Chapter 158

"I'm really sorry, Peter."

Peter Harrison adjusted his black-framed glasses and smiled gently. "Don't worry about it. It's been years since we last saw each other."

Evelyn Carter twisted her fingers nervously. "Where are you working now?"

"At the Hudson City Architectural Design Institute."

"That's a stable job."

He shook his head with a wry smile. "In construction, it doesn't matter where you work. We still have to run around job sites, rain or shine."

So he was in architecture.

No wonder he was holding a measuring device. Upon closer look, he had a few other professional tools too. Earlier, she'd been too worried about her sister to notice.

As they made small talk, Evelyn's gaze kept drifting into the distance. What was the deal with that so-called physics teacher?

"Want to grab a seat somewhere?" Peter suddenly suggested.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. Did he know something?

"Sis..."

Her sleeve was tugged lightly.

She turned to see Emily Anderson blushing furiously, her head bowed like a startled rabbit.

"What's wrong?"

"I want to introduce you to someone..."

Emily pointed toward a boy in the same school uniform, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He was pushing a bicycle with one hand while effortlessly spinning a basketball with the other. Laughing with his friends under the sunlight, he radiated youthful energy.

"Sis, what do you think?"

Evelyn gave a slight nod. "He seems lively."

"He's the captain of the school basketball team."

Suddenly understanding, Evelyn crossed her arms and studied her sister. "So, not a physics teacher?"

Emily's face turned even redder. "It's a long story... Sis, I'll be right back. You chat with Peter for a bit!"

Before Evelyn could respond, the girl had already skipped away.

The boy was clearly waiting for her. As Emily approached, he casually handed her a snack bag from his bike handle and slung her backpack over his own shoulder.

"Young love is beautiful, isn't it?"

Evelyn snapped out of her thoughts to find Peter watching the young couple too. She smiled. "Yeah."

This was much better than she'd imagined.

At least it wasn't a married physics teacher.

"Let's give them some space. They won't relax with you standing here."

He was right.

Emily was gesturing toward them while speaking to the boy. Suddenly, the boy straightened up—

And bowed deeply in Evelyn's direction.

She nearly laughed out loud.

Emily waved at her. "Sis!"

Evelyn mimed a phone call, and her sister immediately understood.

"Your secret sister code?"

"Yeah," Evelyn explained. "Telling her to call me later."

Peter gestured toward a café on the corner. "Shall we?"

Over coffee, Evelyn finally pieced together the whole story.

Her dear little sister Emily had fallen for an average student.

While Emily wasn't as academically gifted as her sister, she could still get into a top-tier university. The boy, however, would only qualify for a second-tier school.

Their parents wanted their younger daughter to follow in Evelyn's footsteps by studying medicine or engineering at Hudson University. But with no decent second-tier options in Hudson City, the boy's family planned to send him to a school in Beijing—over a thousand miles away.

"Your parents are against her dating," Peter said. "Every time she tries to bring it up, they shut her down with 'Why can't you be more like your sister?' Once, during an argument, she blurted out that she liked her physics teacher just to provoke them."

Evelyn massaged her temples. Now she was getting blamed for her sister's crush?

"Did you come back with your husband this time?"

"I'm alone."

"Then..." Peter suddenly looked out the window.

"What is it?"

"That car... I think it's been following you."