Amelia Lockhart felt like she was seeing far too much.
Ruby Sawyer had been watching her from the shadows. The moment Amelia got in the car, she had rushed over, claiming it was an emergency. It was just an excuse, of course.
A High God truly was a juicy prize. Whether in the heavens or on earth, there was always an endless line of people vying for him.
Amelia Lockhart stole a glance at Ethan Quinn. They were sitting side-by-side in the back seat, and Ethan, as usual, had his eyes closed, resting.
The car was completely silent.
Amelia messaged Holly Yardley first, only for Holly to instantly fire back three messages in shock.
Whose car?
Ethan Quinn agreed to share a ride?
Good heavens, don't tell me you forced your way into Ethan Quinn's car?
A shadow fell over Amelia's face. Staring at the rapid-fire questions, she could practically see Holly Yardley's dumbfounded expression through the text.
She remembered when Yardley told her the director of *Fated Love* had reached out. Yardley couldn't believe her own artist's dream was actually coming true!
Getting hated on by the entire internet was the norm for her. How could she really end up on the same stage as Ethan Quinn?
But reality was just that surreal. Not only was her artist on the same stage as Ethan Quinn, but she'd also gotten ridiculously lucky and been randomly paired with him in the first episode. And now, Ethan Quinn was even willing to give her a ride back to the city.
Holly Yardley immediately turned her car around and headed back.
'No way,' she thought. 'The world has suddenly gone crazy. I must still be asleep.'
After finishing her chat with Holly Yardley, Amelia remembered the long fan analysis she hadn't finished reading on the Weibo Super Topic.
The account, named "Leader of the Amelia-Ethan CP," was even a verified blogger. She had listed five small details from the livestream to prove her theory.
Amelia read through it all in one go, marveling at how terrifying these eagle-eyed fans were. They were just unintentional actions on her part, but after reading this person's analysis, she was almost convinced herself.
For example, the second point read:
Our beloved Ethan has always been such a gentleman, but after his bath on the first night of the dating show, his robe was slightly open! This means he's letting his guard down around Amelia Lockhart! Amelia is like a predator around our boy, but he isn't on guard at all. Think about it. *Really* think about it.
'Think about my ass,' Amelia complained internally.
'Me, a predator?'
'I was just being diligent about my mission!'
'And that's what they call "slightly open"?'
'You couldn't even see the line of his chest.'
As for "being a gentleman," Amelia glanced over at Ethan's clothes again. He was wearing a black long-sleeved hoodie with the hood pulled up, his eyes still closed.
Without his deep, cool gaze, and with his lush eyelashes casting a small shadow on his eyelids, his youthful air was even more apparent.
Ethan Quinn's aura was so powerful that it was easy to forget he was only twenty-one.
Amelia couldn't help but take a couple more looks. The High God had been a breathtaking prodigy in his youth. It was a shame she'd still been a Phoenix Egg back then.
As she was lost in her reverie, Ethan Quinn's eyes suddenly snapped open. His soul-stirring, intensely dark eyes met her gaze.
Amelia: !
'Busted again!'
Ethan watched her without a word. Amelia could only offer him an awkward smile before silently turning her head to face the window with a quiet sigh.
Everyone said you only knew true beauty after meeting Ethan Quinn. You really couldn't blame her for staring.
Watching everything unfold in the rearview mirror, Silas Linden smiled meaningfully.
"Your phone. Let me borrow it," Ethan Quinn said suddenly.
Amelia turned back uncertainly and saw Ethan looking at her, a fair, slender hand extended in her direction.
"Wh... What for?"
Ethan reverted to his usual taciturn state, but his gesture and gaze showed no sign of backing down.
Completely bewildered, Amelia unlocked her phone with her fingerprint and handed it to him.
A few seconds later, it hit her. Her phone was open to a mortifying page!
Amelia whipped her head around to look at Ethan and, sure enough, saw him staring at her phone screen—at that very same Super Topic analysis!
'Help me!'
Amelia immediately wanted to snatch her phone back. Her hand was halfway there when Ethan glanced at her nonchalantly and asked, "Is this logged into your Weibo account?"
Amelia nodded grimly.
Ethan blinked slowly, then suddenly lowered his voice, a deep, bewitching tone lacing his words. "My hand slipped. I just accidentally liked it."
Amelia froze solid in an instant.
In other words...
Ethan Quinn, using her—Amelia Lockhart's—Weibo account, had "accidentally" liked a post in the fan-made CP Super Topic.
How could this be any more absurd?
After saying this, Ethan nonchalantly exited Weibo, completely unconcerned about the uproar he had just caused, and found Amelia's WeChat.
He opened the "Scan" function, scanned his own WeChat QR code, and just like that, the two officially became WeChat friends.
Only then did Ethan return the phone to Amelia. "You probably dropped your phone because I startled you. I happen to have a phone endorsement deal recently. I'll have someone send you a new one tomorrow."
Amelia's heart was bleeding. This wasn't something a new phone could fix. "It's fine," she said weakly. "I just didn't have a good grip on it."
After speaking, Amelia stared at the "like" icon on her screen, wanting to cry but having no tears left.
'What goes around, comes around. This time, it really was a slip of the hand!'
Previously, to complete her mission from The Immortal Pool, Amelia had always "intentionally-unintentionally" liked Ethan Quinn's Weibo posts, only to claim afterward that her hand had slipped.
The entire internet had flamed her for clout-chasing. Now, for the first time, Amelia understood what a *real* slip of the hand felt like!
She could already imagine a new trending topic about to drop. Amelia decisively logged out of Weibo to cool down.
This series of social suicides, both self-inflicted and forced, sent Amelia into a deep contemplation. She didn't even notice Silas Linden teasing Ethan Quinn.
"Well, well, Ethan. Your hand slips too? Should we take you to the hospital? It's not a good sign for a young man's hand to be slipping like that!"
Ethan shot Silas a cold glare through the rearview mirror.
Silas just grinned back at him.
The rest of the drive was silent.
The black Bentley dropped Amelia Lockhart off at her residence as the sun set.
When Silas Linden enthusiastically offered to help with her luggage, a terrified Amelia immediately hoisted her suitcase and bolted.
It was only after Amelia got home and started banging her head against the wall that she suddenly remembered: in her haste to get away, she'd forgotten to probe Silas Linden for his true identity!
An unknown amount of time passed before Amelia heard the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of the electronic lock.
The moment the door swung open, Amelia saw Holly Yardley standing in the doorway.
Holly had her arms crossed, looking at her as if she'd seen a ghost. "Amelia, something's wrong with your expression. You got paired up on a dating show with the Ethan Quinn you've been pining for, and he even gave you a ride home. Shouldn't you be glowing?"
'Why do you look as depressed as a new widow?'
[Bonus Scene]
Ethan Quinn: My hand slipped. I was faking it. Who told my wife to look at another man instead of me before getting in the car!
Silas Linden: ...Just say my name already!