Vanessa Sterling hesitated a mont with the bowl, but eventually sat down beside the coffee table, saying nothing, and buried her head in the bowl of dumplings.
The silence lasted less than a minute before Miles Sterling muttered, "What kind of crap is this, is this stuff even edible?"
Vanessa Sterling glanced at him once and continued eating.
"I told you to eat less of these frozen things. Doesn’t the supermarket have handmade dumplings? You like dumplings, why not buy those?"
Vanessa Sterling pretended not to hear, quietly eating with her head down.
Miles Sterling looked at the dumplings in the bowl with disdain and then at Vanessa eating with apparent gusto.
Whether she really found them tasty or just wanted to finish quickly and head back to her room was uncertain.
There weren’t many in her bowl, and now only two or three remained.
Miles Sterling picked up his chopsticks and transferred a few from his bowl into her bowl: "Finish these."
Vanessa Sterling hesitated but still said nothing, stuffing her cheeks full one bite at a ti.
Looking at her eating like this, Miles Sterling frowned, not touching his chopsticks for a long while.
She could eat these things so deliciously, it seed she really wasn’t picky.
His bowl hadn’t even been touched, but she had already finished hers, carrying an empty bowl back to the kitchen, washed it herself, then returned to her room.
Miles Sterling put down his chopsticks, feeling inexplicably blocked inside, losing his appetite.
He felt around in his pants pocket, rembering only then that he had finished his cigarettes at the airport.
He got up and walked to Vanessa Sterling’s room door, not bothering to knock but pushed it open directly.
Vanessa, who was changing clothes, got startled, hurriedly pulled down the half-removed sweater and wore it properly, looking puzzled at Miles standing by the door.
Miles took a few hundred yuan from his wallet and handed it to her, instructing, "Go downstairs and buy a pack of cigarettes, keep the change for snacks."
He placed the money on the table by the door, then turned around and left.
Vanessa Sterling silently put on her coat, picked up the money, and moved to the entryway to change shoes.
Miles Sterling maintained his usual master deanor, slouching on the sofa, switching TV channels with the remote, lazily reminding, "Don’t forget the umbrella."
The door opened and closed again.
Aside from the sound from the TV, there was only the soft patter of rain outside the window.
It turned out this is what it’s like to be shut inside a house alone.
After leaving, Vanessa Sterling didn’t want to return quickly,
slowly heading to the convenience store downstairs, taking the brand of cigarettes he often smoked, then walked back sluggishly with the umbrella.
The short distance allowed for no dawdling; she still had to go back.
As she approached the lobby, she spotted a white sports car parked by the roadside, watching a woman in a tight slip dress shivering out of the car, opening an umbrella and heading straight inside.
When she passed by Vanessa Sterling, the woman glanced at her indifferently, then trotted into the building on high heels.
After the woman went inside, Vanessa Sterling slowed her pace, intending to wait for the next elevator.
The woman also didn’t plan to wait for her, closing the elevator door right after entering.
"Ding dong—"
Her phone rang, Vanessa Sterling glanced at it; a ssage from Miles Sterling: Buy two condoms, too.
Seeing the ssage, Vanessa Sterling suspected who the provocatively dressed woman was likely visiting.
For him, such things might just et physiological needs.
There were many won around him, but never any permanent ones. It seed every woman visiting the house was different.
But she never expected he’d target her soday...
Unwilling to dwell on what happened that night, Vanessa Sterling put her phone away, turning back toward the convenience store.
About ten minutes later, standing by the door, holding the key without imdiately opening, leaning to put her ear against the door.
Unsure if they were in the living room, she couldn’t help listening.
Faintly could hear conversations between a man and a woman, too quiet to make out through the door.
Taking a deep breath, she inserted the key into the lock, opening the door.
The woman’s playful voice instantly rang clearly: "Miles, what do you an? I ca over in the rain, what are you waiting for?"
Vanessa Sterling tried to quietly open and close the door and enter without making a sound to disturb them.
Yet they were right in the living room, and a glance would show the door situation.
Hearing the noise by the door, the woman turned to look, freezing for a couple of seconds upon seeing Vanessa, then unhappily questioning Miles, "You invited another woman?"
Looking at Vanessa, Miles Sterling seed to intentionally show her, pulling the playful woman closer, kissing her neck, smiling gently, "She’s who I’m waiting for."
The woman, even more displeased, pushed him away in a feigned retreat, then glanced at Vanessa’s unfashionable attire, short and plain-looking, felt victorious, saying "Anyway, only one can stay today. With , not her, with her, not !"
Miles Sterling didn’t answer her question, looking past the woman in his arms to Vanessa, asking, "Where’s the stuff?"
Vanessa Sterling paused, changed into slippers and hastily walked over, taking the items he asked for from her coat pocket, placing them on the coffee table, feeling like the space was suffocating, unwilling to stay longer, turning away right after setting them down.
Seeing the things on the coffee table, understanding the girl was just errand-running, the woman’s expression improved, hooking arms around Miles’ neck, unbuttoning his clothes while asking, "Who is she? The maid?"
Miles wasn’t idle either, tone emotionless, even slightly annoyed, "Don’t inquire."
The woman "hmph"ed, growing sowhat arrogant from being favored, said, "Looks not even of age, wouldn’t happen to be your child bride?"
Unbuckling his belt, Miles pushed her head down, eyes and tone carrying impatient ferocity, "You talk too much."
"Mmph—"
Through the door, Vanessa Sterling could vaguely hear the noises outside too, like usual, she put on headphones, turning up the volu, focusing on drawing at the desk.
Never knowing when days like these will end.
She never considered dying, but wished he’d soday perish in an accident.
Each ti he left, she hoped he never returned.
That’d be when she’d see the light of day.
She didn’t know what life without him would look like, but thought anywhere he wasn’t was surely wonderful.
Lowering her head to look at her left hand’s ring finger, the extracted nail regrew, but the nail surface no longer smooth.
Like the shadows he cast over her, even if he vanished, once all wounds healed, marks would remain, accompanying her for life...
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