Chapter 28 Stop Mentioning People Who Doesn’t Concern You
++8 Pearls
Halford couldn’t even endure a full week at school before feeling like he was wasting away. As soon as the holidays came, he eagerly dragged Nigel out to have some fun.
With neither of his biological parents around, Halford’s aunt became his temporary guardian. She was a quintessential career woman in her forties. Not only was she strikingly beautiful but also highly capable. She gave Halford an ultimatum that if he continued to play truant and partied all the time like he did abroad once he came back home, she would send him to his grandparents.
This ultimatum had kept Halford up for three nights. Although Halford was lucky that his aunt was too occupied with her work to monitor him, she seemed to have ways to keep him in line. After the small act of rebellion, his aunt had had his parents cancel two of his cards and reduce his monthly allowance by half immediately.
Even though it didn’t improve Halford’s truancy, he became drastically less spenthrift, and he finally became a bit more obedient.
This week, Halford discovered a shooting club that offered all sorts of healthy activities ranging from pool, boxing, and rock climbing.
Upon reaching the club, Halford took a few photos to send to his aunt with a mischievous grin, hoping to get some extra allowance, only to discover that his aunt had blocked him.
Halford complained about his situation to Nigel for half an hour straight, hoping that Nigel would pick up the tab, but he didn’t seem to be convinced at all. After a while, Nigel finally said indifferently, “If you don’t stop yapping, I’m going to leave you here.”
Halford was left speechless.
Well, I guess he who pays the piper calls the tune, he thought to himself.
The both of them then proceeded to pick their guns up. In the black shooting suits that they had changed into, they resembled silhouettes from a movie poster with their broad shoulders and long legs.
“Oh, by the way,” said Halford as he aimed at the bullseye.
Three loud bangs echoed in the air. The recoil had left Halford’s palms numb. He took a look at his results. It was a perfect bullseye.
“Lilith knew about your leg injury,” he continued.
“What? Is this what you think?”
“Nah, she asked about it. She probably realized your condition. Was your leg acting up lately?” Indeed, it would be impossible for someone to tell without sprinting or high jumping since Nigel was walking just fine.
“No,” Nigel answered succinctly as he fired a shot.
He turned around swiftly and took the hot towel handed by the waiter. He sat on the sofa nearby and wiped his hands calmy like an elegant aristocrat.
Halford lost interest after firing a few shots. As he passed Nigel’s target, he casually took a glance at his results and blurted,
“D’mn son.”
His shots were as accurate as a laser. It was a bullseye.
He sat down infront of Nigel and took the glass of wine on the table. He tried to take a sip and complained, “This wine is disgusting. Do you not have taste?”
While Halford was not a hardcore party animal or an alcoholic, growing up among a group of priviledged young man instilled in him their bad habits. This had left him with a short temper and unfiltered mouth.
Anything that did not suit Halford’s taste or preferences was classified as ‘poor taste” by him.
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9:29 PM
Chapter 28 Stop Mentioning People Who Doesn’t Concern You
+8 Pearls
“I’ll keep a few bottles of Macallan and Dom Perignon here for our convenience. This cloying wine will never touch my lips again. It’s making me sick.”
Nigel kept quiet. His gaze was fixed on the lawn not far away. Perhaps he was looking at something, or was thinking about something.
After some idle chatter, Halford somehow returned to the previous topic.
“Lilith is quite observant,” commented Halford as if he was evaluating her. “She is indeed quite different from the others in the Joneses. She is not particularly good–looking, but she is quite interesting.”
“Shut up.” Nigel finally turned his head back slowly to Halford. “Stop mentioning people who doesn’t concern you.”
The weather had completely turned cold in December. With days of continuous rain, the sky was overcast, and even when it stopped, the clouds remained, filling the air with a chilling coldness and dampness that seeped through the bones.
Lilith had always hated the cold, this was perhaps due to her physical condition. Even when the seasons were not changing, she was prone to colds and illness. Typically, at this time of year, she would develop a fever that would last for a week, leaving her delirious and sleepless, weak and drained..
But this year was different, she only caught a slight cold.
Dressed in a black coat with a hood and a scarf wrapped around her neck, Lilith was well–prepared for winter. The heater was on full blast as she entered the classroom. Lilith took off her heavy outerwear. She was already coughing her lungs out in the morning.
Liana looked at her with her concerned eyes. “Lilith, you seem to be really ill. Do you want to take a day off to visit the hospital?”
Lilith looked at her. “It’s not that bad, really.”
She could still go to school, walk, eat and converse as usual. It couldn’t be that bad.
Liana ignored her. She placed her palm onto Lilith’s forehead. Although it wasn’t hot, but it did feel like Lilith was having a fever. “I think you’re getting delirious from the fever. You should take a day off and go to the hospital for some IV drips.”
As the weather turned colder, Nigel’s attendance in class became less frequent. Lilith remembered Halford telling her that during the raining season or weather change, his leg would act up and he would likely be resting at the hospital or at home.
Nigel came in the middle of a class. His gaze was sweeping around the classroom and settled on the wall and the pins on it for a few seconds.
It was a very subtle move. He didn’t seem like he was looking for anyone but more like he was checking if something was intact.
Liana was bored but she could not read her novels or comics in class. There was no way she could sit still to study for a long time either, so her eyes wandered around the classroom to pass the time. That was how she caught Nigel’s action and gaze.
She nudged Lilith with her elbow. “Hey, Nigel was looking behind for a very long time.”
Lilith was busy correcting Liana’s English test paper, so she responded without lifting her head from it, “Maybe he is looking at the clock and counting down the minutes until class is over.”
Liana was speechless.
It was more likely that Nigel was looking at her. As she was busy with her thoughts, Lilith pushed the test paper full of red markups back to her. She instantly lost her train of thought as shame washed over her.
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