Starting with A Divorce by Gloria Warren

Chapter 173 The Heavy Rain
“What?! He came to look for you?” Lainey said in shock.
Ainsley talked about it and Irene with Lainey right after the breakup.
Ainsley thought of the building she saw Manuel walk into that day and smiled sorrowfully, “I don’t think so. He came for work.”
“Aisy, don’t think about him anymore.” Lainey’s voice became gentle.
“I see.”
She was warning herself every moment not to think about Manuel. But the more she warned herself not to think, the more she would think.
“Aisy, I’ll come over and keep you company.”
Ainsley laughed. “Lainey, I know you’re worried about me. Your family is so busy right
now. Just stay home.”
“Aisy, I’m worried about you.” Lainey wanted to come over right away.
“It’s okay. It’s still a month away. You can come over whenever you’re done.”
Outside the window, there were neon lights and towering buildings. Manuel sat in front
of the floor-to-ceiling window. Ainsley’s hotel was across the street.
It was a busy part of St. Nork, with a lot of traffic on the road. He lay on the bed, still
thinking about yesterday’s events.
He had been drinking with the people from Applegath yesterday. Getting drunk and dazed, he arrived at Ainsley’s hotel without saying what he wanted to say.
What he could remember was Ainsley’s indifferent gaze and her sense of loss before he
left
The phone rang and his eyes narrowed. It was Irene calling.
“What’s up?” He didn’t tell Irene that he’d come to St. Nork. He’d come the first day Ainsley had arrived.
“Manuel, who was it that answered the phone last night?” Irene’s voice was soft, but her tone was unmistakably sharp.

Manuel only felt annoyance. “What’s up?” He didn’t want to answer the question.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Manuel? Why did you go abroad without telling me? I only found out about you going abroad today after a discussion with Ormus. Did you avoid me on purpose?” Irene’s tone was getting more and more urgent.
Manuel said in a cold voice, “No, I just had to come here.”
Irene’s voice got a little louder. “I heard that Ainsley went to St. Nork for the Decker Contest. Manuel, you must be in St. Nork now.”
Manuel gripped the phone slowly and his tone became colder, “You’re well-informed. So
what?”
Irene giggled. “So you’re really in St. Nork. Did Ainsley answer the phone last night? Manuel, are you going to cheer for her? I’d like to cheer for her too.”
She paused and said, “Why don’t I come there tonight?”
Manuel’s face fell. “Don’t control me, Irene.”
“Manuel, I’m not controlling you. Mathew said you should look after me and that we
should work together. This is between the Wade family and the Gage family. Of course, I have to go to St. Nork and control the situation.”
“Suit yourself.”
Manuel hung up the phone and frowned. He squeezed his brow as he thought about what Ainsley had said again.
“We’re just normal friends, maybe not even normal friends…”
“Sorry for lying to me all this time, or sorry because of Irene?”
He wanted to tell Ainsley, but he didn’t dare to bet on it. At least now he could still meet Ainsley. He wanted to talk to Irene and make it clear. But he couldn’t fall out with Irene, at
least not now.
That night he got a call from Irene. She had arrived at St. Nork and wanted him to pick.
her up. He didn’t go.
Inside the hotel, Ainsley continued to work on her paper.
She was supposed to be the fastest of the group of contestants. The rest were still thinking about the idea.
For a thesis, the idea was the most important indeed.
If it was wrong from the beginning of the topic, it would be a mess.
It took her only two days to finish her proposal. Gwendolyn was surprised at her
progress.
“That’s too fast for you.”
The competition was an academic project competition organized by the top universities abroad. The judges were very professional. In addition to famous psychology professors from different countries, there were also some people from the Institute of Psychology.
The professionalism of the judges and the harshness of the selection process predetermined the strong influence of this competition.
According to inside scoop, after this competition, the experts of the Institute of Psychology would choose their favorite ones to enter the Institute.
By the fifth day of the competition, Ainsley had stopped thinking about Manuel.
She had finished her assignment and stretched out, and Zane had already emailed her all the data she needed. She had already started sifting through the data.
Systematizing and then classifying it in detail, she began to think about how to model it.
When she finished planning the modeling approach, it was already midnight.
Outside the window was the sound of dense rain. The weather forecast in the morning mentioned that it would rain heavily tonight. It was raining half an hour ago, and she
didn’t expect it to continue now.
She stood up and walked to the bed. Before she could lie down, she was startled by a
fierce knock on the door.
Last time it was drunken Manuel who knocked like that. Was it Manuel again?