Chapter 2
On the first day of our relationship, I told Stella, “I have a very handsome and intellectual cousin who likes to add my girlfriends on SnapChat. If he tries to add you, please don’t accept.”
Stella jokingly asked, “Afraid I’ll fall for him?”
I chuckled softly and said, “I’m afraid you’ll lose your soul and meet a terrible end. Every one of my exes died this way.”
She hugged me and cooed, “Well, I definitely won’t. I’m yours for life, Ryan.”
With my warning, when Lucas first tried to add her, she consistently refused.
She even complained to me several times: “Your cousin Lucas is really persistent. He’s tried to add me with over ten different SnapChat accounts.”
I kissed her cheek in approval and said, “You must stand firm. Don’t let his playboy ways tempt you.”
Her fingers didn’t stop as she rejected another friend request from a new account. Then she turned to me and said:
“My parents want to have dinner with you. They say we’ve been dating for six months, and you still haven’t shown your face. They’re really excited to meet you after everything I’ve told them.”
I paused for a moment, stroked her head, and said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. I’m quite busy these days. After this quarter is over, I’ll treat your parents to dinner.”
“You don’t need to treat them! They’d be over the moon just to see you. We’ll eat at my family’s hotel!”
Perhaps frustrated by his inability to add Stella on SnapChat, Lucas became impatient and suggested coming to stay at my rented apartment for a while.
Of course, I wouldn’t agree, but my mom was eager to show off the new apartment Stella had gotten for me. She couldn’t wait to give him the address.
So when I returned from work, I found Stella and Lucas sitting on opposite ends of the sofa, scrolling through their phones.
Stella pulled me into the bedroom, clearly annoyed, and said, “I really didn’t engage with him. How did he end up at our place?”
I shrugged it off, “My mom probably gave him the address. He’s just like that. Just ignore him and he’ll go away.”
She swore to heaven that she hadn’t encouraged him. I felt a bit uneasy, my mind replaying the image of them sitting on the sofa.
Surely Stella wouldn’t fall for him so quickly, right? It had taken me six grueling months to win her over. She couldn’t possibly be won over in just one evening, could she?
I was still anxious, partly due to my lack of self-confidence, and partly because I wasn’t sure how long Stella could resist.