hapter 171 A Mask Too Heavy to Bear


    Chapter 171 A Mask Too Heavy to Bear


    He cared about Le:


    He truly wanted to meet her.


    The Le he imagined must be an extraordinary girl.


    <b>+10 </b>Free Coins


    What he wanted from meeting her wasn’t just a simple face–to–face–it was the hope of feeling that spark, that rush of excitement when expectations meet reality.


    But if he found out that Le was actually her, it wouldn’t be a pleasant surprise–it would be a shock.


    The more Lily thought about it, the worse she felt. Even though she was doing her best to tilt her head up, forcing herself not to cry, tears still slid from her chin and sshed onto her phone screen.


    When they blurred the message he’d just sent, she scrambled to wipe them off, but no matter how many times she swiped, more just kepting.


    “Le, same time and ce tomorrow. I’ll be waiting by the window,” he messaged again.


    Lily quickly used her sleeve to dry the screen, then carefully typed her reply.


    “Can we… not meet after all?”


    She knew how selfish that sounded.


    She knew James didn’t like her. And yet, she still wanted to hide her identity, still wanted to keep chatting with him as “Le,” still wanted to selfishly soak up the warmth he gave her like a thief pretending to belong.


    “I think just chatting like this, staying friends… that’s good enough.”


    James was still sitting in the café.


    The second he heard the ping of a message, he opened their chat thread right away.


    He’d thought she would agree to meet him tomorrow.


    After all, she had agreed to meet tonight. She’d even seemed excited. Tonight’s change of ns had only happened because something urgent came up–he was sure of that.


    He didn’t expect her to say no to seeing him again.


    If it had been anyone else, he wouldn’t have cared.


    But he cared about her. He wanted to marry her, to spend the rest of his life with her.


    If they couldn’t meet, how could they be together?


    Reading her message, he started to realize–this wasn’t just her being polite. She was turning him down.


    She probably didn’t feel the same way at all.


    10.33 ue<b>, </b><b>22 </b>Ju


    Chapter 171 A Mask Too Heavy to Bear


    57%<b>1 </b>


    +10 Free Coins


    But because she was the only person he wanted a future with, he was willing to put away his pride and give it one more shot.


    “Le, I want to see you. I like you. I don’t want to just be friends. I want to stand by your side, openly and proudly, for the rest of my life.”


    Seeing that he still wanted to meet only made Lily more flustered.


    She was so afraid of losing him as a friend. After discovering who he really was, she had chosen to run away. Selfishly, she still wanted to keep hiding behind the name “Le,” just to keep talking to him.


    But when she read histest message, she realized something: it was going to be impossible to stay just friends.


    And she still didn’t have the courage to tell him that Le was really Lily.


    Even if they stopped talking for good, she didn’t want him to look back on their friendship with disgust.


    If he knew Le was really her, he would definitely feel disgusted.


    She could only make up an excuse–topletely erase his feelings for “Le,” to end things with some dignity.


    “Elias, we can’t meet because I’m nning to go abroad.”


    “Le, which country? Are you at the airport right now?”


    Almost instantly, another message came through.


    “Which airport? I’lle find you right now.”


    1


    Panic rising in her chest, Lily knew she couldn’t let Jamese looking for her.


    All she wanted was for him to stop liking her and give up the idea of meeting. She acted in haste, without thinking, and sent a message.


    “I lied to you. I’m not a woman. I just wanted to y a joke at first, but I didn’t expect you to believe it, and I didn’t know how to exin the truthter. I’m really, really sorry.”


    “We’re both men, so we shouldn’t meet. And you definitely shouldn’t like me.”


    After he confessed to her again, Lily knew she could never ask to be just friends.


    Now, all she could hope for was that James would forget about “Le,” and that if he ever looked back on their chats, he wouldn’t feelpletely revolted.


    Only after hitting send did she realize–having him believe he’d fallen for a guy after chatting all this time… might actually make him feel sick.


    But then again, the person he hated most was Lily.


    He hated her so much, just seeing her disgusted him.


    Otherwise, he wouldn’t have told her so coldly that morning to stay away from him unless absolutely


    16:53 Tue, 22 Jul


    Chapter 171 A Mask Too Heavy to Bear


    57%


    +10 Free Coins


    necessary.


    If he thought he’d fallen for a man, that was still better than knowing he’d once had feelings for her.


    With that thought in her head, Lily suddenly felt reassured–what she’d just said was probably the best


    way out.


    James did have a health issue. He didn’t have… male ability. But that only made it more impossible for him to ever like another man. Once he believed Le was actually male, he would never reach out again.


    To kill any lingering hope, she even used a face–altering filter in a video app to transform a selfie into a smiling young man with short hair, then sent it to him.


    “I know you could never like a guy. So let’s not talk anymore. Elias… I really am sorry.”


    Lily waited a long time.


    But no reply ever came.