3

The next day, I woke up in my bed and sat up suddenly.

Scenes from last night before I fell asleep flashed through my mind.

I hung on Edward and kissed him on the left and right from time to time.

I pointed at his nose and scolded him for his behavior of loving Julia in his heart and yet treating me as a backup in the game.

"You called me baby in the game and called me little sister in real life. Ugh, who wants you to be my elder brother? You jerk!"

"I'm breaking up with you today! Go find Julia. Jessa Doyle is cutting ties with you today!"

"I've liked you for so many years. I've even finished my education. I've graduated from college. Why can't you fall for me? I'm so young! I'm so beautiful! Why don't you like me?"

"Well, it turns out that alcohol can't make me fall asleep instantly, but it does make me say all the things I dare not say usually."

I didn't remember what Edward had said. In my memory, he was by my side the whole time, babbling and nagging.

"I wish I could forget about what happened after I got drunk last night. I don't want to remember anything at all!"

"Clara, are you awake? Have some food."

Edward brought food and placed it on my bedside table.

I had been thinking about him for so many years. Now, I didn't want to see him at all.

"At this moment, I hope I can disappear from this world."

I tried to make myself look more normal and nodded.

"Do you remember what you said last night?"

Edward looked at me, smiling meaningfully.

"Last night? Did I say anything?"

I pretend to tap my head. I was good at acting as someone waking up from a hangover.

"Did I have a blackout?"

Edward smiled more brightly and put on an understanding look.

I nodded my head vigorously, fully agreeing with what he said.

"Even if God is here today, I will stick to what I said."

"If I don't admit it, nothing will have happened last night."

Edward sighed lightly and shook his head with a smile on his face.

Sitting by my bedside, he picked up the food and handed it to my mouth.

I hesitated for a moment, but I ate it.

"When it comes to the benefits delivered to my mouth, I won't refuse."

"In a couple of days, he will belong to another woman. It will be impossible for me to have these benefits."

Seeing me take a sip, Edward leisurely asked, "Do you want me to help you take a bath?"

"Puff!"

I was taken aback. Food sprayed directly onto his face.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." I quickly handed him a tissue to wipe his face.

"Did you remember it?" Edward squinted at me, smiling cunningly.

"I should thank him for reminding me of how I held him last night and asked him to help me take a bath."

"I remember how I shamelessly wanted to undress him and draw on his abs with my fingers."

Since things had come to this point, I could only be decisive.

"What's wrong? I remembered everything. Do you want me to give you money?"

Edward nodded thoughtfully, saying, "No need for money, but don't you have to take responsibility for touching me? You flirted with me in the game without taking responsibility. You touched me last night without taking responsibility too?"

4

As Edward spoke, he leaned closer to me.

His breath brushed against my neck, making me feel a bit itchy.

"No, I have to stay awake. I've been a backup for two years. I can't be a backup forever."

"Although I love him deeply, I can't become a love-struck fool!"

"What responsibility? If you want someone to take responsibility, go find Julia. Why are you looking for me?"

I spoke in a harsh tone and turned my head away.

I felt quite sad. "I've liked him for so many years. In the end, I can only watch him hold hands with someone else."

"What does it have to do with Julia? Why have you been mentioning her since last night? Did you misunderstand something?" Edward frowned.

"Am I misunderstanding something? My brother said it. You've liked Julia for two years, and you're even planning to confess to her."

I originally wanted to strongly refute this. Uncontrollably, I cried.

Edward raised his hand to wipe away my tears, smiling bitterly and shaking his head.

"Why are you crying? Don't listen to your brother's nonsense... Clara, what's wrong with you..."

I curled up, holding my stomach. I suddenly felt a pang of sharp pain in my stomach.

Just now, I was crying in pain.

"My stomach hurts..."

I gasped heavily. At that moment, I felt like my world was falling apart as if I was going to die in pain.

My stomach seemed to be torn apart. The pain was so intense that I almost fainted.

Edward picked me up without saying a word. He sent me straight to the hospital.

Following the doctor's request, I went to get an X-ray.

I felt like I must have cancer or a malignant tumor.

"Otherwise, why would I need an X-ray?"

While waiting for the test results, I was crying in pain and holding Edward to say my last words.

"Edward, you must be happy. I bless you and Julia. Please take care of my brother when you have time. I will watch over you from heaven."

I was about to die anyway. I might as well say kind words.

I started to bless Edward and Julia.

"What are you talking about? Don't think about random things in your mind. Don't listen to Brian Hawk's nonsense. I don't like Julia."

I took it as his way of comforting me.

"Clara, what's wrong? What happened?"

My brother ran up to us, panting.

"Brian!"

I threw myself onto my brother, holding him and sobbing. I repeated my last words.

This time, I even told him my bank card password.

A doctor interrupted Brian as he was about to speak.

"Clara, the results are out."

I looked at the doctor. Everything in front of me seemed to turn gray.

My trial was about to come.

"I'm still so young, but I have to face such a cruel reality. I can't accept it."

"Brian, you should go. I'm afraid that my time in this world will be shortened if I know the result."

Brian couldn't beat me. He rolled her eyes before following the doctor inside.

Sitting on the bench in the corridor, I held my stomach and cried. I was waiting for my verdict.

A minute later, Brian came out and threw the examination report on me, looking at me as if I were a fool. He said, "See for yourself."

I was stunned, innocently blinking my eyes.

Edward took over the inspection report and glanced at it, bursting into laughter.

"You cried so hard when you had kidney stones, I thought you had some terminal illness!"

Brian was so fierce!

I pouted and held my stomach in grievance.

"It turns out it is just kidney stones."

Feeling a bit awkward, I didn't want to talk.

There was only one thought in my mind, and that was, that I would go back and change my bank card password.

"Okay. When the kidney stones are removed, it won't hurt anymore." Edward patted my head. He was as gentle as always.

My face eased a bit.

Brian looked at the two of us, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Then, he raised a question, saying, "So, why are you two together so early in the morning?"

5

"What should I do? Is it useful to pretend to be unconscious now?"

Edward stood up directly, resting his hand on Brian's shoulder.

"Come on. Brian, let me tell you..."

Then, they two stood shoulders to shoulders in a corner secretly. I wondered what they were saying.

The doctor came out of the consultation room again and handed me the list of minimally invasive surgery for kidney stones. He said, "Little girl, drink less soda in the future. Drink more water. You're so young, but you have such a big kidney stone."

But I no longer cared about the kidney stone inside my body that had tortured me to the point of death.

I looked in the direction of Edward and Brian, longing to see through them.

I saw Brian's expression. At first, he was shocked. Then, he had doubts. In the end, he wanted to laugh, but he dared not to.

"I'm so anxious to know what they said."

In the end, I saw Brian bowing his head as if apologizing.

After a while, the two of them walked towards me.

When Brian tricked me into blowing up cow dung when we were kids, he smiled the same way as he was now.

He was gloating too.

Edward was holding back a smile. Taking over the minimally invasive surgery form from my hands, he said, "I'll help you pay the bill."

Then he turned around and walked away.

Brian nodded at me and raised his thumb, looking at me teasingly.

"31 years old? Executive director of a Fortune 500 company? Elegant and curly hair? Fiery red lips? Wearing high heels to work every day? Not bad, Clara. What a modern urban woman!"

He was describing the daily image of me that I had told Edward in the game.

Those who bragged online and got exposed in the real life would be as awkward as I was now.

I am experiencing such feelings now.

From the moment Edward shouted out my game ID last night, I knew I would be overwhelmingly embarrassed one day.

"But will I admit such an embarrassing thing?"

I stared at him innocently, blinking my eyes and saying, "Brian, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Nothing. I just think the image that Edward described to me just now is so attractive. I want to find one too."

Brian raised an eyebrow and rubbed his nose.

I made up my mind and decided to voice my confusion. I said, "Brian, did you make a mistake? Edward said he doesn't like Julia."

Brian patted my head with a big hand and nodded. He said, "It seems that I made a mistake."

Then, he changed his tone, deliberately dragging out each word. "He said he liked Jessa Doyle."

After hearing Brian's words, I felt so excited and shocked.

I felt as if my face was burning right now.

At this time, Edward came back.

"Clara, your surgery is scheduled to be the next morning."

I stood up abruptly, turned my head, and stuttered, "Okay, then... let's go home."

Then I walked towards the gate by myself, walking sometimes fast and sometimes slowly. I was so excited that I wanted to scream right now.

"I want to tell the whole world that it turns out the man I have liked for so many years likes me back."

"After so many years, am I finally going to bring my Mr. Right home?"

"No, I am bringing a man home."

When I returned home and calmed down, I felt something was wrong.

"How did Edward know that Jessa Doyle was my game ID?"

I usually used a different account for chatting. I even secretly learned dubbing for game voice chat. I deliberately shaped my personality to be so different from mine on usual days.

"So, does Edward like me, or the Jessa Doyle that I created?"

After all, I confessed to him once when I started my college study. At that time, I was solidly rejected and even despised for being too young.

"Maybe Edward met Jessa Doyle in the game. He was attracted by the image I created."

I didn't know when he had found out that I was Jessa Doyle in the game. "No wonder he came to find me last night."

Thinking about it, I felt sad again.

At that moment, I felt like the female protagonist of youth literature. I liked someone for a long time, but the counterpart fell in love with a fictional person.

He fell for a fictional person created by himself.