Chapter 599 What Is on Your Mind?
"Let's do a quick change," said Shawn with a lowered and slightly tilted head after I jogged toward him.
"We're changing again?" I asked.
"You're changing. It'll get chilly at night outside."
"I'll find a short-sleeved shirt, then," I said before turning to Serene. "I'm heading upstairs for a bit—"
"Ree, have you seen Serene?" Ian, who showed up out of nowhere, asked me, to which I pointed to the young
woman in the living room before following Shawn into our room.
I changed right in front of him, and it was after I was done I realized he was peering at me. At that, I wrapped my
arms around his waist and asked, "Are you undeniably drawn to me?"
"Not bad," he replied while tightening his arms around me.
"What do you mean by that?"
However, he changed the subject. "Let's go down."
With that, I followed him downstairs. The backyard was illuminated beautifully with many fairy lights, and the
projector far away was playing the hottest movie at present.
When Diego saw us, he hurriedly got up and gave his seat up to Shawn. "Your seat is here, Great Mr. Shawn Xenos,
and this is yours, Mrs. Xenos."
"Act normal." I rolled my eyes at him, only making him grin. "Will do."
I sat next to Shawn, who was withdrawn when eating, and so was Serene. It was like the two weren't a part of this
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtas they ate away.
Well, Shawn was just being Shawn.
As for Serene… Her words came to my mind. I've always been the fifth wheel.
Did she believe we were excluding her? No, wait. She probably believed Ian was excluding her!
At that, I sighed, and Shawn suddenly rubbed my wedding ring. It wasn't a moment later before he asked, "A penny
for your thoughts?"
"I've always believed myself to be a nosy person," I whispered to him. "And now, I'm beginning to concern myself
with Ian and Serene's issue again."
"Well, you normally don't have anything better to do anyway. You won't feel too bored when you have something on
your mind. Frankly speaking, Ian and Serene's issue is very easy to sort out."
"Do you have a plan?!" I asked in surprise, to which he mumbled, "No, but the only thing that needs to be done is to
get them to bring up the elephant in the room."
"What elephant?" I pressed on.
"Ian told me he and Serene have been treating each other far too respectfully. I can tell Ian has had a change of
heart, and Serene, well, she has always liked Ian." Ian was trying to say that the two had never confessed their love
for each other.
"Is there anything in this world you don't know about?" I commented with admiration.
"I'm not interested in things like this."
He really wasn't, but what could he do when someone opened up to him?
"Hey, Sunny, what are you and Ree whispering about?" asked the male lead of our gossip, whom I shrugged off.
"Oh, random stuff."
At that, Diego refuted Ian, "Why should they tell you what they're talking about? By the way, Ian and I just moved
the piano over to that spot. Serene, Renee, and Christopher play the piano, don't they? How about a couple of
pieces from you guys?"
"What are you thinking?" I asked with a chuckle, baffling Diego. "What? What's wrong with that?"
"Sure, Serene and I can entertain you, but who do you think Christopher is? Do you think a maestro plays so easily
for the public? Tell me what piece you'd like to hear. I'll play it for you."
"But we're all friends here, are we not?" Diego felt rather speechless, for his thoughts were pretty simple. However,
Christopher never said a word, and it was pretty clear it was a no.
"What would you like to hear?" I reiterated.
"Your call. Beggars can't be choosers."
With that, I played a few familiar pieces before returning to my seat when Serene complimented me, "You have
wonderful finesse."
"I beg to differ. Why don't you have a go at it?"
"Sure." Serene nodded subtly in agreement before sitting on the piano bench.
As soon as she played the first note, Diego turned to Ian, saying, "You've never heard your missus play the piano,
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
have you? This is the perfect chance."
"You seem to know her very well." Ian frowned in response, leading Diego to smile. "We're all friends here, aren't
we?"
Ian ignored him after that. I was very familiar with the piece Serene played, and Ian asked me what the name of it
was.
As I said, the piece was very familiar to me. However, it escaped me at the moment. As such, I turned to
Christopher. "It escaped me."
"The Cafe Under the Stars," he answered gently, to which I complimented, "That's it! No wonder I thought it
sounded familiar. It escaped me for a moment. You really are a walking encyclopedia, Christopher."
At that, he said to me gently, "There's a ball of fire deep within everyone, but most people only see the smoke.
However, there is always this one person. This person can see the fire, approach them, and spend the rest of their
lives with them. That's the message she's probably trying to convey from this piece. Something's on her mind."
The next second, Serene stopped playing. She came toward us and said with great deference, "Your understanding
of music is far beyond what I can ever reach. Thank you, Mr. Forger. You're the only one who can hear my
thoughts."
The ambiguously romantic conversation made the atmosphere rather awkward, but Christopher and I, who knew a
lot about music, knew what exactly Serene was feeling, and she was merely thanking him.
Suddenly, Stella blurted, "Haven't you always liked Christopher, Serene? This is the perfect chance for you!"
"What are you talking about, Stella?!" Serene's face blanched at once.
"He's right here. You should tell him how much you love him!"
"Stella, Mr. Forger is a world-renowned pianist. Please don't slander him as you wish. I like him only for his music,
just as I see him as my idol. I like his music, and that is the extent of it. Stop saying such crap!"
"What is on your mind, then?" Stella pressed on.