Semua Bab Boat Against the Current: Bab 1 - Bab 10

The alarm woke Lucille up at eight in the morning. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.They needed to keep their relationship a secret from their parents, so they had made a promise long ago. River would sneak into her room at midnight every night and leave by five in the morning. They had slept like that for five whole years now.Soon, though, they would be nothing more than siblings. He would not have to sneak around anymore. Lucille got changed and headed downstairs. There was a woman she did not recognize sitting on the couch.Victoria waved at her daughter excitedly and introduced her. “Come here, Lucy. This is your brother’s girlfriend. Bring her a glass of water, would you?”Sophia Song stood up on cue, offering her a handshake and a smile. “You must be River’s little sister! It’s nice to meet you. Although I’ve never seen you before, your brother has told me a lot about you.”Lucille paused and glanced at River, but she did not ask anything. She simply turned and went

The first thing Lucille did once she got better was calculate how much the Dortmans had spent on her over the years.She sat at her table, adding up all the expenses she had incurred since she joined this household. Everything from her living costs to tuition fees added up to three million dollars.Her late father’s inheritance and old property were worth two million dollars, and she had saved a few dozen thousand from her part-time work. It seemed she had to find more work before she left to make up the difference.Lucille’s expertise was photography. With that in mind, she found some freelance jobs online. Before long, she had eight offers for everything from wedding photos to graduation shoots.She accepted every job and worked from day to night. She was too tired to even stand up straight, yet she did not breathe a word of complaint. It was because her mother told her Dan had been divorced even before they met. He just never made it in public. In other words, they had dated

Her words and sudden tears caused River to panic. In the four years they had been together, he had never seen Lucille look so helpless and upset.No matter what happened before this, she would only ever smile brightly at him — because she never wanted him to think she was losing faith in their love.He did not know what exactly had happened, but he still hugged her on instinct. “I’m sorry, sweetie. Don’t cry, I shouldn’t have done that. I only lost control because you welcomed her into the family.”After that, he tried to kiss her again. He was even gentler than usual, but Lucille pushed him away again.“Period.”“Even after so long?”“Yes, probably because I had a fever that day.”Worry flashed through River’s eyes when he remembered how weak she was during her fever. He stopped pressuring her, instead carrying her into her room tenderly. He turned off the lights and hugged her in bed.Lucille was too tired to keep her eyes open. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pil

She could not win the argument against him, and she was running late, so she had to take his car. Halfway to the destination, however, he suddenly made a detour, saying he had to pick up someone else.Lucille paused when she saw Sophia. She wanted to ask, Why did they have to bring someone completely unrelated to pick up her father’s ashes? Were he and Sophia that inseparable?However, time was running short. She swallowed her words.On the way to the new cemetery, Lucille walked ahead of the others wordlessly, holding the urn. Everything was ready. Just as they were about to bury the urn, River’s phone.He glanced at the number, frowned, and left the gravesite.Lucille did not ask where he was going. She bent down to put down the urn, but Sophia stopped her with a smirk.“River agreed to watch the sunset with me today. He only brought you here because it was along the way. I bet you didn’t know that!”Lucille did not know that, but she also did not care. All she cared about was

The plane to London took off on time at eight in the morning. Once she was in the air, Lucille finally gave up and closed her weary eyes.She slept for more than seven hours.It was only when she woke up that it hit her. She had really left.She had departed for a foreign country all on her own. It was a future she had never envisioned for herself.Now, though, she finally realized that saying goodbye was not that painful, after all. Being alone was not that unbearable.She calmly took this first step. She did not cry or regret anything; all she felt was endless release… and a simmering but gradually building sense of excitement.With her new mindset, she felt considerably more relaxed.She took out her phone and read through her to-do list. Her apartment and daily necessities in London were already taken care of, so she did not have to worry about that.The only thing she was worried about was the man who had arranged everything for her. It was the childhood friend she had nev