Chapter 53: Your Happiness Matters More

Monica was awoken by the sound of her phone's alarm.
She lifted her heavy eyelids and sluggishly got up, only to find that the bed sheets were neatly tucked in, and when she reached out to touch, the bed had already turned cold.
It was as if nobody had slept here at all.
If it weren't for the lingering ache in her body, she would almost have thought that everything that happened last night was just a dream.
The meeting by the bonfire at night, the kiss under the starry sky, and the indulgence in the hotel. She felt a bit like the prince in a fairytale, losing his "princess" at the moment of destiny.
She sat on the bed in a daze, got up and changed clothes to freshen up. She unintentionally glanced at something on the nearby table and curiously went over to pick it up.
"Prince Charming" Steven really left his "glass slipper" behind.
It was a torn piece of note paper with his handwriting on it.
It said that if they still wanted to continue playing after the shoot was over, they could follow the recommended route back to Siena, and he had already sent the detailed itinerary to her Facebook.
Monica opened her phone and, as expected, received a document from Steven in the early morning. It seemed like he had already prepared it in advance.
"Is he trying to fool me? Could he really be this kind-hearted?"
She muttered to herself as she opened it, and a dense sheet of text and various photos unfolded before her eyes. She was instantly overwhelmed by the rich content.
It was clear that Steven treated travel planning as seriously as his work, meticulously planning the route, recommending attractions, suggesting hotels and guesthouses to stay at, and providing various precautions for each destination... He even recommended food to try based on her preferences and warned against trying out foods out of curiosity.
She had only been in Lake George for a little over a week, and four or five days after she arrived, he impatiently came to see her. But now he had made such a detailed itinerary for her, encouraging her to continue staying in Lake George after the shoot?
Are they no longer playing the game? Has he completely given up? Monica held the piece of paper, trying to fathom Steven's mindset.
Suddenly, she noticed that there seemed to be a line of words on the back, faintly visible ink marks, like a black water stain.
Monica began flipping over, familiar fonts came into sight again, the words reflecting the person, beautiful and graceful, as if I could hear his smiling voice, and ‘don’t you think going on a trip with me would be nice?'
Monica stood in front of the table for a while, and when she finally reacted, she unconsciously dialed the phone.
In the instant that the call connected, she suddenly remembered that Steven should be driving right now.
Not wanting to distract him, she was about to hang up, but to her surprise, he quickly answered, 'Are you awake?'
Monica asked, 'Are you driving?'
'The journey is too long, and the road is difficult. The driver and I are taking turns. It's my turn to rest now.'
'Oh.' She absentmindedly rubbed the edge of the notepad with her fingertips, not saying anything else.
Steven didn't ask either. Silently, as if in agreement, they maintained the silence on the other end of the phone.
Monica could only faintly hear the sound of the navigation system giving reminders.
The soft sounds of their breathing were transmitted through the phone to each other's ears. Both remained silent, allowing the quiet air to spread infinitely.
Until a sudden brake sound came from the other end, piercing and ear-piercing, causing her heart to skip a beat.
She hurriedly asked, 'What happened?'
'Nothing, a small animal suddenly ran out by the roadside.'
'Oh...' It seemed like she found an excuse and continued the conversation, 'What do you mean by that itinerary you sent me? If I really accepted this, our game would end by the time I returned.'
'It's nothing.' Steven said, 'Compared to our game, I think your happiness is more important.'
He had always been calm and rational, and his words at the moment were delivered in his usual composed style, without any hint of joking or smooth-talk. Landing in her ears, it felt like he was simply stating a fact.
With a calm tone and a seemingly harmless sentence, it was surprisingly lethal.
Monica shifted her gaze to the window and tried to distract her attention, humming lightly, 'If I really go, you won't come looking for me again, right?'
But it was at this moment that Steven asked, 'Will you go?'
She paused.
The soft voice continued to ring, with a low and tender inflection, 'Or...will you come back and meet me earlier?'
Seemingly handing over the initiative to her, but in reality, he was the one who had always been in control.
If she chose to continue the trip, she would be sacrificing their bet for her happiness, leaving Steven with no time to do anything and causing him to lose.
Monica may be tough on the surface, but deep down, she would feel a need to compensate him for enjoying his guide and then letting him down, which would provide him with the perfect opportunity.
If she didn't go on the trip, then by unintentionally making a choice, she would help him judge how much weight he held in her heart up until this point.
Monica couldn't see through these carefully planned tactics. She only felt that the current situation was dire because, listening to his voice, she really wanted to go back.
The ear pressed against her phone suddenly became hot. She didn't know how to answer and panicked, immediately ending the call.
The sound of 'beep beep' came from the other end. Steven glanced at his phone, hung it down, but his expression did not show any sign of being hung up on."
On the contrary Steven seems to be looking in a good mood.
The driver glanced at him, thinking that this customer was really strange.
At first, he thought that this man was traveling alone, but he didn't expect that he was just here for a day. He arrived just last night, and now he is returning early in the morning.
Fortunately, he was generous with his pay, enough to compensate for the trip, which was like bringing several tour groups. However, after earning the money, he couldn't help but wonder, "Are you here for business?"
"No," replied Steven, "I'm here to meet someone."
"Someone important?"
"Yeah, very important."
The driver held the steering wheel and said, "I could tell from your phone conversation, you had a cold expression throughout the way, except for just now when you kept smiling."
"It's nothing. I put in a lot of effort and made a travel guide, but now it seems like it might not be useful."
The driver grinned, "So you've been busy for nothing? Why are you still smiling so happily?"
Resting his right elbow on the edge of the car window, Steven lightly supported his head with his hand.
His left hand held his phone, which he casually turned on and off repeatedly, making the screen bright and dark.
The wallpaper depicted a beautiful woman's profile outlined by starlight, her gaze meeting the distant horizon.
He silently looked at it for a long time, and his fingertips covered her cheek on the screen. He smiled and said, "I wouldn't call it busy for nothing."
Monica finished packing in the room and went out to join the others.
As soon as Lily saw her, he pulled her aside and asked in a low voice, mysteriously, "You didn't even drink much last night, did you?"
"What?"
"Last night, Lawrence's assistant girls from the team were also playing at the bonfire. Someone took a picture of a handsome passerby, who seemed to be alone. They were all discussing whether or not to go up and strike up a conversation, hoping to develop a fleeting romance."
Lu Suchi raised an eyebrow.
"How could I miss a place with handsome guys, right? So, I went there too and wanted to join the fun. Guess what happened?"
Monica had a bit of an idea of the answer but still pretended to be calm and continued the conversation.
"What happened?"
"It was a very familiar guy with the surname Wright." Lily squinted his eyes.
"You tell me, how could he be here? Did you make an excuse last night and go fool around with him?"
Monica felt a little guilty and evaded her questioning. "Don't make a scene."
Lily peeked behind her, looking for someone. "Where is he?"
"What do you mean? There's no one. You must have mistaken."
Just then, someone greeted them at the door, and Monica pulled Lily forward.
"Hurry up, we have to go to the next location today."