Chapter 5 

"Hey shopkeeper, one pack of cigarettes."

"You’re so punctual every day."

The shopkeeper lamented over at one of the small stores across the street from the Sue family’s company.

Since that one day three years ago, that young man always appeared at the shop very punctually. He came every day for three years, whether rain or shine. The shopkeeper felt strange at first, but he gradually realized that the young man would leave whenever Yvonne left the company.

The shopkeeper could guess Samuel’s identity, but it was never mentioned. Every family had experiences that were heart-wrenching to think about. The Sue family’s son-in-law was treated as a good-for-nothing by the entire Cloud City, and perhaps the young man did not want others to know about his identity.

"I have nothing to do anyway," Samuel said with a smile.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man, and he admired Samuel's persistence very much. For three years, Samuel appeared on time at 4:30 every day and guarded Yvonne silently like that.

"When do you plan to pick her up when she gets off work? Watching from afar like this every day isn’t the solution." There were no customers in the store, so the boss chatted with Samuel.

Samuel looked at the company entrance and smiled faintly. "It's not time yet."

"I have a question, my friend, though I’m not sure if I’m in any place to ask it," the boss asked.

"Ask away."

"I don’t think you look like an ordinary person. Why... How did you come to live with the Sue family?" Although the shopkeeper’s eyes were not that discerning, he still met plenty of customers every day. From what he could tell, Samuel was different from the others. It was difficult to describe it, but the shopkeeper had the feeling that Samuel was probably not the good-for-nothing that everyone said he was.

"I have flesh and blood. I eat, drink, sleep, and go to the toilet as much as anyone else. I’m definitely an ordinary person," Samuel said.

"You know that’s not what I meant," the boss hesitated for a while but continued, "You’ve endured so much criticism. If I were in your shoes, I would’ve crumbled."

Crumbled?

Samuel smiled. He was a trashed and abandoned son who went and lived with the Sue family. If Yvonne did not collapse, he had no right to do so.

A bystander would feel that Samuel endured too much humiliation.

From Samuel’s point of view however, the humiliation that Yvonne received was far more serious than what he went through.

"What I’ve endured is nothing compared to what she had to go through," Samuel said.

The shopkeeper sighed and said nothing more.

After Yvonne got off work, Samuel bid farewell to the shopkeeper as usual and rode away on his small electric bicycle.

Yvonne stood at the door of the company until Samuel disappeared.

For three years, Samuel waited for Yvonne to get off work every day.

Yvonne also waited for Samuel to leave before getting on the bus.

Back home, Lydia seemed to have gone berserk after Godfrey told her what happened at the meeting.

"Yvonne, have you lost your mind? Have you ever thought about how we’ll live after being kicked out of the Sue family?"

"Harvey deliberately agitated you. Didn’t you know of his intentions?"

Yvonne replied indifferently, "He doesn't want us to get a share of the Sue family's assets."

When Lydia heard these words, her face turned blue with anger and she roared, "If you knew that, then why did you have to agree? If they can’t deal with it, what makes you think you can?"

Yvonne's feelings were a complete mess at that point. She believed in Samuel, but she did not know whether she made the right choice with what she did.

Although their family's status in the company was very low, they would still get a bit of money when the old lady died. If Yvonne was driven out of the Sue family, she would be left with nothing.

It was a great price to pay by betting on her future and believing in Samuel, but was she going to make an about-turn when she had already said what she said?

"Mom, do you really have such little trust in me?" Yvonne asked.

Lydia was so angry that she thumped her chest and said, "How do you want me to trust you? None of our Sue family’s relatives managed to get anywhere with it. On what grounds could you possibly do it?"

On what grounds?

Yvonne did not know why exactly. She agreed to that matter because of the message from Samuel.

At that point, Samuel returned home, walked to Yvonne, and said to Lydia, "Mom, you should trust her. Yvonne will definitely be able to do it."

Lydia glanced at Samuel impatiently and said coldly, "What does this have to do with you? If you didn't marry Yvonne and live with us, my daughter’s beauty would’ve allowed her to marry a rich family. You ruined us. What right do you have to speak?"

Samuel kept quiet and went to the kitchen to cook.

"Samuel, can I trust you?" Yvonne said to Samuel suddenly.

Samuel turned his head and said with a smile, "Yes."

"What's going on?" Lydia noticed that something was not quite right and asked Yvonne quickly. Could it have been that useless man who induced Yvonne to make that promise?

"Come over here and make everything clear. Have you interfered with this matter too? Did you ask Yvonne to agree?" Lydia questioned Samuel.

Yvonne knew that if her mother found out about the text message, she would definitely embarrass Samuel and even drive Samuel out of the house.

"Mom, I’m the one who decided to do this. It has nothing to do with him," Yvonne said.

"It has nothing to do with him? I think you’re bewitched by this good-for-nothing. Can you believe anything he says? Yvonne, you’ve gone crazy." Lydia grabbed Yvonne's shoulder, hurting the young woman because of her boiling emotions.

Seeing Yvonne in pain, Samuel's expression became cold and frosty. He grabbed Lydia's wrist and said coldly, "You’ll know tomorrow whether Yvonne can do it or not. Why are you so reluctant to trust her?"

Lydia was furious. When was it ever Samuel’s turn to speak?

"Let go of me. You have no right to speak in this home," Lydia fired.

Samuel looked at Lydia coldly and refused to relent. It was the first time he showed such dominance in the Sue family.

Lydia suddenly felt a little guilty when she looked at Samuel's eyes. It felt as if he was about to kill himself.

Seeing as there was something wrong with the situation, Godfrey hurriedly came up to try and make peace. "All of you should just let it go. It has already happened so there’s no point causing trouble because of it. What we can do now is to find a way to help Yvonne succeed in this."

After Lydia let go of Yvonne, Samuel released his grip as well and said to Yvonne, "I'll cook dinner."

Lydia gritted his teeth with hatred and looked at her red wrists. She said viciously, "Sooner or later I’ll figure out a way to get you out of our house, you spineless coward."

At dinner, Lydia did not go to the table. Godfrey spoke a lot about Weakriver Real Estate at the dinner table. He was also very afraid because if Yvonne did not make it the next day, Harvey and the other Sue family relatives would never let them go. It would all end if they were kicked out of the Sue family.

Samuel took a shower after dinner, and when he returned to the room, he found Yvonne sitting on the bed looking straight at him.

Samuel laid on his bed on the floor and said to Yvonne, "The boss of Weakriver Real Estate is my classmate."

"Oh," Yvonne responded curtly and did not ask any further.

The room was so quiet that one could hear the drop of a needle. The atmosphere was the same each day for three years.

On that day however, Yvonne's mood was a bit strange. In particular, Yvonne had never seen the look he had in his eyes when he grabbed Lydia's hand earlier.

"Don't wait for me at the company next time," Yvonne said suddenly.

Samuel was a little surprised. He did not expect Yvonne to know about that.

"Okay."

Yvonne turned her back to Samuel and bit her lips tightly. Ripples formed inexplicably in her heart.

She always thought that she could divorce Samuel with ease, but when Lydia raised that matter the day before, she realized that she could not bring herself to do it.

Even though that man was spineless and useless, he had been by her side for three whole years.

Despite all the criticism the world showed him, and in spite of her coldness toward him, he always had a bright smile for her.

A human heart was made out of flesh, and Yvonne was not someone who had an iron heart. It was then that she realized she had actually been used to having him by her side since the very beginning.

"Go to the company entrance and pick me up."

Samuel felt like he was struck by lightning. He looked at Yvonne's back as she laid on her side and his dumbfounded expression slowly overflowed with happiness.

Yvonne could not see Samuel's expression and did not hear his answer. She thought he was unwilling to do so and said unhappily, "If you don't want to, then forget it."

Samuel sat up and said excitedly, "I do… I... I do."

Yvonne felt his excitement and two lines of tears streamed down like a string of pearls. It turned out that he did not want much.

"I’m sorry for all that has happened in the past three years."