My childhood best friend's girlfriend is terminally online, always chasing the latest viral trends. She pestered him with a meme she saw recently: "Julian, you're a year older than me. Why didn't you visit me when I was born? Do you even love me?" Julian laughed, playing along with his girlfriend's joke. He turned to his usually serious and strait-laced uncle, who happened to be there, and asked: "Uncle, how would you answer that?" His usually stoic uncle replied, "I did visit." "Not only did I visit, I held her when she was a baby." As he spoke, his gaze slowly drifted and landed on me. 1 Julian and I were childhood sweethearts. For the first twenty years of our lives, we were inseparable. Not just me, but both our parents and all our friends thought we were a match made in heaven. When I was 18, my parents brought up the idea of a marriage alliance with the Thorne family and asked for my opinion. I actually had feelings for Julian. A union between our families would have been a beautiful story. But since we were young, the engagement was put on hold, and we ended up at the same university. For two years, we were more than friends but less than lovers. Everyone thought it was just a matter of time. I allowed my feelings for Julian to deepen, bit by bit. Until the winter of our sophomore year, Julian excitedly told me, "Liv, I met someone I like!" It wasn't me. Seeing him so happy, I realized the past twenty years hadn't sparked any romantic feelings in him. The hand-holding and hugs were just friendship to Julian. Love can't be forced, and I wouldn't debase myself. I reined in my heart. So, under the shocked gazes of everyone around us, Julian started dating a girl from an average middle-class family. She was pretty, a little spoiled, clearly a girl doted on by her parents. He introduced his girlfriend to everyone in our circle. My presence became slightly awkward. But our mutual friends didn't think they would last. They always believed that once the novelty wore off, Julian would realize that he and I were the perfect match. Someone comforted me: "Liv, Julian is just caught up in the moment. He's never met such a naive and innocent girl before. He'll get bored soon." He didn't. Julian dated her for two years. For two years, he paraded his girlfriend around town. Not just me, but my parents and his parents heard all about it. My dad was so angry he wanted to go over and yell at them. My mom stopped him: "If the marriage doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. Why ruin the relationship? Our daughter won't have trouble finding someone." "Is this just about the marriage?" My dad was still fuming. When our families discussed the union back then, Julian couldn't have been unaware. He was an adult too. At the very least, his attitude was a tacit agreement. Even though we were never officially together, we almost got engaged. It was my mom who said we were too young and should spend more time getting to know each other. In terms of social etiquette, he embarrassed me and my family. But we remained friends. Our families had business dealings, so we had to maintain appearances. But we could only be friends. Tonight was Julian's birthday. He booked a large private room and invited a lot of people out to celebrate. I was among them. Of course, so was his girlfriend, Chloe. 2 After Julian started dating, we contacted each other less. But there was still some historical baggage. Before Julian met Chloe, our chat history and interactions on social media weren't exactly platonic. After he got a girlfriend, she naturally had the right to check his phone. They argued about it a few times. Once, when Julian apologized to me, I found out Chloe had used his phone to delete my contact information. We hadn't been in touch for a while then, so I hadn't even noticed. For Chloe to enter Julian's circle, hearing about me was inevitable. These rich kids who grew up together were somewhat exclusive, so someone must have said something to her. I understood the situation and kept my distance from Julian. For his birthday, I originally planned to drop off a gift and leave. But as I walked in, my gaze swept over a figure in the corner, and I froze. Then my phone lit up. After checking the message, I silently found a seat. "Liv, you made it?" Julian looked pleasantly surprised. "I heard you've been learning the ropes with your dad recently, thought you wouldn't have time." I smiled and handed him the birthday gift. "Happy birthday." "Liv," Chloe's voice piped up. "Haven't seen you in a while. Why the mature look lately? You look like you're pushing thirty." Chloe was wearing a custom-made pink evening gown worth tens of thousands, with her hair curled, looking exceptionally perky. Of course, she wasn't lacking in emotional intelligence; she was doing it on purpose. I glanced down at my women's suit and chuckled lightly. "Really? Guess I've got that girl boss vibe down." Julian tried to smooth things over. "Liv, Chloe's just joking, don't take it to heart." Of course I wouldn't take it to heart. Not just anyone gets to live in my heart. I wasn't sitting very close to them, but my eyesight and hearing were decent. Chloe probably saw a new meme online and suddenly said to Julian: "Julian, you're a year older than me. Why didn't you visit me when I was born? Do you even love me?" After she said this, not only did Julian laugh, but the people around them laughed too, chiming in: "Yeah, Julian, why didn't you bring baby formula to visit your future girlfriend back then?" The teasing was good-natured. Chloe was pretty, the innocent kind of pretty. Her personality wasn't bad either. Having dated Julian for two years, she had some standing with part of the group. So her EQ wasn't low. Julian casually replied, "I was busy getting spanked by my mom for not drinking my milk properly." Another round of laughter ensued. Julian turned his head and saw his uncle, who had unexpectedly come to celebrate with him, still there. He jokingly asked, "Uncle, if it were you, how would you answer?" Julian's uncle, Elias Thorne, was five years older than us. He was an unexpected late addition to the Thorne family. Since childhood, he was the "other people's kid" parents compared us to. Although only a few years older, his seniority and his overly impressive resume made the second-generation rich kids in the circle quite afraid of him. I used to call him Uncle too. Julian probably just wanted to see what kind of brain circuit his steady, slightly old-fashioned uncle had. Someone nearby laughed: "Julian, don't make it hard for your uncle. He's busy with a million things, where would he find time for romance?" The next second, Elias spoke: "I did visit." "Huh?" The man who usually didn't smile added softly, "Not only did I visit, I held her when she was a baby." No one noticed his gaze fixed directly on me. "..." Others thought he was joking: "Hahahaha Uncle, didn't know you were so good at playing along." No one took it seriously. Except me. Elias's gaze didn't shift. Even without meeting his eyes, I felt it was a bit too blatant. After the party, I found my car in the parking lot. I got in only to find someone already there. The driver hesitated in the front seat. Elias's soft chuckle came from the back: "Mind giving me a ride? I didn't drive tonight." As the door closed, I heard the person next to me say, "I can't remember the way home. Miss Liv, would you mind letting me stay the night?" 3 Elias pretended to be drunk and leaned on my shoulder. His warm breath occasionally brushed against the skin of my neck, making his presence impossible to ignore. I looked out the window, remembering the night Julian made his relationship official on social media two years ago. It would be a lie to say I wasn't heartbroken. Less than a month after Julian told me he met a girl he liked, he went public. I was still wondering how our families would handle the fallout. Even more unexpectedly, at the same time, he took his girlfriend to meet our mutual friends. Maybe Julian just wanted to show off how much he liked her, but there were always people in the circle who didn't like me. During that time, sarcastic remarks naturally followed. Whether I showed I cared or not, I couldn't avoid the ridicule. That was when Elias returned to the country. He seemed to have a project in New York that wasn't finished yet. Ideally, I didn't want to see anyone from the Thorne family those days, but Elias appeared directly in front of me. It was winter break. Elias asked if I wanted to go to the US with him to clear my mind. I was dazed, didn't understand what he meant. For a long time, both Julian and I were a bit afraid of his uncle. Although only five years older, for as long as I could remember, Elias clearly couldn't mesh with us childish kids. Blessed by genetics, Elias was excellent beyond words. As we grew older, he gradually became someone we looked up to. With courage and handsome looks clearly superior to his peers, there was no shortage of girls who liked him. I didn't speak to him much. Most of our interactions were because of Julian. So when he invited me to the US, I didn't get it. Elias asked me, "Do you still like Julian?" I was silent for a moment, unsure how to answer. "It's okay if you still do. He's just a man," Elias said. "You'll meet others in your life." I couldn't tell if he was comforting me. "Julian likes someone else. Would you consider liking someone else?" Elias looked at me calmly and said, "Would you consider me?" Shock overwhelmed sadness. Tears that were welling up fell, but my eyes were filled with speechless shock. Elias gently wiped a tear from my cheek with a tissue. "Don't cry for people who aren't worth it," he paused, then added slowly, "Of course, you can consider it a detox." "..." It was the first time I knew Elias had a sense of humor. He said, "If your initial choice of Julian was based on the alliance between our families, then my conditions overall should be better than his." More than just better. Elias was practically the guaranteed next head of the Thorne family. Julian didn't have that ambition; his shrewdness was far inferior to his uncle's. "If you simply liked Julian as a person, well, he's withdrawn from the conquest for your heart. I don't think I'm being immoral." 4 I went to New York with Elias not because I was moved by his words, but because he asked, "Do you plan to join your family's company after graduation?" "I'm negotiating a project in New York. Want to come along and see?" Elias's abilities were obvious to all. Like many others, I admired him. Admiration for the strong is a normal mindset. I really wanted to see Elias work. So even after he volunteered to be my marriage partner, I still went to New York with him. Elias kept me by his side for two weeks, without any adult ambiguity. Like a senior mentoring a junior, he taught me a lot. I witnessed his strategic planning and calmness in business. Without any personal feelings involved, choosing Elias was far better than Julian. The benefits were more direct. "But, Uncle, Julian is your biological nephew." The night before leaving New York, in the hotel bar, Elias and I sat facing each other, soothing English songs playing in the background. The dim bar lighting added a touch of ambiguity. Elias's expression didn't change. His calm eyes rested on my face, meeting my gaze: "Yeah, he did you dirty. You can consider becoming his aunt. You'll be his elder from now on." "..." Become Julian's aunt? I admit Elias's words were tempting, but I had other considerations for my life. Julian hurt me, but he couldn't influence my next steps. "Uncle, I have another question." Elias: "You can ask many questions. Also, you can call me by my name." Call him by his name. I've called him Uncle since I was a kid, following Julian. Naturally, I treated him as an elder. But now, our relationship was heading in another direction, adding a sense of taboo. "What is your..." I paused, "view of me?" "You want to know if I'm pursuing you for profit or something else?" Elias asked back. Before I could answer, he said, "Liv, a five-year age gap shouldn't be too big. Besides Julian, you and I are childhood acquaintances too, right?" I froze. "I'm a few years older. After you started kindergarten, you often ran over to play with Julian. back then the adults were busy, and both you and Julian were quite clingy with me, remember?" Elias said softly. His words brought back memories. It seems little kids always like playing with older kids. Julian and I both pestered Elias when we were small. But as we grew up, Elias got busy with school, then his career. He became the best among his peers, and our relationship naturally changed. "When you graduated high school, my brother and sister-in-law wanted you as their daughter-in-law and discussed engagement with your parents. Back then, you and Julian were innocent playmates," Elias changed the subject, "But Liv, now he's backed out first. Even if I am his elder, pursuing a single woman isn't immoral, right?" Elias took me home. During the half-month in New York, he didn't cross the line once. That Chinese New Year, Julian and his parents probably felt too ashamed to visit my house because of his relationship. The Thorne family sent Elias instead. There were many people that day. No one knew that in my room, Elias asked me: "Liv, have you thought about it?"
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