Chapter 390
390:
“Who were you with?” Dylan’s voice stayed cool, but the curiosity in his eyes was hard to hide. He was itching to find out who had been sitting across from Christina at that coffee shop. Was it a man? A quiet sense of worry started to build up inside him.
“Why don’t you take a guess?” Christina replied, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
Dylan fell silent for a moment before replying, “I have no idea.”
“It was Yvonne,” Christina answered, a small smile on her lips. Her expression seemed calm, devoid of any visible emotion, as if she were truly unbothered. But Dylan saw right through her calm facade, and his chest tightened. After that awkward conversation about her family, he had gone digging into her history with the Jones family, and what he uncovered left him shaken. The Jones family had sent a ten-year-old Christina off to a harsh training camp overseas, a place that swallowed people whole and left nothing behind—a veritable hell on earth. Anyone sent to that camp might as well have been sent to their own funeral. Almost no one managed to make it out alive.
Dylan still couldn’t imagine how Christina, at just ten years old then, had managed to survive in such a nightmare. For her to have come through it, her will to live had to be something truly incredible. Perhaps her deep dislike for violence was a scar left over from those days. What never crossed his mind was that her fear of blood was nothing but an act.
“Just say the word, and I will make the Jones family disappear,” Dylan said, his eyes locked on hers.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll settle things myself. I don’t want to trouble anyone,” Christina replied, standing her ground.
Dylan’s brow creased, not liking her answer. “It’s no trouble at all. I am more than willing to help you handle the Jones family.”
Her laugh was gentle. “Then tell me—from what position are you in to intervene like that?”
Dylan paused, choosing his words carefully. When he finally spoke, his voice was steady and sincere. “I could be the most important person in your life.” He deliberately opted against using the word “friend.” He didn’t want to settle for the friend zone. He longed to be her boyfriend, the one she trusted most and meant everything to her. But those feelings got stuck somewhere between his chest and his lips. He never found the courage to say them outright, worried she’d pull away if he pushed too hard. Whenever Christina was involved, he handled everything with extra care, always afraid of upsetting her with a single misstep.
“But even if we are best friends, there are still matters I have to take care of on my own.” She offered a gentle smile and asked, “Wouldn’t you agree?”
Dylan didn’t protest. “Yeah.” Some things, he realized, could only be resolved by her, and it would never feel the same if someone else stepped in. He understood that about her.
After a short pause, Dylan added, “But if you ever run into something you can’t deal with on your own, promise me you’ll let me help.”
Without missing a beat, Christina replied, “Alright.”
She looked at his hands, still resting on her shoulders, and grinned. “So tell me, how long are you planning to hold onto my shoulders?”
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