Chapter 185
His words almost choked Lillian. “Playing both sides? What nonsensel The problem is, I haven’t even really been with either side!” she thought.
However, in front of Callum, she thought for a while and tried to explain in a pleasing manner. “Well… you see, it’s because my mom pressured me into this. She insisted I go on this blind date, or she’d cut ties with me. I actually wanted to tell the guy that I already have a boyfriend, but he interrupted me.”
To be fair, that wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Did your mother force you to go on a blind date?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, yes!” She smiled awkwardly. In fact, her mother was being overly abusive in the matter forcing her to go on blind dates.
“So, you mean you haven’t told your family that you have a boyfriend?” he asked. A dangerous glint passed through his eyes.
Lillian suddenly felt a pang of guilt, thinking, “Tell my parents? How can I explain? Just the revelation of Callum’s identity would likely terrify my parents, especially… considering Callum and I aren’t really an official couple, just going through the
motions.”
“I didn’t tell them because… I thought it might shock them. I mean, our relationship was so sudden, and I didn’t want to worry them. I was planning to find the right moment to tell them.” Lillian quickly came up with an excuse, though she had no intention of actually telling them.
“Do you really plan to tell them?” Callum asked. His dark eyes
narrowed.
“I promise.” She quickly said. Her face showed the sincerity of someone who’d swear by the heavens.
“Alright.” He nodded. “If you ever go on another blind date, Lillian, you’ll be dead.”
“Is this a threat?” she thought. However, when she thought about her current situation, she could only laugh. “There will be no next time.”
She couldn’t help complaining in her heart, thinking, “Even though I’m just pretending to be his girlfriend, shouldn’t he, as my boyfriend, at least pretend to be caring and protective? Why is he threatening me?”
“Even if he wants to take revenge on me, shouldn’t he let me fall in love with him first? In those movies and TV shows, when men plotted revenge, they always started by acting incredibly gentle and pretended to hold the woman in the palm of their hand,” she thought.
In fact, she hadn’t felt for à moment that she was being held tenderly. Instead, she constantly felt like her life was hanging by a thread.
At this moment, he seemed to be satisfied with her answer. Thus, he turned around and continued to walk forward, while she hurriedly followed him.
While they walked out of the park, her stomach decided to growl loudly.
“Are you hungry?” Callum asked.
“A little,” she replied awkwardly. She glanced at his expression, which seemed calm enough. “How about we grab something to eat around here? There are some great restaurants nearby.”
He cast a sidelong glance at her. Right now, her eyes sparkled with excitement whenever food was mentioned, just like they used to.
Back when they were overseas, she always wanted to know about the local specialties and insisted he take her to try them. “Let’s go,” he said. Unsurprisingly, her face lit up with joy.
She looked like a greedy piglet.
Callum didn’t know which restaurant in that area was delicious, but it didn’t stop Lillian from leading him to a restaurant she enjoyed.
This restaurant specializes in unique dishes that you can’t find anywhere else.” After they entered the restaurant, Lillian took the menu and began to order the dishes excitedly.
While they were looking at the menu, she began talking excitedly about the food. However, halfway through her explanation, she noticed Callum gazing at her intently.
“Sorry, I talked too much,” she said.
“It’s alright. Keep talking; I’m listening,” Callum said indifferently.
Lillian hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask, “By the way, why did you come here today?” The words slipped out, and she immediately regretted bringing up the topic.
It took her a lot of effort to get past the blind date. Yet, now, she took the initiative to mention it again.
As expected, he looked at her and said, “If I hadn’t shown up, were you planning to have dinner with that guy?”
She blushed furiously. “No, of course not!” she stammered, but her answer carried a hint of guilt. After all, she did intend to treat her blind date to dinner as an apology.
Fortunately, she hadn’t extended the invitation. When she thought back to the offensive words uttered by the blind date just a moment ago, Lillian suddenly regretted not stepping up and beating him up.
“Is your family particular about the requirements for your blind dates?” Callum asked, seemingly casual.
“Just the usual requirements, like owning a marital home, having a stable job, and being over 5 feet 7 inches tall,” she replied. In reality, she wasn’t too concerned about the marital home; renting was fine with her. Besides, she believed they could save up and buy a place together after they got married.
However, according to her mother’s logic, at her age, she should be looking for someone who owned their own house. In a few more years, she might not even have that option.
Lillian was a little speechless about her mother’s theory. She didn’t think a woman’s age was such a big deal. Many so-called “old maids” managed to find the love they wanted in the end.
To that, her mother had a different perspective. “Those women are mostly rich, beautiful, and educated. What about you?”
“Well, I have a university degree at least.” She couldn’t help but defend her educational background.
“Nowadays, university graduates are everywhere. A billboard could fall and hit several of them. What makes you so special? You had a chance to study abroad, but instead of pursuing further studies, you became a mere junior designer, all because of that Rosalie.”
At moments like these, Lillian knew that her mother would bring up Rosalie. She didn’t regret her decision back then. If she hadn’t rushed back, Rosalie would have been completely helpless.
In the end, though, she hadn’t been able to help Rosalie win her case, and the latter had to spend three years in prison.
When she thought of this, Lillian felt sad again.
“What are you thinking about?” A refined voice brought her back to reality. Lillian realized she’d been lost in thought.
