CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58: THAT WAS HIS FIRST TASTE OF JEALOUSY

Clara was in a bad mood all day today.

After work in the afternoon, she didn’t go to the hospital to see her mother, afraid her mother would worry seeing her upset.

She returned to Prospect Hill Villa at six-thirty.

Silas Sheffield was on the phone in the living room. When he saw her come in, his eyes paused.

Clara wanted to tell Silas "I’m back," but seeing him on the phone, she just nodded and went upstairs.

When Silas finished his call and knocked on her door, Clara was reviewing literature and revising her thesis.

Clara opened the door, "Silas."

Silas could tell she was not in high spirits.

"Not happy?" Silas’s narrow eyes showed concern.

Clara lowered her eyes, "It’s nothing."

"Didn’t go to the hospital today?"

"Mm."

Seeing her reluctance to talk, Silas didn’t press further.

He changed the topic, "Didn’t you like playing League of Kings before? You can play games to relax when feeling down."

"I haven’t played that game in ages."

Silas: "I play too, want to team up?"

"Hm?" Clara lifted her eyes in surprise, "You play too?"

She had never heard him mention it before.

"Yeah." Under the gold-rimmed glasses, Silas’s eyes were deep and calm, "But I haven’t played in a long time either."

It was really unexpected; Clara seemed shocked, "I never knew you played this game."

"No worries, better late than never knowing now."

The fact that someone she likes also enjoys her favorite game delighted Clara, making her forget about the colleague incident and improving her mood.

She pulled Silas’s hand into the room, "Let’s team up!"

After pulling him inside, Clara suddenly remembered, "Wait, I uninstalled it, I haven’t downloaded it yet."

"No problem, I’ve downloaded it already." Silas pulled out two phones.

He always had separate phones for work and personal life.

Luckily, both phones had high configurations and enough memory to download games without issue.

Silas noticed Clara was down when she came home.

After his call, he started downloading the game.

Since they were already married and their relationship was deepening, it was time to tell her about the game.

Seeing Silas start the game, Clara laughed, "You’re impressive, downloading it in advance."

Clara kicked off her slippers, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and launched the game.

Silas sat next to her, leaning back against the sofa.

"What’s your game nickname, let me add you." Clara logged into the account she hadn’t accessed in a while, tilted her head to glance at Silas’s phone screen.

Seeing it, she froze.

Her phone slipped onto the sofa.

"Sunny? You’re also Sunny?" Clara grabbed Silas’s phone to take a closer look, "What a coincidence, my mentor is also Sunny."

The man’s deep, narrow eyes were tinged with a hint of a smile, "Is that so."

Clara opened Silas’s game profile, seeing familiar skilled heroes and win rates, she was struck dumb.

"Little Clara, you’re finally online again." A low, husky voice resonated in her ear.

Clara mechanically turned her head, meeting the man’s deep gaze.

Overwhelmed by emotion, Clara’s eyes turned red.

Her game nickname was "A Jasmine Flower."

The mentor always called her "Little Clara."

Clara’s lips quivered, a thousand words lined up but she only uttered one, "Mentor..."

"Mm." Silas’s deep eyes were like an ocean under the moonlight.

He reached over and ruffled the girl’s hair, "Long time since we teamed up together."

Clara’s eyes felt sore, she wanted to cry.

She never imagined that her gentle, caring mentor was Silas.

Clara murmured with reddened eyes, "How can this be..."

She started playing the game in her freshman year of high school.

She met her mentor that same year.

She was a newbie when she first started gaming.

At that time, "Sunny" was already in the game’s highest rank, "Strongest King," within the top ten regional masters.

Meeting "Sunny" was purely coincidental.

She was ranking up by herself, matched with "Sunny" who was playing a secondary account.

He played the Marksman while she played Support, their cooperation in the bottom lane was excellent.

She hadn’t played the game for long then and couldn’t discern a person’s gaming prowess from their maneuvers.

So although "Sunny" dominated the game on his secondary account, she thought it was just good cooperation that led them to overwhelm the enemy bottom lane.

Later, she frequently gamed with "Sunny" on his secondary account.

After playing together for a long time and becoming familiar, "Sunny" revealed he was using a secondary account.

It turned out their consistent victories weren’t due to good cooperation but because his skills demolished the opponents.

"Sunny" established a mentor-student relationship with her using his main account, patiently teaching her gaming skills, training her from a newbie to a master capable of solo ranking up as a king.

Back then, WhatsApp hadn’t become popular; QQ was the most common chat application.

They added each other on QQ and messaged daily.

It wasn’t just about gaming.

Clara would share daily details with her mentor.

What delicious dishes her mom cooked today.

Which flowers bloomed in the garden downstairs.

The new knowledge points were a bit difficult.

Her score in the monthly exams.

Clara had a strong desire to share; she detailed everything with her mentor and every message received a patient reply.

When she encountered challenging problems, she’d take photos to send him.

No matter how tough the problem, the mentor could quickly handwrite detailed solving steps and patiently explain them to her.

Even when she first visited the Sheffield Family and fell for Silas at first sight, she told her mentor after coming home.

[Mentor, I think I’ve developed feelings for someone.]

[Who?]

[A very outstanding guy.]

[Someone you know in real life?]

[Yes.]

[Study well, no early romance.]

...

Turns out, they had a connection much earlier.

Turns out, the person she had a crush on during her teenage years used to chat with her daily.

They should have been sweet together.

But somehow, they mistakenly missed each other for many years.

"So..." Clara’s throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, "When you first saw me, did you already know I was Little Clara?"

Silas shook his head, "I didn’t know then."

Recalling the past, Silas was also touched.

Seeing his current reaction, it seemed he knew she was Little Clara earlier.

Clara asked, "When did you find out?"

"Two weeks after you first came to my house, Sophie sent me a screenshot of your game score when you played with her."

Clara’s heart seized, "Then why didn’t you recognize me in reality afterwards?"

Silas’s Adam’s apple moved lightly, his dark eyes deepened, "I was afraid telling you would distract you, you were in your sophomore year then, I didn’t want to affect your studies."

Silas didn’t tell Clara that he had already developed feelings by then.

His younger self was both eager and hesitant, not wanting to hinder her studies.

He feared if they acknowledged each other in reality, it would influence her games and study time.

But he was more concerned that he wouldn’t be able to rein in his heart, getting closer, and eventually pulling her into love.

She was so young then, only seventeen.

How could he let her fall into an early romance?

Besides, she’d mentioned she might have feelings for someone else.

Who knew how pained he was when she told him about liking a guy in real life.

That was his first experience of feeling something called "jealousy."