Me After Meeting You

As the two bantered back and forth, they all looked toward Ian, who was sorting the cards meticulously. He moved them one at a time, neatly and tidily, and even smoothed out the corners that had become somewhat creased during the game.

The other three were somewhat impressed by his meticulousness, and for a moment, all conversation paused as everyone watched his thin and slender fingers pick out the cards one at a time. Only when he finished everything did they breathe out simultaneously.

Ian’s godbrother said, “It’s already quite late, so we’re going to go back now. Brother, you … are heading back?”

Ian nodded, put the sorted cards in the middle of the table, and stood up.

Ian’s godbrother looked at Trysta, swallowed the words “you could stay” down, and then once again reiterated Ian’s grandmother’s request. “Ms. Camille, if you’re free, then you should come to our house and play some time.” Then, with a frustrated look at Ian, he muttered to himself, “Now that I’ve broached the topic, why aren’t you inviting her and setting up a time?!”

All he’d done today was tease her just now. And then … nothing?

But Ian didn’t even look at him. He was calmly putting on his shoes, and only when he finished did he stand up and look at Amber. His worrying godbrother thought that he was finally about to extend her an invitation. However, he simply leaned down slightly until his face was right in front of Amber’s, and then lightly licked her lips. “Goodbye.”

And that was it. He left.

The other three found them shocked speechless yet again.

Even long after Ian and his friend had left, Trysta was still laughing.

Although it was a good thing that Trysta could laugh after her hardships, this laugh had lasted far too long for Amber, and she was getting exasperated. “Haven’t you laughed enough?”

“Nope.” She started laughing again, and even as she laughed, she said, “I didn’t expect Director Axton to be so interesting.” She put her face in front of Amber’s. “Why don’t you like him?”

Trysta wasn’t stupid, and she could see that while Amber treated Ian indulgingly and leniently, it was devoid of a woman’s romance when she interacted with her beloved.

Of course, it was also possible that Amber was just hiding her affection, like what she had done towards Calvin. Who could have noticed that she had liked him that much?

Amber pondered the question briefly. “Perhaps I will, later.”

But right now, she couldn’t and wouldn’t dare to.

A patient suffering from emotional detachment who had never developed feelings for anyone even at this age, who had just met someone whom he didn’t detest … Amber felt that Ian’s feelings were very likely just a temporary flood of emotions.

Trysta didn’t know what was going through her mind, and was even under the impression that Amber was opening up to that possibility. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she said, “Yes, you definitely will in the future.”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

***

Playing cards had been surprisingly taxing on the brain, and both of them were mentally exhausted. After exchanging a few more words, they went to clean themselves up before going to bed.

Amber thought that Trysta would sleep more soundly that night, and didn’t make her take any medicine to calm her emotions. What she didn’t expect was that, in the middle of the night, Trysta suddenly told her, “Amber, I’m going back tomorrow.”

The shock instantly cleared her mind as Amber turned to face Trysta.

Trysta had been sleeping by her side, but her eyes were currently wide open. Amber couldn’t tell if she had just woken up or if she had never fallen asleep in the first place.

She inspected Trysta for a brief moment. “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t avoid this situation forever.” She laughed emotionlessly as she continued, “I want to deal with this matter as quickly as I can. If it drags on ….”

She then lightly caressed her stomach as her eyes drooped. “It would be bad for the child, and for me too. I’ve wasted enough of my time on a piece of garbage.”

Her words were logical, and even though Amber knew that her mental condition might not have fully recovered, Amber couldn’t forcibly keep her here. “Then get a daily check-up at the hospital, or at least call me daily, alright?”

Trysta smiled back. “You’re this worried about me?”

“Yes.”

Trysta smiled and obediently nodded.

***

Trysta’s brothers and parents all came to fetch her the next morning. Amber told each of them about the doctor’s instructions; she’d originally thought that, after Trysta’s nervous breakdown earlier, the Yuval family would be scared of her and would accept a divorce, even if the pregnancy made things a little complicated.

But Frank was actually unwilling to accept a divorce.

Not only was he unwilling, but he even called Amber in his desperation. “Can you help me change Trysta’s mind? She’s the one I truly love, and ever since I married her, I’ve never wanted a divorce.”

Amber couldn’t even think of a proper response.

Truth be told, Amber really wanted to look him in the face and say, “I’ve never seen a more shameless person!” But as a professional, she had to maintain a certain level of propriety, so she couldn’t reply so bluntly.

Instead, she asked, “Then, why did you have an affair?”

“That was all before the marriage ….”

“Before the marriage? So, while you and Trysta were dating?”

Frank then used the all-purpose phrase that every man used to push the blame away after sinning. “She was the one who seduced me!”

“She was the one who seduced me!” and “I was framed!”

To Amber, these words were even more loathsome and detestful than “I made a mistake that all men make”.

Without a second thought, she immediately responded, “Just because she seduced you, you fell for it? Are you a fish? Even fish know how to spit out bait after they realize their mistake! As for you, not only did you just bite down even more, but you even got the other party pregnant! Frank, you …!”

Considering that he was still married to Trysta, Amber felt that it wasn’t quite appropriate to call him “worse than livestock”, and tried very hard to restrain herself.

“The most important things in life are work and love. In both these cases, people have to learn to master their own emotions in order to avoid hurting important people and making mistakes.

There are two ground rules: they can’t take money obtained through illicit means, and they can’t take emotions that shouldn’t have been offered to them. And since you took those illicit emotions, then you should deal with the resulting consequences.

Rather than tormenting yourself with your tattered relationship, just break off ties with Trysta instead.

“Trysta isn’t a weakling. The reason she was so mad that she went insane was not because she loved you that deeply, but rather that she hated herself. So you’d better not come pining after her, or something that we can’t even imagine might happen.”

As harsh as it sounded, Amber was giving Frank her earnest advice. When Trysta left, she had seemed calm, but the emotions that were boiling right beneath the surface. Amber was honestly scared of them.

Unfortunately, Frank didn’t listen, and his fate was tragic.