I'm Your Sister, Brother Chow
Chapter 46: Chow is Drunk

It was those random bouts of gentleness towards her that made Celine confident about how much she really meant to Chow.

But now that she thought about it, every time Chow was gentle to her, it was always in front of Vivian.

She hadn't noticed it before. But now, she suddenly realised that Chow's tenderness towards her might have just been deliberately put on as a show for that b*tch Vivian to see.

How did it all come to this?

Could it be that the hatred he said he had towards her was not real after all?

Or was it that he hadn't even realised himself that he was giving Vivian special treatment?

Celine's face was full of shock as realisation dawned on her. Her eyes kept flitting between the two tightly shut doors.

However it was, she was never going to let this b*tch get the better of her. She wasn't going to lose to Vivian.

Chow was hers, and hers alone!

Vivian finally heard the sound of Celine's footsteps going down the stairs. Nonetheless, she still buried herself deeply under the covers, not even daring to lift her head up. Another sound came from the wardrobe door. She knew that it was Chow coming back from his room.

Vivian shivered and grabbed the blankets even tighter.

Chow walked to the bed and sat down. When he saw her curling herself up into a ball, he frowned softly. "What are you doing?"

Vivian didn't answer.

"Are you trying to suffocate yourself?" Chow asked again.

Vivian was stunned and did not speak, but she just pulled more of the blankets over her head.

Chow finally realised that there must be something wrong with Vivian for her to act this way. His expression calmed down as he reached out to pull the blankets away, forcing her to look at him. It was only then that he saw the tear streaks on Vivian's face.

Chow's heart tightened when he saw her crying. He let out a soft curse. "Why are you crying?"

Vivian shook her head, sobbing quietly, and grabbed the blankets back.

Of course, Chow knew why she was crying. How could he not?

He lowered his head and pressed a few quick pecks on Vivian's wet lips. "Don't worry, Celine's existence won't affect our relationship. You don't need to overthink. Just stay with me."

Hearing him mentioning Celine's name, Vivian couldn't help trembling again. "I... I think that I'm a sinner," she whispered. "Whether I admit it or not, I know that I've already affected your relationship with Sister Celine."

Chow interrupted her at once when she said that. "What are you talking about? Whatever happens between us has nothing to do with Celine! Did you really think that you have such an effect on me?" Vivian tightly held the blankets in her hands as her voice trembled. "I know... I know that it has no effect on you. But you should be loyal to Sister Celine. I don't want your kids to hate me like what happened with you and my mother."

This time, her words finally provoked Chow's anger.

The muscles all over his body stiffened as he glared at her. "Did you really think I would do that to my children?" he hissed. "If I really had them, I would never let you affect them. Even if I kept you by my side, they would never, ever know of your existence. You'll never be Mrs. Howard, and you'll never replace their mother. My children will only know that their father and mother love each other dearly. So that!"

As soon as the cruel words left his mouth, Chow turned his back on Vivian and left in a fury.

Tears trickling down her face, Vivian buried herself deeply into the blankets once more.

She never thought that the intense sweetness last night had completely disappeared less than twenty-four hours later.

Throughout the day, Vivian couldn't focus on her school work.

Chow also never came back that night.

Vivian knew that he was out having dinner with Celine for their 'three-year anniversary'.

As for her, she did not even have the right to be jealous.

Vivian lay on her bed, looking carefully at the photo in her hand by the bedside light.

Chow had looked at her so passionately under the dim lights.

If she hadn't been in the photo herself, she would have thought that the two people in the photo were leaning in for a deep kiss.

However, it was also because she was in the photo herself that she knew Chow was behaving like that simply because he had been affected by the romantic atmosphere in the restaurant that night. But for her, these wonderful memories were more than enough.

Vivian placed the photo right beside her pillow and slept with it the whole night. After breakfast the next day, Vivian went to look for Aunt Blaine. "Aunt Blaine," she said rather nervously, "Professor Bender will only be coming for classes in the afternoon, so I was thinking of going to the nearby bookstore to buy some workbooks."

"Sure, I'll ask the driver to send you there," Aunt Blaine said at once, going to fetch her phone.

"N-No, it's fine!" Vivian quickly stopped her. "It's just nearby. I'll take the bus there, there's no need to bother him."

Aunt Blaine thought about it, remembering that the bookstore was indeed not very far off. "There's a bus station nearby the bookstore, isn't there?" she asked. "Alright then, just be careful when you're going out."

"Yes, Aunt Blaine."

After bidding goodbye to Aunt Blaine, Vivian left with her backpack.

Even though no one from the Howard family would ever be caught dead taking the bus, Vivian was still grateful that there was public transport available just nearby the family mansion.

Before being brought into the Howard family, Vivian was just an ordinary girl from a single-parent home. She was no stranger to using the public bus to go out and about. She took the bus down two stations before alighting from the vehicle.

However, she didn't enter the bookstore that was next to the bus station. Instead, she walked on for a while and entered a small photography studio across from the hospital. As soon as she entered, she took out the photo from the diary in her backpack. "Sir, could you please seal up my photo?" she asked the owner, who came up to greet her.

"Of course!" Although he was just running a small-scale business, the owner of the photo studio still greeted her with a smiling face. He took the photo from her hand and looked at it closely.

It finally dawned on her that someone else was looking at the intimate scene between her and Chow in the photo. Vivian's cheeks turned a bright red as she dipped her head shyly.

The owner had a knowing smile on his face. "Young lady, you don't have to be so shy about it. It's normal to be in a relationship," he said. "Your boyfriend looks like he loves you very much. Just give me a minute; I'll get it sealed up for you right away!"

"Thank you, sir," Vivian said with a grateful nod of her head.

Nonetheless, she couldn't help showing a bitter smile on her lips.

Did her 'boyfriend' really look like he loved her very much?

That was nothing but an illusion.

It didn't take the owner much time to complete such a small task. In no time at all, Vivian was walking out of the shop after having paid the owner.

The photo was now a lot thicker after being sealed in the clear, plastic screen.

Vivian tenderly stroked the taller figure on the photo, a heartfelt smile appearing on her lips for the first time since last night.

With the protective sealant, she knew that the photo would be able to be preserved for a longer time.

Vivian bit her lower lip gently. She looked up from the photo as she began tucking it away in her backpack, but she suddenly caught sight of a tall, familiar silhouette coming from her opposite direction. Apparently, the person had also seen her. He looked a little surprised but still nodded at her with a bright smile.

"B-Brother Raylan," Vivian stammered, blushing all of a sudden.

Of course, she could never forget what had happened the last time they met. When she thought about how humiliated she had been in front of him the last time, she really wished that the ground would open up and swallow her to save her from the embarrassment.

As soon as he saw the uneasy look on her face, Raylan knew at once what Vivian was thinking.

Raylan had never been interested in other people's dating lives, but since he mingled with these kinds of people often when going out with his friends, there wasn't much that he hadn't seen before.

In fact, what Chow had done the other day wasn't even the worst that he'd seen.

But he didn't want to make her feel embarrassed anymore.

That was why Raylan just smiled at her and planned to walk by without saying anything.

However, before he could take another step, his eyes inadvertently landed on the photo that she was holding tightly in her hand.

It was just an innocent glance but that was enough to make Vivian's heart shudder in fright. She quickly hid the photo behind her back.

The more nervous she was, the more flustered she got. The photo slipped from her hands and fell onto the ground with a soft thud, right in front of Raylan's feet.

Raylan didn't want to make Vivian even more nervous than she already was, but he still couldn't pretend that he hadn't seen the photo falling in front of him.

He bent down and picked up the photo. He subconsciously glanced at it and froze at once.

Was this a photo of her with Chow?

When she realised that he'd seen the photo, Vivian's face immediately drained of all its colour. Since it had come to this, there was no way Raylan wouldn't know why Vivian had paled so much. He curled his lips in a slight smile, flipped the photo over onto its back, and handed it back to Vivian.

Although he had just intended to silently walk by her just now, it now felt rather awkward to leave without saying anything after having stopped to pick up and return her photo. "Not at school today?" he asked. If he remembered correctly, she was still wearing a school uniform the last time he'd seen her.

Today, she was just wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. Despite her attire, it was obvious that she was still a student and should be in class now instead of wandering about. Vivian nodded hurriedly. "I-I'm taking classes at home now," she said softly.

Vivian had originally intended to say that it was Chow who made her stay home and take classes, but since Raylan knew about her relationship with Chow, she tried wording it differently. Of course, nothing could escape Raylan. As soon as he noticed the way Vivian stammered and stuttered through her words, he had already guessed what was really going on. He nodded at her. "I still have some things to do. See you next time."

"See you!" Vivian said quickly, relieved to have finally ended the conversation. She then turned on her heels and fled.

The smile on Raylan's face disappeared as he looked at her retreating figure with a thoughtful expression. The image on the photograph just kept reappearing in his mind.00☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐