Chapter 39: Chapter 40

On the next day of the recording, Rodney was not absent as usual. Twenty-five male guests had introduced themselves, Amber’s gaze lingered on a male guest named Casen Slater for a few seconds.

Rodney’s gaze was fixed on Amber. When he saw her gaze stopping on Casen, he frowned slightly.

In the second round, Amber could ask the male guests some questions. When it was Casen’s turn to answer, Amber asked him one question more than the other male guests, “I wish to know your opinion on love, marriage and responsibility.”

“Love is the mutual love between two people. It can be for a lifetime or a moment. Marriage is a matter of living together for a lifetime. Responsibility is the obligation you must bear when you do something.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight?”

“Yes, I do believe.”

“Do you think that love at first sight is counted as love?”

“Strictly speaking, I don’t think love at first sight is counted as love. It should be considered as passion. Real love should be something that is produced over time. It requires two people’s values and outlook on life to be basically the same. It requires both parties to adapt to and look out for each other.”

Amber nodded and passed the question to the next male guest.

Rodney’s face began to turn gloomy. Based on his understanding of Amber, if she was not interested, she would definitely not spend extra time to understand him. He stared at Casen for quite a while. He was not considered good-looking, only stylish. He was just an ordinary employee at a company. Rodney really could not identify a single thing on him that is better than other male guests.

It was exactly because of this that he felt a sense of danger. Deon also sensed it, he said softly, “Mr. Barron, the situation doesn’t seem right, does it?”

Rodney nodded. “Go and figure it out, do as you see fit.”

The third round was for interaction games. The interactive game of the day was about the initial experience of love, which was named as “Happiness Is Awaiting at the Other End of the Galaxy”. The rule was that the male guests would be blindfolded and carry Amber on their backs as they walk through a site full of obstacles. Amber would give them commands while she was on their backs, and see which of the male guests had the best chemistry with her.

Casen was the last male guest to play the game. As he was able to observe the previous rounds, he knew the ropes. Under Amber’s command, he smoothly passed through the obstacles and was about to arrive at the destination.

The audience burst into warm applause because of their chemistry. However, at this moment, Casen suddenly slipped and fell to the side uncontrollably. Seeing this scene, Rodney stood up in an instant.

The stage was full of obstacles. If one fell down, the average person’s first reaction would be to care about oneself. If Casen only cared about himself, then Amber, who was on his back, would definitely fall off due to inertia. The stage was full of obstacles. It could be imagined what would happen if Amber fell off.

Just as Rodney stood up, something unexpected happened. Casen did not care only about himself as everyone had imagined.

Instead, his first reaction was to protect Amber, who was on his back.

Because of his action, Amber did not fall off due to inertia, but was kept on his back with his arms. Amber did not fall off, but Casen was not so lucky. His body fell forward and landed forcefully on an obstacle.

The staff rushed over to them. Casen’s forehead was scratched against the obstacle. Amber was not injured at all, just a little frightened.

Seeing that Amber wasn’t injured at all, Rodney sat down again. He gazed coldly at Deon next to him. Deon quickly lowered his voice and clarified, “It wasn’t me! I still haven’t come up with a solution yet!”

The staff went up to rescue Casen and Amber. Someone asked Casen how was he injured and if he wanted to see a doctor. He answered, “It’s no big deal, just a minor injury. I’m not so delicate!”

Looking at the wound on his forehead, Amber took out her handkerchief and handed it over. Seeing this scene, Rodney’s face darkened with anger. Deon, who was beside him, snorted and said, “This Mr. Slater guy is quite interesting! He was already at the finishing line, but he suddenly made such a scene. The stage is not even covered in oil. Was it possible to fall down?”

Rodney’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

This episode soon settled down. Casen insisted that he was fine and could continue with the next round. After verifying that he was really okay, the crew began the fourth round.

In the fourth round, the male guests made their final declaration of love for Amber. Due to the scene just now, Amber’s eyes had been fixed on Casen.

The man did not think about his own safety when he was in danger. She was very touched. She had suffered too much and needed such a man. Because of this episode, her feelings towards Casen increased, and she did not pay much attention to other male guests.

Soon, it was Casen’s turn to declare his love. But when it was his turn, he seemed to be very emotional.

“I’m a poor man with no money, no power, and no good looks. I’m very excited to stand here and declare my love for you today.”

Casen’s voice was quavering a little. “I don’t want to speak those words that are too fancy because if you choose me, our future has nothing fancy, just ordinary. So, my declaration of love is to tell you my story.

“Strictly speaking, my life has been miserable until now. When I was in high school, my father had an affair, abandoned my mother, and moved far away with another woman. My mother couldn’t take this blow and chose to commit suicide. So I became an orphan during my teens and completed my tertiary education with financial help from relatives. After graduating from college, I fell in love with a girl who had been in the same class. She was a pampered city girl. We loved each other very much and naturally united in wedlock. At first, our marriage was very blissful, and I was very happy. Later, because I work in a low efficiency unit, my father-in-law and mother-in-law expressed great dislike concerning my low achievements. In addition to their dissatisfaction towards me, I think there might also be some problems with me. My wife left me after our love of three years.

Because I was married as a poor guy, so I also left with empty hands when I was divorced.”

Casen’s story and the experiences that Amber had gone through were surprisingly similar. Amber was stunned for a moment.

Not only was Amber stunned, but Rodney was also stunned.

Since this man’s self-introduction, she felt that he had something she was familiar with, so she specially asked him an extra question. In the end, Amber was very satisfied with his answer.

Love at first sight was just passion, not love. Real love was produced through a long time of accumulation. If she was her old self in the past, she would not have thought so. But after passing through all these, she deeply experienced it.

It was exactly because her marriage with Rodney was too beautiful that she had neglected the human nature and heart. That was why she had lost so miserably.

She controlled herself. “Do you hate your ex-wife?”

“I used to hate her before this!” Casen replied.

“Now you don’t hate her anymore?”

“Yes, now I don’t hate her anymore. We have to look ahead eventually. We can’t dwell in hatred and our memory for the rest of our lives. So, I have let myself out of it,” Casen replied calmly. “Actually, I am very grateful to her now. I am grateful that she once loved me and that she had made my life more interesting.”

Amber knew that people should look ahead and could not live in the past forever, but she could not get out of it even after hiding for three years. She still hated Rodney and could not keep calm when facing him.

To be able to not hate and not love, this could prove that Casen was not a petty person. Of course, the reason why she liked him was not only because their experience were 70 to 80 percent similar.

But it was because he had subconsciously protected her when he was in danger. All humans were selfish when they face danger. Amber believed that Casen’s choice in that situation was from the bottom of his heart. In addition, they had experienced the same hardships. She believed that only having something in common would ease communication and prevent harm. So far, the person who was most suitable for her on the stage was Casen.

“I have one more thing that I want you to be clear of.” Amber took a deep breath. “The most fundamental reason for my divorce is that I can’t have children, that’s why my ex-husband cheated on me and had a mistress. If you choose to be with me, it means that we will be childless and maybe lonely at the end. Are you willing to live like this?”

Rodney’s expression instantly turned unpleasant. Amber actually asked this question here, it was like a slap to his face. He remembered the question that Amber had once asked him, “Rodney, I can’t give birth. We’ll never have a child. Even so, are you willing to spend the rest of your life with me?”

...

At that time, his answer was very sure. Could it be that Amber asked this question deliberately because he was there? He subconsciously looked at Amber and realised that her gaze was focused on Casen, waiting for his answer.

After considering for a moment, Casen answered, “If I say that I’m willing right now, you will think that my answer is too careless.

I just want to ask that you would give me the time to prove it. As long as we are together, we will be very happy and content even without a child!”

“So what’s your choice, Amber?” the host asked.

“I choose to start a new relationship with Mr. Casen Slater,” Amber replied.

Amber’s customised blind date program came to an end successfully. Amber and Casen walked down the stage hand in hand, surrounded by the voices of blessings. The audience gradually left. Noemi rushed out to hug Amber and congratulated her. She even wanted to treat Amber and Casen to supper.

Rodney retreated from the venue with a sullen face. When he returned into the car that was outside, Deon asked, “Mr. Barron, where are we going?”

Rodney shut his eyes dejectedly. After a long while, he instructed Deon in a muffled voice, “Go home!”

Deon started the car as he responded to the order. The car sped all the way. Rodney had been resting with his eyes closed. It was not until Deon stopped the car and opened the door that he opened his eyes. After getting out of the car, he suddenly said, “Go and find out the background of that Mr. Slater.”

The news of Amber’s successful blind date was reported by the media in the entertainment headlines. Many people found it incredible that Amber chose Casen. Among the dozens of male guests, Casen was only the lower intermediate standard. To successfully be with Amber, he was absolutely a dark horse that suddenly appeared.

Many netizens lamented that it was a waste for a beautiful woman to be with an ugly guy.

Celia and Shannon sat in front of the TV and watched the entire live broadcast. When she saw Amber choose Casen, Celia expressed a disdainful look. “Amber’s taste is getting worse!”

Shannon looked relieved. “What do you know? If this Casen Slater didn’t show up tonight, the show wouldn’t have been nice.”

“Do you mean that Casen Slater is just a performer of the TV station?” Celia was confused.

“How could the TV station find such a suitable performer?” Shannon sneered. “I have to talk to your father about this matter.”

“Mum, what the hell are you doing? Didn’t you say that you were going to deal with Amber? I haven’t seen you deal with her until now. Now that she has found such a person, we should act dumb. Why do you want to tell Dad? Dad will never agree.”

“We must tell your father about this matter. If anything happens later on, then we can be blameless.”

“If something happens? What’s happening?” Celia was extremely curious.

“You will know in the future!” Shannon was unwilling to say more.

Channing came back very late. After he got back, Shannon told him about Amber’s success in the blind date. She described Casen in a way that he seemed worthless. Channing was very angry when he heard that. “Amber is too hasty. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

The next day, Channing went to find Amber in person and expressed his views on Casen. Channing thought that Casen looked ordinary and his job was ordinary as well, he could not give Amber happiness. Channing wanted Amber to stop dating with Casen.

“Amber, listen to daddy’s advice. Nowadays people are evil and unpredictable, how much do you know about this Casen Slater?

You only had a few interactions with him during the blind date show and you think he’s the one. That is too hasty.”

“You have no say in my business!” Amber ignored Channing’s advice. She chose Casen partly because she was touched, and partly because of the messy situation. She had already caused an intense argument, so it was time for her to leave the blind date show.

Channing’s opposition triggered Amber’s rebellious mentality. “Although he’s an ordinary person, he’s honest and reliable, unlike someone who’s pretentious, having an affair behind his wife and children’s back.”

Channing’s face flushed. “Amber, you can’t give up on your future because of resentment!”

“Mr. Black, I do not resent anyone. Still the same sentence, I don’t need irrelevant people to interfere with my life. Please go back!”

Seeing that his advice was in vain, Channing had no choice but to leave resentfully.