Sitting alone in the living room felt a bit empty. With nothing to do, she went from the living room to the gym, worked out for over half an hour, then took a shower. Afterward, she stood on the balcony for a while. As night fell, the residential complex below was brightly lit.
Stars twinkled in the sky. Tomorrow would be another beautiful day.
Headlights flashed at the entrance, and Nora Ainsworth watched as a car slowly drove in. She stared, unblinking.
Quentin Grant looked up at her, too. Though they were quite far apart, they could both feel their gazes et.
He suddenly sprinted toward the entrance. Nora Ainsworth was still standing there, but she had already turned around. Seconds later, he appeared on the balcony as expected.
They stood three feet apart.
"Nora, I’m sorry for putting you through this." That one sentence revealed the outco of the negotiations.
Nora Ainsworth looked at him. "What’s there to be sorry about? I’m not a howrecker. As long as you’re not married, and as long as you still love , I’ll be with you. If one day you have to marry another woman, I won’t cling to you. And if you’re not married but you’ve stopped loving , I won’t stay with you either."
He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. "I only want to be with you. I told you, in this lifeti, I’m yours to make up for it. Nora, whether you want or not, you have to take ."
She felt a little disappointed inside. Marriage was every woman’s dream, especially a happy one.
But she could understand. After all, marriage wasn’t just about two people.
She had no family of her own. As long as their hearts were still together, he was her only family.
"Quentin, I love you." No matter what happened in the future, she deeply loved him right now. Of that, she was certain.
Quentin Grant felt as if he had heard the most beautiful words in the world. It was also the first ti she had told him she loved him.
"Nora, say it again!"
"I said, I love you," she repeated.
He excitedly swept her up into his arms. "I love you too, Nora. I love you so, so much. I love you so much it hurts."
Nora Ainsworth’s eyes instantly welled with tears. "So that’s why my heart hurts too. It turns out the feeling is mutual."
He pressed his face against hers and held her tight, unwilling to let go for a long ti.
The temperature rose. Their silhouettes appeared on the ground. They treated every minute as if it were their last before they might be forced to part. The future was unknown; no one could predict the next scene in their story.
Ethan Ellsworth had been surprised when he originally received Jean Grant’s call.
He could tell from her tone over the phone that sothing was off, but he didn’t dwell on it and went to Quiver to wait for her.
But ti slipped by quietly. Ethan Ellsworth had been sitting there for a long ti, yet no one ever ca to push open the door and walk in.
Normally, he was the most impatient of people. But tonight, he sat there for two hours without playing on his phone, without playing gas, without watching videos, without listening to music, without saying a word. She still hadn’t co. He seed to have a premonition. ’She isn’t coming tonight.’
Ethan Ellsworth’s heart sank, bit by bit. He never knew that waiting for soone was such a long and torturous process.
Even with that premonition in his heart, he still didn’t leave.
Finally, two and a half hours had passed. He took the initiative and called Jean Grant’s number, but every ti he called, it would ring once and then indicate the line was busy.
Ethan Ellsworth understood. She was rejecting his calls.
He leaned back on the sofa, his eyes vacant.
After leaving the Grant Residence, Jean Grant didn’t go to Quiver right away. She went straight to a hotel and got a room. After thinking for a long ti, she called Marlon Marshall.
Half an hour later, Marlon Marshall arrived at the hotel as promised.
"Jean, what’s the rush? Did your mom say no?"
Jean Grant threw her arms around him. "Marlon, it’s not just my mom. My whole family is against it. My brother and his woman are against it too. But my brother can keep seeing his woman, he just can’t marry her."
Marlon Marshall patted her shoulder. "It’s okay. If they don’t approve, I’ll take the graduate entrance exam. We can keep dating, and when I graduate, we can try talking to your family about it again."
Jean Grant grew anxious. "We can’t wait that long! If I hadn’t used Ethan Ellsworth as an excuse tonight, my mom wouldn’t have let out at all. She plans to lock up until I’m engaged to so rich kid from a matching family. I only got out by claiming I was going to get engaged to Ethan Ellsworth!"
Marlon Marshall’s expression changed. "Do you really have to be from families of equal status to be happy?"
Jean Grant let go of him and looked down. "In my parents’ eyes, you’ll have a better life if you marry soone whose background they know inside and out."
"Is that what you think, too?"
"Of course not!" Jean Grant retorted. "If I thought that, would I have been with you for so long?"
Marlon Marshall put his arm around her and sat her on the edge of the bed. "Jean, I know you love , but given my current situation, I might never be able to et your parents’ standards. Maybe we should just stop seeing each other. You should be with that celebrity. He’s rich. You’ll be happy with him."
Jean Grant got angry. "What kind of nonsense is that? Are you trying to break up with ?"
Marlon Marshall replied, crestfallen, "I just want you to be happy."
"But I don’t love him! How could I be happy with him? He’s waiting for at Quiver right now, and I didn’t even go. I ca straight to see you. What more do you want?"
Marlon Marshall said nothing. Jean Grant was overco with frustration. "Tell , do you still love ?"
"Of course I do."
"Then will you be good to for the rest of your life?"
Marlon Marshall didn’t hesitate for a second. "Of course I’ll be good to you for the rest of my life."
Jean Grant seed to have made a montous decision. "Since it’s co to this, our hands are tied. My mom will definitely call Ethan Ellsworth tomorrow morning, and if I go ho tonight, I might never get out again. So... I’ll give myself to you. That way, my mom will have to agree. And if I get pregnant, she’ll have even less reason to object."
Hearing this, Marlon Marshall was secretly overjoyed, but his expression was one of extre conflict. "Jean, are you really willing to give yourself to before we’re married?"
Jean Grant nodded seriously. "Marlon, this way, we can get married. My mom will have to agree whether she wants to or not. It’s the only way right now."
Marlon Marshall grabbed Jean Grant’s hand. "Jean, since you’re doing this for , I’ll never let you down for the rest of my life."
Jean Grant whispered, "As long as you know."
In that instant, things beca irreversible.
As it was her first ti, her whole body was stiff. He nibbled her ear. "Jean, don’t be scared. Try to relax."
Jean Grant closed her eyes and nodded in a daze.
Just then, the phone in her pocket rang. Jean Grant took it out and saw it was Ethan Ellsworth’s number.
Marlon Marshall took the phone from her and hung up.
"Focus. Don’t answer, no matter who it is."
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