Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 152 What Was All This For (Part Two)

Steven watched as she walked away from him and his eyes filled with tears. She was his daughter and yet when she got into trouble, he wasn't strong enough to safeguard her, like a father should have. Steven was frustrated and angry at himself for being so helpless. He rummaged his hair with his hands fretfully. Pain and regret were written all over his face.

As he sat there alone, the phone in his pocket started ringing. Steven took it out and stared at the screen with the number on it. He answered it and asked in a sad voice,"Are you satisfied now?"

The man on the other end replied in his calm and arrogant voice, "Uncle Steven, this isn't a matter of my satisfaction. After all, this was a decision made by nobody other than yourself. There is no one who could force the 'Mr. Blade' from the past to do anything that he didn't wish to do."

When Steven heard the name Mr. Blade, the expression on his face changed dramatically. His chest rose in anger and his breathing became shallow.

"Anyway, thank you for all that you've done for me today," the man continued plainly, regardless of Steven's fierce emotions. "And once I get what I need, I will return you the favor some day."

Steven grasped his phone firmly and it creaked because of his strong hold on it. After a few seconds, he eventually murmured into the phone, "I am grateful."

Saying that, he hung up the call. He didn't leave the bench where he was sitting and couldn't calm down for a long time. He thought, 'If I had known that things would end up like this, I would have never left that place. Even if I would have been punished because of that, and my family would have gotten involved, it would still have been much better than this.'

Richie and Shirley had witnessed everything that had happened outside. Shirley was sorry that Molly's father was so addicted to gambling. Richie empathized with Steven and understood how helpless a father could be sometimes.

"It's getting really late,"

Richie said plainly, but a shade of concern could be seen in his eyes. He put his arm around Shirley's waist and they stepped out of the cafe together. After they got into the car, Shirley remembered about their quarrel. "Hey, are you pretending that you've forgotten about what happened earlier today?" asked Shirley, with an angry glare.

Richie's lips curled up into a smile as he focused his black eyes on Shirley. Then he stretched out his arms, pulling her against his chest, and said in a low voice, "Shirley, I have been thinking about how I could compensate for the missing parts that we should have experienced during the years of developing our relationship. But after today, I found out that I have been thinking in the wrong direction. Even after all these years, I still couldn't understand what would make you the happiest. I've been searching for the answer, and now I have realized that nothing could make you happier than us spending our time together in each other's arms."

Richie seldom said things like these. Although his love towards Shirley was more important than everything else in this world for him, he was never able to express it in words due to his closed personality.

Nevertheless, since he rarely whispered such sweet nothings into Shirley's ears, it worked every time like a charm. No matter how angry Shirley was, her complaints all vanished in a second, and she thought, 'Yes, he's right. Nothing makes me happier than staying in his arms, and I hope this will last forever.'

*

Molly strode alone on the cold winter night. Although her body was getting numb due to the cold, and her phone had been ringing loudly, she continued in her track and ignored everything else. Finally, her phone ran out of battery and her whole world fell into silence. She eventually noticed her fatigue and sat down on the kerb.

The icy chill of the ground penetrated into her body. She buried her face inside her arms and laid her forehead on her knees. Her cries stopped, and the world was at a standstill.

Brian sat in his car, not too far away from her. He watched Molly through the window quietly. He had been following her all the way, yet she hadn't noticed him at all. When he saw Molly sitting down on the ground and hugging herself with her arms, his eyebrows knitted tightly.

He thought, 'Every time something unhappy or terrifying happens to her, she replaces a quiet place and stays alone in that posture.'

"Mr. Brian Long, the temperature outside has fallen to 12 degrees centigrade below zero," Tony reported.

Brian's thin lips curled down in anger. He wondered, 'What a stupid woman! Doesn't she feel cold sitting down on the street at this time of the night?'

He had already stretched out his hand and was about to open the car door. However, his hand suddenly froze on the door handle as he took another glance at Molly.

The atmosphere in the car got tense and strange all of a sudden. Brian stared in Molly's direction and complex emotions welled up within him.

Tony looked at the dim corner beside the road where Molly was sitting, and then glanced at Brian's reflection in the rear-view mirror. Brian's handsome face was not emotionless as usual, but instead was filled with berserk fury.

Eric, who was breathless at the point, glared at Molly and rolled his eyes. Then he asked her in an angry tone,"Little Molly, why didn't you answer my call?"

Molly, still deep in her thoughts, didn't notice his presence or hear his words. She stayed still.

With a deep sigh, Eric squatted down beside her and blocked the cold wind with his tall body. He stared at her with distressed eyes and asked again, "Hey, don't you feel cold here? Let's go somewhere warm and comfortable, okay?"

Molly raised her head up slowly and saw Eric's face in front of her, with a sly smile touching his lips and a dangerous look in his eyes. She stared at him with a dull face and then replied in a hollow voice, "I don't feel the cold. I'm already numb."000000