Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 760 When Courage Does Not Always Mean Fearless (Part Three)

When the bartender returned, he saw the flustered woman nearly knocked out. Unsurprised, he shook his head. He had met dozens of people like Molly. For him, though, making money was the priority. "Are you drunk?"

There was no response from Molly. "You really can't hold your liquor, can you?" The bartender asked, studying her inebriated condition.

"The moment I first saw you, I knew that you rarely came to the bar." Letting out a tired sigh, he opened Molly's purse and unlocked her cellphone. When he read through the contact lists, the first name he saw was 'Asshole', at which the bartender laughed before calling it. On the table, Brian's cell phone vibrated while he stood before the window, a cigarette in his hand. There was a bit of smoke surrounding him in the darkness.

The cell phone did not stop vibrating. After a while, Brian turned and entered the room. Grabbing the cell phone on the table, he snuffed out his cigarette in the ashtray and looked at the caller ID. Although it was not a familiar number, he already had a feeling that it was Molly.

His eyes grew darker. Right before the ringing ended, he picked up the call, and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" came a strange man's voice, where a noisy sound in the background could be heard.

"Who is this?" asked Brian, realizing something was amiss.

Frightened by Brian's cold voice, the bartender looked at Molly who was beyond wasted and said, "The owner of the cell phone is too drunk to go home by herself. This is the Lonely Bar. Could you please come and get her?"

When the situation dawned on him, Brian's eyebrows creased. Despite being furious, he maintained a calm voice, "Could you tell me the address again?"

"Lonely Bar!" the bartender repeated. "It's just on the street near the apartment block of Kylin Street," he elaborated.

"I'll be there in half an hour!"

With that, Brian hung up the phone and went to his bedroom to get changed. Not even five minutes later, he dashed outside and got into his car. Within moments of driving, the villa fell out of sight as he headed to the Downtown.

Unable to contain his anger, he hit the steering wheel. 'That woman actually went to the bar by herself, and even got drunk!' he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, an oblivious Molly slept on the bar. Holding an empty glass, she kept muttering, "Another one, please,"

"Miss, you can't have another one," the bartender responded. The voice who answered his call was as cold as the weather that night. Perhaps he was an influential man that ought not to be annoyed, and this worried the bartender. He did not want to offend someone just because he wanted to earn a few extra tips during that shift.

"Let me drink," Molly kept whispering.

But the next moment, her mood shifted, and then she was choking her sobs, "Brian, you're such a jerk. Why didn't you stop me from leaving? I can't do it. I can't forget about you.

Even when you don't love me anymore."

Regardless of the amount of times Molly whimpered in her seat on the bar, the bartender ignored her and just shook his head.

Outside the bar, the sound of a car's abrupt brakes caught the attention of the people.

The tall figure of Brian Long appeared at the entrance of the Lonely Bar. Cold wind swept his short hair, as he looked around. His facial expression was unreadable.

Before entering the establishment, he checked its name to make sure he was in the right place. Once at the entrance, he surveyed the room for a familiar face. It didn't take him long before he saw the slim figure knocked out by the bar counter.

In a few long strides, he walked towards Molly. Watching the drunk woman, Brian pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. After putting down a couple of big notes on the bar, he pulled up the drunk woman and carried her in his arms.

"Mmm... you came," Molly mumbled. Sulking, Brian dragged her out of the bar while avoiding every look that came in their direction.

When they made it out, he placed her in the back seat. Closing the door, he got into the car and quickly started the engine. In a matter of seconds, the car sped away, and disappeared in a corner.

Sitting properly, Molly saw the neon sign get smaller as they drove farther. Tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks.

"Brian, stop the car," she yelled.

The scraping sound of the brake could be heard as she felt the abrupt halt of the car.

Frowning, he turned to look at her. She seemed incapable of focusing her eyes on anything. Her drunken expression made her look fragile and heartbreaking.

"Brian," Molly called his name out again. Shaking her head, she looked at the man through blurred vision. "Do you like me?" she asked. "Do you love me?"

Although she couldn't see things properly anymore, she stared at the obscure figure in front of her. "Brian," she continued to speak despite the sight limitation and her head spinning, "Do you know how much I like you? Do you know how much I love you?" As soon as he was able to discern her words, his heart felt like it was cut in half with a knife. Tormented, Brian could barely breathe as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. So he got out of the driver's seat, and sat with her in the back. When he saw her face, he couldn't help himself any longer, and reached out to touch it gently, "Do you know how long I've eagerly waited for these words from you? Why didn't you say them when we were together?

Why say it now? Do you know it's not the right time right now?"

His voice filled with misery, "Molly. Do you know how you can have a happy life? That's only possible when I leave you. Do you understand?"

Molly, however, could not hear his words clearly. Instead of responding, or asking him to repeat himself, Molly sobbed and muttered something incoherently.

All of a sudden, Brian's face turned cold again, his voice just as detached icy that it seemed to freeze everything inside the warm car, "Look at yourself now.

Do I love you? Do you deserve my love?"

The ironic words left his lips with the intention to hurt, even when he himself was in pain.

Barely raising her head, Molly looked into Brian's cold expression. Her head hurt as though it were being split into two, while heart felt like it was being physically crushed. She could feel the sting of his words with every fiber of her being, and it suffocated her. There was no doubt that she was drunk. Yet, in an unfortunate way, she was alert enough to hear his next words.

"There's only one woman who deserves my love.

That woman is Ling," Brian's face grew colder, if that was even possible. "I know that." At that moment, Molly was beginning to faint. She stared at him with droopy eyes. She smirked, and shook her head weakly. "It doesn't matter that you don't love me. It has nothing to do with my love for you. But let me tell you. I won't give you up." Molly tried her best to keep her eyes open. "I'll let you love me again, just as deep as you did before." Her voice grew smaller and smaller, until finally, her eyes closed, and all that could be heard was her labored breath.

Brian looked at her beautiful sleeping face. At a loss for words, he allowed himself to drop the cold look.

"Brian. I'm sorry.

I can't... go without you..." the woman whispered in her sleep.

With knitted eyebrows, Brian stared at her face for as long as time permitted him.

"I'm sorry... Please, don't leave me." And as she continued to murmur the words that she kept close to her heart, tears escaped from her eyes.

Closing his eyes, Brian restrained himself from hugging the woman, from comforting her, as he did not want to wake her up.

It was torture. Seeing Molly in such a state made him feel so vulnerable.

"You do not know how much hardship I've experienced. I'm sorry."

Her voice disappeared again after another apology. Looking at Molly's sleeping face, all of Brian's logic left the room.

Slowly, he bent down towards her, and in a moment he wished he could freeze, touched his lips with hers which still had the vague taste of wine.