than the weather in November days.
Anna thought, People sometimes can be scarier than ghosts. People! used to know didnât seem to have changed. | expected them to at least change for the better, but it turned out Inever really got to know them.
Jacob remained as cowardly as ever, and Lillian remained vicious. Furthermore, they still enjoyed doing awful things to harm others.
That fact had not changed, no matter how hard Anna tried to hide what had happened six years ago. It knocked her down again at an unexpected time Anna wondered if Wayne knew what Lillian said at the party, but she hoped he didnât, in fact, she was worried about Wayne looking into what had happened to her six years before.
The cold rain continued to fall all night. The following day, Anna awoke while it was still dark.
She wore a heavy cashmere sweater because it was already getting cold.
As she showered and prepared to leave, she hoped she wouldnât run into Wayne. She did, however, notice a man lying on the couch in the living room.
Wayne was sitting on that narrow couch, looking pitiful. His legs were placed on the couchâs arm, and he was only dressed in a thin blanket. Plus, he was even wearing the same clothes he wore the night before.
Anna paused for a moment before approaching and patting him on the back as she said, âWell, you can go back to your room.â
Wayne didnât respond and appeared to be sleeping.
Anna shook him by the shoulders and said, âWake up, Wayne. Iâm not in the mood to joke with you! Iâm off to work now, go to our room now.
He still didnât move, much to Annaâs surprise.
Anna froze, then touched his forehead and noticed it was hot.
It was freezing that night, so Anna guessed that Wayne had caught a chill.
Anna woke Ryan up and then moved Wayne to the bedroom with him.
Ryan sat on the carpet and gasped, âI didnât even lock the door last night! | really donât know what Wayne was thinking! He has a thing for sleeping on the couch, doesnât he? Plus, couldnât he just turn on the air conditioning? â
Ryan waved his arms up in frustration. He wasnât a fan of doing sports. Instead, he preferred to sit down and solve problems. As a result, it took almost all of his strength to lift Wayne, a tall, muscular man, into the bedroom.
Anna gave him a brief glance before tucking Wayne in and saying, âCome on, he probably doesnât even know how to turn on the air conditioning. Iâm going to go to work now. So, please give him some medicine when he wakes up. Take care of him for me, will you?â
Ryan nodded and asked, âAnna, do you really think Iâm your nanny?â
Nannyâ? Canât you think of him as your brother and look after him?â Anna said.
She didnât notice that Ryan immediately looked over at Wayne with mixed emotions in his eyes.
After Anna left, the whole house became very quiet.
Ryan stood up from the carpet and looked at Wayne from above as if he were a puzzle.
Suddenly, his cell phone began to vibrate.
He lowered his voice and answered the phone, then walked away, closing the door behind him and saying, âHey, Mom, | need to take care of some school stuff. So, I can only return home during winter break.â
His mother said gently, âYou havenât been home in half a year! I called you two months ago, and you never called me back. What the hell have you been doing? Donât try to lie to me! | asked your supervisor, and he said youâve been away from school a lot.â
Ryan lied and said, âOh, Iâm out doing research. Although | got my PhD in school, | still have to write my essay. Otherwise, Iâll be unable to graduate. Ill be studying in America next year, so I need to finish my essay.â
âGeez! You always use this excuse to get rid of me whenever | ask you to come home. Okay, Iâm going to hang up now. Bye!â
Ryan immediately became gentle and pampered, âHey, Mom, did you miss me? If you miss me, then Iâll be back tomorrow.â
âCome on, you donât have to go home. Iâm not even interested in seeing you. By the way, you told me that youâve got a crush on a girl, right? Can you bring her back home? | really want to meet her.â
Ryan was embarrassed and replied, âOh, Iâm afraid not. She doesnât like me, and she already has a boyfriend.â
His mother paused and said, âOh, | can understand how she feels about that. Youâre sloppy and donât know how to say anything nice. Sheâs definitely not going to like youâ
Ryan sighed and said, âHow can you say that to me? Iâm your son!â
âNo, | found you in a trash can.â
After talking for a while, Ryan looked at the door to Annaâs room and asked cautiously, âMom, do you want to come to Birmingham for Christmas?â
âWhy do you ask that? | told you before | really donât want to go there. Well, donât ask me that question ever again.â
âReally? So, you donât want to see him?â
âactually, | saw him,â Ryan said.