Anna Collins turned his head and looked at the rain outside the window. His voice was so soft that it was almost swallowed by the sound of the rain: "Let's talk about recent things."
"recent?"
His brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes fell on her face. "Is it that something is not going well at work?"
Anna Collins suddenly felt a sense of absurdity. In their three years of marriage, this was the first time he had proactively asked about her, and yet, he had gone about asking the wrong question.
The corners of her lips curved up, and she remained noncommittal: "I guess so."
Ethan Grant hummed, and didn't ask any more questions. The carriage fell silent again.
Halfway through the journey, he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"What was that document you asked me to sign half a month ago?"
Anna Collins's fingertips trembled slightly, and a hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes.
Half a month later, he remembered to ask.
She opened her mouth, but in the end she just smiled softly: "It's nothing important."
Just as he finished speaking, a dazzling headlight swept past the car window, and the shadows of the two people flickered on the glass, as if magnifying the sense of alienation infinitely.
The red light came on again.
Ethan Grant turned his head and looked at her indifferent profile, and suddenly felt a little strange.
He opened his mouth and wanted to ask something, but before he could say anything, his cell phone suddenly vibrated.
Anna Collins lowered his eyes and didn't look at the screen.
The light from the phone screen reflected between his brows, illuminating that moment of hesitation.
He reached out to pick up the phone, but the moment he swiped to answer it, he saw the calmness on her profile.
The calmness was like an invisible wall, blocking all the words in his throat.
Finally, he pressed reject.
The car drove back into the rainy night.
Anna Collins suddenly spoke, his tone soft, like a sigh, but also like a determination:
"Tokoyami, we have to find an opportunity to have a good talk."
Ethan Grant gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, but he simply replied, "Okay."
The wipers moved back and forth, making a dull sound, as if sounding the death knell for this crumbling marriage.
It rained heavily at night.
Anna Collins stood at the intersection, holding an umbrella, watching the traffic blurred into streaks of light and shadow in the rain.
Her reflection in the puddle looked lonely and small.
Seven years.
She remembered that the first time she met Ethan Grant was not in any sensational occasion.
But it's around the corner from the library.
At that time, she accidentally dropped a stack of heavy books while holding them, and the pages scattered all over the floor.
Just as she was in a panic, a slender and strong hand picked up the top book for her and said in a cold voice, "Be careful."
She was stunned, looked up, and met those cold yet extremely clear eyes.
From that moment on, she remembered what he looked like.
Later, she would often see him on campus:
On the playground, he tied a white towel around his neck and ran laps quietly.
In the classroom, he was reading a book sideways, so focused that it seemed as if the outside world had nothing to do with him.
At the school gate, he put one hand in his pocket, quietly waiting for someone.
And every time, she just watched from afar.
Don't dare to get close.
He never lacks people around him.
Friends, followers, and Clara, who was always treated tenderly by him.
Anna Collins would occasionally be teased by his friends: "Look at Shi Ye, he is simply a child of destiny, he must have been taken a long time ago.
She smiled, without comment, and kept all her thoughts to herself.
If you like someone, you can do it quietly without making it public.
Until the year of graduation, she thought this secret love would end.
She went to work and he went to face the wider world, and they would never have any intersection again.
But fate played a ridiculous joke on him.
