Chapter 2

Callum was the brand ambassador for this massage gun, so it wouldn't exactly be wrong to say I had bought it because of him. So I steeled myself and nodded.

Uncle Theo's breathing grew heavier as he crumpled the paper note and tossed it to the ground. I could see his hands shaking.

"Do you think of him when you use it?"

In a way, yes. As expected of something Callum had vouched for, the massage gun was genuinely useful, so I nodded once more.

"You'd better distance yourself from him!" Uncle Theo forced the words out through gritted teeth. "And I never want to see such a thing in my house ever again!"

Why was he banning me from using a massage gun? I almost burst into tears at the thought.

"But… I'm really suffering a lot! It's so unbearable!"

Taking a deep breath, Uncle Theo asked in an exasperated tone, "Do you love the feeling that much?"

Bobbing my head in a "yes", I bit my lower lip and pleaded with puppy-dog eyes.

"Or… maybe you could help me?"

If Uncle Theo grew tired of giving me a massage, who was to say he wouldn't give me permission to continue using the massage gun?

His eyes darkened so much that they were pitch-black.

"Please," I begged with a pout. At the same time, I reached a hand under my nightgown to rub my increasingly sore legs.

I had already run five laps around the field before the evening self-study session, yet because I got caught talking, the teacher had made me run five laps as punishment.

Which delicate and beautiful girl could stand running ten laps in a day?

Gnashing his teeth, Uncle Theo grabbed my hand to make me stop what I was doing.

"Stop moving!"

Then, he closed his eyes and let out a long, helpless sigh. "Go take a shower and wait for me downstairs."

Great! This was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I wanted to thoroughly enjoy myself.

First, I extended the couch to turn it into a couch bed and then put on a movie that had been on my to-watch list for a while now. Once everything was set up, I waited for Uncle Theo to come.

While scrolling through my phone, I unexpectedly came across a new post on the forum.

"The girl I have a crush on has a boyfriend, yet she invited me to sleep with her. What should I do?"

The poster was really a moral model—I was quick to tap on the post to read further.

"I spent 15 years by the side of the girl I have a crush. Today, she told me she already has a boyfriend. Yet she still wants me to ease her suffering. What do I do?"

This person spent 15 years by a girl's side? Why did that sound somewhat familiar?

Although a strange feeling gnawed at me, I was overcome by my love for gossip and didn't think on it further.

I replied, "She definitely has feelings for you. Otherwise, she would've given up and started ignoring you by the tenth year."

The person who posted this was a user named “HeartbrokenDog”, whose profile photo was a brook. It was clear he was quite upset and had been staring at his phone while waiting for a reply, as he replied to my comment almost immediately.

"But she usually avoids me as though she's terrified of me."

For some reason, I was suddenly reminded of how Uncle Theo would confiscate my novels whenever he saw them and how he would head out to drag me home if I was out even a minute past my curfew.

I couldn't stop a shiver from running through me, even as my fingers flew across my screen.

"Are you normally quite stern with her?"

"I'm older than her by a few years, so I tend to be a little stricter and more controlling."

And there it was. Case closed!

I continued comforting him, saying, "There's no doubt she likes you. Who knows? Maybe she's lying about having a boyfriend? Why don't you probe her a little more later? She'll definitely crack!"

As my screen went dark, a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction surged in me.

How wonderful! I had managed to help yet another lost soul!

Nevertheless, I couldn't shake the image of Uncle Theo from my mind. It was as though he had taken root there.

He loved to keep me on a tight leash, and sometimes I became quite annoyed and fed up with him. Regardless, I was well aware that I couldn't live without him. In fact, I even felt happy when he was possessive of me. After all, it meant he cared for me.

Realizing that that sounded rather perverse, I quickly covered my face with my hands.

I couldn't help but wonder—if there was a different side to Uncle Theo, would he show it to me?

My cheeks grew warm at that thought.

Just then, I heard Uncle Theo's footsteps coming down the stairs, growing closer to me.

Before I could stop myself, I looked up at him, only to widen my eyes in shock.

His lit phone screen displayed the post I had responded to earlier!