Chapter 186: Chapter 187: Something Good Is About to Happen
The next morning, the flights were back to normal, and Ian Preston departed with his team at the first chance.
This time, Thea Lynch personally took him to the airport and only left after watching his flight take off.
Because of the many little things in the past two days, Thea had been focusing all her energy on the exhibition in the following days, diligently doing her job.
She kept in touch with Ian but not frequently, knowing they were both busy with work, so they just had brief chats after work each day.
Silas Cheney arrived on the afternoon of the second-to-last day before the exhibition closed.
Thea went to pick him up.
"This is my first time visiting your school." As soon as they entered, Silas rolled down the car window to take a look at the surroundings. "Finally seeing where you’ve lived for seven years."
"Not that long." She hadn’t been at the school for seven years.
"Close enough." Silas said, "Why so serious? You get the point."
The wind was picking up outside, so Silas rolled up the window and turned his head. "I heard something happened the other day?"
Thea knew what he was referring to but instinctively shook her head, "Nope."
Silas made a tsk sound, teasingly said, "Why are you keeping secrets from your brother?"
Thea: "Haven’t we always had some between us?"
Her secrets were fewer compared to Silas’s.
"..."
Silas was at a loss for words, unable to argue.
"Well, tell me then."
"What have you heard?"
Silas told her what he had heard, mostly through Foreman Leigh and some of his own speculations.
"You went to the airport to find Third Brother, right? Then what happened?"
Thea opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Silas interrupted, gesturing to stop and said, "Don’t brush me off."
"I called Third Brother the other day, and he was in a good mood."
"That means the cooperation went well, right? I heard it’s an important deal for him."
"You’re kidding." Silas rolled his eyes. "They didn’t reach an agreement at all."
"Really?" She was surprised as Ian mentioned everything was going well when she asked last night.
"Third Brother kept standing them up. They felt he wasn’t taking this cooperation seriously and felt disrespected." At this, Silas paused his words.
After a moment, silently observing Thea, he continued, "But they’re still negotiating, so there’s hope."
"What really piques my curiosity is, even if such a situation had happened before, Third Brother wouldn’t have been so cheerful at such a critical moment."
"So I guess there must be something good happening."
"It’s probably related to you, otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such a good mood."
"..." Thea took a tactical sip of water.
"Don’t pretend." Finding yourself thirsty just then.
With all her reactions, Silas could probably guess what was happening.
It was clear that something good was approaching.
Could the day for him to preside over their wedding table be far away?
Thea screwed the cap back on and placed the thermos in the side armrest.
"Whatever you think it is, that’s what it is."
Silas raised an eyebrow, indeed.
"Let’s talk business." Afraid he would ask for details, Thea swiftly changed the topic, "I’m flying back home directly after tomorrow night ends."
Silas knew the reason for her return and smiled at her, not objecting.
"Going to the auction tonight? I heard about it from Auntie."
"Yeah." Thea massaged her temples, "Thanks for the reminder, I almost forgot."
"Perfect, I’ll accompany you."
Thea nodded.
"Has Melody been causing you any trouble lately?"
"Not at all. She’s much better than you described, quite a smart kid."
"Pfft."
"What’s so funny?" Thea turned her head.
"Hearing you call her kid is quite amusing."
"Is there anything wrong with that?" The seniority is clear.
"No, no." Silas explained, "Just thought you’re still a kid too."
"Compared to Melody, you’re a very well-behaved, independent child, never making others worry. You’re like the model child every parent talks about."
Thea: "I’ll take that as a compliment."
"Of course, it’s a compliment. I used to envy you so much when I was little."
Hearing this, she was stunned, "You envied me???"
"Yeah." There wasn’t anyone else around, so Silas opened up to her.
"When I first arrived at the courtyard as a kid, you were already like a little princess there. I still remember the old man continuously mentioning you to me, urging me to get along with you."
"My initial impression of you was a young lady adored by everyone, and indeed, you had some so-called princess temperaments."
"I didn’t dare approach you at first. The same went for Big Brother, you were right about him looking fierce. Sean was a bit like a spoiled brat, and Second Brother wasn’t around much at that time."
"So you got along with Third Brother?"
Thea didn’t quite understand, "Didn’t Third Brother have that spoiled temperament too? He was the hardest to get along with among them."
Silas laughed till his shoulders shook, lightly shook his head.
"When I first got to the courtyard, on one hand, I didn’t dare to play with you all. On the other hand, I couldn’t bring myself to actively approach you."
After all, he was the only son from the Norwood Family in Kingsford, always being the center of attention since he was young.
"Then how did you become so close with Third Brother?"
"Because he’s the one who reached out to me first." Looking back at this, Silas had no hint of boasting or pride, rather, more of a sentimentality.
He felt really complicated.
Even if he was still smiling, Thea could feel it.
"Really..." Young Ian wasn’t someone easy to approach either.
She knew this feeling all too well.
"Really. But it indeed feels a bit incredible."
Thinking back to past events, Silas let out a long breath, "Sean often accuses me of being partial, of siding with Third Brother, saying I always take Third Brother’s side unquestionably whenever there’s trouble."
"In truth, you’re also very important to me. I’ve said more than once that I regard you as my own sister."
"I understand what you mean." Thea wasn’t upset at all.
Honestly speaking, Ian’s place in Silas’s heart was above hers, and for very justifiable reasons.
He smiled, "I really want to see Third Brother happy. He’s gone through a lot over the years."
"So after seeing you return, I’ve been hoping his wish would come true. I also hope you two don’t have to endure so much hardship anymore."
"If either of you miss out again, even as a mere spectator, I would find it regretful."
"Thea, do cherish your time with Third Brother."
"Of course, if he doesn’t treat you well, I won’t push you towards him just because of our friendship. I may not have much conscience, but I’ve got some left."
After realizing that the gap between them was closing today, Silas was genuinely happy for both of them.
