"That's true! Now that you have a boyfriend, Alexander has already married Evie. Whatever happened in the past is in the past. You all have a good life!" Rory nodded in reply.
"What about you and Caleb?" Grace asked.
"What else can we do? We just play our own game. We'll talk about marriage when the time comes."
"It's been two or three years. You should start thinking about your future."
"Who knows? I just take it one day at a time."
Grace shook her head but said nothing more.
After all, every family has its own problems. As an outsider, it's hard to understand how the people involved truly feel. It's even harder to step in and give advice.
Grace sipped her tea and watched Evie in the swimming pool.
She thought back to when she was Evie's age. Alexander was still by her side back then.
They were so happy together. They squandered that happiness recklessly, always believing it would last forever.
Until one day, that life suddenly stopped. She realized then that the total amount of happiness is fixed. When you waste it all, it's gone.
If she had understood that truth earlier, she would have cherished their time together more.
Unfortunately, by the time she understood, it was too late.
Grace smiled bitterly for a moment. Then she fell into a lonely silence.
Alexander had let her go and married that simple, lovely young girl.
From the party that day, she could see how much he doted on his wife. From the smile on Evie's face, she could also see that Evie was well taken care of.
Alexander had once doted on her like that too. But she was too foolish to hold onto it.
"I need to go to the bathroom. Do you want to come with me?" Rory asked Grace.
"I'll pass. You go ahead!" Grace turned to reply.
Rory went to the bathroom. Grace continued drinking her tea. The tea was already a little cold.
After a while, she heard a phone ringing. She turned around and saw it was coming from Evie's bag. She called out to Evie, who was on the other side of the pool, "Evie, I think your phone is ringing!"
"Could you answer it for me first?" Evie called back, then started walking over slowly.
Grace took the phone out of Evie's bag. She saw Alexander's name on the screen.
She hesitated for a moment. She glanced at Evie. Then she picked up anyway. "Alexander—"
The person on the other end was stunned for a moment. But it was just a brief silence. Then he spoke calmly, "Please ask my wife to come to the phone."
"Please hold on. She's coming. I'm just answering it for her." Grace finished speaking.
She held the phone and watched Evie approach. She handed the phone to her.
"It's your husband."
"Thanks!" Evie took the phone. "Hello—"
"It's me," Alexander said.
"I know it's you!" Evie replied with a smile. She pulled a towel over her body and sat down on the chair beside her.
Grace slipped into the water to continue soaking in the hot spring.
Some things, if you don't pay attention to them, if you don't know about them, you can pretend they never happened.
"It's so much fun here. It's beautiful too. I was just learning to swim," Evie said excitedly.
"How are you doing?" Alexander asked with a smile.
"I haven't learned yet. I thought it would be simple, but it's actually really hard!"
"I'll teach you next time."
"Okay. When you're free, you should come to the hot spring too. Rory said hot springs are good for your health. You're always so busy. You could use some time here to relieve your fatigue," Evie said with a smile.
"Yes. I'll bring you another day."
"You don't have to bring me. You can come with your friends."
"Aren't you afraid I'll bring other girls?"
"Haha, you're not that kind of person."
Alexander on the other end of the phone smiled faintly. He didn't refute anything.
"Did you have lunch on time?" Evie asked again.
"Yes."
"I won't be too busy tonight. Even if you have to work overtime, you have to stop for dinner by seven o'clock first."
"Okay."
"Then I won't disturb you. Go back to work. I'll take care of myself. Besides, Rory and Grace are here with me. You don't have to worry about me."
"Don't play too late."
After the call ended, Evie was still holding her phone. She sat in the chair, giggling.
"Was that Alexander? You look so happy laughing," Rory said as she walked back to her seat, smiling at Evie.
"Yeah. He was worried I might faint since it's my first time at a hot spring. He called to check on me," Evie said with a smile.
"I envy you two. You're so in love. It's like a romance novel," Rory praised.
"No, it's just caring," Evie replied, a little embarrassed.
"It's always good to have that kind of thoughtfulness. If it were my husband, he probably wouldn't even react if I were floating face-down in the hot spring," Rory shrugged and said.
"How could that be, Rory? You love to joke."
"It's not impossible. Let's soak for a while longer. Then we should get up and eat something," Rory said.
"Okay!" Evie agreed. She put her phone back into her bag and followed Rory back into the hot spring.
Laila didn't seem to be in a good mood today. She was lying quietly on the massage chair with her eyes closed.
Evie lay down on the massage chair next to her. Then she asked Rory in a low voice, "Where's the switch?"
Laila opened her eyes. She reached out and helped Evie press the switch.
Evie suddenly yelped. She jumped up from the massage chair.
"There's electricity!"
Rory and Laila both laughed. "It's a pulse massage. You'll get used to it."
Evie carefully climbed back onto the chair. But she didn't dare lie down. She didn't dare touch those pulse points.
"How can you massage like this?"
"I'm scared of electricity!" Evie replied awkwardly.
"Just get used to it. I've been lying here for a while," Laila answered.
Evie had to lie down again and try.
The next second, she was scrambling to her feet again. She went over to the water column massage chair on the other side and lay down there.
That pulse massage chair was really not for her.
After soaking for more than ten minutes, they got out of the hot spring pool. They went to the geothermal room to lie down. After a short rest, they took a shower. They changed into dry clothes and went to the second floor of the main building for the buffet.
After playing all afternoon, Evie was starving.
She took a plate and picked out a few of her favorite dishes. Then she went back to the table.
She saw that Grace had only taken a cup of juice and a few kinds of fruit. Evie asked, "Is that all you're going to eat?"
"Yes. I've been taking care of my body lately. I've been eating vegetarian," Grace replied with a smile.
"Oh!" Evie hadn't expected Grace to only eat vegetables. She was a little surprised.
"You don't know how far Grace will go to stay in shape!" Laila came over with a plate full of food and said.
"It's not that exaggerated. I'm just adjusting my diet properly," Grace said softly.
"Let me eat one or two vegetarian meals once in a while. I'm fine with that. But if I had to be a vegetarian like Grace, I really don't think life would be worth living!" Laila shook her head and continued.