Chapter 3

Cecil rarely went out on weekdays. Usually, she spent most of her time in her studio, which was why Amelia was intrigued that she was going out on such a snowy day.

“Cecil, you don't have a boyfriend, so why are you going out in this weather?”

Cecil did not know how to tell them about her plans to leave and ended up saying vaguely, “I… I just need to get something done.”

Either way, they would be able to connect the dots when they arrived at the visa office.

Amelia did not continue pressing for answers and instead turned to Cleo to ask about their plans for the day.

The two were chatting away enthusiastically and seemed to have completely forgotten about the presence of Cecil in the back seat.

When they reached a red light, Amelia produced a lipstick and asked Cleo to help her touch up her makeup.

Cleo was very receptive.

He cupped her face in his palms and was very gentle with her.

When it looked like their faces were drawing closer, Cecil quickly turned away to look at the snow wafting out of the sky.

When they were about to reach their destination, Amelia suddenly mentioned that she needed to head back home to get a coat.

The navigation screen showed that they were only two kilometers away from their destination.

Without even thinking about it, Cleo mentioned that he would have to take a detour and so beckoned for Cecil to hail a ride to get to her destination.

Cecil smiled bitterly and did not protest as she got out of the car.

Cleo’s car sped away after that, its wheels tossing up a large mass of snow.

There was not a single soul anywhere along the side of the road, so Cecil walked for the remainder of the journey to the office and handed in her documents.

When she left the office after sorting out the paperwork, she bumped into one of her teachers back when she was in high school.

The two chatted briefly.

Upon hearing that Cecil was going to move overseas, the teacher seemed taken aback.

“Are you not going to come back after that? Is your uncle okay with that?”

Cecil did not know why her teacher suddenly brought up Cleo and briskly made up something on the spot.

“Yeah, he’s okay with that. Besides, we’re not related by blood, and now that I am of legal age, I can’t keep troubling him anymore. It’s good for me to go overseas and see the world anyway."

The teacher nodded solemnly.

“It may be true that you two are not related, but still, Mr. Emerson has been nothing but wonderful to you.

“There was once when you attended a competition and were accused of plagiarism by the other teams, and Mr. Emerson was having surgery for his appendicitis at the time. He rushed to the competition venue immediately after the surgery to vouch for you.

“This other time, when you had a fall at the school, Mr. Emerson sped to school and took you to the hospital right away. I heard he was in the middle of negotiating a deal worth several millions of dollars, and he just walked away from it!

“There’s also that time when some punks were trying to bully you, and he had someone teach them a lesson…”

Cecil found herself thinking about the distant past as well when she heard her teacher recounting her stories.

Towards the end of their conversation, the teacher held her hand tenderly and earnestly advised her to remember Cleo’s kindness and to repay him.

Cecil nodded silently.

She had been thinking about repaying him for all the dedication and kindness he had shown her.

She wagered that the best way she could repay him was to tell him she was leaving.

That way, he no longer had to worry about her holding onto him.

When she got home, she changed out of her clothes soaked by the snow and sat at her desk to make some calculations.

She had been living with the Emersons for many years and had been paying attention to the household expenses. She had managed to arrive at an approximate sum.

Apart from the general expenses, there must have been plenty of other hidden expenses over the years.

To be on the safe side, she decided to triple the tallied amount.

Around noon, she sorted out all the gifts Cleo had given her in the past and listed all of them on an online market site.

Then, she contacted a real estate company and put the Millers’ family home on sale.

After everything was done, she felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. As soon as she lay down on the bed, her phone vibrated.

It was a stream of messages from Amelia.

There were dozens of pictures followed by a brief text.

[Cecil, I’m going to be in Hawaii with Cleo for a few days. Make sure to be good at home by yourself!]

She did not need to open the pictures to know they were pictures of the couple boldly displaying their affection for each other.

Ever since they had become official, Amelia would send her dozens of such pictures after their dates.

In the past, she would become so upset at seeing these pictures that she would lose sleep over them. She would even sometimes cry until her eyes became red and swollen.

Now that she had decided to see Cleo as nothing more than a family member, such pictures no longer affected her the same way.

Furthermore, she was no longer interested in deducing Amelia’s intentions. All she did was send a brisk reply.

[Sure. Have fun.]