Chapter 81 Friends
For a moment, everyone's eyes were on Diana. Even little Cecil in his baby seat pointed his tiny finger her way. Diana's hand, holding the cutlery, paused for a second. She figured it was time to clear things up with Billy.
"Billy," Diana started, "don't take what I said when I was drunk last night seriously. I only said that to stop you guys from fighting. It was just a lie to keep the peace. I'm not trying to cling to your family."
Billy looked hurt and took a step closer. "But I was the one who was drunk last night. I still remember you saying I'm your boyfriend."
Diana gave an apologetic smile. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I didn't want you to get into trouble with the Percy Group because of me."
"You care about me," Billy said.
"I don't," Diana replied, feeling helpless and unsure how to explain.
Isolde, standing nearby, nudged her with an elbow and mouthed, "Such a hopeless romantic."
Then she stood up and said, "I just remembered I have some work to handle. I'll head upstairs first. Take your time eating."
Robert got the hint and made an excuse too. "I need to consult a friend about some legal issues."
In no time, both of them were gone. Evelyn looked around, stunned. 'My workplace is downstairs, so what excuse can I find to leave?'
Suddenly, she had an idea. She picked up Cecil and said to Diana, "Ms. Spencer, Cecil must be missing his mom. I'll take him upstairs to find her. You guys take your time talking." Then she quickly went upstairs.
Diana knew they were giving them space, so she continued, "You just got back to the country. Try not to have conflicts with the Percy Group. Charles is not a good person. If you anger him, none of us will have a good outcome."
Billy lowered his head, his expression hidden, his voice downcast. "I don't care about those things. I only care if you like me."
Suddenly, Billy looked up, his voice louder. "It's fine if you don't like me. At least give me a chance to pursue you, okay?"
Diana felt helpless and speechless. He really was a hopeless romantic. "Billy, I don't get what you like about me. We were just high school classmates. You said you had a crush on me, but we barely interacted, right? There are plenty of women out there more beautiful than me."
Billy's expression turned incredulous. "Do I seem that shallow to you?"
Diana awkwardly scratched her head. It wasn't that she was boasting, but her personality wasn't one that men usually liked. Apart from her looks, she really couldn't understand why Billy liked her. "I didn't mean that."
"Do you remember you had an online friend named Taylor?" Billy took two steps forward, stopping an arm's length away from Diana, and continued, "You two talked about everything, confiding in each other about your adolescent troubles. But after high school graduation, you lost contact."
Hearing this, Diana indeed had some recollection. "Are you Taylor Richardson? Weren't you a girl?" Diana's eyes widened, and she took a few steps back in shock.
In high school, Diana had excellent grades but also loved playing games. In a shooting game, she met a player named "Taylor Richardson." As teammates, Diana's impression of her was: How could someone be so useless? But Taylor spoke very cutely, often acting spoiled, asking Diana to play with her. So Diana assumed Taylor was a little girl.
They played together for over a year and got along very well. Later, Diana stopped playing games. Taylor often confided in her, and as kids of similar age, they had endless topics to talk about.
As far as Diana knew, Taylor's family was super strict. From birth, her life was mapped out by her family. She had to be perfect. This made her really antisocial in real life, only able to open up to Diana online. So Diana was really fond of this good friend. But now that this good friend turned out to be a boy, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around it.
Diana asked, "Wait, we were online friends. How did you know the me in the game was the real-life Diana?"
Billy seemed lost in thought, like he was back in that green summer ten years ago.
"Everything you know about Taylor is my life. My dad had high expectations of me. But in high school, I could never surpass you. You were beautiful and had good grades." Billy paused, feeling a bit embarrassed but still honest. "At first, I hated you. Even though it seemed like we had no interaction, I would secretly curse you to fail every exam, but it never worked."
Diana found his childish statement amusing and asked, "Then what?"
Billy continued, "Then I couldn't help but secretly watch you, find out your whereabouts and interests. You were too perfect, always smiling, like the sun."
Although Billy was also a big deal in high school, he didn't know how to interact with people, so he had almost no friends. But privately, Billy observed Diana, who was always surrounded by people, thinking she was just good at pretending.
Until one day, Billy accidentally overheard Diana's game account. On a whim, he registered an account to play with her. On the internet, no one knew each other, and people often exposed their dark sides. So, could Diana keep pretending?
Billy was terrible at the game, but Diana was still willing to play with him. In the small world of the game, through countless competitions, they depended on each other for survival. Through the screen, Billy felt he might have fallen for Diana.
"I always knew it was you playing the game, but I didn't dare tell you I was Billy. I was afraid you'd think I approached you with an agenda, which was true." The more Billy spoke, the more confused he became, frustratingly pulling at his hair.
Diana understood his meaning, her expression softening a bit, "So, after I stopped playing games and lost contact, you kept running into me by coincidence?"
"Yes, I wanted to explain, but I didn't know how to start. Then my dad sent me to study abroad." Billy held his head, recalling those painful days. He always appeared where Diana was but only dared to watch from afar.
While he was watching Diana, others were watching him. His secret crush was eventually discovered by Vance's informants. Although they didn't know who he had a crush on, he couldn't hide his declining grades. So Vance simply locked Billy at home, cutting off all his social interactions.
Billy continued, "I'm sorry, Diana. I was a coward. I should have told you earlier, so you wouldn't have married Charles. But now, please believe me, I'm not afraid of my father anymore. I will become the new head of the Richardson Group. Be with me, and I will protect you."
Diana felt a bit touched. But Billy's secret crush had been so successful that even she, the person involved, was completely unaware. So the current feeling was more like that of an observer.
Diana even thought that Billy might be more suited to being a secret agent than a businessman. She tentatively patted Billy's shoulder, comforting him, "Thank you for liking me, Taylor? Maybe we can be friends first."
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