"You don’t want me to come back?"
"No, no! This is for your own good, isn’t it?" Realizing she had accidentally voiced her inner thoughts, Vera hurried to correct herself. "Honey, come back early, okay? Otherwise, I’ll miss you. Take good care of your health, eat on time, and drink more water. I’ll behave. You don’t need to worry about me; just focus on your work."
Although he knew she was just appeasing him, he still felt comforted.
"Hmm. Anything else?"
"Also..." Vera frowned, thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered something very important. "By the way, if you can’t stand the loneliness and find a girl, remember to use protection!"
That would prevent her from catching any potential germs.
On the other end of the phone, Kris gripped his phone so tightly that it emitted a faint CRACKLE.
That darn girl! If I’d known it would be , I should have dragged her out of bed, packed her up, and taken her to Singapore with me!
Hearing the anger in his voice, Vera realized she had misspoken again.
"Honey, my stomach hurts. I’m going to the restroom. Let’s talk later!" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI[F]ire.net
Moving the phone away, she swiftly hung up, then exhaled a long sigh of relief, raising her arms in jubilation under the blankets.
"Yay! The local tyrant is gone! I’m free again!"
Using too much force while stretching, she felt a sudden gush of warmth. Like she’d received an electric shock, she jumped up and bolted towards the bathroom.
Vera quickly cooked a bowl of noodles for lunch and obediently took a vitamin pill Kris had bought for her. Then, she purposefully grabbed her keys and headed to Kris’s apartment.
Sure enough, on the small table in his kitchen, there were several kinds of fruit laid out: strawberries, mangoes, bananas, red grapes... all her favorites.
Peeling a banana and taking a bite, she hastily locked the door and briskly walked out of the residential complex.
It was already midday, too late to go to the hospital. She found a bank to transfer the money from the check into her account. Then, Vera hailed a taxi and hurried to the auction house handling the auction.
After getting her ID card registered and finishing the paperwork, she entered the auction floor with her paddle number.
This auction consisted entirely of assets confiscated or sealed by the court, ranging from cars to paintings, gemstones to real estate.
Vera sat in her chair, waiting. She couldn’t help but nervously scan the room, afraid of competition.
However, the auction ended, and she hadn’t heard anything about her family’s old house.
Seeing that the attendees were all standing up to leave, she quickly got up, maneuvered around the seats, and approached the auction platform.
"Excuse me, I wanted to ask, wasn’t there a Siheyuan supposed to be auctioned today? Why didn’t I hear anything about it?"
"You’re referring to that old house from Walter Wave Real Estate, right?" The staff member, who was tidying up documents, looked up and smiled at her. "That house was originally on today’s auction list, but it was sold a few days ago, so it didn’t appear this time."
Vera’s hand trembled. "Then... do you know who bought it?"
"We’re not quite sure about that; we only handle the auction agency." The staff member gathered the documents from the table, smiled, and left.
In the huge auction hall, only Vera remained, utterly alone.
As she stepped out, the sound of her own footsteps echoed. An indescribable sadness welled up from the bottom of her heart, gradually engulfing her.
She had sold herself to finally scrape together enough money, only to find out she didn’t even get a chance to buy it back.
She walked out of the auction house in a daze, standing on the street as twilight began to fall. Vera couldn’t hold it in any longer. She sat on the steps, buried her face in her hands, and wept bitterly.
Footsteps approached. A pair of Italian custom-made leather shoes stopped in front of her. A hand rested on her shoulder, a gentle weight.
Vera raised her tear-stained face in confusion, seeing only a blurry visage through her misty eyes.