Chapter 543
Standing Before Love
Heather learned a few lessons from the heart to heart session. She knew Matthias didnât understand women, but now she knew she didnât understand men either. In the end, they were idiots when it came to relationships. They didnât know how to love, so they ended up hurting each other.
Heather had never walked a mile in Matthiasâ shoes, so she kept denying his love for her. But if he didnât love her, none of the mess would have happened. Heather was feeling much better when she came back to her room. She was only angry because Matthias was overly attentive of Everly. Before this, she said she was keeping him away from her cousin, but the truth was that she was actually jealous that he was checking out someone else.
She tried her best to lie to herself, but to her surprise, she actually cared about Matthias more than she let on. When she got back to her room, Heather lay down on her bed and glanced at her phone, then she took it. A moment later, she realized Matthias had called her countless times and sent her dozens of messages.
There were a lot of messages, but she read through them patiently, and she realized Matthias only made an explanation after a few minutes between each message. She didnât like that, but she didnât know that Matthias needed to seek counsel from Evan after he got back. He wouldnât know what he did wrong otherwise. That was why his messages took some time.
Evan disliked the new work, because Matthias was as dumb as a rock when it came to romance; not even Evan wanted to guide him anymore. Matthias had committed a lot of grave crimes in romance, and Evan wondered why Heather kept forgiving him. If it were anyone else, they would have cut all contact with Matthias already.
Even though Heather kept giving him chances, Matthias showed no considerable progress. In fact, the mistakes he made kept getting weirder and weirder. At this point, even Evan the love counselor couldnât salvage the situation. Coupling that with how random Heather could be, Evan didnât think they could end up dating.
Meanwhile, Matthias was on the verge of giving up, for Heather had been silent for hours. He was holding on to his phone, and when he was about to fall asleep, Heather finally texted him, waking him up.
Matthias was relieved after reading the message. Thank god Heather is still giving me a chance. He thought it was a serious matter after hearing Evanâs analysis, though reality turned out to be much kinder, and he smiled.
Hence, Matthias took the chance to ask her out on a date. Romance was all about dates, so he wanted to have more alone time with her. âWanna come with me on a ride tomorrow?â Someone gave Matthias a couple of free vouchers a few days ago, but he hadnât used it, so he wanted to invite Heather on a date.
âWhat kind of ride?â Instead of refusing him outright, Heather threw him a question. In other words, Matthias had a chance.
âA super high tech, super realistic ride.â Matthias recalled some of the vouchers were for high tech rides. Realistic rides sounded fun, so he thought Heather would like it.
âPlace?â Heather still didnât refuse him. Sheâs giving me a chance. This is good.
âTech Plaza,â he quickly answered, for he had a feeling sheâd say yes.
âTime.â On the other hand, Heather thought Matthias was slow in the uptake. Most people would tell their date the venue, time, and content of the date at once, but she had to ask Matthias for it one by one.
âNine in the morning,â Matthias answered promptly.
âIâll think about it and get back to you tomorrow,â she answered seriously. It looked like they had a long way to go before they could date.
Then, she tossed her phone aside, ignoring him. Heather didnât like to spend much time on her phone, or else her life would only revolve around it. She brought her phone around to maintain contact with everyone, but she wouldnât check it most of the time.
She wanted to spend more time on work, and even if she was trying to wind down, sheâd spend the time on something meaningful. Scrolling her phone was meaningless, so she never had an interest in it, and she had even less need of her phone when she was overseas.
People like her were rare in the modern era, but she wouldnât break her own rules even if it meant sheâd have to go against the flow. Phone scrolling could easily waste an hour or two of her life, and she knew that was not a good thing. Time was a precious resource, so she wanted to spend it wisely.
Even though she was on her bed, Heather didnât feel like sleeping, so she got up and went to her bookshelf. It had been a while since she read. Heather thought everyone should read as much as they could, and as long as they could. Humans should spend their life getting their hands on professional knowledge and all kinds of information.
She sat on her bed and turned on the lamp beside her. Since the lamp was easy on the eyes, it wasnât too bright. She liked to turn on a lamp whenever she read, or she couldnât see the words. That much was obvious.
âA Hundred Years of Solitude.â She was only halfway through the book. It was a heavy one, and she couldnât understand why she read it before she came back.
Night time was perfect for a reading session, so she was reading seriously. Heather was the most attractive when she was quiet, and she drifted to sleep with a book in her hands that night. If there was one downside about night reading, that would be the fact that the reader would fall asleep easily.
She woke up at around seven the next morning and realized she was still holding the book. Much to her disappointment, she only read ten pages the night before. I thought I could read more. Oh right, I said Iâd reply to him today. She wondered if she should say yes, then she recalled her grandfatherâs message.
It was obvious that she liked Matthias, but she thought it would be frivolous of her to say yes so easily, so she wanted to read through his messages first. But when she turned her phone on, the thing that caught her attention wasnât Matthiasâ messages; it was Myraâs unread message.
Heather opened her Messenger app to read the message. Since Myra was on her priority list, she could always see her message.
âHey, Heather, I think Iâve seen Matthias before. Can you jog my memory?â
That was not good news for Heather. She never expected Myra to ask her about that, but she knew she had to keep lying to her friend, even though she didnât want to. Maybe she remembered something, or she wouldnât bring it up. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she couldnât even take the time to answer Matthias.
âYouâre just overthinking, Myra. Wait, you got up at five?â Her sleep is being affected. No pregnant woman would wake up at five. And she didnât sleep early last night.
She shifted the topic, but Myra didnât answer her question. Instead, she asked, âIs that so? But I feel like Iâve seen him somewhere, and the more I think about it, the stronger this feeling gets. Can you tell me the truth, Heather?â
Heather felt guilty after seeing the last sentence, though she knew Myra didnât mean it. Even so, it knocked on her conscience, and she realized that lying wasnât what a friend would do. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she got. Then, she started feeling that dating Matthias would be a slap in the face for Myra. âMaybe itâs just your pregnancy working, Myra. Youâre reading into it too much.â I have to hide it from her. I canât let anything happen to the baby.
âEvery time I close my eyes, I dream of my high school. I wonder if I have met him before during high school.â The closer she was to the truth, the more frustrated Myra was. A lot of things didnât add up, but she couldnât figure out what was wrong.
âHave you told Tony about it?â Heather asked, worried. Itâd get more complicated if Tony got involved.
And possibly worse.
âNo. Tonyâs been busy with work, so I donât want to trouble him.â Myra had thought about it, and she felt like she might have been overreacting, so she wouldnât trouble him with it before getting any definitive answer.
âWanna hang out, Myra? You shouldnât sit around all day even if youâre pregnant.â Now, she was inviting Myra to go out, forgetting everything about Matthias.
âNot today.â Myra added a troubled emoji, then she kept texting. âI need to go to the Hart Residence today. Havenât been seeing Grandpa and Grandma ever since I came back.â Myra was a good granddaughter-in-law, so she would spend time with Tonyâs family while he was busy with work.
âAlright then.â Heather couldnât keep it up anymore. Myra was already a married woman after all, unlike her. Sometimes she envied Myra for having a happy family, and her baby would be born soon too.
On the other hand, she thought she had nothing but a lot of money in the bank. That was her only source of security, but she thought it was pathetic. A while later, she scrolled down to Matthiasâ chat window and saw that he was already asking her if she had made up her mind. Since she had nothing to do, she decided to go out with him. âSure. Iâll go,â she answered curtly.
Despite the short answer, Matthias was overjoyed. He thought it was no dice, but surprisingly, she said yes at the very last moment. Evan suggested that he pick Heather up at the residence, since it would look more genuine, not to mention it was a gentlemanly move. âItâll be easier to get her affection,â he said.
Matthias took the advice and left halfway through breakfast. Evan stared at the feast of a breakfast before shooting Matthias a nasty glare. âGals before pals, huh? Despicable,â Evan grumbled. Heather changed him. I sure hope itâs for the better.