Upon learning that her family was arranging a business marriage for her, Lila Sullivan packed her luggage and fled overnight.
It could have been anyone for the marriage partner, but it had to be Ethan Carter, her childhood best friend who grew up with her.
Ethan's strengths and weaknesses were unusually distinct.
His strength was being scatterbrained, and his weakness was also being scatterbrained.
But in the eyes of the elders, they were the epitome of a talented scholar and a beautiful lady, a childhood sweetheart couple, and they insisted on forcing them together.
When the plane landed in Macau, Lila pushed up her sunglasses, took out her phone, and saw—screen full of missed calls. Sure enough, her family had already blown up her phone.
Lila had always been smooth and perceptive, able to bend and stretch as needed.
She picked a pinned number and called back, softening her tone as soon as she spoke: "Mom, I'm sorry!"
On the other end of the line, Clara, who had been holding a stomach full of scoldings, fell silent instantly upon hearing this.
After a long pause, Clara's helpless voice came: "If you're sorry, come back."
"If I go back, will I have to marry Ethan?" Lila deliberately softened her voice, with a hint of grievance, "I heard everything you said."
In the past two years, her grandfather's health had been deteriorating. All these juniors in the family who claimed to be filial were actually coveting the rich inheritance.
Last night, passing by the living room, she heard her father, who was always busy with work, taking the time to ask about her personal life. He said he had already discussed with the Carter family and wanted to finalize the marriage between the two children as soon as possible.
A marriage between the two families and a child would allow them to claim a larger share of the inheritance after the old man passed away. He also said that she would have to marry sooner or later, so it would be better to marry someone of equal social status, which could be regarded as making the best use of her.
As for the Carter family.
The Carter family had two sons. The eldest son, Oliver Carter, had been living abroad all year round, so he was obviously not a candidate for the marriage. The second son was Ethan Carter, that scatterbrained childhood best friend who grew up with her.
They had grown up together, and each knew all the embarrassing things about the other.
In Lila's eyes, Ethan was like a sister she had played with since childhood, who had suddenly developed male characteristics.
How could she marry him?
"Mom, I've already said I have no feelings for Ethan. I still clearly remember the way he wore open-crotch pants and had a runny nose." Lila complained.
"Feelings can be cultivated slowly." Clara's tone was firm.
"Okay, okay, you're right." Lila followed her words, "That's why I thought I'd first travel with him to cultivate our feelings well~"
"You went to Macau." Clara's voice carried a hint of understanding, "Why did I hear that Ethan flew to Hawaii overnight?"
"..."
That guy, sure enough, let her down.
Lila took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm: "I just flew to Macau first to buy a bag, and then I'll transfer to Hawaii to find him."
"Is that so?" Clara didn't expose her, just said: "I contacted your aunt, she should have arrived at the airport to pick you up. Be good and listen to your aunt in Macau, don't run around."
Lila knew perfectly well that her aunt was mostly a spy sent by the family to keep an eye on her.
But she knew when to stop, as long as she didn't have to turn around and go back to Beijing immediately. She obediently replied: "I definitely won't run around, I swear!"
If swearing worked, all the playboys in the world would have been struck by lightning long ago.
As she spoke, she also raised three fingers to the sky in a gesture of oath.
The sky was cloudless, not even a hint of thunder.
She had just hung up the phone with her mother when her phone rang again.
Lila looked at the name on the screen and silently pressed her lips together—it was her father, Richard Sullivan. As expected, as soon as she answered, there was a fierce scolding.
She didn't know when her relationship with her father had become so tense, incompatible like fire and water.
Lila still remembered when she was a child, Richard would hold her in his arms and spin her around, and lift her above his head to sit on his shoulders.
She leaned listlessly against her suitcase and answered the phone: "Dad."
"You get back here right now!" Richard suppressed his anger, his voice so loud it hurt her eardrums.
Just now, she could deal with her mother euphemistically, but facing her father's toughness, Lila suddenly lost her temper and decided to go to the extremes: "No, I won't marry."
"Presumptuous! Marriage is a major event, decided by parents and arranged by matchmakers! The Carter family is the best choice for our family's marriage. We know each other well, and we are of equal social status. What's not good enough for you? I'll put it this way—if you still recognize me as your father, take the plane back tonight. I'll have my secretary book the ticket for you!"
Why did he always use "recognize me as your father" to put pressure on her every time he got angry? It wasn't something she could choose to recognize or not.
"What if I go back?" Lila retorted, "Ethan isn't in Beijing either. If I go back alone and wait foolishly, won't people say you're in a hurry to marry off your daughter? Doesn't the Sullivan family care about face?"
In Richard's eyes, nothing was more important than face.
Hitting her father's weak spot, Richard's tone softened slightly: "That kid surnamed Carter is also unreliable."
"How about this." Lila seized the opportunity and took the initiative to back down, "As soon as Ethan comes back to Beijing, I'll come back immediately."
After saying this, she immediately sent Ethan a WeChat message.
—I've sorted things out here, hold on over there. If you get beaten when you go back to Beijing, I'll definitely plead for you.
Ethan was probably still on the plane. After sending the message, there was no reply, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Richard probably had to deal with the Carter family superficially, so he didn't say anything more and hung up the phone neatly.
Lila let out a long sigh of relief and patted her face in the airport mirror. Her face inherited all the advantages of her parents—her mother was a retired movie star, and her father was an elegant and successful businessman, so her genes were naturally excellent.
But it was precisely this face that never seemed to win any favor in this family.
Adjusting her mood, Lila dragged her suitcase and walked out of the airport.
The airport wasn't big, and she reached the exit in a few steps.
Sure enough, her aunt who said she would pick her up was already waiting there.
Lila heard her aunt calling her name from a distance. Accompanied by the crisp tapping sound of high heels, her figure soon walked up to her.
"I've been calling you, but I couldn't get through. Fortunately, my eyes are good enough to recognize you." Her aunt, Sophia Sullivan, leaned close with her well-maintained face, clicked her tongue, then pulled her back a little to look at her carefully, "How did your parents raise you? It hasn't been long since we last met, and you've become even more beautiful, dazzling my eyes."
Lila took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of bright eyes, and smiled brightly: "No matter how beautiful I am, I can't compare to you, aunt. Back then, before you moved to Macau, which wealthy young man in Beijing didn't regard you as his dream girl, lingering in their thoughts?"
"You're the only one who knows how to say nice things to make me happy." Sophia pretended to be angry, but there was a smile in her eyes. She took her hand and walked towards the parking lot, "Come on, come on. Are you hungry? Come home with aunt for dinner."
The drive from the airport to her aunt's house was only five minutes.
This high-end residence located on the hillside had an excellent location. Standing on the balcony and looking down, you could take in the scenery of the city center. At this moment, the night was falling, and the dazzling urban night scene had just begun.
Sophia asked the maid to make coffee and had dinner delivered to the terrace.
The sea breeze carried a little moist water vapor, and the spring tide was gentle and soothing.
The wind in Macau was completely different from the fierce wind in Beijing that made people dizzy.
Feeling the gentle sea breeze, Lila finally felt a sense of relief as if she had escaped from danger.
"Your mother told me that you don't want to get married, so you ran here to hide?" Sophia asked straightforwardly.
Lila wasn't sure which side her aunt was on, so she continued to perfunctory with her previous excuse: "I just came here to buy a bag, and after buying it, I'll fly to Hawaii to find Ethan."
"I think you shouldn't fly to Hawaii." Sophia stirred her coffee slowly and said calmly.
"That won't work. Ethan is waiting for me there." Lila insisted, biting the bullet.
"Still pretending with aunt?" Sophia lowered her voice, "I'm not a spy for Beijing. You can tell me the truth—do you and Ethan really have feelings for each other?"
To be honest, her aunt was quite loyal.
When Lila was a child, she saw a public service advertisement where a child brought water to wash her parents' feet. On a whim, she scooped water from the trough to honor her father.
Her aunt had watched the whole thing but didn't report her to her parents at all.
From her aunt's tone, it didn't seem like she was trying to get information out of her.
Lila let her guard down and confessed honestly: "I really have no feelings for him."
"I've heard about the Carter family's youngest son. He's silly. I guessed he wasn't your type. But his brother..." Sophia paused here, and sure enough, she saw Lila's eyebrows twitch slightly.
She immediately continued: "Oliver Carter is a good candidate."
As soon as she heard Oliver's name, Lila suddenly couldn't sit still. She lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on the food on the table, not daring to look at her aunt.
"Haven't there been any news about Oliver recently?" Sophia asked.
"I don't know. He rarely stays in Beijing." Lila replied in a low voice.
Sophia speculated along her words: "Could it be that he found a partner outside, so the Carter family is in a hurry to arrange a marriage for the youngest son?"
Lila tried hard to maintain her calm on the surface: "I don't know."
"What about you?" Sophia changed the subject and went back to her, "Why don't you find someone yourself?"
Just thinking about those dandies in Beijing gave Lila a headache.
Let's see—if she listed the three basic conditions of not smoking, not drinking excessively, and being self-disciplined, only the two Carter brothers were left. And that was just the most basic requirement; there was basically no room for choice.
As for the two Carter brothers, Ethan was definitely out of the question.
As for Oliver...
He really was...
Lila's cheeks blushed slightly, and she involuntarily thought of the time she accidentally broke into Oliver's bedroom. The wet footprints on the walnut wooden floor, the gray bath towel the man had hastily pulled over, and the shocked look in his eyes for a moment. He stood there reserved and aloof, like a green bamboo standing tall in the misty spring rain.
Lila patted her face hard, trying to drive away these messy thoughts.
If only he hadn't admonished her in an elder's tone "remember to knock before entering the room next time" after that incident.