"Actually, I am perfect," Blair answered.
At this, Niles pretended to sneeze. It sounded suspiciously like "bullshit," however. Adalson cast a warning glance in his direction.
Wesley took his seat. Blair acted as if he weren't even there and continued talking with Niles.
The dinner didn't last long, as the party included two old men and they needed to go to bed early.
After the two families bade each other farewell, Blair got into the back seat of Adalson's car. Natalia, who sat in the passenger seat, turned to look at Blair and said, "Your fiance is a nice guy. I met him once randomly, and he did me a favor. In my opinion, a woman should find an ordinary husband and live a happy life."
Adalson cast a casual glance at his wife and asked, "What? Are you not living a happy life?"
Natalia snorted and said, "Now, sure. But before…you don't know what it was like. Blair, believe me. Never marry a man like Wesley Li. I'm not saying that he's a bad guy. He's not. But imagine worrying about him when he's gone, and wondering if the next knock on the door would be his commanding officer notifying you he died a hero's death. If—"
"Natalia!" Adalson cut her off helplessly.
Natalia rolled her eyes at her husband. "What? I'm serious. Keith was trying to fix Blair up with Wesley this evening." Natalia then looked at Blair and continued, "Niles is probably your best choice here. He is the life of the party. Cheerful, attentive. He'll make you laugh every day. Wesley is clueless when it comes to matters of love. He hasn't got a romantic bone in his body. He's 100% devoted to the military. Marry him and you'll be sorry."
"But Wesley makes me feel safe and protected," Blair suddenly said.
'It seems that it's too late to warn her, ' Natalia thought.
When they passed the Hillside Apartments, Adalson parked the car near the entrance. "Remember your old apartment, Blair? Well, I left a contract there. Can you grab it for me? It's in the second drawer under the TV set."
"Didn't you terminate the lease?" Blair asked in confusion.
"I wanted to, but your cousin bought the apartment. He wants to move Joslyn's family in there." Joslyn was from a poor family, and they lived in the company dorm.
When she was out of sight, Natalia asked her husband, "Why did you let Blair get engaged to Miller? Why not fix her up with Niles? Niles has a residency at the military hospital and has a promising future. Blair could do worse than to marry a doctor. And she'd be part of the Li family—they're loaded."
The Li family was one of the most powerful families in A Country. Many girls from well-off families wanted to marry into the Li family.
"Niles and Blair would never hit it off," Adalson smiled.
Like Blair said, Wesley made her feel safe. Blair needed a man like Wesley to protect her.
When Blair reached the 16th floor, the door to Wesley's apartment was still open and Niles stood outside the apartment.
When the elevator arrived with a tinkling sound, Niles turned his head and saw Blair. "Hi, Blair! Why are you here?"
Blair didn't expect to meet anyone here. Earlier at the dinner, Wesley was the only thing on her mind, and she was daydreaming when they talked about where they'd be staying. She thought that they would stay in some hotel. "I…I came to get something." She pointed to the apartment that she used to live in.
Cecelia walked out and was surprised to see her here. "Blair! It's really you! Did you leave something here?"
Blair walked towards the apartment while saying, "Uncle Adalson asked me to grab a contract. He left it there."
Cecelia's eyes lit up and she followed after her. "You lived here before?" she asked.
"Used to," Blair answered.
She opened the door to the apartment. To her surprise, Cecelia walked in as well. "Then you and Wesley used to be neighbors!" she exclaimed.
Blair's smile froze. "Yes," she simply said. In order not to make Cecelia misunderstand her and Wesley's relationship, she added, "Wesley was pretty busy. He was almost never home. We only saw each other a few times."
After a moment, Cecelia nodded, "He's too busy. He should have come back home more often." The "home" she was referring to was here.
Blair soon found the contract that Adalson wanted, and waved it at Cecelia, who was looking around the apartment. "Aunt Cecelia, I found it. I gotta go. Uncle Adalson is waiting for me."
Cecelia looked back at her. "Okay." Then she added, "Did Wesley ever visit you? When you lived here, I mean."
Blair didn't know how to answer that. "Uh…I don't think so. I don't remember. It's been a few months."
Cecelia nodded. She could feel that Blair was not willing to talk about Wesley with her, so she stopped asking.
Niles was standing outside all the while, waiting for them. When he saw them come out, he grabbed his mother's hand and led her to Wesley's apartment. "Mom, you stay here. I need to talk to Blair."
"What? Alright. Hey, don't push me." Cecelia was smiling ear to ear as if Blair were her daughter-in-law.
As the doors of the elevator were about to close, Niles ran over and stopped it with his foot. "Hey!" he said breathlessly. "You asked me when Wesley stroked your hand. Do you really wanna know?"
'Yeah, but…' Blair looked at the man coming out of Wesley's apartment and reminded Niles, "Your brother!"
Niles immediately took two steps back. Before the doors completely closed, Blair saw that Wesley grabbed Niles by his collar and dragged him into his apartment.
Blair, Joslyn and the Ji family members had a family reunion dinner on the Lunar New Year's Eve. On the third day, Blair flew to England without seeing Miller.
Everyone's life went back to normal.
When Wesley was 26 years old, he was fast-tracked to a higher official post in the army, and moved up in rank.
At Megan's 18th birthday party, he met a woman named Debbie Nian.
She and Blair looked nothing alike, but her personality reminded him of Blair.
Debbie said, "Nice to meet you, Officer Li. I'm Debbie Nian. I've practiced martial arts for years. I'd love to spar when you're free sometime."
He couldn't help but remember how Blair had greeted him before. "Nice to meet you, Officer Li. I'm your new neighbor. I may have to bug you later on."
The last time he saw her was before the Lunar New Year. It had been almost a year since that time. Eleven months, to be exact.
Carlos seemed to have found his true love. His eyes were full of affection when he looked at Debbie.
Debbie and Megan were always at each other's throats. Carlos valued his wife more, so he asked Wesley to keep Megan company.
At the Ji family's house, the subject of Blair came up again.
She had already come back from abroad and started her internship in some company. She was now living in her fiance's apartment, and they were about to get married soon.
Miller's company arranged a retreat at a mountain village, and every employee could bring a family member. Blair just returned from England three days ago. When Miller invited her to go with him, she didn't turn him down.
