Adrift on the Boat

The glass of water in her hand trembled slightly, but she quickly covered it with a sneer.

“Are you changing your tactics? I haven’t even called you out yet, and you’re taking it to the next level?”

I froze, not quite understanding what she meant.

She let out a cold laugh. “Didn’t you have Marcus try to pressure me into marriage today? What’s the matter? Since pressuring me didn’t work, you’ve decided to play hard to get instead?”

Only then did it click. She actually thought I was the one who told Marcus to say those things today just to force her into marrying me.

I found the whole thing absurd, but I didn’t bother to explain. Instead, I just nodded.

“Yeah. Since pressuring you didn’t work, I’m thinking of marrying someone else.”

The moment those words left my mouth, the scornful look on her face deepened.

“Austin, do you honestly think you’d ever break up with me? That’s enough. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. You’re twenty-eight now. Who else would marry you besides me? Go to bed early. We have to go to the Granger estate tomorrow for Grandma Wilma’s birthday.”

With that, she turned around and walked into the bedroom. Looking at her back, I felt nothing but exhaustion.

The next day, I still went to Grandma Wilma’s birthday party. Years ago, Grandma Wilma had given me an antique emerald ring, and I needed to return it.

When I arrived at the estate, Sarah’s mother, Catherine Granger, was standing by the entrance. Logan stood right beside her, a bright smile on his face, looking every bit like the ideal future son-in-law.

Logan spotted us first. His smile widened instantly, and he walked over to me.

“Hey, Austin! Sal said you were upset, so I didn’t think you’d make it today!”

He intentionally flashed the watch on his wrist. It was an heirloom that the family always gifted to their future sons-in-law.

Grandma Wilma’s gift was a pair of rings, while Catherine had prepared the watch. However, Sarah had demanded the watch from her mother a long time ago, claiming she wanted to put it on my wrist herself when the time came. Now, it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary anymore.

Having noticed it as well, Sarah looked down and quickly explained, “Logan is just borrowing it for the day. He’ll give it back, so don’t overthink things.”

Catherine walked over as well. Her expression was flat, and her tone carried a sharp hint of warning.

“You’re here? I heard about what happened yesterday. It’s just a boat. Logan has no family to rely on right now, so it’s only right that we look after him a bit more. Control your temper and don’t make a fool of yourself.”

Everyone expected me to lose my temper, yet not a single person had stopped Sarah from doing what she did. I found it almost ironic.

Out of habit, Sarah reached out to wrap her arm around mine, trying to soothe me with her usual display of affection. However, I stepped aside, avoiding her touch. Her hand froze in mid-air, and her brows instantly knit together.

“What are you up to now?” Sarah lowered her voice, her tone laced with bubbling anger. “It’s Grandma Wilma’s birthday. Don’t ruin the mood for everyone. I’ll apologize to you when we get home, alright?”

I looked up calmly, meeting her gaze head-on. “I’m really not angry.”

I pulled out the emerald ring and steadily held it out to Catherine.

“Mrs. Granger, you should give this to Logan as well. Then, I won’t go inside to disturb Grandma Wilma.”

Seeing the ring, Sarah’s eyes widened. Meanwhile, Logan gripped the edge of his shirt, putting on a worried and deeply understanding act.

“Austin, are you just saying that because you’re upset? Sal, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so greedy and accepted the boat… I’m the reason Austin is angry. How about I return the boat and the watch to him right now…”

As if suddenly remembering something, Logan tried to pull the watch off his wrist as he spoke. Yet somehow, even though the watch looked quite loose, it wouldn’t come off.

Sure enough, the tension Sarah had felt upon seeing the ring vanished instantly. She snickered, snatched the ring right out of my hand, and marched over to Logan.

“There’s no need to return anything. I said it’s yours, so it’s yours. Here, put the ring on, too.”

Then, she turned back to me, her eyes filled with utter disdain.

“Fine, Austin. Let’s see how long you can keep up this little act! Since you don’t want them anymore, Logan can wear them all for now. Didn’t you say you weren’t going in? Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

In the past, the more she provoked me like this, the more stubborn I would become, digging my heels in just to stay. Now, all I felt was relief.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

With that, I turned around and walked away.

Behind me, I could hear Logan’s gentle voice trying to calm her down. This only seemed to fuel Sarah’s rage, and her voice grew louder.

“Just let him go! He’s just desperate to get married and starved for affection, so he thinks he can use this to manipulate me. He needs to take a good look at how old he is!”

I didn’t look back. I just stepped straight into a waiting taxi.

Right then, a text message from my mother popped up on my phone.

[Aussie, take a look! This is the wedding vessel the bride’s family just sent over.]