The raise of Maureen Smith and her Good Luck System
Chapter 88: Liam and Maureen’s bonding time

Chapter 88: Liam and Maureen’s bonding time

In order to break this strange atmosphere, Maureen said: "You have a movie room on the second floor, should we watch a movie?"

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt like the air of gloom that had clouded over Liam in the past few days had lifted ever so slightly.

Liam stood up expressionlessly and led her upstairs: "What movie do you want to watch? You pick" Maureen: "Okay."

Pausing briefly, Liam put his hands in his pockets, not looking back, and coldly said, "It seems like we’re going to have to eat together tomorrow."

"No that won’t work," Maureen said, "Laurel has asked me to accompany him to buy stuff tomorrow afternoon.

He needs some clothing and other items since he’s transferred here."

"Laurel?"

" Laurel as in the ’Laurel Donald’, Laurel as in Laurel Donald."

Maureen knew that he couldn’t remember the name so she rolled her eyes silently behind his back, "I mentioned it before."

Stopping again, Maureen quickly said,

"Let’s dine together tomorrow night then."

She couldn’t exactly articulate her feelings at the moment, but Liam had been acting strangely these past few days.

His rare invitation to dinner was something she did not readily want to refuse.

Despite spending considerable time together, the two had never eaten alone.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but upon speaking these words, the figure before her seemed much more pleased.

Maureen could not fathom the depths of Liam’s thoughts, so she quickened her steps, hopped onto the stairs in front of him, and looked back to check his expression.

What she saw was Liam’s face that read

"Though I can have a meal with you, I’m still utterly exhausted.

Although I’m fed up with being tired, a man does not shed tears lightly, just ignore me."

Liam lifted an eyelid, "What are you doing?"

It didn’t seem like he was happier. Maureen thought men’s thoughts were genuinely hard to guess, and Liam’s thoughts were even more complicated.

He had always been peculiar and Maureen could never understand what he was thinking.

Now, when Maureen wanted to figure out what he was really thinking, she found it as challenging as solving a series of Olympiad Math problems.

A headache started to creep on Maureen, "Nothing."

She resolved to ask Liam what was bothering him during the movie later on.

She wondered what exactly she did to irritate him.

Liam pushed open the door, and they entered the movie projection room. Maureen was stunned for a moment.

Was this how the rich lived?

The one-bedroom apartment was not far behind compared to the Smith family’s villa.

The spacious room was empty except for a solitary couch.

Behind the couch, there was a shelf filled haphazardly with books and DVDs.

An entire wall across from it was devoted to a projector screen.

The projector was switched on, casting a haunting blue light. Liam walked towards it, the contour of his face clearly distinct under the blue light, his lashes slightly lowered, casting shadows onto his face.

Maureen stared at him, and then at the hand he was using to adjust the equipment.

That hand was pale and slender, untouched by any signs of labor due to the pampered upbringing.

She imagined that it would feel dry and warm when held during the early winter season. ... Maureen’s thoughts began to wander inadvertently, recalling the feeling of holding Liam’s hand before her last monthly exam.

In fact, she was so focused on her potted plant sprout at the time that she didn’t notice the feel of his hand.

It was not much different from many students who would hold the hand of the Einstein statue in school before an exam for good luck.

She could not remember the sensation at all.

Then, Maureen remembered the feeling of his hand ruffling her hair.

His grip was not light at all; it was so heavy that it was borderline rude, much like how one would wring out a washcloth.

At that time, she hadn’t paid much attention to it either. But, for some inexplicable reason, she remembered it at this moment.

Why? Without thinking, Maureen moistened her dry lips.

"Have you seen this one?"

Snapping out of her reverie, she noticed Liam waving a science fiction film case.

"I’ve seen it."

Liam: "With whom?" Her gaze lingered on Liam’s well-defined face as she reflexively answered, "I watched it with Richard and Donald Laurel when I first moved to City A.

It was very touching, I cried."

"Completely unprepared for her reply, the fingers of Liam holding the disc tightened.

Liam suddenly realized that Richard had known the people around Maureen longer than he had actually known about Maureen’s family matters.

"Oh, really? That’s good." Liam’s face showed no expression.

Instead, he put the disc back, his eyes obscured in the gloom of the blu-ray’s glow.

"Shall we change the film?"

Maureen was very easy-going, "If you want to watch, I don’t mind watching it again."

After a pause, Liam casually asked, "Is the movie good?"

Maureen recalled the plot, saying, "It’s about a story of an artificial intelligence boy who wants to become a real boy and embarks on an adventure; it’s quite moving."

Liam said, "You remember it quite clearly."

Maureen thought he wanted to hear more about it, so she started describing, "I was in a cinema at that time, and the surroundings were very dark, the atmosphere was great, I also remember one of the scenes..."

However, before she could finish her sentence, Liam interrupted her, "I suddenly feel sleepy."

Maureen was puzzled.

If he continued to listen to her, Liam couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t get up in the middle of the night and go to beat up Richard.

He knew he shouldn’t have such negative emotions over such a trivial thing, yet he still couldn’t avoid feeling jealous.

He was jealous of Richard and Drake for having childhood sweethearts, and being part of Drake’s past.

He was even more jealous that Richard was once liked by Maureen- truly liked, not the kind where he was deluding himself.

Seeing the messy hair on his forehead and his downcast eyes, Maureen suddenly lost interest and turned to go downstairs.

"Aren’t you going to watch anymore?" Maureen quickly followed.

She felt that Liam’s emotional ups and downs were as irregular as her period...

"Maybe another day."

"You go take a shower and then go to bed early."

Liam walked Maureen to her room.

The moment Maureen entered the room, Liam almost blurted out, ’So, do you still like Richard?’

But he felt like a clown, lacking the courage to ask and,fearing to hear the answer he didn’t want to hear.