No Escape from Love

I rolled my eyes in exasperation.noveldrama

The three people I liked the least in the world had all managed to annoy me in

one day.

"Serena, I....." Elena started with a trembling, teary voice. "I was the one who asked Julian to call you."

This number could just be marked as spam and blocked, then.

"Serena, I made a mistake in a moment of confusion. I want to ask you out for a meal to apologize to you. I hope that you can forgive me," she continued as she sobbed.

I hated people who always seemed to be on the verge of tears when they talked. It just felt so hollow and fake. She was just trying to put on a weak and pitiful facade to force others to be strong for her and protect her.

Wasn't this just a new form of emotional blackmail?

"There's no need. I won't pursue what you've done in the past. But please stay out of my life from now on. That includes Julian as well. At the very least, don't go out of your way to show up in front of me."

After I said that, I hung up in anger.

"Let's think about this. What's their angle this time?" Lila said, sitting cross-legged on the chair across from me.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and scoffed in disdain, "It's just the usual scheming from Elena. She unintentionally revealed her darker side to Julian. He's clearly rotten to the core, but he still demands perfection from others. Naturally, she needs to earn my forgiveness if she wants Julian back."

Lila felt that what I said made sense.

The phone rang again, and both Lila and I recoiled in horror. It rang for a long time before I finally summoned up the determination to answer it.

"Hello?" I called out tentatively.

"Hello, is this Ms. Ashford?" A clear, sweet voice could be heard.

"Yes, this is her," I responded.

"The Patek Philippe watch you sent us for repair has been fixed. When would you like to pick it up?"

I checked my watch. It happened to be Saturday tomorrow, and the coffee shop was closed for the first half of the day.

"I'll come by tomorrow," I said.

After hanging up, Lila looked at me seriously. "I'm coming with you."

"There's no need. It's close by. I'll come back quickly." I lay on the bed.

"No, I have to go with you," Lila said stubbornly.

I knew Lila was worried about me. She had been cooped up in the dorm studying lately as well. It was a good idea to head outside, so I nodded. "Alright. We can go shopping at the mall too."

However, when I got the watch the next day, I lost all desire to shop.

Lila, who was incredibly excited, turned back to see my glum face. She immediately came closer.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed.

Her

movement startled

he smacked her

d with a smile.

bet

"You're worried!" she declared as she pointed at me with narrow eyes. "Let me guess what you're worried about."

Before I could reach out to grab her finger, she spun away. "You're worried about how you'll return that watch to Alex."

The smile disappeared from my face.

It was a pity Lila wasn't some kind of fortune teller. She seemed to be able to figure out my thoughts so easily.

"What's there to be worried about? Just get a courier to send it to him," she said.

I stared at the watch in my hand which

von ay as worth a million dollars,

and

my frown deepened. "I don't know where Alex lives.