I'm Your Sister, Brother Chow
Chapter 52: The Haze That Won’t Go Away

However, she had no idea how she was supposed to ask such an embarrassing question like that. Chow hated it the most when she asked him about his marriage.

When he saw her conflicted feelings reflected in her eyes, Chow's anger began to dissipate.

Furrowing his brows together, he pulled her into his arms again.

However, Vivian still resisted him.

Her stubbornness reignited Chow's fury.

Chow tightly grasped her shoulders and shouted at her angrily. "D*mn it! What the f*ck are you doing?"

Vivian shivered at his roar and answered in a soft whisper. "I-I just want to sleep alone tonight."

Such an obvious refusal made Chow's face turn thunderously black.

Vivian couldn't remember the last time she had seen Chow like this.

If looks could kill, Vivian would have been so, very dead by now.

Dead as a doornail.

If Vivian had been a little smarter and a little more obedient, she wouldn't have challenged his ego.

However, sometimes the heart just wouldn't listen to the head.

Chow stared at her darkly for a long time. At last, his lips curled into a smirk and the look of disdain that Vivian had long forgotten appeared on his face again. "You want to sleep alone tonight? What kind of mind games are you playing with me this time?"

Vivian shook her head helplessly. She didn't know how to deny his accusations anymore.

The contempt in Chow's eyes became even more obvious. "I've forgotten that the woman lying beside me has always been good at playing mind games. You must get it from your mother. So, what are you up to now? Are you trying to play hard-to-get?"

"No, I'm not..." Vivian's said quietly.

She knew that Chow would never believe her no matter what she said anyway.

Despite the widening of the smile on Chow's lips, Vivian still felt a cold chill running down her spine.

"Maybe I have been too lenient with you lately. You're starting to get ahead of yourself," he said.

"Let me remind you, Vivian, that I will never have any feelings for you. I hate you with a passion. Don't you dare to think otherwise just because I'm being nice to you. Remember that this is the least that you owe me."

"I hate you with a passion."

These words rolled off his tongue so naturally, yet they stung the most.

It felt just like Chow was driving a knife right through her heart.

Just when she thought that their relationship was starting to take a turn for the better, she found herself back at square one again.

Chow no longer came into her bedroom at night. He also never came home for dinner anymore. In fact, at times, they wouldn't even meet for days, just like how it had been in the past.

In the end, the only thing left that Vivian could do all day was to study.

She had no idea if she should feel disappointed or relieved.

Maybe it was a good thing that they were staying apart for now so that she could get used to the distance. This way, it would hurt less when she finally had to leave Chow for good.

However, Vivian hadn't noticed that she never smiled again since Chow left her room that night.

"Miss, Assistant Ethan is looking for you," Aunt Blaine said, her voice floating in from outside the door.

Vivian was startled awake. It was only then that she realised she'd been daydreaming again instead of doing her homework. She couldn't even remember what she'd been dreaming about. She bit on her lower lip and shivered when she recalled what Aunt Blaine had just said.

Ethan?

Why would he be looking for her?

"I'll be right there," Vivian replied, quickly walking towards the door and taking the cordless phone from her hand.

Just as she spoke into the receiver, Ethan's voice appeared on the other end. "Miss Vivian? I tried calling you on your phone, but it was turned off."

Vivian was stunned. She took out her phone and realised that it had run out of charge.

Vivian hardly ever used her phone for playing games or reading novels. It was just a pure communication tool for her.

Since she hadn't charged her phone for days, it wasn't surprising that her phone had completely run out of battery.

Besides, it wasn't like there would be anyone looking for her anyway.

Vivian felt her heart squeezing in pain. "Sorry, I forgot to charge my phone," she said softly. "Why were you looking for me, Ethan?"

Ethan hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Miss, it's actually about your college application. If you don't mind, could you come over for a bit?"

Since Vivian's lessons and timetable were personally handled by Ethan, he knew that she wasn't having any classes now and was free to come by the office.

For the past few days, Vivian had been so out of it that she'd completely forgotten about her college application.

Now that Ethan had brought it up, she was startled about it. A bitter smile appeared on her lips. "It doesn't make much of a difference whether I go over or not, does it?"

Of course, Ethan was fully aware of the hidden meaning behind her words.

However, facing pressure from his own boss, Ethan could only pretend not to understand what Vivian meant. "Of course, it should be me going to you instead of inviting you over, Miss, but I'm really swamped with work today and won't be able to leave for a while."

Despite the change in the direction of their conversation, Vivian knew that he had no intention of making it hard for her.

She nodded before remembering that he couldn't see her. "Alright, I'll be there in a while," she said in a low voice.

Ethan had known Vivian for more than two years and he knew that she would not refuse his request. As soon as he heard the expected answer, he responded quickly with a "See you later."

"See you later," Vivian repeated, but she didn't hang up immediately. Instead, she subconsciously gripped the phone so tightly that her knuckles started turning white.

Since Ethan had been an assistant for such a long time, he was used to waiting for the other party to hang up first.

But after saying goodbye to Vivian and not hearing the dial tone for a long while, he hesitated for a while before adding on, "Mr. President is not in the office right now." Before Ethan finished speaking, Vivian interrupted him hurriedly. "I-I'm preparing to go out now. See you later."

She quickly hung up the phone, realising that her face was flushing deeply.

Had she really been that obvious?

She thought that she had hidden her desire for Chow at the deepest, darkest part of her heart. She never expected that other people would have already known about it. Luckily Chow wouldn't be around so she wouldn't bump into him later. She needn't have to worry about him seeing through her feelings.

Nonetheless, she still couldn't help feeling a little sad and disappointed.

Did she really not want to see him anymore?

This was her second time going to the office, but the situation was entirely different from the last time.

At that time, she had brought along her handmade macarons, feeling anxious but also looking forward to his reaction when he ate them.

But now, when she thought about the person who was supposed to be the head of this company, she could only feel the bitterness in her heart.

People said that if you loved someone, you could feel the sweetness and happiness from the bottom of your heart.

But why were the sweet and happy moments for her always so fleetingly short?

"Here are three colleges for you to pick from. I highly suggest Holy City's Academy of Fine Arts. Their fashion design programme has the best reputation amongst the others."

As soon as they met, Ethan had been very considerate and never mentioned Chow at all. Instead, after a simple greeting, he had gone straight to the point.

Although he had said that she was just going to be filling up the college application form, Vivian had a deep shock when she saw the documents in his hand.

She wasn't just going to be filling up application forms for these three colleges but rather the registration forms instead. In other words, as soon as the forms were sent in, she would be guaranteed a spot at the colleges.

The three chosen colleges were indeed the top in the country. Anyone would have been ecstatic to receive a registration form for any one of the three colleges, let alone all of them. Yet, Chow had managed to do just that.

She was free to pick from any one of these top colleges in the country. To other people, it was surely a gift from heaven itself. However, the longer Vivian started at the empty lines on the forms, the more she thought that they looked like jail bars. And, she was like the little canary imprisoned behind these bars who had had dreams of flying high and far away.

Chow wanted to watch her gradually lose her ability to fly.

"Was this your idea?" Vivian couldn't help asking Ethan.

Ethan hesitated for a while before answering her. "Mr. President suggested this college because it is the best in its programme and also because it's the closest to the Howard Mansion. However, you can still pick from the other two colleges as well. The Howards have estates close to each of them. You can just stay there while studying."

Ethan waited for a little while longer before adding another sentence. "Of course, I believe that Mr. President will also be moving there with you."

Vivian knew that Chow must have told him to say this.

After being separated for so many days, she was still receiving specific instructions from him.

Vivian really didn't know what to think anymore.

Would he still want to live with her in the future?

Didn't he hate even breathing the same air as her now?

"I'll just pick this one, then," Vivian said with a tight smile, picking up the registration form for the first college.

Although there were a lot of procedures involved for the rest of the registration process, Vivian knew that Ethan would take care of everything for her. She wouldn't need to worry anymore after filling up the form.

She knew that she was indeed very fortunate in many aspects of her life, including this.

How could it be that she still felt so unsatisfied?

"I'll complete the registration process for you as soon as possible," Ethan said. "Let me call your driver to send you home. Do you feel like going out anywhere else, shopping, maybe? I can ask the driver to accompany you." He took out his phone and started looking for the driver's number.

Vivian quickly shook her head and refused. "No, thank you. I'll just take a taxi back. It's convenient enough."

"It's more convenient to get your driver to send you home. Just wait for a moment. I'll see you off after this call."

Ethan had just finished speaking and was about to dial the driver's number before they suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from outside the door.

"Why are we coming back to the office right after lunch? You're such a killjoy, Chow. We haven't gone out on a date in ages. Why won't you keep me company?"

There was no doubt that the woman's voice belonged to Celine.

Vivian hadn't seen Celine since the last time they met.00000