Chapter 7

She was in her room when a man suddenly entered carrying a sack. She grabbed her pillow to defend herself.

The man took out his weapon from the sack.

"You shouldn't have made it until tomorrow!" he declared.

"We'll see who falls first!"

"I'm here to take your head, as I promised my wife!"

"Before you can do that, I'll make sure to slit your throat!"

They circled the room, and she initiated the attack. He fought back, wielding his weapon. Due to his size, he managed to knock her down first.

He was about to strike her again, but her grandmother intervened, hitting him with a cane.

"You're such a nuisance! Your niece just arrived, and look at what you're doing!" She aimed for his legs, and the cane struck hard.

"Ouch, Mommy!" he cried out. "Maine, defend me!"

She blocked her uncle and held him by the arms.

"Go, Grandma! Avenge me!"

"Traitor!" Her uncle tried to break free, unintentionally hitting her with the cane.

"Ouch, Grandma!" She winced in pain. The cane struck her leg, leaving a visible mark on her fair skin.

"Sorry, dear," her grandmother quickly apologized, "Sandro, get an ice bag, hurry!"

Her uncle hurriedly complied. When he returned, she was sitting on the bed, and her grandmother was kneeling in front of her. Her grandmother fanned her injured leg, as if trying to soothe the pain. She noticed the mark on her leg, a stark contrast against her fair complexion.

"How are you, my dear niece?" her grandmother asked.

"Here, nursing a wounded heart," she replied, laughing.

"So? Didn't you graduate?"

"I'll go back to school; I just need some rest."

"You've only been here for a week, but you seem fully recovered."

"I have to be. My old friends helped, and of course, the love of my grandma. By the way, where's your wife?"

"Wife? Who's that?"

"Nuts!" he playfully pinched her grandmother.

"Mommy, you're getting used to hurting people, especially now that you're old?"

"Stop it, Sandro! Behave yourself! All you know is womanizing!"

"Good thing I'm a womanizer, it would be unnecessary if I were collecting men, Mommy," her uncle retorted.

"I don't know what's happening to you!"

"What do you want? Should I be like Demi? No way!"

"Who's Demi?" She pretended not to know.

"My best friend. Madly in love, about to get married, then cheated on by the girl."

"How did he get cheated on?"

"She took advantage of him, then cheated, and he didn't want to break up because they were about to get married. But the girl moved on. He still loves her dearly. It's been three years, and he still hopes Patricia will come back."

It seems like both of them went through similar experiences of betrayal. Perhaps that's why he can empathize with her pain.

Wondering about the emotions of a hurt man, she gazes at her uncle Sandro sharing Demi's struggles. Love is indeed a unique experience for men.

Despite a 15-year age gap, Demi looks younger than his age.

She scolds herself for dwelling on negative thoughts just a week after arriving.

"He's really devastated right now, spending time at the mall, hoping the girl will pass by."

"Which girl?" she asks.

"It's Patricia," Sandro replies. "That's why I don't want to get serious for now; I suddenly got scared."

Nodding in response to Sandro's words, she observes the varied ways people handle pain, especially men.

Her attention is abruptly redirected as her grandmother removes the ice pack from her knee.

"There, the bruise won't get darker. It's starting to subside," the elderly woman remarks while slowly getting up. "Oh, my, my back is killing me."

"Sorry, Lola. Should I give you a massage?" she offers.

"No need, dear. I'm okay."

"Mommy, I'll go eat," said her uncle Sandro, hugging her grandma. "Let Maine rest; you hit her with a stick, remember?"

"You're silly, it's your fault!"

"Come on, Mom!"

"I don't know about you; maybe you got switched at the hospital."

"You're wrong, Mom. I look like Daddy."

"Maybe you're his child from other woman."

"Mom!"

They talk like friends, unlike some strict Chinese families. Perhaps her grandma's influence on her mom shaped how her uncle was raised, or maybe it's just a different approach to raising daughters among Chinese families.

She lay down and think of Demi " how come someone chose to hurt him, even he has everything? That girl must be really something."

She closed her eyes and reminisced about her encounter with Demitri, a very handsome man. Since she was a child, she had a crush on him, she felt beautiful whenever he accompanied her to school. She temporarily forgot about him when she entered college. But when she saw him, she realize that, he still have spot in her heart. She vividly recalled how he gazed at her, his deep eyes seeming to penetrate her soul. The broadness of his shoulders sparked her imagination, envisioning how he might embrace a woman.

"Hey, wake up!" her uncle Sandro startled her. "And who are you daydreaming about?"

"Grandma, it's uncle, being nosy!" she complained to her grandmother.

"Sandro, leave my granddaughter alone, or I'll really smash you!"

"You're such a tattletale, you ugly thing!" he even playfully slapped her on the head.

"Grandma! Uncle is hurting me!" she exclaimed, then glared at her uncle, let her tongue out.

"You're really foolish, Maine, mommy will kill me because of you!"

"Good for you!"

"I won't tell you anything about Demi anymore."

She suddenly stopped, "uncle, it's just a joke."

"Where is that naughty boy?" her grandmother said, holding a stick.

"Grandma, sorry, it's my fault."

"Listen to me, mom! It's her fault!"

"I thought it was you," the old lady turn but before leaving, her uncle called her granny.

"Mommy, be fair, punished her too!!"

"And why will I do that?"

"Because she called you with out any reasons!"

"Shur up! you're acting like a kid!"

Her uncle scratched his head.

"Uncle, continue the story about Demi."

"Let's go to the dining room, there's a snack," he said, pulling her along.

She hurriedly followed him.