Ch. 1101..1110

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1101-Joey’s still so young. He doesn’t even know he’s just Anya’s pawn, yet he has to suffer through all those beatings. He must be traumatized…’ Corinne stroked Joey’s head fondly. “Don’t worry, Joey. I promise no one will ever lay a finger on you anymore.” Joey rested his cheek on Corinne’s shoulder and felt a sense of security and safety, which he never felt before. No matter what, he trusted Corinne and her promise completely.

… Corinne carried Joey to the dining room where the servants had laid out a lavish breakfast spread.

Jason had already started eating. He smiled when he saw her walking in. “Why are you here alone with the kid? Where’s Jeremy?” Corinne sat a few seats away from Jason before answering, “He’s putting on his clothes and will be here soon.” “Oh.” Jason picked up his glass of milk and took a sip to hide his disappointment.

Corinne did not plan to continue the conversation, so she positioned Joey at the crook of her elbow before feeding him a bite of the omelet. No one ever taught him to use utensils before, so he still required someone to feed him.

In fact, for the past few days, he had to eat with his hand since Phoebe did not have the patience to feed him most of the time. Thus, he cherished the moments when Corinne attended to him.

He opened his mouth wide to eat the omelet. It was the best thing he had ever eaten in all of his life.

“Hey, Corinne,” called Jason with an inscrutable smile.

Corinne pulled out a tissue to wipe away the sauce at the corner of Joey’s lips.

She did not even spare Jason a glance when she asked, “Yes? What is it this time?” “I’m quite surprised,” he said with a smirk.

“Quite surprised Jeremy is here?” Corinne asked absent-mindedly.

“No.” Jason smiled coyly at her. “I’m quite surprised you can so readily accept a child, who was adopted by your husband with another woman, as your own.” Corinne’s spoon froze mid-air. After a moment of silence, she turned to look at him. “I’d be lying if I said I see him as my own, but what I can say is I feel sorry for him. After all, he’s innocent in all of this. Though, Mister Jason, why should any of this concern you?” Jason smiled and shook his head. “It doesn’t. Though I must say, I feel sorry for you too.” Corinne frowned. She did not get what he was trying to say, but before she could ask him that, Jeremy interrupted.

“And why would you feel sorry for her?” Jason’s face hardened for a second before his signature smile appeared. He turned to Jeremy and answered casually, “I feel sorry for her ’cause she needs to take care of someone else’s child when she herself is pregnant.” “I don’t need you to feel sorry for my wife,” said Jeremy calmly. He then sat next to Corinne and carried Joey to his lap.

“Let me feed him. You should just enjoy your breakfast,” he said gently as he spooned another bite of omelet into Joey’s mouth.

Corinne did as she was told.

Seeing this, Jason simply shrugged and took another sip of his milk before striking up the conversation again.

“Jeremy, have you settled everything abroad?” “Not yet. But I miss my little rascal so much, so I thought I’d come back for a few days to spend time with her. Why do you ask?” said Jeremy as he continued feeding Joey.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1102-“Oh, no reason in particular. I was just asking, that’s all,” Jason answered with a smile.

Jeremy scoffed lightly. “I see you haven’t changed at all, Jason. You always had a special interest in women who are taken.” Hearing this, Corinne looked at Jason incredulously. ‘Huh? What did Jeremy mean by that? Does Jason have a history of breaking up couples so he could be with the women?’ Jason did not seem embarrassed by the accusation. “Oh, believe me when I say I don’t have that kind of interest in the slightest. In fact, you could even say I was the victim in everything that happened before,” he said with a wide grin.

‘Everything that happened before? Ooh, I smell a juicy story!’ thought Corinne.

Corinne’s curiosity was definitely piqued. She looked at Jason and then at Jeremy with her eyebrows raised. She wanted to find out what happened between them in the past.

Jeremy remained emotionless when Jason said he was the victim. It was as if he was too lazy to expose his lies. Instead, he continued to feed Joey some oatmeal.

Jason narrowed his eyes and said provocatively, “But I must admit, I have fallen for your wife!” Hearing this nearly caused Corinne to choke on her milk. “Cough! Ack, ack!” ‘Is he crazy?’ she thought.

Jeremy threw Jason a calculative glance. “I dare you to steal her from me.” Jason smiled. “Now, now. There’s no need to be so worked up. You never strike me as someone with low confidence, so you can’t possibly think I’d steal her from you, right?” Jeremy looked at him coldly before turning to look at Corinne, who was watching them eagerly as though she was watching a soap opera. With a face filled with confidence, he turned to look back at Jason again.

“All I can say is you’re not going to steal her away that easily. Jason, I hope that you won’t test my limits since we’re friends after all.” Jason chuckled softly. “Is that so? When have the three of you ever seen me as your friend?” ‘Three of you? Does he mean Jeremy, Zeke, and Gerald?’ Corinne became even more curious. ‘This is even more exciting than watching a soap opera!’ Jeremy simply said nothing. In other words, he was as good as admitting what Jason said was true.

Jason was not at all surprised by Jeremy’s silent admission. “You want me to honor the bro code when you never saw me as a friend?” he asked sarcastically.

Jeremy narrowed his eyes threateningly, causing the tension in the air to kick up a notch, so much so that Corinne fretted they would end up in a fistfight.

Suddenly, Lucas’ voice broke through the silence.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you two to not talk while you’re eating?” he asked as he hobbled in with his crutches accompanied by Edmund.

Corinne was surprised to see Lucas there. She then frowned unhappily as she would have preferred him to rest at home.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1103-‘So he still came.’ Jason toned down his provocativeness when he saw Lucas walking in. “Lucas, I’ve known you for many years, but this is the first time I’ve seen you like this,” he said teasingly.

Lucas glanced at him. “I guess anything could happen, huh?” Jason smiled and went up to support him. “Here. Let me help you, Lucas. It pains me to see you like this.” Lucas scoffed, but he did not turn down his offer.

Corinne looked at the two of them and fell into a deep thought. ‘It’s just as Tommy said. Jason and Lucas are indeed closer to each other. At least they can joke around, far from Jason and Jeremy’s relationship. If going by that vein, Jeremy, Zeke, and Gerald are closer too since they always roast each other.’ Previously, Corinne thought the five guys were all good friends since they knew each other from a young age. She never thought they would form cliques among themselves too.

Lucas sat down and looked at Corinne sternly. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here?” Corinne remained unfazed. She took a sip of her soup before replying, “But you still found out I’m here, right?” “Don’t you know how worried I was about you?” Lucas did not understand why Corinne would still come to the summer villa to meet Phoebe alone when Phoebe had teamed up with Anya to hurt her in the past. Even though he learned it was to get Joey’s custody, he was still angry at her for not thinking about her safety. What if something bad happened again? It would be too late for regrets then!

Corinne was not happy about being lectured. “Mister Lucas, you’ve seemed to have mistaken something. One, I didn’t come here alone, and I’ve actually informed your grandparents before coming here.

“Two, I didn’t tell you because it’s unnecessary. I might’ve worked under you before, but don’t you forget you’ve already fired me. I’m not your employee anymore. I’m not obligated to tell you where I am.” Lucas was speechless. He saw her as his little sister, yet she only saw him as her former employer? He would not even be surprised if she saw him as someone more than a stranger!

Whenever he thought about this, he would feel indescribable pain and regret in his heart.

As angry as he was, he knew he had no right to blame her for not accepting him as her brother. After all, he was a real jerk to her in the past.

Lucas decided to take a softer approach after being reprimanded by Corinne.

“Corinne, I’m not blaming you. I was just so worried about you…” Corinne scoffed. “There’s no need to worry about me since we’re neither friends nor family! I hope you’ll remember that in the future and stop meddling in my affairs!” Lucas was struck speechless again.

Jason had never seen anyone speak so brazenly to Lucas before, so this exchange was interesting. At first, he did wonder whether Lucas had a crush on Corinne since he seemed to treat her differently than others. Then again, he knew Lucas did not really go for the cute, petite girls so… After observing for some time, he guessed Corinne must be Lucas’ long-lost sister. After all, only his long-lost sister could humble him to such a state.

“And here I thought you came here to find me, Lucas. It looks like you coming here has nothing to do with me at all,” teased Jason.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1104-Lucas glared at Jason. “Oh, buzz off. Stay or leave, I don’t care. As long as you keep that big mouth of yours shut.” Jason shrugged and pouted. “See, you only talk to me like that! Meanwhile, you always try to please Corinne and Jeremy.” Lucas’ gaze turned colder. He picked up his crutches and lifted them to hit Jason.

Seeing this, Jason quickly stood up and said with a shrug, “I’m done eating, so I think I’ll take a walk. See you guys later!” After that, he strode out of the room.

Lucas put back his crutches and sighed.

Corinne could tell Lucas and Jason were really, really good friends since they could be themselves around each other.

Lucas decided to shift his attention to Jeremy since there was nothing he could do about Corinne.

“When did you get back?” he asked him.

“Early this morning,” answered Jeremy as he pulled out a tissue to wipe Joey’s mouth.

Lucas’ face darkened. “Hmph! How can you leave your pregnant wife while you wander abroad?” Jeremy frowned for a second, but that was the most expression he showed. He did think he was wrong to leave Corinne behind, but it was not like he had a choice.

“What I’m dealing with abroad is quite tricky and requires my full time and attention. It’s not like I can attend to her, either. It might even be worse if I brought her with me.” “Then I hope you went there for business instead of something else. I swear to God, I’ll kill you if you do anything to make Corinne cry.” “You’re overthinking things, Lucas. Plus, if I remember correctly, Corinne hasn’t accepted you as her brother yet, so why don’t you worry about yourself instead?” Lucas was speechless. ‘He’s right. I have no right to lecture him either since Corinne still won’t accept me as her brother.’ Lucas looked helplessly at Corinne, hoping she would pity him, but she would not even look at him. Instead, she was drinking her soup and would sometimes speak to Joey as though Lucas did not even exist.

By that point, Joey was full from eating. Coupled with the feeling of safety and security, he started to feel a little sleepy. Last night, he did not sleep a wink as he was so worried Corinne would leave without him. He wanted to go check on her, but the fear of getting a beating from Phoebe stopped him. Thus, he had to fight hard to keep his eyes open after eating.

Seeing this, Corinne—who was quite full herself—reached out her hand and said, “Mister, Joey is tired. Let me carry him back to his room. That way, you can have your breakfast too.” “I’m not hungry, so I’ll bring him back to his room. Plus, you need to eat more.

Don’t just drink your soup, okay?” said Jeremy gently.

Jeremy then got up with Joey still in his arms and left the room before Corinne could say anything.

Before he came, Jeremy instructed Tommy to supervise Corinne and make sure she did not eat anything prepared in the summer villa.

Since he was here, Jeremy instructed Tommy to buy the ingredients from the local market and supervise the kitchen in cooking the food, so everything was safe for Corinne to eat.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1105-Thus, Jeremy asked Corinne to eat more.

Corinne frowned as she watched Jeremy leave with Joey. ‘Well, I guess I have some more room in my tummy, so I might as well eat more.’ The personal chef in the summer villa was quite skilled at cooking so she heartily enjoyed the food. However, what she did not enjoy was Lucas staring at her eating from across the table.

Lucas narrowed his eyes as he watched Jeremy leave the dining room. Being a smart cookie, he quickly understood Jeremy did that to give him some time with Corinne.

‘He might come off as cold most of the time, but he can be quite thoughtful. It’s either that, or…he’s just paving the road to call in a favor in the future when I become his brother-in-law.’ “Corinne, do you have anything else you’d like to eat? I can ask Edmund to buy it for you,” said Lucas with concern.

However, Corinne did not appreciate his concern at all. She frowned and gave him a warning look. “No, thanks. Mister Lucas, I know you’re trying to make up for all the hurtful things you did to me before, but I’d much prefer it if you stop being overly concerned with me.” Lucas sighed with dismay. “Fine. I’ll try to keep that in mind…” Corinne took a bite of her sandwich and, while chewing, suddenly thought of something.

“By the way, Mister Lucas, did something happen in the past that caused Jeremy, Zeke, and Gerald to hold a grudge toward Jason?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Lucas was quite taken aback by her question. “Why do you ask?” “Before you came in, Jeremy and Jason were having a go at each other. There was even mention of Jason breaking up somebody’s relationship… I was wondering if you knew anything about it. If you do, can you tell me about it?” Even though Lucas would not call Jason his best friend, they were still friends.

He thought it would not be appropriate for him to comment on his friend’s personal life.

“Corinne, you’re a girl. It’s best not to meddle in us men’s affairs,” said Lucas.

Corinne’s hopeful expression fell. She then scoffed and said nothing more.

Lucas started to panic a little when he saw her reaction. ‘D*mnit! I’ve made her angry again… And just when she decided to strike up a conversation first.’ After some hesitation, he made up his mind to tell Corinne about what happened in the past. However, just as he opened his mouth, they heard Phoebe’s wails coming from outside the dining room.

“Jeremy, please! Can’t you think of something to get Anya out? Won’t you do it for old time’s sake? You have my word that she won’t come between you and Miss Corinne anymore. Please! I beg you…” “Old time’s sake? You mean how she lied to me for more than ten years? There were no feelings to begin with! Miss Phoebe, seeing as you’re my elder, I’ve actually restrained myself from saying more hurtful things, so I hope you won’t push your luck,” said Jeremy coldly.

“But Anya is innocent. She loves you so, so, so much!” “You should be thankful I didn’t pursue the matter when I found out you two lied to me. You dare ask me for a favor?”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1106-“No! Anya really loves you. She’s willing to do anything for you…” Corinne got up to check on the situation outside.

Phoebe was kneeling to Jeremy with tears streaming down her cheeks, begging for Anya’s release.

Corinne narrowed her eyes. ‘Just how stupid can this old woman get? Does she really think Jeremy will help her after everything she and Anya did to him and me?’ Phoebe’s pleading did nothing to evoke Jeremy’s sympathy. He simply looked down at her with cold hatred. “Miss Phoebe, Anya has no one to blame but

herself for where she ended up today. No one else can help her unless she repents for what she did.” Realizing it was useless to beg Jeremy for help, Phoebe sobbed twice and wiped away her tears. “Well, if that’s how you want to play it, you can just give Joey back to me!” “Give him back to you? Why should I when he’s legally my adopted son?” questioned Jeremy mockingly.

Phoebe stood up and dusted off her clothes. “Mister Jeremy, have you forgotten that you and Anya agreed you’d only help her adopt the kid but bear no responsibility for taking care of him? In other words, you don’t have Joey’s custody at all!” Joey did not quite understand what Phoebe said, but he could sense he was about to be in peril from her attitude. Thus, fearing he would be handed over to Phoebe again, he clutched Jeremy’s clothes tightly.

Jeremy patted Joey’s back softly to calm him down while saying, “You’re right.

Anya and I did talk about Joey’s custody when she emotionally manipulated me to adopt him. However, you’ve forgotten to consider one thing, and that’s the law. Since Anya is in jail right now, I naturally become Joey’s main legal guardian which trumps his grandmother, you.” Phoebe knew the law was not on her side, but she would be screwed if she let go of her human bargaining chip without a fight.

“You’re right, but what do you know about raising a kid, Jeremy? Isn’t it better for me to take care of Joey?” “Well, that’s where I come in. As his wife, I don’t mind helping him raise Joey,” said Corinne as she strolled over casually to stand beside Jeremy.

“You? Hah! We all know a stepmother is never good to her stepchildren!” said Phoebe after she shook herself out of her shock.

Corinne smiled. “It’s not like Miss Anya is his real mother either. Plus, it’s obvious Joey doesn’t want to stay with you. Or are you so blind that you can’t tell at all? If you and Miss Anya were good to him, he wouldn’t have clung to my husband as though for dear life now, would he?” Phoebe glared at her and said between gritted teeth, “This matter only concerns Jeremy, so mind your own business!” “If that’s the case, may I speak on her behalf?” chimed Lucas as he hobbled over with his crutches. “Why do you insist on keeping Joey by your side? Are you even sure you can take care of him well?” Phoebe looked at Lucas with shock. She then seemingly deflated a bit. “Lucas.

You’ve come too?” Lucas stopped beside Corinne. “Aunt Phoebe, the reason Grandpa sent you here is so you can do some self-reflection, but from what I can see, you have no intention to change at all. How can you expect us to leave Joey with you?” “But… But… Joey is Anya’s kid… My grandson!” stammered Phoebe, who had always been scared of Lucas.

Lucas chuckled coldly. “Anya turned out the way she did because of you. Are you trying to teach Joey the wrong things too? Do you really think Grandpa would allow you to do so? Even if he did, I’ll stop you!” “You… You might as well kill me right now! End my misery! First, you let them take away Anya, and now you want to take away Joey too? What’s the point of me living?!” Seeing as she could not win in an argument against Lucas and the others, Phoebe decided to threaten them with her life. In a fit of madness, she dashed toward a pillar not far away with the intention of bashing her head against it.

The servants started to panic when they saw that. They quickly rushed up to stop her, but…

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1107-Before the servants could stop Phoebe, however, Lucas shouted, “Don’t stop her! Let her do whatever she wants!” The servants stopped when they heard that.

Lucas chuckled coldly. “I’d like to see if a woman like her, who’s willing to do anything to achieve glory and wealth, would kill herself.” Seeing that no one was coming to stop her, Phoebe slowed down a little before bumping her head lightly against the pillar before she pretended to pass out.

Lucas gestured with his chin for Edmund to check up on her.

Edmund put his finger under Phoebe’s nose for a few seconds before standing up and reporting, “Miss Phoebe is still breathing, so she’s probably just fainted.” A hint of disgust flashed across Lucas’ eyes. “Ugh. You two there, carry her back to her room. She has caused enough trouble for the day.” The servants quickly carried Phoebe away.

“Don’t worry, she’s not going to die that easily. Next time, just let her be if she uses the same tactic to threaten you all again. She’ll come around by herself given enough time,” said Lucas to the rest of the servants.

“Yes, Mister Lucas!” chorused the servants.

After that, Lucas turned to Corinne. “Corinne, are you okay? I hope she didn’t scare you.” “I’m okay. Actually, I’m quite used to her theatrics since this isn’t the first time I’ve seen her go crazy like that,” Corinne replied with a shrug.

Lucas smiled wryly. “That’s true. Well, let’s forget about the whole thing. We should head back to finish our breakfast.” Corinne waved her hand. “No, thanks. I kind of lost my appetite. You can go on without me. Jeremy and I will head back to our room now.” As much as Lucas wanted to talk with Corinne for a while longer, he did not stop her. “Okay, then. I’ll guess I’ll see you later then,” he said with a nod.

Corinne turned to Jeremy. “Let’s go, Mister!” Thus, Jeremy—with Joey still in his arms—followed her back to their room.

… Joey fell asleep not long after they got back into their room. It was the best sleep he ever had since he knew he was safe with Corinne.

Jeremy, who was tired out from catching the red-eye flight, soon fell asleep next to Joey too.

Corinne’s eyes softened when she saw the two of them sleeping soundly on the bed. Even though she was still angry at Jeremy, she could not deny she still cared about him. Thus, she walked over and draped the blanket over him and Joey.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1108-After that, Corinne went to pack her bags. Even though she only stayed a night at the summer villa, she could not wait to go home.

‘Now that Jeremy’s here, it should be no problem to bring Joey back with us,’ she thought while packing her bags. ‘There’s no need for me to stay here any longer since I got what I came for.’ Suddenly, her phone rang. Fearing the noise would wake Jeremy and Joey up, she quickly took her phone out of the room to answer the call.

It was Aaron.

“Boss, where are you now?” he asked hurriedly as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I’m at the Riveras’ summer villa. Why? Did something happen?” “Where’s the summer villa? Drop me your location, and I’ll drive over there right away. I have something really important to tell you!” From Aaron’s tone, Corinne could tell it was serious—the kind that could not be discussed over the phone.

“You don’t have to come here. I’m going back tonight. We can meet at Twilight instead.” “That works too. Xante and I will make the necessary arrangements and wait for you at Twilight, then,” said Aaron.

Corinne started to feel a little uneasy after they hung up the phone. ‘It’s rare to see Aaron being so serious… What could have happened to make him act like that?’ She put her phone back in her pocket, and the moment she turned around, she saw Jeremy leaning against the opened doorway staring at her intently.

Startled, she asked with a frown, “You’re awake… Don’t you want to sleep a little longer?” Jeremy narrowed his eyes. “Who were you on the phone with just now? Why did you have to come out to take the call?” Corinne rolled her eyes at him. She did not like the accusatory tone he used. “I was on the phone with Aaron, and I came out because I didn’t want to wake you or Joey up! Happy?” Jeremy walked over and lifted her chin. “You still contact Aaron even though you don’t work together?” “Yeah! I’ve already told you that he’s a very important friend of mine. In fact, he’s more like a family to me, so we can’t not contact each other,” said Corinne honestly.

Jeremy chuckled coldly. “How can you see him as your family when you’re not related to him by blood? Plus, who’s to say he sees you the same way as you do?” Corinne frowned. “Just what are you trying to say, Mister? Don’t you trust me at all?” “It’s not you that I don’t trust but him! I mean, what kind of guy will keep on calling a married woman if he doesn’t have any ulterior motive?” he questioned while stroking her cheek softly.

Corinne stared straight into Jeremy’s eyes with displeasure before chuckling and saying, “I could say the same thing about you, Mister Jeremy. As a matter of fact, why don’t you think about what you’ve done first before pointing at me?” Jeremy could not help but frown when he heard her address him as ‘Mister Jeremy’. Not to mention, she was obviously hinting at something.

“Think about what I’ve done? What did I do? Have I done something to upset you again?”

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1109-”Corinne pushed Jeremy’s hand away and turned her head to the side. “Do I need to spell it out for you? You know very well what you’ve done to upset me!” she grumbled.

Jeremy’s hand froze. His eyebrow came up as he tried to recall what he could have done to upset Corinne so much, but he could not recall anything.

“Why are you angry at me? I didn’t even get angry at you when you wouldn’t allow me to kiss you! What else do you want from me?” Corinne could not help but blush when she heard Jeremy say the word ‘kiss’ so naturally, but it did nothing to ease the anger flaring up inside of her.

‘Since we have come to this point, I might as well spell it out for him,’ she thought.

“Jeremy Holden!” Corinne called him by his full name. Since she rarely did that, Jeremy knew just how much of a trouble he was in.

“Yes, I’m listening,” he said solemnly.

Corinne looked straight into his eyes. “Did you or did you not spend the night with another woman while you were abroad?” Jeremy was quite taken aback by the question, but realization finally dawned on him. “So you’re angry at me because of that? And here I was, trying to figure out why you’re giving me the cold shoulder when I’ve only been away for a few days.” Corinne became even angrier when she saw he had no intention to explain himself. Instead, he was trying to change the topic!

“Well, aren’t you going to explain yourself? I should warn you though, you better make sure I don’t find out the truth if you plan to lie to me. Otherwise, you can say goodbye to me forever!” That made Jeremy panic a little. He quickly pulled her into an embrace. “You little rascal, how can you say something like that? Don’t you know how hurtful that is?” Corinne tried to break free from his embrace but failed. Thus, she resorted to punching serious! This will be the end of us if I catch you in a small lie.” Corinne could really pack a punch when she put her mind to it. Jeremy gasped at the pain, but he did not let her go.

“I swear I didn’t spend the night with any woman! I wouldn’t dare to do that. In fact, all I did while abroad was work!” he said coaxingly.

However, Corinne did not believe him. Her gaze immediately darkened.

“You’re lying! I clearly heard a woman’s voice in the background while you were on the phone with me. Not to mention, the same woman picked up your phone while you were sleeping. How do you explain that?” Corinne was disappointed. She might have forgiven him if he had told her the truth. Heck, she might have even believed him if he had told her the woman was a female friend or business partner who, through some unfortunate events, had no choice but to share a room with him and that nothing happened between them.

However, the fact that he straight-out denied everything meant he was lying!

Seeing the disappointment in Corinne’s face, Jeremy frowned and quickly explained, “You’re right. I was sleeping. But it wasn’t at the hotel. I’ve been staying at the office ’cause I’ve been pulling one all-nighter after another ever since I landed. That’s just how bad the situation abroad is.

“The woman who answered the call was a secretary. She just happened to come in to clean up my office when you called so she thought she’d help me take a message. I called you back the other day to explain, but you didn’t answer, and it slipped my mind after that.

“My work schedule abroad was so grueling to the point I couldn’t find any time to contact you. Also, I was afraid that I’d want to fly back the moment I heard your voice. That’s why I’ve been forcing myself to not look at my phone. And guess what? I did! I immediately took the red-eye flight back here after you called me yesterday.”