Love Began with the First Meeting novel Chapter 521

There is a fine line between love and hate.

Brian sipped milk from the glass his skinny fingers were holding as he sat in his chair casually. Then he licked his lips lightly and said in an aloof tone, "I told you, it's up to you."

"Mark sleeps alone," Molly said, clicking her teeth. She struggled to get this next sentence out of her mouth, "Your room is the only one left."

"So?"

"So..." Molly rolled her eyes, cursing within, "I have no place to sleep at."

"You can sleep in my room. We're a couple."

"Not yet! We aren't even married yet."

"What difference does it make?"

"A lot!"

"What will Mark think if he finds out that we don't sleep in the same room?"

"..."

Molly was speechless. Her eyes were bloodshot from the crying and sleepless nights. She glared at Brian with swollen and sore eyes. "Brian, you arranged this on purpose, didn't you?" she asked, gritting her teeth.

"Not really," Brian sipped another mouthful of milk and went on, "If you don't care what Mark thinks, then you can go on and do what you want."

"..."

Molly was out of words again.

***

In the hospital, Manny anxiously waited outside the operating room. This short wait felt like an entire year. He paced back and forth uneasily until the doctor finally came out of the emergency room. Manny rushed to him right away, asking, "Doctor, is he okay?"

"He was in the rain for too long. And he was exhausted, mentally and physically. He has a fever and there are some complications. He needs to be hospitalized. If the fever can't be brought down tonight, the complications will get worse," the doctor said.

The doctor's words worried Manny immensely. Meanwhile, he was angered by Spark's act. He nodded at the doctor and said, "I'll go through the hospitalization procedure right away. Thank you, doctor."

The doctor nodded back and left without another word.

Manny checked on Spark in the ward. He had just been pushed out of the emergency room. He was still in a coma, looking deathly pale. Seeing him lying there like that, Manny had the impulse to rush over and punch him in the face. He clenched his teeth, suppressing his anger. After a few words with the nurse, he left hastily for the hospitalization procedure.

***

Brian put down the glass of milk with a smile on his face. It was a subtle one but it was definitely there.

Molly had the urge to slap him hard. But she controlled herself. After all, she was in his house now. If there was one thing she had learned from her rough childhood, it would be to know that when the door was low, one must stoop. Right now, she was under Brian's roof, so she had to humble herself and stoop. She kept telling herself that soon enough she would just be under her own roof that she didn't have to stoop anymore.

The floor of Brian's bedroom was covered with a soft plush carpet. It had been raining for two days even though it was summer. But that was okay because the rain made the air moist and cool.

As Molly thought about this, she turned around but was taken aback at the hands that grabbed her. The door was shut and she was thrust against it.

"Brian, what are you doing?" Molly growled. After the things that had happened recently, she discovered that the villa wasn't soundproof and she didn't want to wake Mark.

Brian fixed his eyes on her, making no answer. After a while of silence, he started to make moves, in which the answer Molly was looking for was made clear.

"What am I going to do?" Brian squinted his eyes. He had just wanted to keep her a little longer, hoping she would compromise and talk to him in a nicer tone. That kiss had changed his mind to take things slow with her. Seeing her leaving had triggered his anger and made him panic. He had only tried to stop her, but things had gone the other way around. The rejection and gloominess on her face worsened his already bad mood. Under the subdued anger, he blurted, "Isn't it obvious?"

Molly pulled her clothes closer to her and glared at him. "You're a jerk!" she cursed, gritting her teeth.

"Jerk?" Brian muttered, his eyes lowered. It sounded like a sneer but there was an underlying hint of self-mockery too. He raised his head slowly to look at Molly, eyes glistening with coldness. "You call this being a jerk? Then you haven't even seen the half of it,"

he said with an evil smile. The fear inside Molly grew. She tried to resist him and run away, but Brian held her arm and shoved her towards the desk violently.

"Ah!" Molly winced at the pain. She attempted to get up, but Brian was already stooping over her. He swept off the things on his desk onto the floor. Molly was terrified when she heard all of the things on the desk fall on the floor - it was loud. She watched his face with widened eyes, sensing that he was furious and her punishment was coming. Last time, in this very study, on this very desk, he had punished her. It had been a long time, but the memory was still fresh in her mind, as if it had been yesterday.

"Bri..." She had opened her mouth to reject him, to make him stop, but somehow she stopped mid-sentence. The rest of the sentence just wouldn't come out. To Brian's ears, the soft call sounded extremely tempting. It made him more excited. He quickened his moves. He knew that it might be Molly's last resort under this circumstance, but it still worked on him like magic. He would rather deceive himself by telling himself that Molly still loved him, even though they were from totally different world and the overlap of their lives had started from a sheer mistake on that snowy, cold night years ago; even if her love for him was scant like a grain of sand on the beach. He just needed that gleam of hope to keep himself whole.

Molly's attempt to resist was shattered. At this moment, she forgot about the past four years; she forgot how she had tried to avoid him or refused to think about him; she even forgot to consider the consequences. At this moment, she just enjoyed Brian's tenderness and dominance.

A teardrop slipped out of her eye. She slowly opened her watery red eyes. Staring at the sharp, cruel look in Brian's eyes, she knew that she would never be able to escape from him again.

She trembled violently, forcing a sarcastic smile. "Brian, are you in love with me?" she asked.

Hearing this, Brian paused. Before he could give an answer, Molly went on, "You must be in love with me. That's why you don't want to see me leave and that's why you've been trying to keep me by your side all this time."

"Molly!" Brian said, clenching his teeth, his voice thick with contempt. "Don't flatter yourself! I was interested in you before, but right now, I let you stay just because of Mark. In love with you? Huh! Who do you think you are?"

Molly felt soreness in her eyes. Tears trickled down her cheeks. "Since that's all that I am to you then why do you act this way?" she asked.

"Mol, hasn't Spark taught you anything about men? This isn't new!" he responded, his eyes burning.

Then he went back to what he was doing. Molly passed out after a while - she had been overwhelmed. The last thing she could remember hearing was a dreamy voice saying, "Mol, what should I do? How do I make you love me again?" Brian kissed her cheek, a throb shooting through his heart. "Mol, I love you," he said gently. There was a trace of satisfaction in his voice, as if he had been waiting to say that and finally it got out of his chest.