Chapter 19: Do You Have a Boyfriend?

At that question, Daisy finally snapped. she stood up abruptly, the force even knocking over her chair.

"Tara, can you stop playing the victim? Not everyone likes that 'green tea' act of yours, understand?"

Clutching her injured knee, Tara was frozen by the other girl's aggressive outburst, momentarily unable to react.

Daisy sneered, "You clearly knew I liked Killian, yet you told me to my face that you were going to pursue him. Did you ever consider my feelings?"

Tara’s eyes widened. "You like—"

Daisy interrupted her again, her voice rising with agitation: "I know I'm not as pretty as you, so I wasn't going to fight you for him. I treated you as a friend, but what about you?"

She was filled with grievance and resentment. "You had the ability to use your brother’s connections to get Josie and Cassie into his company, yet you specifically left me out!"

"You never treated me as a friend. You just look down on me because my family isn't rich and I'm not beautiful!"

Tara frowned, finding herself unable to defend herself despite the absurdity. She tried to explain: "It's not like that, Daisy. I didn't—"

"Fine, I don't want to hear it!" After her hysterical accusation, Daisy slammed the door and left.

In the end, Tara was left alone in the dorm. The pain in her knee seemed to go numb, but the ache in her chest was palpable.

"All the food is served. It was just one tablet, why isn't Tara here yet?"

At Wang’s Home Cooking restaurant, Josie spoke in confusion.

"I'll give her a call," Cassie said, immediately pulling out her phone.

However, the moment she did, a message from Tara arrived.

Tara:

[Cassie, you and Josie go ahead and eat. Something came up unexpectedly. I'll head back to the company dorm later.]

"What's so urgent..." Cassie murmured. She didn't think much of it. "Tara says she can't make it and told us to eat."

"Sigh, everyone is being weird. Daisy said she couldn't come either. This meal is no fun."

Night fell, and the city lights sparkled brilliantly.

For some reason, the park on Yunshui Road was exceptionally lively today. On the massive plaza, older women were square dancing, kids were skateboarding, and couples leaned into each other hand-in-hand.

The crowd was bustling, but the noise seemed to have nothing to do with Tara, who sat alone on a public bench. She sat there with her tablet, sometimes staring into space, sometimes drawing gloomily. She sat silently from dusk until total darkness.

"Hey, little beauty, why the long face?"

Under the glow of the streetlights, several young men with oddly colored hair suddenly pulled up on motorcycles in front of Tara and whistled.

Tara looked up, met their unfriendly gazes, and frowned. She packed her tablet and stood up to leave.

But before she could walk a few meters, the "ghost-fire" youths revved their engines and cut her off, blocking her path with their bikes.

"Tsk, so cold, beautiful?"

A youth with blue hair smiled at her and suddenly hopped off his bike. "Don't be scared. We don't mean any harm. We just saw how pretty you are and wanted to be friends."

"I saw you sitting here all alone for a long time. You must not have a boyfriend yet, right?"

He reached out toward Tara’s shoulder. "What do you think of me? Why don't you consider giving it a try with—"

Slap!

A crisp sound rang out. Tara disgustedly slapped his hand away and stepped back, her voice cold: "If you keep bothering me, I'll call the police!"

However, her sweet, soft voice lacked any real threat. Instead, it only fueled the blue-haired youth's desire to tease her.

"Alright, alright. I'm going. We're going now."

The youth raised his hands, got back on his motorcycle, and revved the engine as they pulled away.

Tara let out a small sigh of relief, her heart still pounding, and prepared to head back. However, a few seconds later...

"Wahoo!"

The roar of an engine suddenly returned. A bike brushed past her unexpectedly, and before she could react, her bag was snatched from her shoulder.

"Ha! Got it~" The blue-haired youth waved her bag at her triumphantly.

This time, Tara was truly pushed too far. Rage burned in her eyes. "Give it back!"

"You want it? Come and get it~"

With that, the youth casually dangled her bag with one hand while driving away slowly. Tara didn't even think; she took off running after them.

"Hahaha! Can't catch me, can't catch me!"

The arrogant laughter of the youths echoed through the park. While some onlookers were displeased, they didn't dare intervene against the group and instead quietly called the police for her.

Droplets fell from Tara's chin—it was unclear if it was sweat or something else. Clutching her throbbing knee, she glared at the youth who had finally stopped his bike.

"Give... it... to me!" she panted, enunciating each word.

"Agree to be my girlfriend and I'll give it back. How about it?" The youth smirked, looking at her with a thuggish grin.

"Impossible," Tara refused bluntly.

"Then there's nothing left to say." The youth sneered. With a sudden burst of strength, he threw her bag into the center of the lake.

"You want it? Go into the water and get it yourself~"

He was playing with her, but in the next moment, a loud

splash

rang out.

Tara had actually climbed over the railing and jumped in. The youth’s expression instantly changed.

"Oh my god, she really jumped!"

"The water is deep there, will she be okay?"

The crowd began to buzz with anxiety. Realizing things had turned serious, the youths immediately fled the scene on their motorcycles.

"Oh no, she hasn't come up yet! Who can swim? Someone save her!"

Ignoring the shouts of the crowd, Tara was underwater. The youth had thrown it into a shallow area; if she looked carefully, she should be able to find it. She kept her eyes wide, holding her breath.

Fortunately, heaven rewarded her efforts, and she found it. She immediately swam toward the bag with joy.

At that exact moment, another loud

splash

echoed from the surface. Tara didn't have time to look; she was focused on the bag.

But just as she was inches away, a firm strength suddenly wrapped around her waist, pinning her tightly as it pulled her toward the surface.

The bag drifted away before her very eyes. Tara grew frantic.

Who is this person with no situational awareness?!

In her panic, she lost her breath and swallowed several mouthfuls of water. Choking and gasping, her vision went dark.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

After a while, as fresh air entered her lungs, Tara opened her eyes. As her vision cleared, she was met with a familiar, handsome face.