Xiaolan stared at the two locked in eye contact, feeling as if her entire mind was about to short-circuit. She had just wanted to take a short break and stretch her body, but instead, she witnessed the scene of Ryan and Lora staring deeply into each other’s eyes.
Although from her vantage point she couldn’t see Ryan’s expression, Lora’s smile clearly showed that their gaze was far from ordinary.
A terrifying thought surged in Xiaolan’s mind—could it be that Ryan and Lora were…
At that moment, Lora noticed Xiaolan looking over and sensed something was off. She was momentarily stunned before realizing what was happening.
“Mr. Ryan, how long do you intend to stay here? Don’t you have work to do? As an intern butler, slacking off like this isn’t good, you know?”
Ryan was still wondering why Lora had been staring at him just moments ago, but when she suddenly spoke to him, he realized he had already been lingering here long enough. He had work to attend to.
After Ryan left, Lora came over to Xiaolan, who was still in a daze, and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, Mr. Ryan and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”
Hearing this, Xiaolan immediately snapped out of it and asked, “Really?!”
“Of course, I wouldn’t lie to you. I already have someone I like, so I’m not going to compete with you for Mr. Ryan.”
Relieved, Xiaolan let out a breath and then began to blush shyly, stammering, “I, I’m not, I didn’t… have feelings for Ryan…”
“Oh, come on, I know already. You don’t have to say any more.”
Hearing that, Xiaolan fell silent and quietly resumed her cleaning, hoping to end the topic.
But Lora had no such intention. Seeing Xiaolan’s flushed face and her attempts to cover it up, an idea suddenly came to her.
She leaned closer and proposed, “Do you want to make Ryan interested in you? I have a good method.”
Xiaolan’s cheeks grew even redder at Lora’s teasing tone. She wanted to refuse the suggestion, but then Lora mentioned something she had been worried about recently.
“If you keep going like this, be careful—Mr. Ryan might never be interested in you, and someone else might snatch him away.”
This was exactly what Xiaolan feared most. She was terrified Ryan would find someone more worthy of his trust and stop coming near her, maybe even want her to stay far away. She didn’t want to see that happen.
But there was nothing she could do to stop it. Ryan was talented, cute, and kind—no doubt many people liked him.
And her? She couldn’t even be considered a proper woman. Before, when she was still male, she hadn’t been much help to him and hadn’t achieved anything.
After becoming female, she only knew how to rely on Ryan, and until now, besides sweeping the floor, she hadn’t been able to do anything useful. How could someone like her possibly be with Ryan?
Feeling disheartened, Xiaolan said to Lora, “Even if you say that, what am I supposed to do? Ryan is such a nice person, and he looks good too. Of course, many people would like him. How could I possibly be good enough?”
Lora doubted her ears for a moment, wondering if she had misheard such unrealistic words. But when she saw the genuine dejection in Xiaolan’s eyes, she realized that everything Xiaolan said was true to her.
Her mouth twitched slightly. Although Ryan was a decent person in both character and ability, Lora wasn’t about to believe that many people liked someone with his chubby appearance.
Apparently, a woman deeply in love really had some terrifying rose-colored glasses that could warp her perception this much.
Putting aside her somewhat insulting thoughts, Lora looked at Xiaolan with a hint of helplessness and shared her own opinion.
“I’m not sure if he’s popular or not, but I do know this: if you don’t try and put in effort, you definitely won’t catch his eye. Understand?”
Xiaolan understood what Lora meant and knew that nothing could succeed without trying first.
But that was only a possibility. Did she really have that chance? Lora didn’t know, but Ryan did—he knew she used to be a man! How could Ryan not care? He wasn’t gay! And besides, with how she looked now, even if she truly was a woman, Ryan probably wouldn’t like her, right?
Seeing Xiaolan grow even more dispirited after hearing her words, Lora frowned and asked why she didn’t dare to be brave.
At first, Xiaolan didn’t want to say more, but seeing Lora’s searching gaze and thinking about the future possibilities with Ryan, she finally spoke the reason.
“Look at my silver hair now. It’s a bad omen. How could Ryan possibly like me? And before, I was…”
She stopped herself, unwilling to say that she used to be a man. She didn’t want Lora to look at her strangely.
Lora found the explanation baffling. She had never heard of silver hair being an ill omen—could someone really harm others based on such a superstition?
But judging by Xiaolan’s expression, it seemed this belief might really exist in this region. So she slowly reassured her, “Silver hair isn’t an ill omen at all. Look how pretty you are now! Ryan definitely doesn’t care about that. Have you ever seen him act disgusted toward you?”
Xiaolan’s eyes lit up again, recalling how Ryan had treated her before. Indeed, he hadn’t shown any such prejudice. She suddenly felt a glimmer of hope, and Lora seized the moment.
“See? Ryan is different from those other guys. He’s so good to you, so he must have some feelings. You don’t have to be so insecure. Try testing the waters, and when the time is right, launch a full-on charge! You’ll definitely succeed!”
Lora’s words gave Xiaolan growing hope, but she still remembered her past as a man and hesitated again.
But soon, with Lora’s question, “Are you going to live your whole life like this?” Xiaolan finally stopped hesitating and steeled her resolve.
She would find a way to make Ryan unable to live without her! To be with her forever!
Seeing Xiaolan finally muster up courage, Lora felt relieved. She wanted to say some words of encouragement, but suddenly realized she had already spent too much time here. She still had a lot of cleaning left to do today!
So Lora hurriedly left, leaving Xiaolan standing in place, watching her walk away. As she gazed after Lora’s departing back, a trace of caution began to form in her heart.
Although Lora said she already liked someone else and wouldn’t compete with her for Ryan, she never said who that person was. What if it was Ryan? What if Lora was lying?
Even if she really didn’t like Ryan, what if Ryan liked her instead?! Xiaolan noticed that, due to work, Lora had many opportunities to interact with Ryan. What if during those chances, Lora grew to like him, or Ryan grew to like her?
That couldn’t happen! She had to stop it! Although it felt a little unfair to Lora, who had just been helping her, Xiaolan’s vigilance toward Lora had already taken root.
She absolutely would not allow Lora and Ryan to develop unnecessary feelings for each other!
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