Chapter 4

After the proposal, meeting the parents, getting engaged, planning the wedding... everything proceeded step by step, as usual.

Lucas, as he said, cut off all contact with Natalie.

Never contacted her again.

At least that's what I thought.

If I hadn't woken up in the middle of the night and heard him talking on the phone in the bathroom, I would have believed it.

"Alright, alright, stop crying. Where are you? I'll come find you now."

"It's okay, I'm here. No one can bully you."

"Ten minutes, I'll be right there!"

Listening to that anxious voice from the bathroom, I could imagine his expression at that moment.

His brows must have been furrowed, his face tense.

One hand holding the phone, the other gesturing in the air as if comforting someone.

He once said, "Even if I'm not by your side, at least I can comfort you this way."

I was lost in memories when I heard the door open.

Instinctively, I grabbed the doorknob, pretending I was about to push the door open.

I ran into Lucas unexpectedly.

"Hazel, why are you..."

The fleeting panic on Lucas's face was clear as day to me.

But I still pretended not to know, squinting my eyes, "I need to use the bathroom."

Then I yawned, as if just realizing, "Oh, why are you in here?"

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw him let out a relieved sigh.

His whole demeanor relaxed.

"I just finished too. Go ahead."

He reached out to ruffle my hair.

I avoided it by lowering my head and rubbing my eyes.

Lucas didn't seem to mind. Before I closed the door, he said, "Sam just called me. He has some urgent business. I'm going to check it out."

I kept my head down, my hand on the door tightening secretly.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up at him: "It's so late. Can you not go?"

Lucas's face showed a hint of difficulty: "From his tone, it seems he's in trouble. He's my buddy, I can't ignore him."

"Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I deal with it. Nothing will happen."

I took another deep breath: "Then let me go with you. Two people are safer than one."

Not surprisingly, Lucas refused.

"It's late at night. It's not safe for a girl like you."

"Don't worry, don't you trust me to handle things?"

With that, he turned and left.

I heard the sound of the door closing and suddenly felt like my whole body had gone limp. I leaned against the door and slowly crouched down.

Staring at the floor in front of me, everything looked blurry.

He seemed to be by my side, but why did I always feel like I couldn't hold onto him?