Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 60: He Said, "As You Wish

Thea pretended not to hear and looked away from him.

"This time, it’s up to you. You can ask whatever you want." Sean continued to tempt her.

Thea wasn’t fooled, "You’re even more bored than I am."

"No, I’m not. I guarantee I know the answers you want."

"Next week’s dinner, there’s a good show worth watching."

"So whether you win or lose, you never lose out. What are you still afraid of?" Sean followed her gaze to the figure on the racetrack.

His brother, no matter where he was, always attracted attention.

No wonder Thea would like him.

However, he didn’t think the two of them together would have any good outcome; they weren’t a good match.

On the field, Silas gradually increased his speed, already overtaking Ian.

Seeing this scene, Sean cocked his head and asked, "Haven’t made up your mind yet? Don’t be such a downer."

"Okay." Thea nodded at the high-stemmed glass in her hand, "I’ll play with you this once."

Sean leaned back in his chair with satisfaction and said confidently, "Trust me, no matter what the outcome, you’ll definitely like it."

Thea didn’t know what Sean was plotting again, but since he pursued excitement, once he set his mind on something, he wouldn’t easily give up until he achieved his goal.

The outcome of this friendly match was not surprising; all was within Thea’s expectations.

Losing two million wasn’t a big deal to her.

What she cared more about was the dinner Sean mentioned.

From what she knew, there was a large charity dinner in Coronet next week, and almost all the bigwigs in the city would be invited.

Coinciding with the weekend, she could join to see the excitement.

——

That evening, with Sean hosting after winning money, the group drove to a club near Stratus for leisure. On the way, Silas even called Donovan to join them.

After dinner, Thea leaned on the sofa, closing her eyes for a nap; Ian and the others were talking about business matters, their voices low, blending almost seamlessly into the background music in the private room. She didn’t find it noisy, but quite reassuring.

In her drowsiness, many images flashed through her mind.

She couldn’t remember which winter it was.

A snowstorm suddenly hit Coronet, and the courtyard was quiet, with not a single playmate around.

That day, she didn’t go to school because of a severe toothache. The weather was too cold, and her brother told her to stay obediently with their grandfather at home, forbidding her to go out. He promised to bring her some pea cake from that long queue place when he returned at noon.

In the afternoon, as it got dark, her brother hadn’t returned.

He called their grandfather and said the snow was too heavy, so he had to stay at school tonight.

Because she promised her brother to be obedient, she didn’t go out to play in the snow in the yard that day.

But her brother didn’t keep his promise.

Feeling wronged, she skipped lunch, squatting outside to make a snowman alone, coincidentally running into Silas returning from outside. Silas asked why she was unhappy, and she said she really wanted to eat pea cake.

Silas coaxed her that he would buy it for her when the snow stopped in the afternoon.

"Okay. Fourth brother, you must come to find me this afternoon." At that time, she was easily coaxed.

In the end, the snow fell for a very long time and hadn’t stopped by evening. The snow on the road reached the calves, making it difficult for vehicles to pass and walking required careful steps.

Silas didn’t come in the end either.

She knew she couldn’t go out, but still felt very disappointed.

What made her sad wasn’t that she didn’t get to eat that piece of pea cake today, but that even though they promised her, they hadn’t taken it to heart, hadn’t kept their word, nor explained to her.

The last thing she expected was that Ian came that day.

"Do you still want to eat?"

The boy stood silently at the door, letting the snowflakes fall on his shoulders.

She stared at him for a moment before gripping the door handle and asking dumbstruck, "Third brother, are you going to take me to get it? Now... or tomorrow?"

"Whenever you want to eat, now or tomorrow." He said, "It’s up to you."

"Can we go out?"

The boy didn’t answer directly, but tipped his chin toward the inside of the house, hinting for her to go put on her coat.

"Okay!" She jogged back, looking back every few steps, "Third... third brother, wait a minute, I’ll be right there!"

The snow that day was the heaviest she remembered in her life.

She regretted it after walking out of the courtyard with Ian.

But since they had already left, she felt that if she suggested going back, Ian would definitely be annoyed. Bracing herself, she walked a little further before the person beside her stopped.

With no warning, Ian crouched down, "Get on, I’ll carry you."

"..." She didn’t dare move, only climbing onto his back slowly after his repeated urging.

She couldn’t remember how long they walked that day; his steps weren’t fast, but they were steady, each imprinting a footprint in the snow, afraid of dropping her.

On the way back, the snow was gradually smaller.

Halfway through, they ran into Silas and Sean, who had come out to find them. Silas brought her a hand warmer and gloves, apologizing and reassuring her all the while.

Sean brought a small wooden sled for her to sit on.

To "atone for their sins," the two of them took opposite sides to pull the ropes in front, while Ian stayed by her side, following her unhurriedly.

When passing Crown Avenue, Silas shook his hand and took a group photo.

In the picture, she wore a clean white down jacket, sitting at the back, eating the pea cake Ian bought her, in stark contrast to the traveled trio.

All along the way, there weren’t many pedestrians, only a blanket of white between sky and earth, as they traced their way home on Crown Avenue, leaving behind a long trail of footprints.

——

Thea didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, and upon waking, found that the lights in the private room had dimmed. Surrounded in darkness, devoid of sound, she was abruptly pulled from her dream.

Her first thought was that they had left her behind.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized she was in the inner lounge of the private room, a sliver of faint light seeped through the crack in the door opposite her.

Propping herself up, the coat on her slid off, falling to the floor, a faint scent wafted over.

Ian didn’t like lots of random scents; he seldom used perfume, only applying it for important occasions out of social etiquette, never changing the scent. His usual fragrance was custom-made, unavailable in the market.

So Ian’s scent was very familiar to Thea. Without thinking, she knew it was his coat.

She bent down to pick it up, and as her fingers touched the button, someone pushed the lounge door open, a beam of light streamed in, shining directly on Thea.

She squinted uncomfortably at the light, picking up the coat before looking up at the visitor.

Ian didn’t expect her to wake so soon, the action of pushing the door paused. He didn’t step in or abruptly turn on the light, half his body remained outside, maintaining this posture, he quietly asked, "Do you want to sleep more?"

Peering at him through the dim light outside, perhaps due to just waking up, Thea suddenly felt an emptiness in her heart, a little sadness.

After a long gaze, Ian finally saw her gently shake her head and say, "Third brother, I feel like having pea cake."