Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

Chapter 152 I'm Not Afraid of Rumors

"What?" I stared at him, eyes wide in shock.

Benjamin would never say something like that without a reason.

He turned to look at me and sighed softly.

"Trust me. I would never harm you. I just think you should find an ordinary person and live a stable life."

I always knew there was a huge gap between Ethan and me. So, I tried to bridge the discrepancy.

But my gut told me Benjamin's words meant more than just Ethan not being an ordinary person. It felt like there was another reason, something Benjamin was hesitant to say, maybe because it was inconvenient or had serious consequences. When I got back to the classroom, there were a bunch more Christmas cards on the desk.

Ethan was clearly more comfortable with the task now, jotting down his holiday wishes at lightning speed.

The kids laminated all the wish cards, but I was a bit distracted, replaying Benjamin's words in my head.

I had asked him in the hallway, "Are you still alone?"

Benjamin nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I am. But I don't think it's a bad thing. I'm not lonely; I have so many kids with me."

At that moment, I watched the kids calling him "Mr. Thomas" one after another, surrounded by a group of them. It was a really heartwarming scene.

When Ethan and I left, the kids were still making noise.

Walking through the familiar campus, I slowed down and stopped under a snow-covered fig tree.

It was Christmas Eve. Except for Benjamin's classroom, all the lights around were off, leaving everything in darkness.

I turned to look at Ethan. He was very close to me, but through the falling snowflakes, he seemed very distant.

"Ethan, who are you really? Why does it feel like you're miles away even though you're right in front of me? Why do I always feel like being with you is against some higher power, like God disapproves? Why?" Ethan lifted the hand that was on my shoulder and gently tapped my forehead.

"You're overthinking."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and slowly lowered his head.

At that moment, we were very close. I could only see his eyes, a pair of deep eyes that could easily make someone fall deeply.

"Look, the handsome guy in front of you is your husband, not someone else. We're together, and God can't do anything about it. If it's unhappy, it can make the snowfall harder to show its protest."

I was easily moved by Ethan's slightly domineering yet somewhat childish demeanor.

when he

and the sweetness that quietly invaded my heart replaced all

leave, the

and pointed to

"This isn't heavy.

covered his mouth.

His eyes were smiling, and a muffled

it can actually

we strolled, I said, "After my dad's car accident, the neighbors around us talked about it like it was some kind of omen. Someone said it was no wonder the branch of the tree in our Broadway Alley suddenly broke the day before; it was a sign. Others said they heard crying the night before, and some agreed, saying they heard it too, making it sound so real. Although these things sounded absurd, I still felt regretful at the time, thinking I

suddenly stopped, and I looked

at me intently for a moment, then suddenly pulled me into his arms,

keep haunting you and take away your

Christmas Eve fell especially heavily, so much that it seemed like the world was

on Christmas Day, I went to Aurora's

training talent. Many of the makeup artists

learn there with medical skills would

I

with

I felt a bit out

must've noticed because she smiled and said, "A beautician's good image can instill confidence in

mumbled, "I

your poise will show. There's nothing wrong with you; in fact, you're great. Just a few tweaks, and you'll be even better." When people start doing something they're passionate about, they're

in excited every day, and as my understanding of beauty grew,

an old classmate at Aurora's beauty center; she

didn't recognize her at first. She recognized me and pulled me aside during

weren't close back in school, but seeing an old classmate still

carefree and beautiful as others', they were still a part of

to eat, I impulsively suggested going to a Subway near my

but the owner was still the same. He remembered me. The owner was very kind; back when I was in school, he knew about my family's situation and let me work there

and many students came into the shop one after

I returned with my chosen ingredients, I noticed the female students around us whispering and occasionally

Ethan's looks, it

felt uncomfortable. Ethan,

for

Birds Band? I used to love your songs. Could you sign

over a pen and a

was surprised that someone still remembered The Thorn Birds Band