Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 462

The second the request was accepted, Lawrence's message popped up: [*Grinning emoji* You skipped evening study hall? Are you home?]

Bonnie stared at the goofy yellow smiley face. It felt a little stupid, but somehow perfectly suited him.

[Yeah, just got home.]

Lawrence: [I'm still trapped in study hall. *Crying emoji*]

Bonnie smiled at the screen. She knew his academic record was flawless. He had held the number one spot flawlessly and swept multiple state competitions.

He was a golden boy, brilliant and privileged.

Did someone like that actually hate study hall too?

She typed back: [You live off-campus. You can request to study at home.]

Lawrence replied instantly: [Your mom won't authorize it.]

[Plus, finals are in six months. No slacking allowed.]

Sitting at her desk, Bonnie threw a paranoid glance at her bedroom door. Even though Shirley wasn't home, the fear was ingrained in her. She thought for a second and replied: [You'd better not let my mom catch you texting in class.]

Lawrence: [It's dinner break. I wouldn't text during the actual session, don't worry.]

Before Bonnie could figure out how to respond, Bachelor's voice echoed from the hallway, calling her for dinner. She quickly shouted back that she was coming and typed: [I have to go eat.]

She hit send, didn't wait for a reply, and immediately powered the phone down, burying it under a stack of notebooks in her drawer.

Dinner was leftovers. Bonnie ate a steamed bun and a boiled egg, and that was it. Bachelor told her to eat more, but she just grabbed a carton of milk and slipped back into her room.

After a second of hesitation, she quietly locked the door.

The phone lay silently in the drawer. When she turned it back on, there was only one unread message.

[Okay.]

Caught in the slow gravity of this new habit, she fell into a strange, intoxicating rebellion.

She knew it was wrong. But she couldn't stop.

On Christmas Eve, Bonnie put on the heavy new winter coat Shirley had bought her and followed her parents to The White Family's estate for the holiday.

It was the worst day of the year for her. To Bonnie, the holidays weren't a celebration; they were a miserable obligation.

Sitting in the backseat of the car, she kept her head down, staring at her phone. Up front, Shirley and Bachelor were sniping at each other, their bickering escalating with every sentence.

It was like this every time they visited his parents. Bonnie was numb to it.

She unlocked her screen. Lawrence had sent a message: [Merry Christmas Eve.]

The faintest, imperceptible smile touched the corners of her mouth. [Thank you. Merry Christmas Eve to you too.]

Lawrence sent a photo. It looked like the sprawling courtyard of a massive estate. The place was packed with people, and several little kids were running around building a snowman in the background.