Love Began with the First Meeting

Claire sneered. "So what?" Then she paused. Watching Maggie's figure disappearing from sight, she continued, "I have worked hard for years to establish a relationship with Edgar, but how can I let a simple girl come in between us and take the initiative to marry him?" Looking away from Maggie to Cain, she added, "I have never concealed my feelings for Edgar. However, what you have done is quite confusing. Will you tell me that you have known Maggie before you came here to work? Isn't that the truth?" Cain only smiled faintly, and this time his smile stayed around his mouth. It didn't reach his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke again. "If I say yes, then what? If I say no, then what?"

"Let's work together," Claire said. She didn't beat around the bush. Instead she got straight to the point. "I don't care what your aim is...I just care about mine. I have one aim, and that is to have Edgar Gu."

"I'm afraid that even if Edgar Gu wasn't with Maggie Du, he still would not get together with you," Cain said plainly, also getting straight to the point and stabbing Claire in the heart with his words. "I don't care about your aim either. No matter what I care about, and what my aim is, neither is your business. As for your proposal, I'll pretend not to have seen you or heard what you said to me." Claire's face changed color as each word hit her ears and stung her heart. She could only watch and stare as he leveled her with a look. He would take revenge. And he didn't need any allies.

'Edgar Gu,

Cain thought, pausing in his steps to look at the darkening sky, which reflected the gloominess that he felt deep within. 'There is something that you may think has already finished, but in fact it hasn't. I wonder if it will hurt you more, or if it will hurt me more.' A faint smile formed slowly at the corners of Cain's mouth, which looked indifferent yet chilly. There was a haze that seemed to cover his eyes.

The training was increasingly intensive, physically and otherwise. Some of the students who took part in the special training had joined the army before going to the military college. For them, it was not very difficult to cope with training at such intensity levels. However, for students who had done civilian work when they went to the basic level units, the training nearly killed them.

In such a circumstance, Maggie became increasingly persistent. She had been an aggressive person. Besides, she didn't want anybody to speak ill of Edgar because of her poor performance. Therefore, she put in all of her efforts into the training.

"Hurry up!" Claire's voice came from the playground. It seemed like she was targeting Maggie and only Maggie.

With both hands tucked in his trouser pockets, Cain leaned against a locust tree in a somewhat lazy manner. With a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, he followed Maggie with his gaze. After a while, he called out to her, "If you try too hard, you'll get the opposite of what you want."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Edgar was observing progress of the students. When he heard Cain, he frowned and looked at him.

At that moment, Cain looked away from Maggie. His eyes met Edgar's. He stood up straight and shrugged. "Let's have a rest tomorrow and then do a rapid response training session."

"According to the training program, tomorrow we should..."

"I'm the one who decides whether or not the program is feasible," Cain cut Claire off. He still wore the gentle, evil and attractive smile, which looked harmless but domineering.

Edgar's frown deepened, but he regained his countenance in an instant. "Do as Cain says," he told Claire. He agreed with Cain. After 15 consecutive days' high intensity training, they knew clearly the actual condition of the students. Over the following days, the training would involve all kinds of testing based on the tolerance capacity of the students. Only those who were able to stay until the end were soldiers the country needed.

While he was still thinking, Maggie came into view. She was running and sweating profusely. She performed as well as only a few outstanding male students who had joined the army before going to the college. 'Women of this kind would bring too much pressure and stress to men, ' he thought.

A faint smile formed over his lips although he himself wasn't aware of it. 'Lucky she married me. No other man would be able to control her.'

For the students, dismissal was great news. They even wanted to celebrate it. They were enough of such high intensity training. As a result, when they were told that they would have a day off for adjustment before the following round of training, everybody wanted to sleep the night and the next day away.

"Maggie, why don't you go to bed?" Monica asked lazily. Her eyelids were so heavy that she could hardly keep her eyes open. She looked over at Maggie, who was sitting by the side of her bed and looking out of the window. "Aren't you tired?"

"If I say that I'm not tired, I would be lying." Maggie had a deepened gaze on her face. She had exerted all her energy. How could she not be tired? However, despite her fatigue, she was not sleepy at all. She was thinking about the almost invisible faint smile at the corners of Cain's mouth and his gaze which seemed to absorb anything he looked at, including her.

Monica didn't respond. She fell asleep in mere minutes, and soon her breathing and snoring could be heard coming from her body.

Maggie watched Monica for a while. Then with a heavy heart, she walked out of the dormitory building. There was nothing except the moon in the dark sky. In the cold winter night, she walked to the No. 4 training ground, where she had attended training for the past half a month. All of a sudden, she stopped in her tracks and widened her eyes. She looked around. There was a slender figure standing in the shadow of a tree.

"It's late but you're idling about outside.

It seems that the training during the past half a month was not intensive enough for you!"