My Birthday, My Downfall novel Chapter 82

I rubbed the red mark on my wrist and shook my head. "Forget it, it doesn't hurt. Let's go inside, Marco."

Dragging this out any longer wouldn't do me any good.

Back in the room, my phone buzzed in my hand.

It was a message from Hank: "I'll come find you tonight. We need to talk."

I didn't reply and set the phone down.

After catching a chill earlier, I drank the ginger tea and lay down for a nap, but my head still felt heavy and muddled.

Opting out of dinner, I stayed in the room to rest.

I hadn't expected that just as I was groggily drifting back to sleep, Lauren would knock on my door with dinner in hand.

When I opened the door to let her in, she spoke unprompted, "Your brother asked the kitchen to prepare a bowl of hot soup for you. Come on, drink it while it's warm."

"You didn't come to my room just to bring me dinner, did you?"

My throat was dry and scratchy, and my voice came out hoarse.

With no one else around, Lauren dropped her facade.

The smile in her eyes brimmed with smugness. "Janet, you're not stupid. You should've noticed by now the relationship between Hank and me. I was worried he might have genuinely fallen for you."

"But after what happened this afternoon, I'm sure of it—he still loves me. He can't let me go."

So, my fall into the creek earlier… it really was her doing.

Her purpose was clearly to test how much Hank cared about her.

I was speechless, wanting to scold her, but my dry throat wouldn't allow it. "Did Hank ever tell you he liked me?"

"Of course not. I guessed," she said, placing the dinner box down and sitting on the sofa beside me.

"Other than me, you're the girl he's closest to. If there weren't something going on between you two, why would he treat you so well?"

"Couldn't it just be because of my brother? Hank is practically my second brother. How could there possibly be anything between us?"

There shouldn't be anything more than friendship between us.

Clarifying that was just a way of returning to where we started.

Lauren looked doubtful. "Really? You really don't like him?"

I rested for a moment before grabbing my pajamas and heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

When I returned, I noticed my phone on the bedside table was still lit up.

Picking it up, I saw ten missed calls—all from Hank.

I didn't call him back, deliberately ignoring the notifications.

Instead, I sent a message to Marco.

"Marco, something came up. I need to head home tomorrow. I won't be going back with the rest of you."

We had originally planned to stay for three days, but I left after just one.

I left early in the morning, and aside from Marco, no one else knew.

It took five hours by bus to get home.

I had barely settled into my chair when my mom called.

"I heard you're thinking about dating. There's this young man I've had my eye on for a while. He's two years older than you, steady, and handsome. You should meet him when you have time," she said.