I'm Your Sister, Brother Chow

Raylan's pupils dilated slightly as he smiled even wider. "If that's the case, then I won't attend the banquet tonight either. I'm sure that Chow wouldn't mind if I came over tonight, right?" With that, Raylan managed to provoke Chow's anger that he'd managed to suppress earlier.

Chow let go of Vivian and immediately rushed over to grab Raylan by the collar. "What the f*ck are you trying to say, Raylan Gordon?"

Raylan didn't seem the least bit scared at all.

They'd fought with each other countless times since growing up.

Although they had both quit exchanging fists with each other since they'd matured, Raylan had that sudden urge to fight Chow now.

Raylan curled his fingers into a tight fist as his veins popped out. "Are you seriously going to pick a fight with me over a person you don't even care about?"

The chilling atmosphere started getting even colder than before. Chow glared angrily at Raylan and clenched his teeth.

"You're wrong. She isn't just a person I don't care about. She's the person I hate the most in the world. And you'd better stay the f*ck away from her if you know what's best for you." Raylan challenged Chow's gaze and still managed to keep his calm. "Are you sure that she's the person you hate the most? Are there no other emotions involved at all?"

That was the million-dollar question everyone else wanted to ask.

Celine wasn't the only one whose body went stiff and rigid because of that question. Even Vivian also felt herself getting tense.

Celine, Vivian, and Raylan all looked at Chow, waiting for the answer.

Under everybody's heavy gaze, Chow finally answered in a loud, clear voice, spitting the words out one by one. "I only hate her. I hate everything about her."

Raylan immediately followed up with the next question. "So you hate her. Are you never going to forgive her for something she didn't even do? She shouldn't have to shoulder the sins of her parents. She never asked to be born. It's not her fault."

Chow suddenly turned around and grabbed Vivian in his arms, firmly pressing his lips against hers. This was his reply.

The parking lot, which had been echoing with the sounds of their fighting earlier, suddenly turned eerily quiet once more.

Chow made sure that Raylan drank in the sight of him firmly kissing Vivian in his arms.

It turned so quiet that the only sounds left were that of their breathing.

Vivian stared blankly at the face in front of her in shock, forgetting to close her slightly swollen eyes.

She had never thought that Chow would kiss her right in front of Celine.

Vivian's mind went completely blank.

She couldn't believe that he was kissing her.

There was nothing else on her mind.

Thud!

A muffled falling sound broke the silence in in parking lot.

Vivian suddenly pushed Chow away and looked in the direction of the sound.

Celine had fallen to the ground in a dead faint.

Whether or not her fainting spell was real, it had successfully shattered the awkwardness around them.

Otherwise, Raylan would have had no idea how to respond either way.

The muffled thud didn't just attract Vivian's attention. At once, Chow let go of Vivian and rushed over towards Celine.

"Celine!" he yelled, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

However, no one would be able to wake up a person who was pretending to be asleep. Similarly, nobody could wake someone up who was pretending to have fainted.

Celine was still lying on the ground, unmoving. Under the dim light of the underground parking lot, her face actually did look rather ashen.

This exact scene made Chow's anger quell immediately. A very similar scene from three years ago flashed across his mind.

Celine had also been like this, falling silently in front of him.

That was his Achilles' heel.

It was the actual reason why he had been unable to let go of this woman for so many years.

Chow picked Celine up from the ground and ran in the direction of his sports car.

Vivian watched his disappearing figure longingly, feeling her heart clenching in pain as she struggled to breathe.

As if she'd been bewitched, Vivian still called out after him. "Brother Chow..."

Hearing her voice, Chow immediately turned around to look at her.

The hatred in his eyes was plain for everyone to see. They were completely clouded in anger.

Vivian couldn't remember how long it had been since the last time she'd seen such hatred in his eyes.

The last time had been when she met Chow for the first time after Uncle Dylan and her mother passed away in the accident.

The people in the home had told her that this man would bring her home.

Vivian then realised that he was the angel in the snow who had extended a helping hand to her last time.

However, before she could even feel happy about meeting her angel again, she caught sight of the look in his eyes. He had been staring at her.

His eyes were cold, dark, and clouded.

There was also a hint of hatred in them.

Just like now.

Although so much time had passed, every time she thought of the scene from before, Vivian felt like her heart was completely frozen.

She had thought that even if the relationship between the two of them wouldn't change, at least for the past two years, Chow's hatred for her had mostly dissipated. She never thought that she would see the same hatred in his eyes again this time, while hugging Celine in his arms.

Two seconds ago, he had still been kissing her.

But now, the hatred in his eyes was making her want to faint.

She knew that she couldn't really pass out, however.

Chow would never hold her like he held Celine in his arms.

Even if she really slumped in a dead faint, she knew that nobody would care. Nobody would ever hold her or treat her preciously like she wanted to be.

Vivian took a few steps backwards and leaned back heavily against the icy-cold pillar.

Then, she watched as the man whom she loved deeply bring his beloved into his car and leave.

The silver sports car shot out of the exit in an instance.

They were really gone now.

It was just as if they'd completely walked out of her life.

Thud!

Another thud sounded.

This time, it was Vivian who had fallen to the ground.

Vivian didn't know how much more pain she had to bear before she could fall asleep forever.

Maybe she wasn't heartbroken enough. Otherwise, why would she still be crying so hard when she could barely even breathe anymore?

She never knew that it would be such a blessing to slump into a dead faint at once.

At the very least, she wouldn't have

to consciously bear the pain of heartache for such a long time. She wouldn't have to watch everything happening with her own eyes. She would be able to escape reality just like that.

It hurt so badly.

Vivian never knew what it meant to love and be loved. Back when she was little, she had asked her mother about it. She didn't know why her mother chose to be with a man who already had a wife.

At that time, her mother had broken down into tears and told her that love made people do irrational things. She just couldn't help it.

As she watched the tears on her mother's face, Vivian thought that she would never let herself face a situation in which she wouldn't be able to help herself from being irrational.

But even when she still hadn't understood what love was, that person's silhouette had been deeply engraved in her heart.

She had no choice.

That was right. She just couldn't help herself.

Ever since having a taste of love, she had grown increasingly sympathetic with her mother.

Even if the feeling had brought her many misfortunes, her mother was just a woman who had blindly fallen in love with someone else.

However, it was as if she had been cursed by fate. She had now embarked on the path that her mother had once taken, the very path that she had secretly vowed never to tread on.

A while later, a figure finally appeared in her blurred vision.

Raylan knelt in front of her with a heavy sigh. "Let's go. I'll take you home."

He had been silently and considerately watching her from the side as she sobbed. Vivian had even forgotten that there was still someone else around.

It seemed like Raylan was always around whenever she was at her worst, but she no longer had the energy to feel ashamed about it.

She hurriedly wiped the tears away from her face. Her voice was so hoarse that she could barely even speak. "I'm sorry."

Of course, under these circumstances, Raylan wouldn't blame her for being impolite.

He just shook his head and helped her up.

Usually, Vivian would feel shy because of their physical contact. But now, she had lost all the strength to feel embarrassed anymore.

What's more, without Raylan's help, she didn't even know if she could stand up on her own.

Raylan helped her up carefully. Seeing that she could barely stand on her own two feet, he hesitated for a moment. "I... I'll carry you there," he said softly.

His personality was truly different

from Chow's Chow would never have dreamed of even asking for her permission to touch her. Even if it was a gentlemanly gesture, Raylan still carefully informed her about what he was going to do.

Vivian wanted to refuse at first, but she thought that she would never be able to make it over with her wobbly feet, so she still nodded her head reluctantly.

In the past, she hadn't known that people who were in deep grief would lose the strength to walk or even stand.

Raylan bent down and picked her up, doing the same movements that Chow did.

But in his arms, Vivian only felt grateful without the slightest hint of nervousness.

Raylan carried Vivian to the side of his car, opened the door, and helped her in before fastening the seatbelt for her.

Even with such close proximity, Vivian didn't feel anything in her heart.

Raylan circled around the car and got into the driver's seat. Looking at the silently crying girl beside him who still had her head lowered, the strange yet familiar heartache started stirring again.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen women cry before.

After all, Raylan had had a lot of experience with love and dating. In fact, he was rather numb to it all.

He'd seen many girls who shed tears because of his coldness towards them.

But none of them had looked as heartbroken as Vivian.

The sadness in her eyes made people feel a lot of sympathy for her. There was only pain and loneliness reflected in her eyes.

The desolation in her eyes was as if the entire world had already crumbled for her.