Chapter 264 - Honeymoon

"I'm not stupid," Emerson said with a slight chuckle. "When our friendship suddenly fell apart all those years ago, I knew something must have happened between you and Marissa. I could sense it."

Danson looked out the window and laughed. He thought he hid it well

"At first, I planned to give you some space and I thought you'd eventually talk to me about what happened. Who knew you'd end up avoiding me for 10 years!" Emerson sighed.

He then hesitated for a second before asking something that he always wanted to know, "The two of you dated, didn't you...?"

"Did you...break up because of me?"

Danson almost choked on his drink when he heard this. How did Emerson know so much?

"I can tell from your reaction that it's a yes," Emerson said as he looked out the window. "I can also tell that you're not over her..."

Danson did not respond. He couldn't deny that Emerson was right, but he wasn't a good liar, so he pretended to ignore the man instead.

"You can probably tell by now that I'm a very observant person..." Emerson continued the conversation on his own. 

If Danson was over her, there was no reason why Danson still avoided him and ignored him.

At that moment, Marissa spotted the two men and began to approach them.

Just as she got close enough to hear their conversation, she heard Emerson say, "Would you believe me if I told you that Marissa likes you too?"

Marissa stopped in her tracks. When did Emerson notice this?

"She's been pursuing me all these years because of her stubbornness, not because she truly likes me. She's never liked me. If she liked me, she would have taken the time to properly understand me. All these years, we've never even sat down and had a proper meaningful conversation. But, I can tell that things are different between the two of you. Even in high school, you talked to her more than I did. That's why I could never be with her - and I never will."

Finally, Danson scoffed and replied, "What are you talking about? She has never liked me and I have long stopped liking her. In fact, I hate her. The only reason why I'm still sticking around her is to see you reject her. Seeing her in pain makes me happy. It soothes my soul."

Marissa heard this and dropped the coffee in her hands in shock. She knew he would never love her again, but she didn't expect him to hate her this much.

Danson and Emerson heard the coffee drop and turned to face Marissa in surprise. How long had she been standing there? Did she hear what they had said?

Marissa awkwardly picked up the coffee cup and forced a smile on her face, "I'm glad to see that the two of you are talking again. I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on. I won't bother you." As soon as she was done talking, Marissa immediately turned and scurried away.

Just as she turned, Danson noticed a tear roll down from the corner of Marissa's eyes. She was upset. Why was she upset? Was it because Emerson said he would never be with her? But, why didn't he feel as happy as he expected to witness this?

...

Back in the city center, the mood was a lot happier as Halia and her new husband shared dinner with their remaining family. Emerson had to return to Hong Kong since he had already been in Beijing for almost a week, but the rest of the family had just arrived so they weren't leaving so quickly.

"So, where are you planning to go for your honeymoon?" Jaclyn asked excitedly, "Why don't you come to Europe again and drop by to visit me. I'll be graduating in a few months and I've already secured an internship in Munich."

"Munich?" Aunt Lily asked curiously. "Why didn't you find something in London? Or even better, why didn't you just return to Hong Kong?"

Jaclyn blushed a little, "I have friends in Munich..."

"Friends?" Aunt Lily probed nosily. "Are you talking about that handsome German man that helped with your rehabilitation? What was his name again? Oh yes, John?"

John happened to appear in the background of Jaclyn's video call with her mother once and the handsome German man immediately caught her eye.

Jaclyn smiled awkwardly, "Yes, John's a good friend of mine, but I also made other friends while I was in Munich..."

Jaclyn didn't know how to tell her mother about Mia. After all, she was very conservative.

Noticing a slight awkwardness in Jaclyn's voice, Halia quickly jumped in to save her, "We won't be returning to Europe for our honeymoon. We've discussed our options and decided to visit somewhere more tropical like the Philippines, Malaysia or Indonesia."

Jaclyn looked at Halia thankfully and said, "Those are great choices!"

"Yes, since I just completed my mission and Natalie's wedding is coming up, I've already spoken to Captain Tang and he's agreed to give me leave after I finish writing up a detailed report on the law firm. Sean will also get leave for his honeymoon for the same period of time so neither of us will have to work alone again. It all worked out. We might even meet up during our honeymoons and double-date for a few days," Halia smiled.

At that moment, Father Feng cut into the conversation, "What about Pumpkin? Will Sean and Natalie take him with them on their honeymoon?"

He had long treated Pumpkin like his own grandson, so he was naturally concerned.

"I don't think they'll be taking him because he has school," Halia replied.

Father Feng grinned, "I shall chat to Old Man Shu and see if little Pumpkin can stay with me for a few days."

Halia saw the excitement in her father's eyes and glanced at Jackson. They really needed to give him a legitimate grandchild soon.

Jackson understood and whispered seductively in his wife's ears, "It doesn't matter where we are going on our honeymoon...you won't be getting out of bed..."