Facing Lorenzo's pleading, Celine didn't reply immediately.
She just furrowed her brows slightly, showing a bit of helplessness and difficulty.
Her fingertips curled unconsciously, stroking the edge of her clothes.
It seemed like she was struggling to digest this "bad news," as if having a fierce battle inside her—between sympathy and harsh reality.
This hesitant, troubled look perfectly matched Lorenzo's expectations.
So, he took a step closer, almost grabbing Celine's arm, his voice low, hoarse, and full of begging:
"Celine, I know this is hard for you... but I really have no other choice!"
"Mom can't wait any longer... the doctor said the surgery must happen soon..."
He paused, as if making a huge decision, then bit his teeth and said:
"This money, can you... can you help me first? Think of it as me borrowing from you! Consider it a debt I owe you, Lorenzo!"
Afraid Celine wouldn't believe him, he quickly added firmly:
"If you don't trust me, I'll write you an IOU right now!"
"When the bonus from the new project at work comes, I promise I'll pay you back every cent immediately!"
An IOU?
Celine almost couldn't help but silently applaud his amazing acting skills.
His words sounded so sincere and certain, as if he really was a devoted son desperate and helpless.
Not a shameless scoundrel full of lies, planning to use this money to please another woman.
Lorenzo was a perfect mix of a drama king and a jerk—if he didn't pursue acting, the Chinese film industry would lose a big talent. The Oscars owed him a little golden statue.
Celine laughed coldly inside but kept a hesitant, troubled face as if shocked and conflicted by the idea of "lending money" and "IOU."
This look perfectly fit Lorenzo's fixed impression of her—
Beautiful but poor; kind and soft-hearted, yet short on money, facing a large sum she would hesitate and struggle to pay.
She didn't refuse to help but really couldn't afford such a big amount.
That was exactly the "reality" Lorenzo wanted to see and was happy to see.
Sure enough, when the timing was just right, a faint, hard-to-see calculating look flashed in Lorenzo's eyes.
Then, his face changed to one of deep sorrow and understanding, even mixed with a bit of self-hate.
He sighed softly, his voice low and tired, carrying a cruel kind of "care," bringing up the sensitive topic again:
"Celine, I'm sorry..."
"It's all my fault... look, you're already having a hard time with big brother's illness, and I can't help at all. Instead, I'm asking you for this unreasonable favor..."
He sounded like he couldn't forgive himself, full of guilt:
"I really am useless!"
"Maybe… maybe we really aren't suitable to stay together."
He looked up, his eyes "sincerely" staring at Celine, explaining his previous behavior:
"Actually, the reason I wanted to break up with you before was mainly because of my mom's illness…"
"At that time, my mind was too messy, the pressure was too much, I was almost breaking down, lost my reason, and that's why I said those stupid things… I was afraid of dragging you down."
"In the future… find someone better than me, someone who can truly treat you well, someone from a better family, who won't cause you trouble or make you suffer like I do."
Every word seemed full of "thinking about her," a careful kindness, as if he was the victim forced by reality to let go.
If this were the old version of herself, she would probably have been deeply moved.
But now, Celine only felt a rising wave of physical nausea in her stomach.
Good, very good.
Playing hard to get, moral blackmail—what a great show!
Since you want to act, I'll play along!
"No break up!"
Her voice was clearly trembling with tears but unusually firm:
"Lorenzo, I won't break up! We are not breaking up!"
"Don't say that… Auntie's illness is important! About the money… about the money… I promise you."
"Please don't leave me…"
She wiped her tears roughly with the back of her hand, quickly pulled out her phone, her fingers trembling slightly from excitement as she tapped a few times on the screen.
Her movements were urgent, full of reckless impulse.
Almost at the same time, Lorenzo's phone in his pocket made a clear "ding" notification sound—that was a bank message alert.
"Here… take this as an emergency fund first."
Celine sniffed, her voice a little choked, as if she had used all her strength, but with a sense of relief and exhaustion.
"It's not enough… we will find a way together."
Lorenzo almost instinctively pulled out his phone. When he saw the bank message on the screen—
[XX Bank] Your savings card ending in XXXX received RMB 100,000.00 on X month X day XX:XX, current balance…
One hundred thousand!!!
A full one hundred thousand!
Lorenzo's pupils suddenly shrank, his breath stopped for a moment.
He had imagined Celine might soften, might try to gather some money, but he never expected she could actually come up with such a huge amount!
For a moment, great surprise and a faint, hard-to-see greed quickly filled his eyes.