Ryan parked in front of Xu's household and saw Violet and her brother walking over from the opposite direction.
The siblings were chatting happily while eating the popsicle in their hands.
With one look at them, Ryan could tell that the siblings had a very good relationship.
Seeing that the siblings were getting closer, Ryan turned off the headlight before finally alighting from the car.
The sound of him closing the door attracted the siblings' attention.
The moment he met Jace's gaze, Ryan could see the hint of hostility in the man's eyes.
Ryan ignored the man and shifted his gaze to Violet. His fake girlfriend looked surprised to see him. But in just a few seconds, Violet smiled at him.
"You…" Violet picked up her pace and left her brother's side to get to Ryan. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see you."
Violet chuckled. "You should call before coming over. I was out with my Elder Brother for some groceries." Violet raised the bag in her other hand. "What would you do if I was not at home?"
"I called." Ryan narrowed his eyes. "You did not pick up the phone call."
Violet's expression changed. She touched her purse and realized that her phone probably was not in there. She looked into her memory and recalled leaving them to charge in her room.
"I went to your bakery," Ryan continued. "But you weren't there. I figured you might be at home."
Violet felt guiltier upon hearing Ryan's words. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that my phone was out of battery."
"Violet."
Jace's voice made both Violet and Ryan turn around.
"Jace." Violet flashed an assuring smile. "Why don't you go in first? I still have to talk to Ryan."
Jace stayed in place while keeping his eyes on both Violet and Ryan.
"It's fine." Violet heaved a sigh, noticing that her elder brother was not making a move. "I'll go in in a while."
The frown on Jace's face deepened. After shooting a warning look at Ryan, Jace finally turned around, heading into the house. Violet finally turned to Ryan again. She gave him a lookover and asked, "Why are you looking for me?"
Ryan paused. He knew that he did not have a reason to look for Violet. He came looking for Violet just because Chase said that she would be happy.
"Ryan?" Violet looked at him inquiringly when he did not answer.
"I–" Ryan raked his mind for an excuse. He cleared his throat and looked at Violet hesitantly. "I should be free this weekend. Would you like to go somewhere?"
Violet studied Ryan's expression and smiled. "Is this something that your mother asked you to do?"
"No." Ryan frowned. "It won't be long before this agreement ends. I figured that the elders would want to know our progress."
Violet considered his words and nodded. "That's true." She then flashed an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. But I won't be free this weekend. I have to stay at the bakery."
Ryan knew that Violet's schedule is different from other people. A lot of people would come to her bakery on the weekend.
"It's alright. I just thought I should ask."
…
Ryan headed back home after his brief meeting with Violet.
He seemed so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he did not realize that someone was sitting in the living room, looking at him.
"Ryan?" A voice finally broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Marina looking at him. "Why are you sitting here alone?"
"I need to talk to you. In private." Marina's expression appeared grim.
"Okay," Ryan nodded and led her to his room. He slumped into his bed and watched Marina leaning on his door with her hand crossed over her chest. "What is it about?"
Marina walked closer as she pulled out a folded paper from her pocket. "I found this in your room today."
Ryan took a glimpse at it. It was the agreement that he had with Violet to date each other for a month. He stood up abruptly to snatch it away from Marina. "Did you go snooping around my room?" He asked, raising his voice a little bit.
"You might want to keep your voice down, or everyone else is going to wonder what happened," Marina suggested. "And I didn't snoop around your room. I found it by accident."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes!" Marina snapped. "Erin wanted me to get some papers from your room for Lily," she explained. "Look. You're very lucky that it was me who found the contract. Just imagine if it was Erin or your mother."
Ryan groaned. "You didn't tell them about this, did you?"
"No," Marina said softly. "Your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you."
"Ryan," Marina called softly. "Why are you doing this? Why did you go this far to lie to your family? Why would you..." She paused, "So, the whole 'I'm interested in her' was bullshit then?"
Ryan clenched his jaw. "No, it's not," he responded. "Look," he said when Marina remained silent. "I told you how I started to go out with her because Mom forced me to. So I proposed this agreement to her and I hope that this whole dating thing will be over in a month, we will part ways, and Mom will stop bothering me about this whole thing. But, Marina… After a while, after spending time with her, it all changed."
"What has changed?"
"Well… I guess, find myself wanting to see her and be around her. She's quite fun to talk to."
"Ryan," her gaze softened. She had never seen her brother acting like this before or talked about anyone the way he did now. "Are you trying to tell me that you've started to fall for her?"
Ryan turned to his sister briefly and turned away. "I don't know," he shrugged. "I don't know what I'm feeling, alright? I just thought that Violet was a good friend."
Marina scoffed. "I think, it's time for you to start to think about your feelings properly." She raised a hand and slapped Ryan's shoulder hard. "Do you realize that this agreement will end in ten days? Are you sure you are willing to part ways with Violet? Pretend that you don't know each other and never see each other again?"