Hush, My Sweet Darling

Chapter 14: On Independence

Adam had just arrived at the airport when a call came in. Upon seeing the caller ID, he answered it.

"Violet..."

His lower lip trembled as he said her name. Swirling emotions tormented him.

"Hello, Adam..." Violet greeted him. "I'm sorry, I just saw your messages and calls. I'm not at the dorm right now. I'm at my parents' place."

"I see." Adam's throat clenched. His heart wrenched upon hearing her voice. "I just wanted to know if you're okay."

"I... I'm okay," Violet hesitated. "I'm calling you because you said you wanted to talk...  I-I'm really sorry that I've given you false hope before, but things will never work between us, so please—"

"I know," Adam interrupted. "I understand, you don't need to explain anything. And please don't apologize. It wasn't your fault."

"Adam..."

"I... I just want to stay friends with you. Is that okay?"

Violet didn't answer immediately. Guilt toward Adam still tormented her. She was tempted to answer with a yes—after all, it was just a harmless request—but it wasn't such a good idea.

This might be her first break-up, but Violet understood very well that staying friends with Adam would only make it more difficult for him to move on. She'd already made the mistake of giving him false hope before. She would not make the same mistake twice.

"Adam, I don't think—"

"You don't have to answer now." Adam cut in, knowing what she would say. "It's okay, there's no rush. I'm at the airport now. I told you about the medical conference in Shanghai before, right? I'll be there for a week. So, please think about it first, and you can give me your answer when I'm back."

Not wanting to let her reject his request, he quickly made up an excuse to end the call.

"They're calling my flight. I'm hanging up now. Bye, Violet. I-I'll contact you when I'm back."

***

Beeeeep

Violet sighed. She was about to put her phone aside when another message came in.

It was from Grace Cui, her and Adam's mutual friend. Grace was Adam's classmate, who had also undergone her pediatric clerkship at the Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital around the same time as Adam.

Grace was the one who had divulged to her about Adam's blind date with the chief neurologist's daughter last night.

Hey Vi, how did last night go? I hope you're alright. I'm here if you need to talk. BTW, don't forget about my birthday party tonight. You'll still come, right? I promise it'll be a good distraction.

Violet had totally forgotten about Grace's birthday party. She'd planned to go there with Adam at first, but he'd told her about the medical conference in Shanghai. Still, even if Adam hadn't had something else that weekend, it would have been awkward to go together now that they'd broken up.

Grace had been persistently asking her to come. She'd informed her she wouldn't be coming because Adam wouldn't be there, but Grace still insisted that she came. Violet had then been planning to ask Kiko to accompany her, but alas, she'd forgotten to do that too.

She dialed Kiko's number, but it went to voicemail. Violet sent her a text.

Are you free this evening?

A few minutes later, a reply came in.

No. Trauma call. Talk later.

Violet drew out a long sigh, contemplating what she should tell Grace. She didn't feel comfortable about going to Grace's birthday party alone and didn't know whom else to ask. Perhaps she could ask one of her dorm mates, but they all had returned home for the break, and most of them lived far away. 

Geez, Violet... When will you stop depending on others? Why can't you attend the party by yourself? You're twenty-two! Don't you always call yourself a fully-functioning adult? 

Violet sighed. She indeed liked to call herself that, but deep inside, she knew she wasn't. Having lived a sheltered life and being overly protected for as long as she could remember, she was still too reliant on others—her parents, her brother, Kiko, all their helpers, Uncle Wong, even her dorm mates. 

Three years ago, when they'd declared her cancer-free, she'd promised herself to live her life zealously. Having been granted a new lease in life, she only felt gratitude and thought she owed it to herself to make the most of it.

She chose to move out of her family home, even though their family's residence wasn't that far from campus. Sure, living with her parents would have been the most convenient choice for her. Like always, they would have taken care of everything she needed. She wouldn't have to do all the domestic routines that she'd become accustomed to and like, and Uncle Wong would have driven her to campus every day.

It was all very agreeable, but it wasn't the kind of life she wanted.

Having been home-schooled her entire life, she'd begged her dad to let her live on her own as soon as she'd been accepted to the Faculty of Social Work at Hong Kong University. It had taken a bit more than three months of persistent nagging before he finally agreed. Quite frankly, if it weren't for her mom's help, her dad wouldn't have relented at all.

At first, he'd agreed to let her move out of the family residence into an apartment he'd purchased for her near campus. Later, she found out he'd purchased half of the building and made the bodyguards and maids, whom he'd hired to take care of her, live there too.

She marched into her dad's office, telling him she wanted to live at one of the university's student dormitory halls. 

"It'll make socializing with my fellow students easier," she reasoned.

When she finally managed to convince him, her dad insisted on placing a few bodyguards on campus. Again, she had to cajole him into giving the idea up.

Eventually, her dad compromised. He agreed to let only one bodyguard protect her instead of the several he'd initially intended. She settled after she made him promise that she wouldn't notice the bodyguard at all.

For the first time in her life, she tasted freedom. Going to classes and having classmates were all new experiences—and she loved it. With her dorm mates' help, she'd been learning how to shop for groceries, cook her own meals, do her laundry, and clean her room. Mere humdrum routine to most people, but to Violet, it had all been fascinating.

She loved her family—and understood why they mollycoddled her—but she also longed to be a person of independent means.

No matter what happened, she'd always be the young miss of the distinguished and affluent Lee family. But even so, she also yearned to live her life like most ordinary people.

After contemplating for a while, Violet nodded resolutely. 

She replied to Grace's message.

Happy Birthday, Grace! I'll be there! Please text me the time and address again. See you later!

♡──── ❝ Author's Note ❞ ────♡

Did anyone here grow up with overprotective parents? If you did, do you find Violet's dilemma relatable?

It would mean a lot to me if you could share your thoughts about this chapter in the comment section. And please consider voting if you liked it.

Thank you so much for reading!

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