Chapter 63: I'll Come See You

At night, the yacht slowly sailed on the river, leaving deep water marks in its wake.
"What's wrong with you today? You've been distracted." Lily leaned on the railing of the deck, turning to look at Monica.
The lights on the yacht shimmered on the river's surface, creating glistening waves.
Monica's gaze lingered on the halo of light on the water's surface before she said, "Something happened today, and I've been thinking... If a man always keeps your Facebook at the top and never changes the nickname you forced him to change even after the bet deadline..."
Monica had only discovered the Facebook nickname issue when Steven had driven her home today. She had impulsively mentioned wanting to eat desserts, but he couldn't drive, so he handed her his phone for navigation.
While typing, a notification sound from Facebook suddenly appeared at the top. She reflexively clicked on it, only to realize it was impolite and quickly retreated, but she saw the dark nickname at the top.
There was only one nickname at the top, and she couldn't be more familiar with the profile picture. The nickname was "Princess."
Seeing her stillness, Steven asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." She hurriedly exited Facebook and placed the phone on its stand. "It took me a while to find the address just now."
"Okay."
Throughout the journey, Monica couldn't focus on the thought of desserts and remained restless.
The moment she saw the photograph displayed in Steven's house; it would be a lie to say she wasn't shocked.
That picture, which she didn't even remember where she had casually thrown it, was still cherished by him.
She may be a little slow when it comes to emotions, but she isn't foolish. With such blatant evidence in front of her, she couldn't think of any other explanation.
Steven likes her, and at least from four years ago.
After realizing this, Monica's initial reaction was to avoid it and pretend everything was normal by distracting herself with other things.
Unexpectedly, right after that was the realization that she had been half-heartedly giving him gifts each year, which he had cherished.
She carefully collected everything with great attention.
And then, she discovered his Facebook nickname.
Like a domino effect, one after another, she continuously began to find evidence in her life. Every small detail that she had previously overlooked now pointed to the same answer.
And Steven had never mentioned it to her.
"I feel a bit uneasy," she felt lost for the first time and bowed her head, resting it on her arm. "I didn't know that he would...but we have been joking around all these years, and he has always been dominant towards me...I never thought about it that way."
"I thought before that maybe he...was just flirting with me, or it was just a man's natural desire to conquer, wanting to conquer me and make me submit."
That's why she used to challenge him, never willing to back down.
Since this game started, Steven has made many compromises, and she slowly began to sense his feelings, but she never thought it started that early.
"I don't know how to respond, in other words, I'm actually afraid now. I'm afraid that my reaction won't meet his expectations."
If you've liked someone for a long time, you definitely hope that they will reciprocate the same feelings. But Monica feels like she can't quite do it now.
She's even a little afraid that he would be disappointed because of it.
Lily couldn't stand it anymore and reached out to tap her forehead.
"When did you start considering other people's feelings so carefully? I remember in high school, there was a guy who had a crush on you for three years. Graduation was finally his chance to confess to you, but you flatly rejected him. Did you consider how he would feel at that time?"
"Well, I really didn't like him!" Monica argued. "I really didn't feel anything."
"Yeah, that's how emotions are. They're selfish. Just because you give to others doesn't mean they have to like you or respond to you. When faced with someone else's affection, you think of rejection. But faced with Steven, you're not rejecting him, you're worried that you don't love him as deeply right now and can't respond to him equally, afraid of disappointing him."
"You didn't even realize it yourself. When you're afraid of hurting him, this consideration itself is a kind of cherishing. You can't do this for anyone else, it shows that your heart has already tilted towards him."
“What are you talking about? I don't understand a word." Lily was completely confused. "What Facebook? What confession? What does this have to do with Steven?"
Monica had just confided in her all this time, but now she remembered and asked Lily, "How did you know?"
"The first time I saw him, at your place, I had too much to drink and later saw the two of you kissing in the kitchen."
Lily raised her glass and took a sip of champagne.
"I can finally say it, it's been killing me."
Lily responded with a couple of "Oh"s, suddenly realizing, "So when we met him in Siena, it was also a deliberate attempt to find you, right?"
Monica didn't say anything, just leaned against the railing, letting the river breeze blow through her long hair.
"How's it going, are you alive and well?" Lily leaned in closer.
"If you're not doing well, I advise you not to think too much and just break up. You're still young, don't joke about your sexual happiness for the rest of your life."
Monica pushed her and scolded, "Hey, enough of that, you're too...
"Annoying!"
"Judging by your reaction, you must be doing well? Okay, you can maintain that face."
“Lily! Can't you control your mouth?" Monica pretended to be angry, reaching out to hit her.
The laughter of the two intertwined, drifting into the dense night on the river.
Monica suddenly stopped.
The lights were bright at the corner, and she vaguely saw the silhouette of a man, wearing a suit and leather shoes, standing tall and straight, resembling Steven.
Her hand holding the cup tightened instantly, and unconsciously, she leaned forward, wanting to confirm.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked.
Monica's gaze followed him until the man in the suit turned around and talked to someone, and she finally saw his face.
He was very unfamiliar and not Steven at all. It was just his figure that resembled him, combined with the dim lighting over there, which made her mistake him for a moment.
She withdrew her gaze. "It's nothing, mistook the person."
There was a trace of disappointment in her heart.
Yes, how could Steven possibly appear in this kind of occasion?
Lily glanced at her lost expression and hit the nail on the head, saying, "When you start unconsciously wanting to see him, you have already fallen for him."
"Who said I want to see him?" Monica retorted stubbornly.
"Fine, then let's make a bet and try him out." Lily took out her phone from Monica's pocket.
"Send him a message now, saying you want to see him and see if he comes."
"Don't be silly." Monica tried to grab the phone back. "It's almost eleven o'clock now, how could he possibly come."
"Great idea!"
Lily held Monica back, ignoring her struggles, and said, "Let's do this. Start by saying 'I miss you' and see how good he is at sweet talk, then ask him to come and see if he's the kind of man who only talks sweetly."
Monica’s friends smirked and typed. Monica could only watch helplessly as she pressed send, her heart in her throat.
Monica: I miss you.
There was silence for five minutes on the other end. The three of them looked at each other in the night breeze.
Monica didn't know how she felt, so she forced herself to say, "See, I told you it's too late, he must be asleep."
She was about to put the phone back in her pocket when the notification sound of Facebook suddenly rang out. The three of them became nervous, scrambling to pick up their phones and light up the screens.
"Hurry, hurry, see how he responds."
The cheers from the party on the yacht echoed loudly, while the deck was quiet and empty. The night wind brushed past, stirring up her heart as well.
Steven: Where are you? I'll come see you right away.