After the event ended, the homeroom teacher would organize a parent meeting in each class’s classroom for the parents of their students.

Hannah Sue watched as the parents of her classmates almost all took their seats, leaving only three vacant spots, one of which was hers.

The other two vacant seats were because one student’s mother was a teacher at the school, and another student’s parents had both passed away.

As for herself, she was practically like an orphan.

When Grace Sue was still at school, her mother would always attend the parent meetings, and back then, Hannah could tag along, telling the teacher that her parent was in her sister’s class, so she didn’t seem so out of place.

Now that Grace was no longer at school, Hannah couldn’t even find a reason anymore,

A stepmother is still a stepmother; even if she had the time to play mahjong, she wouldn’t specially come to attend Hannah’s parent meeting.

Standing in the corridor outside the classroom, she leaned over the railings looking downstairs.

It seemed like Evan Sutton wouldn’t be coming either.

She thought she should come up with an excuse in advance for when the homeroom teacher asked her why her parents didn’t come.

Although she had mentally prepared herself that Evan Sutton probably wouldn’t come,

the expectation still haunted her, and that sense of disappointment and loneliness made her nose sting.

Hannah quickly took a deep breath, fearing that her tears would embarrassingly fall.

After all, Evan Sutton had nothing to do with her, so why would he trouble himself to attend her parent meeting?

In all the time they’ve known each other, it had always been her who initiated conversations, allowing them to have brief chats.

Perhaps Evan Sutton had been tired of her for a long time...

The school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher walked into the classroom as the parent meeting officially began.

Only parents remained in the classroom while the students were free to roam outside on the playground.

Amid the intense life of the third year of high school, it was rare to have this kind of opportunity for fun, and most of the other students had almost all gathered downstairs in groups to play, leaving Hannah standing alone in the corridor.

Her gaze searching downstairs gradually lost focus, her thoughts drifting, her mind unsure of what she was contemplating—an inexplicable sadness filled her heart.

As her tears began to fall, she quickly lifted a hand to wipe them away.

Afraid of being seen by passersby, she buried her head and rushed into the restroom at the end of the corridor.

Squatting in the privacy of the toilet cubicle, her pent-up emotions suddenly collapsed, and all the grievances seemed to flood her heart, her lips quivering as she burst into tears...

"Buzz buzz—"

The phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated, and Hannah started slightly, lowering her head to fumble for her phone.

When she saw the sender was Evan Sutton, she froze for a second, then immediately wiped the tears from her face with her hand, looking at the message he sent: What floor is your classroom on?

A simple sentence, yet it felt warmer than spring sunshine as it fell upon Hannah.

She hastily wiped away her tears, dashed out of the restroom, and stood by the corridor railing, looking downstairs.

Soon, she spotted Evan Sutton in his dark gray suit amidst the bustling crowd below. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Since several classrooms behind her were holding parent meetings, she dared not scream, only waved forcefully toward him.

Coincidentally, when Evan Sutton looked up, he immediately spotted Hannah standing directly above the third floor.

He averted his gaze and walked straight into the building.

Hannah immediately broke into a smile through her tears, clutching her phone as she dashed downstairs.

Halfway there, she suddenly stopped, turned back to the restroom, glanced in the mirror at her tear-stained face, quickly turned on the tap, and splashed water on her face.

After drying her face with tissues, her face was clean, but her eyes and nose were still somewhat red.

With not much time left to compose herself, she hurriedly ran her fingers through her hair, dashed out into the hallway, and bumped right into Evan Sutton, who had just come up the stairs.

Staring at Hannah’s flustered appearance, Evan Sutton frowned slightly and asked, "Where are you going?"

Hannah smiled sheepishly and replied, "...to meet you."

Seeing Hannah’s red-tinged eyes and nose, Evan Sutton accurately asked, "Have you been crying?"

Hannah paused, then immediately denied, "Of course not! Why would I cry?"

Evan Sutton said, "Because no one attended the parent meeting with you, so you secretly teared up."

Hannah hadn’t expected Evan Sutton to see through her little insecurities instantly. Although she had indeed felt really aggrieved just now, she naturally wouldn’t admit to such an embarrassing thing now: "I’m not that weak, you know. No one attended my parent meetings before either, and I still got through."

After saying that, she murmured, "I don’t even want parents to come, just so they don’t have a chance to speak ill of me in front of the teachers."

Evan Sutton: "So I suppose I shouldn’t have come?"

Hannah immediately grabbed Evan Sutton’s arm, as if frightened he would turn back and leave. She quickly added, "You’re already here, you shouldn’t waste your trip. But you did come a bit late; it started over ten minutes ago."

"You said nine-thirty. I left half an hour earlier; I didn’t anticipate the traffic jam on the way."

Hannah mumbled softly, "It’s parent meeting day. Traffic on the road to the school was bound to be congested. Others came early in the morning..."

Evan Sutton glanced around the corridor, then said to Hannah, "Do you plan to have me standing here chatting with you?"

Hannah quickly realized and pointed to the right, "My classroom is this way."

The classroom door was closed, but even through it, you could hear the teacher’s continuous talking.

Entering at this moment would inevitably interrupt the teacher, and since the homeroom teacher was relatively strict, Hannah stood behind Evan Sutton, whispering, "You knock on the door; I don’t dare."

Evan Sutton glanced down at her, raised his hand without hesitation, and knocked on the door, then reached out to push the partly open classroom door.

The teacher, suddenly interrupted, frowned unhappily, but seeing that the interrupter was a handsome man, her expression immediately changed.

Evan Sutton took the initiative to apologize politely, "Sorry, teacher, I was delayed by traffic and arrived late. Apologies for the disturbance."

"You are?"

Glancing down at Hannah, Evan Sutton introduced himself as they had pre-agreed, "I’m Hannah’s older brother."

Perhaps due to his handsome appearance, the teacher didn’t appear angry at all, even smiling as she said, "Oh~ Hannah’s seat is over there, please go sit down, and we’ll continue."

Hannah smiled apologetically at the teacher, then stood at the door and slowly closed it back.

Leaving a small gap, she watched as Evan Sutton walked to her seat and sat down. Then, only after smiling at him, did she close the door and leave.

The gloomy clouds in her heart instantly cleared, and she felt as if every thread of balcony breeze carried a fragrance of happiness.

Suddenly, she realized that Evan Sutton hadn’t disregarded her matters at all, nor had he been impatient with her. She began to wonder if there could be a future for the two of them?