Chapter 68: Believe Me

Monica woke up feeling empty inside, her mind filled with Steven crouching outside the door rubbing Chocolate's desolate figure.
Her action of pushing him out the door obviously dealt a blow to his heart, pulling them further apart just when they were starting to get close.
For the next few days, Steven didn't contact her.
Back when they were in Lake George, he even said they would meet every day after he returned, but now, he didn't even want the car he left at her house.
And after he stopped contacting her, she realized that all their interactions had been initiated by him.
When she traveled, he would come from afar to find her; one studying, one working.
Steven would make the effort to drive over and see her after work on weekdays when they couldn't meet in person.
When a friend randomly sent a message saying "miss him" from her phone, he knew it was a joke, but he immediately rushed over.
Despite the distance between them, he had almost traveled all the way alone. Just to be closer to her.
Monica stared at Steven's profile picture on Facebook, looking at his last reply in the chat box, repeatedly hesitating whether or not to send a message.
Even during breakfast, her mind was elsewhere, and Bella noticed, saying, "Monica, you've been distracted lately. Is something bothering you?"
Monica was startled, and her finger accidentally bumped the screen, hitting the "send" button, and the carefully considered draft in the chat box was sent out.
-Monica: “Don't you want your car anymore?”
She panicked and wanted to retract the message, but she realized that retraction would leave a record, and if he saw it, it would only draw more attention to it. She decided to take the bull by the horns and not worry about it.
Steven quickly replied “Yes.”
Then there was no further response, as if he was waiting for her to take the initiative to say what would come next.
-Monica: Will you come and pick it up yourself, or should I find someone to deliver it to you?
-Steven: Either is fine.
She hummed in front of the screen and typed: The car has been cleaned; this afternoon I'll have a driver send it to your company.
Steven: OK, contact my assistant, Caspar.
Still throwing a tantrum.
In the afternoon, Monica drove Steven's car and arrived at the Sterling Holdings building.
The building towered into the sky, with its smooth glass exterior reflecting sharp light. People in suits were coming in and out, giving it an upscale and business-like atmosphere.
She contacted the assistant first, and Caspar quickly replied, saying that Steven happened to be meeting someone in the café downstairs and she could hand it over directly to him. Monica parked the car and walked into the café.
During working hours in the afternoon, there weren't many people in the café. Tranquil and mellow music flowed like water, accompanied by a melodious female voice, recounting the peaceful afternoon.
Monica scanned the room and quickly spotted Steven's figure.
He was leaning back on the sofa, sitting across from a young girl who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. Lowering her head, her shoulders trembled, as if she was crying.
Is this an internship interview? Steven's infuriating mouth, could it be that he made the poor girl cry?
Monica was curious, but she didn't want to pry into other people's privacy, so she decided to find a seat farther away.
However, before she could even take a step, she heard the girl sob softly and call out, "Brother..."
She was taken aback.
Steven was an only child, and she had known him for so many years without ever hearing about a big relative like a sister.
Perhaps she misheard.
The girl's crying didn't stop, intermittently sobbing and whimpering. In the quiet café, it sounded particularly pitiful and made people feel sorry for her.
"Brother... If it weren't for you... I don't know what I would do... I'm really scared..."
Monica felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.
It poured down from her head and made her thoroughly cold from the inside out.
Steven listened in silence, not refuting the girl's address. He pulled out a few tissues from the table and handed them to her, sighing softly, "Stop crying, leave this to me, and don’t worry."
It turned out that he treated other young girls in the same way. He could calmly accept being called "brother" affectionately by others, even comforting them with a gentle voice, showing a caring side completely different from his usual indifference.
Would they also kiss and engage in intimate actions?
Would Steven call her "baby" too?
Monica didn't dare to think about it anymore.
She felt that she had gone too far, not using the driver, but running over herself just to try and please him under the pretense of delivering the car, and now she witnessed such a big scene.
She thought he liked her very much, but as it turned out, she was hitting a dead end and he immediately moved on to someone else.
His coldness towards her these past few days wasn't because he was throwing a tantrum and waiting for her to coax him, but rather because he had fallen out of love and was no longer interested in her.
A bitter and sour feeling rose in her heart, choking her throat and leaving her unable to speak.
She realized that she cared, cared a lot.
She had become selfish, selfishly hoping that Steven would only be good to her forever.
"Miss, miss?" A reminder sounded from behind, and Monica suddenly turned her head, realizing that she had been standing in the middle of the aisle, blocking the way for others.
"Sorry." She responded, but Steven beside her caught it unintentionally.
He turned around, slightly surprised, "Monica?"
The girl also turned her head and looked over, but Monica didn't say anything and walked away with a cold face.
Steven immediately caught up and grabbed her wrist. She struggled for a moment but couldn't break free.
Monica handed him the car keys and spoke with a stern tone, "Your car, I'm leaving."
Steven tightened his hold on her hand, clearly not wanting to let her go, "You drove here?"
After all, they were in a public place, right in front of his company's café, there might be his subordinates passing by. Monica didn't want to embarrass herself by causing a scene, so she didn't struggle and whispered, "Let go of me."
The girl, who had seen their struggle, stood up and looked worriedly over.
Monica, feeling annoyed and chaotic, turned her head away and said with a sour tone, "Instead of attending to your guests, why are you dragging me around?"
Before he had a chance to answer, she couldn't help but mutter in a low voice, "Steven, I hate you, I really hate you."
Her voice contained a faint hint of crying.
If Steven still couldn't tell her mood from this, then he had been living in vain all these years.
"She is my half-sister from the same mother but different father. She came to find me because our mother is sick. I will explain the details to you later." Steven took out his phone and called Caspar, "Go to my office upstairs and wait for me, baby, I'll handle this and be there soon."
Monica didn't expect this answer and was stunned. After a moment, she managed to squeeze out a few words from her throat, "...but I've never heard of this before..."
"It's because we haven't been in contact for a long time, there was no need to mention it."
He handed the car keys back to her palm, "Wait for me, I will explain everything to you soon."
"Okay? I will talk to her, have the assistant escort her out, and then come to find you immediately, within five minutes."
Seeing her silence, he added, "Trust me."
Only his feelings towards her, he didn't want her to have any misunderstandings.