Love's Change of Heart

Louis was silent for a few seconds. "Since that's the case, you should change into something else."

Daphne didn't say anything.

She lowered her head to look, realizing that she was still wearing her pajamas.

Daphne dashed back into her bedroom.

Ten minutes had elapsed by the time she came out again after changing.

She tidied her hair and wiped her face, and she even put on some lipstick.

Daphne slowly walked over to Louis and took the trash from his hand, saying calmly, "Let's go."

Louis grabbed his stuff, a faint smile on his thin lips as he followed behind her.

They arrived downstairs and discarded the trash, then walked around the community for around half an

hour.

Daphne said, "After you start school, will you be staying on campus, or will you be living at your rental

place?"

"The rental place."

Daphne thought he had a point. University dorms were too noisy; given Louis' personality, he probably

preferred a quiet environment.

They walked for a bit longer. Daphne noticed that it was getting late, so she started walking back.

Louis walked with her back to the entrance of her house. "Go on in."

Daphne turned around. "The subway probably isn't running now. Take care when you go back."

Louis nodded. "Okay."

Daphne waved at him. "See you next time."

"Goodnight."

Daphne paused for a moment before saying, "Goodnight."

When Daphne closed the door, Louis finally averted his gaze. He stood where he was for a few

minutes, then walked to the emergency exit. He glanced around him, and after confirming that there

were no traces of Theodore hanging around, he slowly left by taking the stairs.

Once on the ground floor, Louis found a spot to sit down, then took out his phone and started reading a

French thesis.

At 2.00AM, a security guard was on patrol when he noticed someone sitting there. When he walked

over to the person and recognized them, he said, "Louis? What are you doing here in the middle of the

night?"

Louis looked up, unaffected as he licked his lips. "Nothing."

Seeing that Louis was reluctant to open up, the security guard didn't ask more as he suggested, "Why

don't you stay in the security room? It's quite cold out here at night, and they just bought supper. You

can have some."

Louis said, "Thank you, but I'm not hungry. Please continue patrolling the area. I'll be leaving in a bit."

The security guard wasn't done with his patrol yet, so he didn't stay for long. "Alright. If you need

anything, just ask the security room for help."

Louis nodded. "Alright."

When the security guard left, Louis felt a little tired from sitting, so he put away his phone and walked

around downstairs.

He spent the entire night walking around.

At daybreak, when the community got busier, Louis finally left.

…

After a night's sleep, Daphne got up for a morning run. It was probably because she had eaten too

much last night.

When she had run two rounds around the man-made lake beside the community, the security guard

called out to her, saying, "Miss Shirley."

Daphne turned around. "What's the matter?"

The security guard walked over with a mysterious look as he gossiped in a low voice, asking, "Did you

and your boyfriend overdo it last night?"

Daphne was confused. "What?"

The security guard said, "He lingered around the ground floor all night last night, and he didn't even go

to the security room to rest when I asked him to."

The security guard said, "He lingered around the ground floor all night last night, and he didn't even go

to the security room to rest when I asked him to."

Daphne was stunned. "My boyfriend, lingering around the whole night… Do you mean Louis?"

"Yes, Louis. He only left in the morning. Didn't you two get into a fight?"

"No… We didn't get into a fight." Daphne was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Thanks."

The security guard said, "No need for thanks. I'm just doing my job."

On her way back, Daphne walked distractedly, unsure of why Louis would hang around the ground

floor all night.

When she walked to the door and looked at the emergency exit beside it, Daphne suddenly

remembered the time Theodore visited her.

When Louis came over last night, he mentioned something about Theodore running away.

Daphne was stunned. Did Louis linger around the ground floor all night because of this?

When she returned home, Daphne plopped onto the couch and stared at the ceiling, thinking of

something.

Sometime later, her phone rang. It was her friend inviting her on a shopping trip in the afternoon.

Daphne didn't have anything going on, and she wanted to do something to while the time away in case

she read too much into things, so she agreed.

While they were shopping, her friend asked, "Are you still upset about the contract ending?"

Daphne returned to her senses and managed to perk up a little. "No."

"What is it, then?"

Daphne found an excuse. "I was binge-watching a show last night, and I stayed up too late. I didn't get

enough sleep."

The friend said, "You're still in the mood for shows, huh? What did you watch? Do you have anything to

recommend?"

"It was a random show."

"Hey, I've been watching a show recently. There are tons of lovey-dovey scenes in it, and it's good for

killing time. You can give it a watch," the friend said. "It's about a relationship between an older woman

and a younger man. It's so sweet that my heart melts whenever I watch it."

Daphne was silent.

Suddenly, she wasn't interested anymore.

Just then, they noticed a man and a woman shopping beside them.

The man wanted to tell the woman something and simply called her by name.

The woman said in annoyance, "I've told you many times that I'm two years older than you, so you

shouldn't just call me that. Where are your manners?"

The man didn't say anything. He just stuck out his tongue at her and ran away.

Daphne's friend clicked her tongue at the sight, then leaned in closer to Daphne and said, "See? If he's

not addressing her politely, he probably has some other intention."