Amber’s uncle was the first to break the silence. He smiled as he said to Ian, “Nice to meet you. Are we bothering the two of you?”
He was polite, and so Ian also responded politely, a bit of the coldness dissipating from his eyes. “A bit.”
Amber’s uncle was caught off guard by his response. “….”
‘This fellow isn’t very polite, is he?!’
Black streaks lined Amber’s forehead as the atmosphere soured, and she quickly pushed Ian into the kitchen. “I’m hungry, so can you make something for me?” Then she turned around to look at her mom and the rest of her visitors. “Have you all eaten breakfast yet?”
“You still haven’t, at this hour?” Amber’s mother shot back as she fiercely glared at her.
Amber stuck her tongue out at her in defiance before pushing Ian into the kitchen and closing the door behind him.
By now, Amber’s mother and the rest had recovered from their shock. They started by asking about the drastic change in interior decoration. “What’s the matter? Did you renovate the place? And you even changed the lock?”
Amber intentionally ignored the last question and vaguely answered, “That’s right.” She looked at her aunt and silent cousin. From start to finish, her uncle’s hand had been laid on his cousin’s, and she naturally asked, “Did you come over with something in mind?”
‘Let’s quickly change the subject, please.’
At this point, a worried expression crept over Amber aunt’s face. She stood up and anxiously said, “Come, Amber. Come over here, and I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
She pulled Amber toward the old guest room, which was now a big study. When she saw the rows of books lining the wall, she gaped in amazement. “So many books ….” She put this aside, as she was in a hurry to tell Amber about what had happened.
It turned out that there was a problem with her cousin, Juan.
The eighteen-year-old high school senior was in his last semester, but the previously excellent student now refused to keep studying.
“Did something happen to him?”
“In his last mock exam, he did really poorly, ending up around thirtieth in his class, which isn’t even in the top 200 in his school. His father scolded him for that, but that only exacerbated his behavior.
His temper also grew worse, and he started breaking things, yelling at people, and howling in rage all the time. Yesterday in class, he even fainted all of a sudden, but when we brought him to the hospital, he wasn’t ill.
I honestly don’t know what to do anymore, so when I thought of you, I had to see if you could help. Please, what’s wrong with our son? Is he suffering from mental illness?”
Amber’s aunt was really anxious, and she seemed like she was about to burst into tears as she spoke. Amber patted her lightly on the back.
“It’s fine, don’t worry. Let me first talk with Juan before I comment on his condition, alright?” And then she wiped her aunt’s tears away for her. “Don’t cry. If you do, Juan will become more anxious as well.”
After Amber comforted her aunt, the two of them went back out together. There was just her uncle and Juan in the living room, and the two of them were currently playing tug-of-war: Juan wanting to break free from his father’s grasp, and his father obstinately stopping him. They seemed about ready to explode into a fistfight right then and there.
Amber’s mother wasn’t there. When Amber glanced around some more, she saw that her mother was in the kitchen, talking to Ian about who knew what.
At this point, Amber didn’t have the bandwidth to think about what she was doing. She focused her attention Juan and his father by smiling at them before calmly saying, “I’m sorry. You must have waited for a while.”
Amber’s uncle and Juan looked at each other, quickly put down their hands, and while Juan’s father wasn’t paying attention, he slipped out of his grasp.
Amber’s uncle’s expression sank, and he was about to say something when Amber stopped him. She turned to Juan and asked, “I bought a new game for my laptop. It’s pretty fun. Do you want to try it?”
Juan unhesitatingly nodded, but his father anxiously protested, “The reason his grades have slipped so much is because he keeps playing games. And now when he doesn’t even want to study anymore, you’re still letting him play?!”
Amber ignored him, brought Juan into the study, and then turned on the laptop for him. When she came out by herself, Amber’s uncle criticized Juan without even stopping to take a breath.
“Such a disappointment! He must have mixed with a bad crowd, because he wasn’t like this before! What illness, what worry? They’re all excuses. The way I see it, he’s just degenerating!”
Amber listened to him quietly for a while, and after her uncle let out all of his frustrations, she went over and sat down besides him. “I was the one who asked him to play games, Uncle. Are you angry at me?”
“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at him!” Her uncle sighed ruefully. “There are only a few days until the day. I’m really worried about him.”
“Then, if Uncle trusts me, please leave him here with me for the moment.”
Amber’s aunt and uncle looked at her in surprise.
Her aunt said, “I’d be reassured if he could stay with you for a while.” This was her intention from the very beginning; if Juan’s condition couldn’t be easily resolved, then the next best thing would be to let Amber treat him. However, she didn’t expect that Amber would have a boyfriend living here as well. “But would it be too much of a bother?”
Amber smiled brightly. “It’ll be fine.”
In truth, Ian was very unhappy with her decision, because he was one of those people who hated troublesome things. Amber’s mother and the rest didn’t stay for very long, so he was able to bear their visit, but he was truly unhappy with Juan’s presence.
And when Mr. Axton was upset, he wouldn’t even get mad. He showed it by merely sitting on the sofa and pouting as he played with his jade tea pet.
Amber called out to him. “Hi!”
He ignored her.
“Mr. Axton.”
He didn’t even look at her.
“What did my mom say to you? She looked so happy when she left, and she wasn’t even mad at me anymore.”
Ian continued to feign ignorance.
“Alright, then I’ll go and play games with Juan now.” Helpless, Amber could only get up and leave.
When he heard her footsteps fade into the distance, Ian grasped his tea pet tightly, the coldness in his eyes startling.
He threw the tea cup to the side and prepared to leave, but just as he stood up halfway, there was a tightening sensation around his waist. A soft and gentle body was clinging to him, forcing him back down.
“Are you really angry?” she whispered into the side of his ear. “If you’re angry, then you need to let me know. If you don’t, then how would I know? And if I don’t know, then I’ll only make you even madder.”
“Yes.” He shut his eyes with restraint before suddenly opening his mouth, pushing her hand aside, and coldly saying, “I don’t like too many strangers being in my life. I’m surprised enough that I could accept someone like you. Amber, don’t be so arrogant. Just because I pamper you doesn’t mean that this will work on me.”