Novel Square
Chapter 180
On the plane, Bryce was tucking Estrella in with a thin blanket when she stirred and woke up. Seeing Bryce steadfast by her side, Estrella, with half-closed eyes, muttered, “Why didn’t you catch some Z’s?”
Bryce chuckled, “Watching you sleep was enough rest for me.’
“1
Estrella playfully kicked at him, and without taking offense, Bryce simply patted his leg and said, “We’ll be landing soon.”
While handing Estrella her down jacket, he added, “Put this on when we get off.”
“Sure,” she replied, lifting her hand, “Water, please.” Bryce immediately unscrewed the thermos and placed it in her hands, almost to the point of personally feeding her.
After hydrating, Bryce offered her some dried prunes, “Want some of these?”
Estrella eyed him suspiciously from head to toe as he offered the prunes. Why was he bringing out prunes all of a sudden?
Catching her wary look, Bryce popped a prune into his mouth, “If you don’t want them, I’ll eat them myself.”
Seeing Bryce munch on the prunes, Estrella let go of her doubts and took one for herself. As the two chatted and snacked on the nuts and dried fruit, the plane landed smoothly. The passengers began to gather their belongings, and Bryce stuffed the remaining snacks into a bag and helped Estrella into her jacket.
“Estrella, your brother is one of a kind, treating you like you’re some sort of queen,” Logan joked, although he was well aware of Estrella’s relationship with Jason.
Bryce, grinning like an idiot, joined in, “Ain’t that the truth. Estrella and I are twins, born from the same womb.”
After Bryce’s comment, some of Estrella’s colleagues actually believed him, expressing their surprise, “Estrella, you’re twins? But looking at you two, you do look alike. You’ve got some strong genes in your family.”
“Of course, there are no ugly ducks in our family,” Bryce boasted proudly.
Estrella couldn’t be bothered to stop his ramblings and let him spin his tales.
Once they deplaned, the chill outside was biting, as sharp as a knife against their faces. Thankfully, Bryce had come prepared with all the essentials, including hats and scarves. Estrella’s female colleagues were visibly envious and kept asking Bryce if he was single, hinting at their interest in him.
Bryce, shameless as ever, even added them on Messenger. Estrella looked at him with disdain, “Show- off.”
09:02
Bryce casually draped his arm over her shoulder, “Estrella, are you worried they’ll snatch me away from you? If you’re scared of losing me, I’ll just unfriend them all.”
“Don’t.” Estrella waved him off. “Keep them as a distraction, so you don’t cling to me all
the time.”
After she spoke, Bryce tightened his embrace.
“Bryce, you numbskull, you trying to choke me?” Estrella protested. They had a history of roughhousing since childhood. Bryce would often tackle her, and once while she was watching Cole fish, Bryce pounced from behind, sending them both tumbling into the pond. She had swallowed quite a bit of water that day.
Back then, they were only six years old.
After scolding Bryce, Estrella turned to him, “Prepare yourself. Jason’s coming to pick us
up.”
Bryce adjusted her scarf, arm still over her shoulder, nonchalantly replying, “I am not afraid of him. Worst he can do is beat me up.”
Ever since he could remember, Jason had been roughing him up, mostly for things involving Estrella- like the time he led her to catch snakes, resulting in a snake bite, or when they climbed over a wall to skip school, and she dislocated her arm. Bryce had been the cause of too many such incidents over the years.
Every time Estrella got the short end of the stick, Jason would lay into Bryce. The pond incident had earned Bryce a particularly harsh beating. Bryce was no stranger to tough
love.
“Your arm’s heavy. Take it off,” Estrella grumbled.
But Bryce only held her tighter, “You can’t despise me. You’re not allowed to.”
Estrella rolled her eyes, “You’ll squash me.”
Eventually, after Estrella kicked him a few times, Bryce released her.
As the group made their way out of the terminal, Jason was nowhere to be seen. Instead,
it was Drew who had come. Estrella couldn’t help but laugh at the irony, feeling no real disappointment, just a sense of the absurd.
From a distance, Drew spotted Estrella and Bryce emerging, and hurried over, “Ms. Estrella, Mr. Bryce.”
Bryce, pulling his suitcase, peered past Drew, “Where’s Jason? Didn’t he say he would pick us up?”
Drew replied, “Mr. Jason had some urgent business and couldn’t make it.” He then added, “By the way, Ms. Estrella, Mr. Jason asked me to take you back to Sandalwood Oasis. He said to wait for him at home, and he’ll be there as soon as he finishes up.”
09:02
r This is from NôvelDrama.Org.
Bryce, hands in pockets and with a frosty tone, “Tell Jason, if he’s not man enough to keep his word, he should stop making empty promises.”
With that, Bryce grabbed Estrella’s wrist,. “We’ll go back on our own.”
Drew stepped in front of them, “Mr. Bryce, Mr. Jason really had an emergency. He’ll head straight to Sandalwood Oasis after. It’s cold today, and either waiting or hailing a cab is inconvenient. Let’s just go back to Sandalwood Oasis, shall we?”
They had a lot of luggage, and Drew’s argument made sense. Estrella knew well Drew’s work style; if Jason tasked him with something, he would see it through at all costs. Plus, their colleagues from the law firm were there. It was best to go back and talk later.
As for Jason’s proposal a chat; Estrella had thought it over last night. It was indeed time for them to have a calm discussion and part ways amicably. So, watching Bryce pack up, Estrella simply said, “Let’s head back and talk there, Bryce.”
Drew, relieved that Estrella was being reasonable, quickly helped Bryce load his suitcase into the car. On the drive back, Estrella didn’t ask what Jason was up to, and Bryce, catching her cue, didn’t bring it up either. When Estrella started to nod off, Bryce gently supported her head, letting it rest comfortably against his shoulder.
Drew and the driver sat in the front, neither daring to ask questions nor speak out of turn.
An hour later, the car rolled into Sandalwood Oasis. Bryce escorted Estrella inside, finally feeling a weight lift off his chest.
Marie politely invited him to stay for dinner, but Bryce declined.
Sensing that Bryce was not very talkative on the way back, when Estrella saw him of the door, she asked, “Bryce, do you know something?” His demeanor during this busi trip was different from the usual Bryce.