Chapter 332 - Celebration

Ying Sheng leaned her head back to lightly roll it, a sigh breaking from her that lightly echoed throughout the area of the library that she was in. She was finally finished with her business plan with only a few days to spare. She stared at the last words for a few more seconds, trying to figure out how she felt about the whole thing. 

She had worked hard on it, but she knew that it didn't have as much flair and passion in it as it did when she had been working on it before her birthday. When she had been writing it then, she had put her heart and soul into it. Every word felt right.

Now, she was just finishing it to finish it. Everything was right in a technical manner, but the spirit seemed to be missing. She just hoped that it was good enough to pass. Then, she didn't know what she would do. Maybe her spirit would come back, but it felt so far away now. She didn't like that feeling, like she was disconnected from her own soul.

Ying Sheng rubbed her hands over her face, unsure of what to do now. She had come here to finish up her business plan and to get out of the apartment for awhile. She hadn't said much to Liam because she didn't know what to say. She was still a little hurt over him lying to her, and that didn't help her lonely feeling.

Her parents didn't want anything to do with her. They hadn't even called her back after she had called them. Now, the person she was closest to in her life had withheld important information from her and stood by to let her get hurt. She didn't know how to feel, and she felt like anything he would say would just confuse her more. She thought that they looked out for each other.

Maybe she had opened her heart up too soon to him. She had let him in, let him know her. Maybe that had been a mistake. People hurt the ones closest to them all the time. She didn't know why she thought that she was exempt from that. She just wanted to feel safe for once.

With a sigh, she decided to just head back to the apartment. She could make a sandwich and then disappear into her room for the night before Liam could confront her again. She just didn't feel like talking about what happened anymore. She felt like a broken record, and she didn't want to hear herself repeat the same sob story. She was tired of her own sadness.

After packing her laptop back into her backpack, she slung it onto her back and walked through the library toward the exit. Everything around her seemed to blur into the background, her focus slipping. She just wanted to get home.

The walk back to her car felt like it took forever, her steps seeming to drag as she crossed the parking lot. The drive back wasn't any faster, but she made it to the apartment eventually. She drew in a steadying breath before opening the front door and stepping inside only to immediately stop in place.

The apartment was pitch black except for countless lighted candles glowing throughout the darkness. She almost panicked for a second, thinking that the place was on fire. She fumbled for the light switch, turning on the light between the kitchen and living room to reveal a huge assortment of different baked goods and pastries, ranging from small cakes to brownies to muffins. They were placed all over the apartment on any open surface.

"What the hell?" She muttered as she glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on. She also spotted a few streamers and balloons hanging around the area. 

Liam suddenly walked out of the hallway that led to their bedrooms, a surprised look adorning his face.

Ying Sheng guessed that he hadn't expected her to come home so soon. She had no clue what he was up to, prompting her to cross her arms over her c.h.e.s.t.

"What's going on?" She asked him, lifting an eyebrow at him.

Liam walked closer to her, gesturing to all of the baked goods.

"Setting up a makeshift bakery," he responded in a casual tone. He picked up a red velvet cookie and bit into it, humming at its sweet taste. "You should definitely include red velvet sweets."

"It's not that popular of a flavor," Ying Sheng murmured, eyeing him as he came closer. He seemed to be dodging around her question, but she would play his game if he would eventually tell her what was going on. She didn't get the point of filling their apartment with so many sweets. Though, they did look and smell really good.

"You just don't like it. It's popular,"Liam pointed out as he stopped a few feet in front of her. He finished off the cookie and then wiped the crumbs off of his hands.

"What are you up to? Is this some sort of stunt to wow me or something?" Ying Sheng asked him. If she was honest, it did wow her a little bit due to all of the effort he had to have gone through to pack the house with sweets and decorations in such little time. She had only been gone for a few hours, and he had managed to already pull all of this off.

"A stunt? Maybe. It's… a celebration," Liam replied before leaning over to pick up a striped birthday kazoo, the tongue rolling out as he blew into it. He then tossed it aside.

Ying Sheng sighed, her arms dropping from in front of her c.h.e.s.t. She guessed that this was an attempt to make up for her birthday. He really didn't have to do this. She wasn't really in the birthday mood anymore.

"The last one didn't go so well," Ying Sheng reminded him, wondering why he wanted to bring up the past. She considered fleeing to her room before the conversation kept heading that way, but she couldn't bring herself to move from the spot. He was looking at her with eyes so full of hope that she felt frozen.

"Because I ruined it," Liam replied with a small nod.