Chapter 330
Izabe listened to the owner whispering, and found her eyes welling up with unexined tears. So
even after she was gone, there would still be people who remembered her, who cared about her
well-being.
With a soft smile, Izabe reassured her, "Don''t worry, ma''am, I believe she''s doing just fine."
The owner looked at her with a far-off gaze, "Indeed. What goes around,es around. She''s sure
to be doing well."
After saying that, the owner turned back to the kitchen, where the sizzling sound of oil could be
heard. Two minutester, she came out with a te of chicken for Izabe, "This one''s on me."
Izabe didn''t refuse. After expressing her thanks, she took a bite of the chicken right in front of the
owner. The crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside chicken tasted incredibly delicious.
The owner was in her fifties and had been running this ce for over three decades, watching many
people grow up.
Those who worked in restaurants often have a hard time maintaining their youthful looks. Her
wrinkles were deepened, and hair started to turn gray.
Seeing the owner''s gray hair, Izabe felt a pang of sadness.
The owner didn''t notice Izabe''s emotional shift. At this hour, the students had already gone home,
leaving only a few patrons in the restaurant. Once the owner finished her chores, she sat next to
Izabe and casually chatted about the "youngdy".
"The youngdy''s birthday is on May 21st. Every time she celebrated it alone,ing here for my
pasta. After she got married, she rarely came. I heard her husband wasn''t treating her well. But for
the past three years, a man iming to be her ex-husband has beening here often. When he''s
not busy, he would ask me to share stories about the youngdy. It''s funny how some people don''t
appreciate what they have until it''s gone. No wonder he ended up being her ex. She deserved
someone better."
Izabe didn''t respond. After finishing her meal and paying, she picked up her suitcase, ready to
leave.
Thedy boss saw her to the door, "If you''re staying in R City,e by my restaurant often. I''ll treat
you to some pasta, on the house."
"Thank you, Mrs. Jones." Thank you for remembering me, for remembering my birthday all these
years.
Thedy boss smiled warmly, watching Izabe''s retreating figure with affection. It wasn''t until
Izabe was out of sight that it struck her, how did she know her name?
By the time Izabe got back to her hotel, it was already 10 pm. After a shower, she turned on her
phone to find twenty new messages on Whatsapp.
She thought it must be something urgent, but they were all from Casey.
"Are you there?"
"Have you eaten?"
"......Are you asleep?"
Just ordinary chit-chat with no substantial content. Izabe read through the messages one by one.
Towards the end, there was even a selfie of him.
In the photo, Casey looked pitiful, with a pathetic little red flower on his head. The caption read,
"Please pay attention to me."
Looking at the photo, Izabe couldn''t help but chuckle. She thought of Ryker. Casey and Ryker
were so alike...
"I just got back and was about to go to bed."
On the other end, Casey, who was just about to fall asleep, squinted one eye open when he felt his
phone vibrate.
Seeing the message from Izabe, he quickly jumped out of bed.
She replied to me. Izabe replied to my text! She must have feelings for him for her to be replying
to his text sote.
Casey read the message over and over, thinking carefully about how to reply. He quickly started
typing on the keyboard.
"Where have you been?" No, that wouldn''t do. They had just met today, and this message might
come off as confrontational.
Casey quickly deleted it and started over.
"It''s not safe for a girl to be out sote, next time I''ll apany you..." No, that wouldn''t do either.
Young people these days valued their independence and didn''t like being controlled.
Original from N?velDrama.Org.
Deleted. Started over.
"It''s alreadyte, you should go to bed..." No, that wouldn''t work either. She might ignore him, and
the message mighte off as cold.
Deleted!
For the first time, Casey found replying to a text message so difficult. He grabbed his hair in
frustration, opened a drawer and poured a box of mint candy into his mouth. The cool mint vor
shot straight to his head.
He didn''t smoke, so whenever he was stressed or frustrated, he would eat mint candy.
Izabe stared at the "typing..." prompt. Five minutes had passed, and he was still typing. What kind
of message was he trying to send?
Just as she was wondering, Casey sent her a text. It was a very short message.
"Have you eaten?"
Izabe raised an eyebrow, understanding something. As she dried her hair, she replied with a
voice message.
"I''ve already eaten. You should go to bed early. Goodnight."
Casey was anxiously waiting for a reply. When he saw Izabe had sent a voice message, he was
shocked.
The hotel was already very quiet, but it seemed even quieter now. He could hear his own nervous
heartbeat. His fingers trembled as he pressed y, and Izabe''s gentle voice came through.
He listened to the three-second voice message over and over again, as if he couldn''t get enough.
Izabe had sent him a voice message, and she had said goodnight to him.
Just hearing her voice made Casey blush. Heughed loudly and dived into his bed, kicking the
covers around in excitement, like a yful puppy.
Izabe had said goodnight to him. Did she know what goodnight mean? Goodnight meant I love
you! In other words, Izabe was secretly confessing to him. She liked him!
Casey clenched his phone and punched the air, then sat obediently on his bed, trembling as he
opened the voice message.
He cleared his throat, making sure his voice wouldn''t sound bad, then pressed record.
"Goodnight too. Goodnight." After sending the voice message, Casey yed it back. His voice
sounded steady, not panicked.
Casey held his phone and reyed Izabe''s voice message dozens of times, then downloaded it,
saved it, and set it as his rm clock.
......
After drying her hair, Izabe saw that Casey had replied to her with a voice message. She clicked
on it to listen.
"Goodnight too. Goodnight."
What''s "Goodnight too"? What did that mean?
After a two-second hesitation, Izabe hit the back button and nced at the time. 10:40. She
plugged her phone in and turned in for the night, sleeping better than usual.
Tost in showbiz, you gotta have work. The turnover was fast and there were always fresh faces.
No work meant no one was gonna remember you.
Izabe had got clear goals: making money and investing. She couldn''t quit the industry yet, so she
was gonna go all out.
She was not the type to give up easily. No matter how tough it got, she was in it to win it. She was
made up her mind to make a mark here, to be the best actress.
Even if one day she left, people would remember that she was here.
The next morning, she got up and did an hour of yoga as usual before calling for breakfast.
The waiter arrived in less than ten minutes, the cartden with various breakfast items.
"Didn''t I just order soup?" Izabe asked.
The waiter exined, "This was prepared in advance by a Mr. Dempsey."
Izabe understood immediately, but there was no way she could eat all this.
"I''ll take what I can eat, take the rest back. Don''t waste it."
The waiter nodded in agreement.
Izabe took the soup and a sandwich, which was more than enough to fill her up.
"Enjoy your meal." The waiter said, pushing the cart away.
Back in her room, Izabe unplugged her phone, which had been charging all night, and sent a text
to Casey.
"Thanks for the breakfast."
As she was about to put her phone down, she saw the "typing" indicator. She stopped and patiently
waited for the iing message.
"I didn''t know what you liked, so I ordered you one of everything for breakfast from the hotel. Was it
good?"
Stunned, Izabe quickly took a bite of her breakfast, and before she had even swallowed, she was
texting Casey back.
"It''s delicious, thank you."
"Do you have time today? Want to go out? I can treat you to lunch, I know a great restaurant in R
City, I bet you''d love it."
"No need." Izabe quickly declined. "I have a meeting with the director at the TV station today.
Also, it''s not appropriate for us to go out together."
Reading her response, Casey started fiercely chewing on a breath mint. What was wrong with their
statuses? Last night, she had even said goodnight to him, why had she gone back to being aloof?
The man who''d just woken up,y on the bed sulking, staring at his phone. His hair was messy from
sleep, with a tuft sticking up in the middle that bobbed as he shook his head.
Pouting, Casey sent a selfie when he didn''t know what else to respond with. His eyes were teary,
his mouth mumbling a disappointed "okay".
Izabe didn''t reply to Casey''s text. She was conflicted. She wanted to get closer to Casey, but was
afraid he wasn''t who she thought he was. She was scared of making the same mistake again,
hurting not just herself, but also him.
If you were not loved, you were not afraid of getting hurt.