Chapter 14%
Justin sat with his head down, fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of his glass. He didn’t say a word.
As the alcohol burned down his throat, it felt like he was swallowing knives.
After a long moment of quiet, he finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper.
“I’m going to give her a grand confession.”
”
He was trying to convince himself that his feelings for Lilian were real.
Before long, a row of empty glasses lined up in front of him.”
He kept drinking, one glass after another, without stopping.”
His friends around him were already drunk, one of them slinging an arm over his shoulder and teasing, “Bro, what’s up with you tonight? You’re not usually the type to drink like this.”
“This won’t do,” another chimed in. “Why don’t you just tell Lilian how you feel? Shoot her a message. Ask her to meet you at the beach tomorrow and confess. Who could say no to you?”
The whole group burst into laughter and egged him on. “Yeah, yeah, send it! Do it now!”
“Justin, sure, your family just held a funeral, but romantically speaking, you’re single, man. You’ve got every right to go after your dream girl. Who’s going to stop you?”
Justin took another sip, his throat tightening. After a pause, he finally pulled out his phone.”
On the screen, her contact name was just a straightforward word. “Lily.”
He stared at the name for a long time. The alcohol buzzed in his head. Then, finally, he looked down and typed.” [Meet me at the beach tomorrow at 10 a.m. I need to talk to you.]
It was the same beach they’d been to once before. Lilian had said she loved the wind and crashing waves there. It felt like freedom to her.”
After he hit send, he let out a soft laugh. It was part relief, part surrender as he’d finally released a heavyweight he’d been carrying.
The next morning.
- =<ཥཎྜༀཛ
When Justin woke up, the hangover still had his head spinning.
Sunlight poured in through the floor–to–ceiling windows. He lay there staring at the ceiling, dazed.”
A strange sense of regret crept in. Maybe he’d rushed into confessing, but after shaking his head, he still decided to go.
This was what he wanted. Why hesitate now?
He changed into a deep navy shirt, leaving the top two buttons undone, spritzed on some cologne and even stopped at the florist to pick up a bouquet of Lilian’s favorite pink roses.”
At precisely 10 a.m., he stood by the rocks, flowers in hand.”
But he waited for a long time and she never appeared.”
He waited from ten o’clock until ten–thirty.
He waited from ten–thirty until eleven–thirty.
The rose petals began to dry slightly in the wind and the sunlight was so bright that it hurt his eyes.
Justin checked his phone again and again. No messages, no calls.”
He dialed her number.”
“The number you have dialed is currently unavailable.“/
At one o’clock in the afternoon, Justin’s face finally hardened. He tossed the flowers aside and turned to get into his car.
“Investigate,” he said coldly to his assistant as he entered. “Where did Lilian go today?“!
The assistant responded promptly and, ten minutes later, called back.”
“Sir, Miss Lilian went to the Sterling Residence this morning for a blind date with Billy Sterling. They’ve been together all day. They went to a Western restaurant for lunch, the Norwyn Art Gallery in the afternoon and she’s currently at Flora Bar, having a wild time with some friends.”%
Justin’s expression was icy, filled with disbelief.”
Lilian had gone on a blind date with another man on the day he would confess to her and she hadn’t even contacted him afterwards.}
Inside Flora Bar, Justin quickly stood outside a private room on the second floor. He saw a group of men and women laughing through the slightly ajar door.
Lilian sat in the middle of the couch, legs crossed, swirling a drink in her hand with a playful, charming smile.
Hér makeup was flawless and her lips were painted a bold red. She wore a low–cut cami dress, utterly different from her usual “good girl” image.%
Just as Justin was about to knock, he heard her voice float out.”
‘Justin? Please. He’s not it.“%
