Rhea sat in the living room, thinking.
Within an hour or two, uncle Lee came together with a few more people.
He introduced them to Rhea.
Mr. Yang who was the cook in that house, Mrs. Chen who was the housekeeper also, Mr. Lin who worked there as the security guard she saw at the guardhouse before.
Rhea welcomed them with an embarrassed expression, but none of them focused on her embarrassment. They were curious about her. Especially Mrs. Chen. She had been observing Rhea from the moment she sat on that white segmented sofa.
They conversed about Rhea's food preferences, her needs, and some other things, which seemed necessary at that point. Rhea never wanted these things.
She was looking at the door, hoping for Ryan's arrival. She wanted him back so he can save her from this embarrassment.
Of course, whatever happens at that moment, embarrassed Rhea more than anything.
To be exact, Rhea was way too embarrassed when Mrs. Chen's curious gaze fell on her for the hundredth time that day. It gave her chills. It was obvious that Mrs. Chen is curious and dubious about Rhea!
Anybody would be!
Ryan had already created a scene by bringing her into this unknown environment. From what she heard from the conversation, she could understand that he had taken all the precautionary measures possible to protect her from the media and his fans. Most of them were unreasonable. A few of them were scandalous.
For example, he had asked Mrs. Chen to stay with Rhea on the weekdays, which would naturally cause suspicion.
If Mrs. Chen had to stay with Rhea on the weekdays, what about the weekends?
Ryan would be back on the weekends. What Ryan had ordered proved that the two would be alone in that house on the weekends.
Rhea's heart skipped a beat! The way Ryan behaved implicated so many thoughts in her mind. No matter how many times she thinks, the answer was the same.
Anybody who comes to know of this would think that this is a love affair!
It was as if she is his mistress and he is hiding her in that house.
With this thought, Mrs. Chen's gaze was unbearable for Rhea.
The fact that he will be back on the weekends, and the housekeeper will be gone after the weekdays continued to give her goosebumps. Mrs. Chen had already mentioned this three times in between the conversations, looking at Rhea's face, judging her!
Rhea was unable to handle the shame and embarrassment so she chose to leave the mansion the next morning.
Ryan was not there that night! It was for the best.
Rhea stayed with the puppy and the little one seemed to love her a lot. Rhea patted him a few times. She was lost in her thoughts, sitting in the living room.
It felt like her life had suddenly turned into a romance novel. It was a typical romance stereotype, but it was a pity that it lacked romance!
After feeding the little one with the food Ryan had bought that evening, and letting him sleep in the protected cage, Rhea placed the cage next to her bed. The puppy's sleeping face looked way too adorable for her to not stare at. She felt so sorry to leave him alone but she got no other options.
'Sorry. Don't miss me. Your dad would take good care of you,', she whispered before falling into the hands of sleep.
The next day bloomed earlier than expected.
Rhea didn't unpack her bags the day before so she hadn't had many works to do before her departure.
She only had to take care of the puppy. Everything else was taken care of by the people around her. Still, she couldn't keep calm and sit down. It was awkward for her to spend time in that huge mansion. It felt like standing on thorns whenever she confronted Mrs. Chen.
She need to leave this place as fast as she could!
But things did not go the way she wanted, as usual.
It was raining since midnight, so Rhea was unable to move back to the dorm in the morning.
Rhea had to stay in for a while as it was still pouring. It was unlikely to stop anytime soon.
She had already brought back her bags to the living room. She felt nervous to sit alone like that so she opened the Weibo and scrolled down the feeds.
Within minutes, she saw what the hottest post on Weibo is.
There was another storm on the internet.
-Ryan Jin's girlfriend, a foreigner?-
Even though something like this was expected, Rhea never expected it to attack her the next day of her arrival.
She went to the news page and read the articles that were written about this. She understood that people are assuming things, and nothing was proved. Still, it was dangerous.
Rhea was sure that it won't take so much time for the paparazzi to find out the news about Ryan's assistant. Rhea now started to wonder what the result will be if they come to know that she is living in Ryan's house.
Shaking her head once, Rhea went through a few comments as well.
Some of them showed surprise, some of them were angry, a few defended Ryan. Naturally, there was no one to support her as far as she read.
Within minutes she got a phone call. It was from Ryan.
Rhea picked up the call since she was worried about him.
"Did you see the news?"
"Yes"
"..."
It was not hard for her to guess why Ryan made her stay there now. He must have known something like this could happen anytime. But Rhea couldn't accept this as the solution. It's a lot more dangerous. Keeping her in his house could be more scandalous.
"Trust me this once!", he directly came to the point. "This will be the safest place for you! I'll make sure you'll be safe so trust me with this problem."
"......."
"Please..." he said.
"How is this the best option we've got?"
"You'll be safe as long as you stay by my side!"
"I'll have to go out anyway"
"There's no need"
Rhea was shocked listening to this. There's no need?
"Continue your studies online!", he simply said the words as if it was nothing.
"What?"
"I know it's allowed in unavoidable situations. Tell them you are not well and continue online"
"But?"
"Liam will prepare the necessary reports!"
"What?"
"For a few months"
"No!"
"Please Rhea!" he pleaded again.
If Rhea chose to leave, Ryan had no other way than to force her to stay in that house. Because Ying Yue had already sent a few thugs to attack Rhea a few days ago. Uncle Lee had informed him this beforehand.
All he wanted then was to make her stay in that house. No other place was safe for her!
Still, Rhea strongly believed it will not be a good idea to stay in his house. Not good for both of them!
"I can't Ryan!" she replied.
"I'm not letting you go. It's the both of us who had to face this Rhea. If you still insist on leaving the house, I will have to call your father and tell him what's going on here!" he finished.
When her father was brought into the conversation, Rhea was really worried. She didn't want to upset her dad.
"If you do so, I'll return to Alaska. I've no problem with that"
".....", he was left speechless for a minute.
"Ryan, now you should take care of yourself, not me", she told him then ended the call.
She know Ryan would not let her leave this time. In truth, even if she wants to move out, there is no place she could go.
She ended the call without giving him a reply since she was angry.
Although she was angry, she understood!
The only thing that had been protecting Rhea is her anonymity. If her photo is released in any media, she would have to face problems. It was a piece of cake for Ying Yue to leak her photo. Rhea understood this could turn bad any minute.
But whatever the situation is, she can't stay in this house. She was adamant about this!
Rhea walked back to her room and sat by the little puppy.
"Why am I always in trouble?" She asked the little one.
It wagged its tail and climbed up her lap, looking up her face.
Rhea sighed.
She took out her phone and booked a cab. She waited for the cab to arrive. Once it arrived, she went to Mrs. Chen and told her that she is leaving.
Mrs. Chen looked confused, indeed. Rhea ignored her expression and went out of the door.
She got in the cab, and the cab started to move in the direction of the university.
Rhea's phone ringed nonstop. It wasn't hard to guess who was calling her. Rhea finally, firmly chose to leave him for good, thus she took out the off and switched off it. She chose to stay in the dorm that day and return to Alaska the next day!
She finally decided to leave Shanghai, forever!