Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 681 A Gamble On Everything (Part Two)

"I am a proud woman. It is true that Brian is a wonderful man, but I can't live like this," she said and there was unhappiness in Hannah's eyes. "It's true that he loves me, but so what? He is married to you. I don't want my baby to be born as an illegitimate bastard. No

mother would want that for their child. Molly, as a mother, you know how I feel, right?"

Molly forced a bitter smile. She didn't know whether Hannah had said those words on purpose, but they stabbed her heart like daggers. Hannah had said that Brian loved her, and... Molly's eyes had unconsciously drifted to Hannah's flat belly. There it was, Brian's other child. On that day, he had slept with Hannah and had left his love seeds in her belly. When Hannah had noticed her looking at her belly, she had lowered her eyes and had gently placed her hand on her belly. She had looked so resigned, as if the baby's life totally depended on Molly's decision.

"I'll leave Brian," Molly had said blankly. "I'll leave Brian with Mark. Your child won't be a bastard."

*

The villa was in sight. It was enveloped in darkness. Molly's eyes became glassy as she looked at it.

She dragged herself forward with leaden steps. She opened the door slowly and turned on the lights. Her sad eyes drifted slowly from one object to another-the sofa, the table, the curtains...everything here carried so many memories... their memories, her and Brian's. Her eyes went upstairs. She took the stairs and came to the second floor. She stood gloomily in front of his study. She recalled the first time Brian had had sex with her. It was right there, in the study.

She opened the door slowly. Everything looked the same inside it. Nothing had changed even after so many years, except for Becky's picture which used to be on his desk.

She closed the door and stood by the rails. Her eyes were fixed on the main door. Slowly, she took out her phone and dialed Brian's number-the number which had been engraved in her heart. "Hello," Brian answered the phone after a short silence.

"Where are you?" This was supposed to be a common conversation between a husband and wife, but right now, it sounded so ridiculous.

Brian was silent again. After a few seconds, he replied, "I'm at Mr. Song's."

Molly smiled sadly. Then she asked, "Bri, do you remember what you promised me when I came back to the villa?"

Brian fell into silence again. His eyes darkened beneath those furrowed brows. He remembered each and every promise he had made to her. He might not have been the best husband, but he had been trying to give her the best of everything in the world. Brian sensed that something was off and said, "Molly, if you can prove it, I'll let you go."

Brian hung up. He looked at Mr. Song who was sitting opposite to him and said, "I'll send Mr. Shen abroad soon after he is released from prison. The Sacred Domain fell apart many years ago. I don't think you would want to see it become a strong force again." Mr. Song smiled, sipped some tea and responded, "Son, I retired a long time ago. Leave me out of this."

Brian smiled and took his leave. When his car was almost at Mr. Song's gate, he met Hannah who had just come back from somewhere. Their relationship had changed subtly after what had happened in the hotel.

"Mr. Brian Long." Hannah tried to act naturally in front of him. She couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Brian stared at Hannah intensely until she blushed a little. "Try to come back home earlier than this. Mr. Song is old and he needs your company," he said.

After saying that, Brian indicated Tony to drive. Hannah watched the car leave and smiled. 'Men are so easy. They are all powerless in front of beautiful women. Once you get into their bed, they will always be back for more," she thought to herself. As she walked towards the house, the conversation she had had with Molly flashed in her mind.

"Brian is a responsible man. You gave birth to his son, so he married you. And now, he will never let you go," she had said to Molly.

"Yes, he will," Molly said dully.

"Huh?"

"He promised me that if he ever cheated on me, he would let me go," Molly had said with a pale face, "Now, you are carrying his baby. He will have to let me go."

Hannah stopped in her tracks. The smile on her face widened. Brian's words had made her even happier. Molly hadn't lied to her. Now, all she needed to do was get into bed with Brian once again and let Molly catch them in the act.

*

Days went by as if nothing had happened that day. Wing had been busy ever since Spark had started playing the violin again. Musicians tended to be crazy about and obsessed with good music scores. Sometimes, Wing and Spark worked so hard that they even forgot to take breaks between practice.

Since Wing was busy, Molly and Brian's relationship became subtle. After that phone call, Brian had stopped avoiding Molly. They met now and then. He took her out for dinner sometimes. It looked like their life was finally becoming peaceful and happy, but that was just an illusion which they had created for themselves.

Also, our path doesn't always forge the way we want it to. Sometimes, things happen against our will and besides our best efforts, we might just lose against our own fate.

*

Hannah was overjoyed by Brian's phone call. Even after the call had ended, she was still holding her phone, all smiles. "Why are you so happy? Did you win the lottery?" Mr. Song asked her jokingly. His heavy-lidded eyes were only half open, but they were as keen as ever. "Grandpa!" Hannah wrapped her arms around his neck. "Brian invited me to his party at his villa."

"Oh?" Mr. Song's eyes lit up. Then he said doubtfully, "But as far as I know, he has never thrown a party at his villa before." "Grandpa!" Hannah leaned onto his shoulder with a bright smile on her face, "This is not a usual party. Think harder."

Mr. Song quickly realized what she meant. He laughed and said, "It looks like someone is in love."

"Grandpa..." Hannah pouted. "I've worked so hard on my plan and now it has finally started to pay off." Things had been going smoothly between her and Brian. She wondered whether Brian had lost interest in Molly. Every time she invited him somewhere, he accepted. Sometimes, he stared at her so intensely that he fell into a daze. As a woman, she knew very well what that kind of look meant.

Seeing Hannah so excited, Mr. Song said cheerfully, "Kiddo, if you can be with Brian, then I'm really happy for you. And I won't have to worry about you anymore. But, Brian is not that simple to handle."

"Hmph! He is just a casino owner. What's the big deal?" Hannah rolled her eyes. "Grandpa, if you hadn't retired, he would have been a little pet of yours at most."

"Ha ha..." Mr. Song laughed as he patted Hannah's hand. But no one could say that they knew Brian. He was a mystery, hard to figure out. But they knew that he was not just everything they had seen so far. There was more to Brian Long than they knew. "Anyway, if you marry Brian, everything Grandpa has done for you will be worth it."

Hannah smiled shyly. Her eyes were filled with joy of triumph. After tonight, she would be the only woman by Brian's side.

*

Molly's one foot was out of her bedroom, but she withdrew it inside quickly. After a few seconds, she craned her head out of the room and peeked downstairs. It was too far and she couldn't see much. But she couldn't help herself from looking.

She couldn't see the person she was looking for. Her eyes dimmed. Frustrated, she leaned on the wall and closed her eyes painfully. Footsteps were heard from downstairs. The sound became fainter and fainter as the person went farther away. When the footsteps couldn't be heard anymore and the main door was closed, Molly slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

Brian stood outside the door, staring at it. He didn't move for a long time.

"Mr. Brian Long, we're running late," Tony reminded him.

"Okay," he responded, but he still didn't move. Tony was about to remind him again when he dropped his gaze from the door and walked towards the car with one hand in his pocket.

The car ride was smooth and quick. Tony looked at Brian through the rear-view mirror occasionally. Brian was looking out of the window with one arm on the armrest, lost in thoughts. As the view outside flashed by, his eyes darkened. "Tony," he began. "Yes, Mr. Brian Long?" Tony answered.

"Will she stop me tonight?" For the first time, Brian's voice was devoid of confidence.

Tony looked in the rear-view mirror. He heaved a sigh and said uncertainly, "Mrs. Molly Long will stop you."

"What if she doesn't?" Brian turned to look at Tony, waiting for his reply. Tony didn't know how to answer Brian's question, because he knew that no matter how this ended, Brian wouldn't let Molly go. He just couldn't live his life without her anymore. So whatever his response to Brian's question was, it would only be meaningless.

Realizing that Tony wasn't going to answer his question, Brian looked out of the window once again. His eyes were as dark as the night. He was gambling with himself, with his first love at stake. Should he lose her love, he would lose everything.