Ying Sheng parted her lips to complain more, but she paused, a confused look coming onto her face. She hadn’t said anything about them not caring that she was upset. For all they knew, she was perfectly happy with what had happened between them and was living her best life. Obviously, that was completely wrong, but how would they know that?

”How would they know I’m upset? I never told them that I was,” Ying Sheng asked him, wondering if he had just been mistaken. It was strange of him to say that since it was so out of line with what she had been talking about.

Liam’s eyes widened slightly, a panicked look filling his face.

”Oh… I…” Liam trailed off, like his words had gotten caught in his throat.

After meeting Liam, it hadn’t taken her long to figure out that he was an awful liar. He hated lying, which meant that she could easily tell when he wasn’t telling her the truth. Right now, he was keeping something from her, and she was determined to find out what.

”Liam, how do they know?” Ying Sheng asked him in a calm voice, trying to coax him to open up. She could tell that he was nervous for some reason, which made him seem all that more guilty. If things were fine, he would’ve come out and told her that already.

Liam eventually broke and sighed, his hand reaching out to take hers. He drew in a breath before speaking.

”I visited your parents company about a week ago,” Liam admitted to her, looking guilty.

Ying Sheng’s eyes steadily widened as she stared at him, feeling completely in shock that he had done something like that. It didn’t make any sense for him to meet up with her parents, especially knowing that she didn’t have a good relationship with them. It seemed out of line and out of character for him, who was nervous to meet new people.

”Why? Why would you do that?” Ying Sheng asked him, needing to know his thought process behind all of this because it didn’t make any sense to her.

Liam stroked his thumb over her knuckles in an attempt to comfort her.

”I thought that they were going to reach out for your birthday too, so I met up with them to see if they wanted to plan a surprise for your birthday. I figured we could all throw a party or something for you, and you guys could talk and make up. It would be the perfect birthday for you,” Liam explained to her.

Ying Sheng narrowed her eyes slightly as she listened to him talk. She appreciated his thought and kindness. He always had good intentions, especially when it came to her. However, her family was her issue. She didn’t want him to get caught in her web, to get tangled up in her problems.

”I’m guessing they told you their actual plans and told you to screw off?” Ying Sheng asked, already knowing how her parents were like. He had no clue what he had gotten himself into when he went to meet them.

”No, your parents aren’t available. They are probably out of the country.”

Liam said quietly, feeling her hand slip out of his. He frowned as he watched her pull her hand away.

”And you didn’t tell me. You just waited for me to find out on my own,” Ying Sheng murmured, her eyes shifting down to the ground. She couldn’t believe that he hadn’t told her, that he had kept something so important from her. He knew that she would be hurt when she found out, and he still didn’t say anything to even try to prepare her for this. It felt so unlike him.

Liam sighed softly as he took a step toward her, only for Ying Sheng to match it with a step back.

”I’m sorry, Ying Sheng . I wanted to, and you deserved to know,” he told her.

Ying Sheng shook her head, her teeth biting into her bottom lip anxiously. She needed his support when it came to trouble with her parents, and he had let her walk right into the fire. He had tried to distract her instead of being honest with her. She wondered what else he hadn’t told her.

However, for now, she didn’t want to hear it. She couldn’t stomach it right now, and all of the thoughts in her head were starting to dizzy her. She needed some space to try to sort everything out. A shaky breath left her as she stepped back again from him.

”I have to go… tell everyone I got sick or something,” Ying Sheng muttered before storming off to the nearby parking lot to find her car so that she could hurry up and leave. She didn’t want to hear any more bad news right now.

”Ying Sheng , wait!” Liam called to her, sounding desperate.

Ying Sheng ignored him, which pained her to do so. A part of her wanted to toss herself into his arms and find comfort in his embrace, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that right now. He had lied to her, and she didn’t want to be hurt like that again. Maybe she wasn’t in his best interest.

If the tables were turned, she would’ve gone to him and told him everything. She knew that it would’ve been hurtful for him to hear, but at least he would know ahead of time. He would know what to expect, and he could prepare himself to be disappointed. It wouldn’t just hit him like a truck when he wasn’t expecting it.

Once Ying Sheng got in her car, she couldn’t bring herself to go to the apartment. She knew that Liam would just try to track her down there. She had to go elsewhere for the time being, a place no one would bother her. After some driving around, she found a small park on the outskirts of the main city area.

It was quiet and out of the way, and it was exactly what she needed right now. She needed to feel like she was on the outside because the inside was too messy and chaotic. She had been surrounded on all sides by troubling emotions and letdowns. Here, she was looking at her problems from a far away place.

Drawing in a deep breath, Ying Sheng let the warm air comfort her as much as it could as she sat on one of the wooden park benches. At least there was no one at the park. She could be alone with her thoughts, but she wouldn’t let them overwhelm her. She had to have some sort of control over something in her life.

For awhile, she thought that things were under control. Things had been going her way, whether it was school or her developing relationship with Liam. However, now things felt like they were up in the air at the moment. Nothing was certain.

She didn’t know her next move, and she felt alone, like she was standing in a wasteland of her disappointments and crushed hopes. She wasn’t sure if it was a place that she could make it out of or not. Maybe she would always belong here, stuck in between what she wanted and what she could never have.