The Invincible Rich Man (Gerald Crawford)

Chapter 1199-1205

Chapter 1199
Gerald truly hadn’t expected such a major interlude to take place just from him heading over to Lugaw City.
 
Regardless, Gerald wasn’t really that interested in Zack’s relationship with the Snyders. After all, as long as it was related to business affairs, Gerald had no doubts about leaving Zack in charge.
 
Once the party was over, Gerald headed out together with Cundrie and a few others.
 
As they were walking on, Gerald looked at Cundrie before saying, “I truly apologize for my imprudence back then, Miss Smith, and I hope you aren’t still angry about that incident… You see, at the time, I had mistaken you as Mila, my girlfriend, which was what caused me to behave the way I did… I had wanted to explain this for a while now, but I never got a proper chance to do so!”
 
After Cundrie had stepped forward to bear the responsibility of her actions earlier—even though she knew how dangerous that would be for her—Gerald could already tell that she was a very nice person.
 
“How could she remain angry? I’ll have you know, Mr. Crawford, that as long as you wish for it, I’ll not only allow you to hug her, but I’m even willing to give her to you-”
 
Though Mrs. Smith had said so excitedly, she was cut short when Cundrie—who could tell what her mother’s intentions were—shot a bitter glare at her. Realizing that she had gone a bit too, Mrs. Smith immediately stopped talking.
 
Seeing that, Riley immediately began dragging her mother away as she said, “Mr. Crawford wishes to talk to sister, mom! Don’t disturb them!”
 
Once they were out of sight, Cundrie then smiled faintly before replying, “…It’s fine. To be quite honest, while I was angry at the time, I simultaneously felt the urge to thank you after you made me realize something!”
 
Cundrie could’ve never imagined that the imprudent man she had imagined Gerald to be this entire time was actually such a refined man who was quite stubborn when it came to love.
 
“…Hmm? Was it something I said?” asked Gerald as he returned the smile.
 
“Well, you see, I had previously thought that true love no longer existed on this planet… After all, the world today is fuelled mostly by sexual desires… Regardless, for the longest time, I simply considered all love to be fake and hypocritical… It got to the point where I assumed that whenever a man fell in love with a woman, he was only doing so to gain access to her body! Due to that mentality, I had been disappointed with the concept of love for as long as I’ve lived!”
 
“…However, the moment you embraced me, I could feel how tightly you were hugging onto me… I didn’t even know who you were yet at the time, but I could sense how much you loved the woman you mistook me for… It was almost as though you were terrified of the thought that she’d leave you again if you didn’t hug her tight enough… It was also at that moment when I realized that true love still existed in the world… I have to admit that I’m quite envious of that woman… She’s called Mila, right?” asked Cundrie as she turned to look at Gerald.
 
After watching Gerald nod slightly, Cundrie then added, “Could I request something from you, Mr. Crawford…?”
 
“Go on. I’ll try to fulfill your request as long as I’m able to!”
 
“…If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear the story about you and Mila…”
 
After a brief pause, Gerald then agreed and began telling Cundrie about his tale with her. It wasn’t long before Gerald summarized most of his relationship with Mila to her.
 
Once he was done, Cundrie found herself nodding in satisfaction before saying with a smile, “…I see. As it turns out, true love doesn’t really ask for much! Speaking of which, you said you needed a drop of my blood, correct? While I’m not quite sure how my blood will be useful to you, I don’t mind donating some since you sound like you really need it!”
 
With that, Cundrie then bit into her index finger, causing a small amount of blood to start puddling there.
 
Once Gerald got what he needed, he looked at Cundrie gratefully as he said, “If there’s anything you need help with in the future, know that you can always come to me. Thank you very much, Miss Smith!”
 
Getting slightly teary-eyed, Cundrie then replied, “We shouldn’t be thanking each other anymore, you know…? After all, we’re friends now, so you better not thank me again in the future…! Jokes aside, I sincerely hope that you’ll be able to reunite with Mila again soon, Mr. Crawford… Do invite me over to your wedding when that time comes…!”
Chapter 1200
“With your blessings, I’ll make sure that that day comes! Thank you!” replied Gerald as he immediately turned to leave.
 
Taking in a deep breath, Cundrie couldn’t help but feel slightly desolate as she watched him walk off into the distance.
 
After Gerald was quite a distance away, Riley and her mother quickly returned to Cundrie’s side.
 
“How did the conversation go, sister?”
 
“Yes, why did Mr. Crawford leave just like that…? It wasn’t easy for both of you to even meet, you know? Aren’t there any feelings between both of you at all?” asked Cundrie’s mother, her voice filled with concern.
 
“…Despite the fact that we’ve touched, it’s impossible for us to be together, mom. After all, I can tell that he truly loves his girlfriend… An extremely strong love…”
 
While Gerald did have slight physical contact with her and Cundrie herself couldn’t deny that she had been touched by how gentle he was, in the end, she knew that she didn’t stand a chance against that Mila girl.
 
With that in mind, all she could do was give him her sincerest of blessings…
 
It was a little while later when Gerald, Zack, and a few others were sitting in a helicopter bound for Mayberry.
 
“Has everything been going alright after I left Mayberry?” asked Gerald as he looked at Zack with a smile.
 
“Everything’s been running smoothly! After you killed off those from the Moldell family, I had some people renovate Mountain Top Villa to how it used to look like. I’ll have you know that everything looks exactly like how you remember it now! Speaking of which, we’ve also reclaimed Mayberry Commercial Street and Wayfair Mountain Entertainment! After a year of fixing Mayberry up, everything’s as good as it was before!”
 
After pausing to catch his breath, Zack then continued, “Also, after taking the medicine that you prescribed, Felicity successfully made a full recovery! However, she’s no longer an internet celebrity! She’s become an actress instead! Due to her initial popularity and our support, she’s now a top celebrity!”
 
“I’m glad to hear that! What about Naomi? How’s she doing?” asked Gerald, a hint of concern in his voice.
 
Back when he had last parted with her, he had told her that they wouldn’t ever meet again in the future. It was a fair claim since he was being pursued by others back then and his fate truly was unpredictable.
 
However, now that he was returning to Mayberry, he knew that he would eventually bump into her.
 
Regardless, now that he had acquired the blood he needed, Gerald knew Queena wasn’t going to have an easy time finding him. As long as he didn’t do anything too high profile, there was little chance of her finding him, or at least he hoped.
 
“Ah, about Miss Milton… Truth be told, I had initially planned to help her establish a company. I even gave her a large sum of money! Even so, not only did she refuse to go with that idea, but she also didn’t take the money I offered, stating that you already gave her more than enough, Mr. Crawford! Miss Milton is simply too straightforward a person! ”
 
“It was a little while later when I found out that she had passed the necessary exams to gain a teacher qualification certificate. Realizing that her ambition was to be a teacher, I asked her whether she would like a luxurious school to be built for her. Alas, she rejected that suggestion as well! She’s currently working as a regular teacher in a high school!” replied Zack as he shook his head with a bitter smile.
 
“Naomi’s just like that… She isn’t one to care too much about money, and she doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal to be rich either. It’s how she treats me as well. Whether I’m rich or poor, she always treats me as a very close friend,” said Gerald as he smiled rather gratuitously.
 
At that moment, Zack looked like he wanted to say something. When Gerald saw him simply lowering his head instead of saying what was on his mind, however, Gerald turned to look at Zack before saying, “If there’s something on your mind, say it!”
 
“Well… I just wanted to say that Miss Milton truly is a nice person… You know, back when she and Miss Nelson found out that you had disappeared, both of them had rushed all the way to Northbay just to inquire more about you. Since the Crawford family was still being suppressed by the Moldells back then, the two girls had to go through quite a bit of their own suffering…”
 
Hearing that, Gerald simply nodded.
 
“What I’m trying to say is that even till this very day, Miss Milton still contacts me weekly, asking whether there’s any news on you! She’s been doing this for a year and a half now!” added Zack.
 
Hearing that, Gerald felt moved. How couldn’t he understand Naomi’s feelings for him…
Chapter 1201
It was akin to Gerald wearing a bulletproof vest. While having it on allowed Gerald to remain unharmed, other parties wouldn’t be able to get close to him, resulting in them feeling hurt. Though the other party’s problem could be solved should that vest be penetrated, once that happened, Gerald would surely be the one getting hurt next.    
 
It was the reason why he had always hidden his emotions deep inside his heart. He believed that time was the best medicine to cure rancor, and after a long period, everything would simply fade away.
 
Shaking the thoughts off, Gerald then changed the topic by asking, “I see… What about my buddy, Xeno? How’s he doing?”
 
“Back when I returned to have my revenge against Jett, I remember that the Moldells had snatched up most of Mayberry’s economic lifeline. While I do know that Yoel ended up getting tortured to the point where he became a beggar, I only heard news about Xeno’s automobile trade not doing too well back then. Sadly, I didn’t have the time or energy to be concerned with too many things at the time!” added Gerald.
 
“Ah, yes. I wanted to talk about that too. Back then, Jett had been extremely hostile toward any capital or connections involved with you. Of course, Xeno was no exception. Not only was his company ruined by Jett, but that b*stard had even hired people to assassinate him! Thankfully, Xeno is quite smart, so he managed to bring his fiancée along and escape before Jett could murder him. Regardless, once Jett was dealt with, I returned to Mayberry and began getting things right again. Alas, when it came to Xeno, even after asking around everywhere, I found no traces of where he could have possibly gone to, even till this day!” replied Zack with a sigh.
 
“…I see. It seems that many problems still remain from that incident back then…” replied Gerald as he found himself speechless.
 
Soon after, the helicopter arrived at Mayberry. As soon as Gerald was within the city’s borders, the jade charm—that he had been holding onto—began vibrating, making a tiny ‘buzzing’ sound.
 
As it turned out, Master Ghost’s prediction had once more been extremely accurate. The Zirkobsite stone truly was in Mayberry!
 
In order to find the specific location of the stone, however, he still needed to look for another girl with a strong yin physique. According to what Mr. Ghost had said, the other person could be found in Mayberry.
 
Gerald was well aware that time was ticking as well. It wasn’t going to be long before the middle of the month arrived, and should he fail to accomplish his task before then, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide his scent from her for much longer, even with the blood.
 
Should that scenario happen, Queena would surely hunt him down immediately, causing all the work he had done in the previous days to be rendered useless. With that in mind, Gerald didn’t dare delay it anymore.
 
“Speaking of which, I’ll be laying low once I return to Mayberry due to certain reasons. Regardless, you and the others should just behave like you normally would!” said Gerald as he looked at Zack.
 
Just like how he had located Cundrie, Gerald would need to look everywhere in order to find the other person with a strong yin physique. He was also well aware that he wouldn’t be able to find said person just by relying on others.
 
“Also, which area within Mayberry is usually most crowded by women?” inquired Gerald.
 
“Well, if it’s a place filled with girls, the university is definitely your best bet. Actually, now that you’ve asked me that, there may be an even better option. You see, there’s currently a function at Wayfair Mountain Entertainment. Felicity and many other celebrities are shooting a film there. As a result, many women—from all over the world—constantly flock around that area to watch them shoot their scenes! If it’s a place with lots of women you want, then Wayfair Mountain Entertainment is the perfect place to go!”
 
“Excellent!”
 
With that, the helicopter then sped up and flew directly toward Wayfair Mountain Entertainment. To attract even more women there, Gerald was well aware that getting more celebrities would definitely do the trick. With that in mind, he then told Zack to begin contacting handsome and effeminate men to come over to Wayfair Mountain Entertainment.
 
To make sure that the celebrities would drop whatever they were doing and come over immediately, Gerald also promised that they would be paid ten times more than they usually would.
 
Naturally, that did the trick and soon after, the entire city began getting crowded with fans from all over the world.
 
Once there were enough women around, Gerald began slowly strolling up and down Wayfair Mountain Entertainment, making sure to scan through the women carefully to see if any of them had particularly strong yin physiques. However, to his disappointment, even when noon came, he still couldn’t sense anyone suitable at all!
 
At long last, Gerald found himself walking over to the area behind the mountain, where a few of the cast and crew currently were. By the looks of it, they had just completed their shooting and were ready to get off work.
 
It wasn’t long before an extremely beautiful woman caught Gerald’s attention, and when he saw her, he couldn’t help but break into a smile.
 
The woman in question was none other than Felicity.
 
From what Gerald had heard, after Felicity had become famous enough, she ended up starring in two relatively successful dramas. Not only that, but she was also active on screen.
 
Regardless, now that she had gotten off work, Gerald noticed that she was wearing headphones as others instantly began serving her…
Chapter 1202
The ones serving Felicity continued following her as they began heading over to a private room within Wayfair Mountain Entertainment.
 
“Felicity!” shouted Gerald, though only a few extras seemed to have heard his shout.
 
Turning to look at him, one of the extras then shouted back, “Hey, now! Lots of people come to see
Felicity every day you know! Who do you even think you are? Go line up properly like the rest of them!”
 
Hearing that, Gerald couldn’t help but shake his head with a bitter smile. He had only tried to catch up to her since he was feeling slightly touched to be able to meet up again with such an old acquaintance of his.
 
Meanwhile, Felicity’s manager was carrying a stack of what seemed to be scripts as she said, “This here is a script written by an internet writer who goes by the name of ‘Two Ears is Bodhi’, Miss Nelson! It’s about a loser who rises up to fame the moment he becomes a rich heir! I’ve already contacted him through Line, and I wonder if you’d be interested to have a look at it.”
 
Taking a peek at the scripts, Felicity simply pouted before replying, “Just forget it for now and toss it aside!  I really don’t have the time or energy to pay attention to it at the moment! I just want to get a good rest for a while!”
 
Following that, Felicity entered her room, and the manager—who couldn’t really say much after hearing that—simply left.
 
Upon closing the door behind her, Felicity found herself heaving a long sigh. While development that year had gone by rapidly and she had finally managed to achieve her life-long wish, Felicity still felt like there was something lacking in her life…
 
No matter how much she gained, she simply couldn’t feel happy for some reason…
 
Regardless, she was just about to remove her makeup and take a bath when suddenly, she caught a whiff of cigarette smoke in her room. Felicity, for one, never smoked, which was why the scent was so evident to her.
 
At that moment, the doors of the closet in her room burst open, and out stepped a big-bellied, bald, middle-aged man who was wearing a suit and a pair of leather shoes.
 
Laughing lasciviously, the nicotine stains on his teeth were clear as day.
 
“You… Chairman Zabka!” shouted Felicity as she instantly began taking a few steps back.
 
The one who was currently standing before her went by the name of Chairman Zabka. While he was her sponsor, he had constantly given her strange looks before this. Now that he was daring enough to hide in her room, Felicity could easily tell what exactly it was that he wanted from her.
 
Now already close to the door, Felicity immediately ran over to it to make her escape. Alas, Chairman Zabka was faster than her!
 
Grabbing onto her arm, Chairman Zabka barely gave any time for Felicity to scream as he quickly stuffed Felicity’s mouth with a white cloth!
 
Though she did attempt to struggle free, Felicity soon felt her body growing weaker and weaker.
 
“I’m sure you’ve long known about my feelings for you, Felicity… Yet why did you keep avoiding me? I’ve yearned for you for nights on end, you know? I really can’t take it anymore!” said Chairman Zabka as he tossed Felicity onto the bed.
 
“N-no…!” replied the enfeebled Felicity as she continued trying to struggle to no avail.
 
“Worry not, I’ll video what we’re about to do next in extreme detail… As long as you listen obediently to me and serve me well, I won’t post the video on the net! If you don’t… Well, let’s just say you’re going to be getting even more famous! Hahaha!” warned Chairman Zabka before laughing lasciviously.
 
Everything had been perfectly planned. Not only had he waited in Felicity’s closet for a long time just to do this, but he had also ordered someone to set up shooting equipment in her room!
 
Knowing that nothing could stop him now, Chairman Zabka then began undressing rather menacingly.
 
He had just taken his pants off when he heard someone shout, “Make a pose, Chairman Zabka!”
 
“Of course!” replied Zabka out of habit as he instantly turned around to pose.
 
Soon enough, however, his eyes began widening as his body quivered in place.
 
“…Who… Who the hell are you? How did you even get in here?”
Chapter 1203
At the sight of the person who was currently standing at the door alongside two black-suited bodyguards behind him—who were both holding video cameras—Desmond Zabka immediately slid on his clothes again.
 
From what Desmond could tell, the two bodyguards seemed even more professional than the d*mned photographers in his crew. After all, he hadn’t heard any footsteps. Hell, he didn’t even hear the door being opened!
 
‘I’m done for! They’ve definitely captured everything I’ve done earlier on tape! If that footage gets spread around then Felicity’s behind-the-scenes boss will definitely break all my limbs off!’
 
Zabka hadn’t been afraid of doing his own recording since he knew he could always manipulate it enough to make the assailant seem like it wasn’t him. If things had gone according to plan, he could’ve even used it to threaten Felicity!
 
“How long do you plan on filming, you b*stard?! You got a death wish or something?! Who do you work for?!” scowled Desmond as he immediately tried pouncing on them to snatch the cameras away.
 
However, all it took was a single kick from one of the bodyguards to send the man—who weighed over a hundred kilograms—flying back into the room and smashing against the dressing table!
 
After watching the mirror get shattered to pieces upon Zabka’s impact, Gerald then asked, “Are you two done shooting the video?”
 
“Yes, Mr. Crawford!” replied both the guards in unison.
 
“Then go make the preparations!”
 
After nodding and bowing slightly toward Gerald, both of them then hurriedly left the room.
 
As for Felicity, the second she realized that it was Gerald who had saved her, she was so excited that she almost burst into tears. Even though she couldn’t move, her mind was finally at ease now.
 
“You… You b*stard! Are you planning to threaten me?! Just tell me how much you want already!
Actually, before you say anything, I’ll tell you now that I have several powerful connections in Mayberry! Since I’m feeling generous, I’ll pay you fifteen thousand dollars to delete that video! If you accept, I’ll consider today’s incident to never have happened! If you chose not to accept, however… Well, don’t blame me for what’s going to happen to you next!” warned Desmond as he somewhat calmly began lighting a cigarette.
 
Being involved with society for so long, Desmond had already seen much and gained quite a bit of insight into how the world operated. From his previous experiences, he knew that he could just bribe paparazzi like these to pacify them. Once they deleted the photos or footage, Zabka would simply send someone over to secretly assassinate them! Nobody would know what happened, and he would just continue living his life as he usually did. 
 
At that moment, Desmond heard the familiar muffled sounds of a walkie-talkie saying, “We’re downstairs, Mr. Crawford! Everything’s been well-prepared!”
 
Bringing the walkie-talkie to his mouth, Gerald then replied, “Alright, make it quick then! Be sure not to create an uproar!”
 
Watching as Gerald tossed the walkie-talkie aside, the puzzled Desmond then said, “…What do you mean, ‘make it quick’? Were you even listening to what I said earlier? Is fifteen thousand dollars still too little for you? Who the hell do you even work for? Give me your name!”
 
After looking at Gerald’s demeanor for a while, Desmond could feel his confidence slowly sinking, his gut telling him that Gerald was bad news.
 
“…You know, there’s a steep cliff right outside the window, you know?” said Gerald frigidly.
 
“…W-what do you intend to do…” replied Desmond as he glared at Gerald while trembling all over.
 
“You see, you messed with the wrong girl… She’s my classmate and friend, you know? And I once swore that I’d make anyone who dared to harm those close to me pay a heavy price… With that said, I’ll make sure you’ll regret ever being born!” growled Gerald as he stared at Dylan, his murderous intent reflected clearly in his eyes.
 
Gerald’s murderous intent was so immense that Desmond felt like he had just been thrown into a freezing dungeon. Trembling even more now as chill after chill ran down his spine, Desmond then shouted, “H-how dare you! It’d do you good to research more about how influential I am in this city! I have the most powerful connections in Mayberry and I own endless power here, you know?!”
 
Now knowing that Gerald wasn’t doing all this merely because of money or to collect evidence for juicy gossip, Desmond was so terrified that he almost lost control of his bladder!
Chapter 1204
Even so, knowing about all this now was a little too late for Desmond.
 
Grabbing him by the neck, Gerald then lifted Desmond—till his feet couldn’t touch the ground—before tossing him out the room! Naturally, the bodyguards from before quickly took care of him from that point onward. 
 
With that done, Gerald slid an incense stick out of his sleeve, lit it, and began letting Felicity breathe in its scent.
 
As Gerald did so, he recalled how all this had begun in the first place. Just as he was about to knock on Felicity’s door earlier, he had heard odd noises coming from inside.
 
It didn’t take long for him to realize what was happening inside, and though his murderous intent immediately fired up at that moment, Gerald quickly calmed himself down. After all, he was well aware that he couldn’t act too recklessly now that he had returned to Mayberry.
 
It was the reason why he had quickly formulated the events that had just taken place.
 
Regardless, Felicity soon found herself feeling much better after smelling Gerald’s incense. The moment the feebleness was gone, she immediately sat up excitedly and embraced Gerald before saying, “T-thank god you were here, Gerald! I… I was so scared just now…”
 
Quite honestly, Felicity was terrified with the thought that this was all just a dream. That when she eventually woke up, the person she had yearned for, for so long would disappear…
 
“Everything’s fine now… Also, you’re already a great celebrity, aren’t you? How could you be so careless and not have a few bodyguards with you at all times?” replied Gerald with a slightly bitter smile.
 
“Well, since Chairman Lyle and many others have always taken care of me, I had the assumption that nobody would actually try to frame me… I admit, I was way too naïve! But enough about me! When… When did you come back, Gerald? Naomi and I went looking for you the second we heard that you had disappeared, you know? And that eventually led to…”
 
Felicity’s sentence slowly trailed off, seemingly remembering something frightening…
 
“…There’s no need to go into detail about that. It’s all in the past now. What matters is that we’re safe and sound now. Isn’t that nice!” replied Gerald as he looked at her with a subtle smile.
 
“…Yeah… Speaking of which, Gerald… Did you return to Mayberry just to see me…?” asked Felicity in a softened tone.
 
Even though she knew that the answer was still probably going to be no, the touched girl still felt the urge to ask that question. After all, who knows, there could be a chance that it truly was the case.
 
“…Somewhat,” replied Gerald, which was the truth.
 
While he had wanted to meet up with her sooner or later, he hadn’t returned to Mayberry just to see her. His main objective was still to find another girl with a strong yin physique, after all. Besides, he was also planning to visit his other old acquaintances.
 
Regardless, he of all people knew better than to use ambiguous words to coax her.
 
Hearing that, a hint of disappointment could be seen on Felicity’s face as she said, “…I see! Regardless, I’m glad to see that you’re safe and sound!”
 
“…Speaking of which, how’s Naomi been, recently? I know you’ve been busy shooting a film here in Mayberry, but have you contacted her at all while you were here?” asked Gerald.
 
“Naomi? Oh, we’ve been in touch quite recently, actually. We had to use the school she was teaching in to shoot a few scenes, you see. The director even allowed a few students in her class to act with us! Still, though I did consider asking Naomi to stay by my side, I refrained after hearing how much she was enjoying her job now. Speaking of which, I’m sure you’ve already guessed it by now, but she’s already a teacher, you know? She’s even bought a house for her and her mother near the school!” explained
Felicity.
 
“I’m aware of that much,” replied Gerald with a nod.
 
“That’s good to know! Still, I wonder if you’re aware of the troubles she’s currently facing… Though it’s only been two days, she’s refused to go out to have lunch with me, saying that she was busy. While that may not sound like much, she had previously always agreed to my lunch invitations! When I asked her what the problem was, she simply remained silent and sulky!” said Felicity as she smoothened her hair before pouring a glass of water for Gerald.
 
“…Oh? Is that so? I’ll go meet up with her first then. Meanwhile, you should get the rest you deserve. You know, I plan to return to Mayberry University tomorrow. If you’re interested, we could head there together!”
 
“O-of course!” replied Felicity, overjoyed.
 
After hearing how sulky Naomi had recently been, Gerald immediately thought of paying her a visit as well. The fact that she was staying close to a school also made it possible for him to kill two birds with one stone. He still needed to look for another woman with a strong yin physique, after all, and where better to find a crowd of women than a school. What a perfect coincidence!
 
With that in mind, Gerald then left Wayfair Mountain Entertainment in his Lamborghini to meet up with Naomi…
Chapter 1205
Mayberry First High School was the name of the school Naomi was currently teaching in. It was also where she was living close to.
 
After getting the directions from Felicity, Gerald found himself arriving at the front gates of a small neighborhood that looked like it was still pretty new.
 
By sheer coincidence, he also saw Naomi—who had a few groceries in her arms—there! However, a woman and a man seemed to be talking to her as the trio walked further into the neighborhood. The man himself had a notebook and pen in hand, seemingly recording details whenever Noami spoke.
 
From that alone, Gerald could deduce that the two of them were police officers dressed in regular clothing.
 
‘What on earth could have happened…?’ Gerald thought to himself as he continued watching them inquire Naomi about something.
 
As he kept a safe distance from the trio in his car, Gerald made sure to constantly be on the lookout for any women with particularly strong yin physiques.
 
Before long, Gerald watched as the two police officers shook hands with Naomi—seemingly done questioning her—before driving off in the direction of Mayberry First High School which wasn’t located too far away.
 
Naomi herself seemed to look quite disappointed as she continued carrying the ingredients back to her home.
 
Looking at her now, Gerald thought about how it had been almost over a year since he had last bumped into her. Though she still retained her long hair and fair skin, Naomi was now a teacher and Gerald could sense an intellectual charm—as well as greater maturity—from her that hadn’t been present the last time they met.   
 
Now that she was alone again, Gerald drove close to her before pressing his horn slightly.
 
Hearing that, Naomi turned to look at the luxurious-looking car that was currently slowly tailing her.
 
As a hint of impatience flashed across her eyes, Naomi simply began quickening her pace. She utterly hated these kinds of playboy rich heirs who assumed that they were greater than others simply because they had more wealth.
 
‘How disgusting!’
 
Seeing her reaction, Gerald couldn’t help but laugh as he continued following her. At some point, Gerald overtook the girl before stopping his car in front of her.
 
Hearing him honk his car again, Naomi faced her back against the car before scowling, “Are you mad? Get lost already!”
 
Since such a luxurious-looking car was present, it was natural for those around the neighborhood to get drawn to the scene. In fact, several women were already walking closer to snap pictures of the car.
 
Though the rest were in awe, Naomi wasn’t the least impressed with the individual driving the car. Quite frankly, the only thing the driver was doing right, was raising her temper!
 
Rolling down the car window, Gerald looked at Naomi with a smile before asking, “Now, now, is there a need for such a bad temper?”
 
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Naomi suddenly began trembling all over. That voice… It made her doubt for a second whether she was truly awake or just dreaming all this. Feeling her heart clench, Naomi thought to herself, ‘Could… Could I have just heard wrongly…?’
 
Slowly turning around to see for herself, Naomi found herself loosening her grip and dropping all the groceries she had in hand! Though the girl hadn’t cried in the longest time, she was now ready to bawl her heart out.
 
She had missed Gerald dearly every single day from the moment he had left her a year and a half ago… Constantly yearning to hear his familiar voice again, she oftentimes found herself recalling the times when she had first met Gerald back in university. Due to him being a nice person with a kind heart, she had already developed a crush on him, all the way back then. What more, there was just a special charm to him.
 
Though the others in the university had never been able to stand Gerald back then, Naomi had always found him to be quite brilliant. She was able to see all his good points within him without being biased about how poor he was back then.
 
Quite honestly, she still regretted not making a move on him back then. If the two of them had become a couple from the very beginning, maybe she wouldn’t have to be filled with the pain of missing him now.
 
Shaking the thoughts off, the now red-eyed Naomi said, “…G-Gerald…? Is that… really you…?”
 
Stepping out of the car, he then smiled while looking at her before replying, “Who else could I be?”
 
Hearing that, Naomi wasn’t able to hold herself back any longer. Rushing over to him, she immediately wrapped her arms around him… —— To be Continued... ——