Boat Against the Current

The alarm woke Lucille up at eight in the morning. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

They needed to keep their relationship a secret from their parents, so they had made a promise long ago. River would sneak into her room at midnight every night and leave by five in the morning. They had slept like that for five whole years now.

Soon, though, they would be nothing more than siblings. He would not have to sneak around anymore.

Lucille got changed and headed downstairs. There was a woman she did not recognize sitting on the couch.

Victoria waved at her daughter excitedly and introduced her. “Come here, Lucy. This is your brother’s girlfriend. Bring her a glass of water, would you?”

Sophia Song stood up on cue, offering her a handshake and a smile. “You must be River’s little sister! It’s nice to meet you. Although I’ve never seen you before, your brother has told me a lot about you.”

Lucille paused and glanced at River, but she did not ask anything. She simply turned and went to the kitchen to get Sophia a glass of water.

After she filled the glass, she was about to bring it to the living room when River came into the kitchen. He hugged her waist and leaned in to kiss her.

Lucille hurriedly tilted her head away to evade him. “What are you doing? Your girlfriend's outside.”

River raised a brow and pecked her lips. “Are you angry?

“I forgot to tell you, she's just my childhood friend. She left the country ages ago and just came back a few days back. My old man's rushing me to get married, so I asked her to play along with me lest he gets any funny ideas.

“You know better than anyone who my real girlfriend is, right?”

Lucille just listened to him without a word or expression. Finally, she nodded nonchalantly.

River was surprised to see her so calm. He thought he would have to spend ages reassuring her.

After all, the last time a girl gave him a love letter, she stumbled across it and cried until her eyes swelled up.

She would not even tell him why when he found out she had been crying. He had to trick her into telling the truth.

As it turned out, she believed that their relationship was taboo, and she would never be able to stand by his side as his official girlfriend. That was why she never dared to confront him or throw a tantrum. All she could do was hide under the covers and take her anger out on a pillow.

The same scenario was unfolding again, but this time she was unusually calm. River could not help but be suspicious.

He wanted to ask her why, but Lucille did not give him the chance. She simply picked up the glass and left the kitchen.

Once breakfast was ready, everyone took their seats around the dining table. Sophia was invited to sit next to River.

The two of them happily chatted about their childhood, acting completely in love.

Sophia had picked up some habits overseas and now liked her egg yolks runny. When River heard that, he gave her his fried egg.

She immediately blushed and gave him her half-eaten yolk.

River instinctively glanced at Lucille. Her head was buried in her cereal, as though she had not noticed a thing.

When she lifted her head to grab a napkin, he bit into the egg Sophia had given him. Lucille happened to see him, then she put her spoon down and left the table without a word.

She seemed to be heading toward the door, so Sophia hurriedly called out to her. “Are you heading out, Lucy? River and I are going on a date, too. Could you wait a while, then we can go out together?”

Lucille was about to say no when her stepfather interrupted. “It's raining outside, so why don't you let River drop you off? Otherwise, your mother and I will worry.”

Lucille could not say no to Dan, so she had no choice but to wait in the garage.

She was heading to the embassy to handle her student visa. At this rate, River would find out about her plan to leave.

No matter how she pored over it, she could not think of a way to delay the inevitable. Whatever, then. Let him find out. Either way, she had already bought her tickets, so there was nothing he could do to stop her.

After a while, Sophia and River finally joined her in the car. They took their own sweet time.

Strangely, Sophia jumped into the backseat and even tried to start a conversation with Lucille. However, Lucille was not in the mood to talk, so she just hummed and hawed in response.

The rain started to abate as the car drove on. Sophia leaned in and whispered into Lucille's ear.

“I know you don't like me, and I know you and River are more than just siblings. Still, there's no way the two of you can get married, and River isn't completely opposed to being with me.

“I bet I can steal him from you whenever I want. Wanna wager on it?”