'My fiance, my fiancee…' Wesley's face fell as he heard these words. But he said nothing and merely nodded his head.
After the small talk, Miller walked off, two suitcases on wheels and two bags on his back, and carefully escorted Blair into the elevator. Wesley stood and watched how Miller treated Blair. It was how marriage should be—nice and comfortable.
Before the elevator doors closed, the woman inside the elevator made eye contact with the man in the hallway, their eyes full of complicated emotions. But Miller didn't notice the silent exchange between the two.
The doors closed. Standing in the silent, empty corridor of the 16th floor, Wesley felt lost. Blair had left, and he felt a hole inside his body where his heart was supposed to be.
Miller wasn't rich. His house downtown was nothing compared to her space in Hillside Apartments. But Blair didn't mind. She moved all her belongings there and stayed in Miller's house.
The next day, Joslyn, Hartwell and Miller saw Blair off at the airport. They didn't leave the airport until they saw Blair pass through security smoothly.
When Miller was about to leave, Joslyn suddenly called out to him. "Mr. Hong, Blair's gonna be all alone in London. Her family set her up there, but new city, new people. It's rough. Please see her whenever you can."
Without hesitation, Miller nodded his head. "Sure. Thanks for hooking us up. Don't worry, I'll treat her right."
Joslyn was satisfied with his assurance.
But the truth was, she didn't introduce Miller to Blair. She wouldn't hook Blair up with someone who wasn't rich and couldn't give her a comfortable life. When Blair was on a blind date, Miller was at the same restaurant, on a blind date too. His table was right next to Blair's.
Blair wasn't really clicking with her date, but Miller seemed a lot nicer.
Coincidentally, things didn't work out between Miller and his blind date, either. After the girl left, Blair walked over to his table and struck up a conversation. In the end, they hit it off and decided to go out with each other.
Miller bade farewell to Joslyn and Hartwell. After he left, Joslyn got into Hartwell's car.
With a sullen face, Hartwell sat in the driver's seat. She knew how he felt. Joslyn sighed heavily. "Don't be mad. It's Blair's choice. She can't be with the man she loves the most, so she settled for this guy. All the other men mean the same to her."
Hartwell was good at hiding his emotions. He was quick with a smile when he had to be. It was his job. But he could be himself now. He pulled a long face and blamed the girl who was already on the plane. "Maybe it's all the same to her, but there are still a ton of better men I could find for her. Why Miller? He's nearly ten years older than she is. Even if age doesn't matter, he's still so mediocre. What was she thinking?" Hartwell was eager to find out who was the man Blair really loved. He wanted to know who had hurt Blair, but no one told him about it. Adalson didn't allow him to look into it, either.
Joslyn, of course, knew the answer, but she said it wasn't her secret to tell. She wouldn't betray her best friend like that.
Joslyn caressed his cheek and soothed him. "Okay, no more frowns. Look on the bright side. Blair's gonna be out of the country for three years. A lot can happen in three years. Maybe they will break up tomorrow. Then you can set her up with the perfect guy."
Hartwell gave her hand a gentle squeeze. His mood was a little better now. "Okay."
Ever since she set down in England, Blair had been busy with admission procedures and getting her bearings. A month later, when everything had settled down, she finally had the time to hit the London streets.
The weather was quite cool these days. She felt comfortable walking outside.
School life kept her busy, and she found it fascinating. Her classmates were friendly, and always invited her to different events. All the better to practice her English. They even invited her to their family parties so that she could get a better handle on the local culture.
Time flew by quickly. The Spring Festival was just around the corner.
In Y City, Hartwell had just come back home when Wesley arrived at the Ji family's house. The steward led Wesley inside. The two men engaged in small talk before heading upstairs to Adalson's study.
Adalson was practicing Chinese calligraphy in his study. He was a little surprised to see the two show up together. He gestured for them to come in, then greeted Wesley with a nod and asked his son, "Something up?"
"Yeah. It's about Blair. I called her just now. She said she had a part-time job and would be staying there instead of coming back for the Spring Festival. Dad, she's been studying hard all the semester. I'm afraid she'll get lonely if she doesn't fly back," Hartwell replied. He wanted Adalson to talk to Blair and try to convince her to come back.
Adalson secretly glanced at Wesley. He was pretty sure that would be a touchy subject. But Wesley's face was as calm as usual, as if he hadn't heard the name or it meant nothing to him.
Adalson sighed inwardly, and said to Hartwell, "She'll come back. Your grandpa was pretty pissed when he found out she was engaged. I bet Blair will have a hard time facing the old man when she comes home."
Hartwell fell silent. He then took a quick glance at Wesley and asked cautiously, "Don't worry about Wesley. He knows Blair. So what's going on with her?"
It was so quiet there. The silence felt oppressive. After a while, Adalson grabbed his brush, dipped it in the black ink and continued his calligraphy. Without looking at them, he said, "Leave Blair alone. You'll be here on the third day of Spring Festival, right? I'll ask your grandpa to talk Blair into coming back, and we'll have a reunion dinner then."
Now Hartwell really wanted to open an investigation. His father never hid anything from him. Hartwell became even more curious why she'd run off and get engaged to that guy. It didn't sound like she knew him well. "Okay, got it. I only came back to grab a file. I should get going now. Dad wants to talk to you, Wesley."
Wesley nodded to Hartwell and watched him leave the study.
Adalson put down his brush again. "I asked you to come here because I'm interested in the goings on in a nearby city. I need two men from your team. They'll be stationed in that city for two years…"
They began to talk about work. They didn't even go off on a tangent into personal matters.
Adalson acted as if he knew nothing about what was between Blair and Wesley. Even after Wesley turned down Blair's proposal, he didn't ask Wesley a thing about it.
They talked for quite a while. When Wesley turned around to leave, Adalson called out to stop him. "Wesley. You have a bright future in the military. Work harder. Try to move up in rank in two years."
Adalson was clear about one thing. It wasn't that Wesley had no feelings for Blair. The main reason that Wesley had turned her down was because he was already married—to the country. The ambitious young man wasn't satisfied with his current situation. He wanted to hit the battlefield and protect his country.
Adalson also understood Blair rushed her engagement because she was angry at Wesley. It wasn't a rational decision.
Anyway, he couldn't get involved. Together or not, it was up to them.
Wesley stood straight and saluted Adalson. With a resolute and confident look in his eyes, he answered loudly, "Yes, sir! I won't fail you."
