1719: De-escalating Their Relationship

De-escalating Their Relationship

After the argument between Shelly and Nox, they both gave each other the silent treatment for a long time. Nox no longer came home right after work, and sometimes he did not come home for a whole night. 1

Later on, she received a message from Nox's mother and saw an image of Nox having coffee with a beautiful woman, saying he was on a blind date. However, Shelly did not feel anything when she saw it. 

She told Nox's mother that she did not mind and even hoped that Nox could have a successful blind date. That way, she would not have to live under the same roof as Nox anymore. 

Tonight, she thought that Nox would not be back as usual, so she planned to take Bella out to eat the burgers and fried chicken that Bella wanted. They were celebrating Bella's first day of kindergarten tomorrow. 

Bella had been home for a long time, so Shelly thought she would try to enroll Bella at a kindergarten nearby. The kindergarten immediately took Bella in and told Shelly to send Bella in any time she wanted. Hence, Shelly chose tomorrow. 

Shelly felt that regardless of what she taught Bella at home, Bella needed to be in a collective environment to grow up normally. Besides, Bella was an introvert and had been afraid of strangers since she was young, so Shelly hoped that Bella could be more lively and outgoing in the future. 

However, just as she opened the door with Bella holding her hand, she saw Nox outside, and their eyes met. 

Shelly was about to leave with Bella when Nox suddenly asked, "Are you going out?"

"Yeah, I'm taking Bella to have fried chicken," Shelly answered, "She's going to kindergarten tomorrow."

"Oh," Nox replied. 

"Have you eaten?" Shelly asked. 

"No."

"I don't think there's much food at home. Why don't you order takeout?" Shelly spoke frankly. 

Nox smiled. "Okay." 

Shelly did not allow him to tag along in the end. In fact, Shelly had been indifferent to him recently. It was obvious she was tired of living under the same roof as him, and it was probably because of his threat that night that Shelly did not dare to leave him. 

Just like that, Shelly left with Bella while Nox returned home. How long had it been since he came back for dinner? A month or two? He had finally mustered up the courage to come back, but he did not expect to be treated indifferently.

Nox sat on the sofa, ready to order takeout on his phone when the phone suddenly rang. He looked at the caller ID and picked it up. 

"Mom."

"How was today?" Mrs. Winter asked excitedly.

"Not great," Nox answered calmly.

Yes, his mother had been trying to set him up for blind dates for some time now. At first, he refused but later agreed, thinking that if he met the right person, he could get over Shelly. Although he felt a little unwilling to do it, he did not think he should make Shelly suffer with him, so he tried to force himself to like other women instead.

However, the more he went on blind dates, the more disappointed he was. He did not like any of them. Every time he went out for coffee with someone, all he could think of was Shelly.

He was always fantasizing that if one day, the person sitting across from him was Shelly and she was happy to see him, how wonderful that would be.

"Nox, what kind of girls do you like?" Mrs. Winter was also a little desperate.

In the past two months, Nox had been on nearly 20 blind dates, and all of them failed.

"The kind like Shelly."

"Nox." Mrs. Winter was a little angry.

"Forget it, Mom. Don't waste your energy on this anymore. I don't think I'll be able to get over Shelly for a while." 

"Why are you so stubborn? Shelly really doesn't like you, and dragging it out is not a good idea. For both of your sakes, you should break up with her," Mrs. Winter advised.

"I know how to handle it," Nox said, a little annoyed. "Don't worry about it."

"If I don't worry about it, are you planning to spend the rest of your life with Shelly?" Mrs. Winter exclaimed.

Nox sighed. "Give me another year."

"Huh?"

"If my relationship with Shelly is still the same after a year, I'll break up with her. Then, under your arrangements, I'll go on blind dates with other women and get married and have children."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Winter did not seem to believe him.

"Yes. When have I failed to keep my promises?"

"Okay, I'll believe you this once." A year was still acceptable to Mrs. Winter.

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