NovelEnglish
Chapter 998
Ryleigh could not even utter a single word after a long time. She had always regarded Joe as her best friend-she
would even categorize Joe as one of her confidants because he understood her so well.
However, she did not know that Joe understood her because he did so with all his heart.
“But… Why didn’t he tell me?” Ryleigh could not understand.
Maisie picked up the teacup, and her eyes were fixed on the rippling tea. ‘The feelings that he has for you are more
than friends but less than lovers. Once he crosses the line and tells you what he’s wanted to tell you all this while,
some things will never return to how they were before that, and that can ruin a friendship.”
Having said that, Maisie raised her gaze and glanced at Ryleigh. ‘Are you sure that you wouldn’t be frightened by
him and stay away from him after confessing to you all of a sudden back then?” Ryleigh did not know what to say
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtfor a while. After all, she had never thought about the answer to the question. “What would I do if Joe had
confessed to me back then? Maisie placed her hand on the back of Ryleigh’s hand. “I know you’ve always regarded
Joe as your best friend, but no matter what, you have to come forward to solve this matter yourself.”
“What?” Ryleigh was taken aback and then pursed her lips. “But what if this is a misunderstanding…” “I’apologize to
Joe in person if that’s the case. Ryleigh, if you really don’t want your relationship with Joe to go beyond a point of no
return, go and tell him everything in person. If you can still be friends after that, then take him back as the friend
that you value the most in life. But if you can’t move on as friends after that, you can only take it as a misfortune.”
Maisie paused for a bit, stood up slowly with her arms propping against the desk, and picked up her handbag.
“Some things have to be made clear as soon as possible.”
Ryleigh remained motionless in her chair after Maisie left. She lowered her gaze, pursed her lips, took out her
phone, and found Joe’s
contact number from her phone’s contact list.
That noon…
After Joe finished with his last class, he came to the place where Ryleigh had asked him to meet her at, which was a
park near their old high school Joe got out of the car while Ryleigh waited for him on a swing, swaying back and
forth gently. She raised her head when she sensed footsteps approaching, and for a moment, she felt so familiar
and yet so strange.
Joe smiled. “Why would you think of asking me out all of a sudden?”
“Joe, I heard… I heard that you have a thing for me.” Ryleigh looked away, remained silent for a short while, and
suddenly asked him with a euphemistic tone, “But we’ve always been great friends, so it’s impossible for you to fall
for me, isn’t it? There must be a misunderstanding, right?”
In fact, she hoped that she was mistaken too, and she wished to hear him deny everything.
After a moment of silence, Joe did not answer her directly but sat down on the swing beside her. His lips then
moved. “Do you want the truth?”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe nodded absentmindedly.
“Yes.” Joe turned to look at her and responded and then continued while she was still lost in her astonishment. “I’ve
always liked you.”
They exchanged gazes for a minute, but she looked away hurriedly and stared at her feet without saying a thing.
Joe turned to face her. “Ryleigh, I thought about confessing my feelings to you after our graduation, but I didn’t
have the courage to do so back then.”
Ryleigh could not help but clench her hands tightly and just listened to him quietly. “I know I would definitely scare
you if I were to have confessed to you back then, and I’d surely lose the chance to stay by your side as a friend.”
Ryleigh frowned. “But, why can’t we go back to being,”
Joe held the back of her hand.
Ryleigh was astounded, seemingly frightened by his actions, and forgot to react for a short while.
“I can’t,” he said as he leaned forward and stared at Ryleigh. “I can’t just treat you as a friend, nor can I pretend
not to care about you. I regret it now. I regret that I didn’t tell you how I felt back then, even if it meant getting
rejected by you.”
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