One of Drew's eyebrows rose, his eyes fixed straight on his wife with a deliberately innocent expression. “I’m not allowed to look?” he asked teasingly.
Alea pressed her lips together, fidgeting beneath the covers. “It’s not that you’re not allowed, but... oh my gosh, that picture is so old.”
“Ah...” Drew narrowed his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching as he held back a smile. “You’re pretty because you haven’t had plastic surgery, right?”
At that, Alea immediately glared at him. She tossed a small pillow straight at her husband’s chest. “What are you talking about! When have I ever had plastic surgery? My face now is exactly the same as it was back then, okay!”
Drew caught the pillow and chuckled. “Then why? You seem really bothered.” He reached for Alea’s hand and gently stroked her knuckles. “As a trade-off, I’ll show you pictures from my childhood when we get home. How about it?”
Alea blinked, then gave a small nod with a faint smile. “All right, promise?”
Without wasting any time, Alea got out of bed and walked toward the wooden wardrobe in the corner of the room. She opened the bottom drawer, pulled out a thick, dusty photo album, then lay back down beside Drew on the bed.
“Before you open it, there’s one condition,” Alea warned, staring intently into her husband’s eyes. “You have to promise you won’t laugh at me or make fun of how I looked back then.”
Drew smiled warmly and nodded obediently. “Yeah, I promise.”
Alea handed the velvet-covered album to her husband, placing it on his lap.
Drew opened it page by page. On the first page was an adorable picture of little Alea with her hair in two braids. On the next page was a portrait of teenage Alea with shoulder-length hair, followed by a series of candid photos of her in her high school uniform.
The corners of Drew’s lips lifted into a sincere smile.
Seeing his expression, Alea immediately pouted. “See! You were going to laugh at me, Drew!”
“No, I swear, I’m not laughing,” Drew said gently in his defense, his fingers pointing to one of Alea’s high school pictures. “You were so cute as a child. And in high school... you were beautiful too.” He looked up and gazed intently into his wife’s eyes, then lowered his head back to the album and murmured softly, “If only I’d known you sooner...”
Alea let out a small gasp. Her heart pounded erratically. “What do you mean? What would you have done?”
Drew turned to her and looked deeply into her eyes. “Then I could’ve told you directly that you were beautiful, so you wouldn’t have to feel inferior around me.”
Drew reached out and gently patted the top of Alea’s head. The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt so warm, filled with a soft flutter in Alea’s chest.
In her heart, Alea thought with deep emotion: Right now, I feel a little greedy. Back then, all I could do was stand in the corner of the hallway and watch him from afar. But now... I’m beginning to dare to hope that he truly sees me as the woman who has never stopped loving him all these years.
The next morning, the sun shone brightly over the city sidewalks. Alea and Drew stood side by side at the roadside, seeing off Alea’s parents as they prepared to leave for a remote village.
Drew efficiently loaded the large suitcases into the trunk of the taxi they had ordered. After the taxi drove away from the house, Alea and Drew prepared to turn back toward their car. But a greeting stopped them in their tracks.
“Hey... You’re Alea, right?”
Alea stood still for a moment, frowning as she tried to remember the man in the polo shirt standing in front of her. “You’re... Joni, right?”
“Ah, yeah, that’s right, I’m Joni!” The man flashed a wide smile. “Wow, you really are Alea. I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed so much, and you’ve gotten even...” Joni’s sentence trailed off as his eyes shifted to the tall figure beside Alea. “Huh? You’re... Drew, right? The legendary student council president back when we were in high school?”
Drew nodded stiffly, answering the greeting with a faint smile but no words.
Joni’s eyes widened as he glanced back and forth between Drew and Alea. “Now, wait... so you and Alea...”
Before Joni could finish, Drew suddenly slipped his strong arm around Alea’s waist, pulling his wife snugly against his side. “She’s my wife,” Drew said firmly, his voice cold and clear.
Joni gasped. “Ah... oh... so Alea is your wife...” he stammered, utterly shocked.
Drew had no intention of continuing the small talk. He clasped Alea’s fingers tightly. “We have something else to take care of. Come on, we’ll be going.”
Drew gently pulled Alea along, walking away and leaving Joni standing frozen on the sidewalk with his mouth half open.
A few yards away, another man approached Joni, who was still staring blankly. “What’s wrong, Jon? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?”
“Not a ghost...” Joni murmured dazedly. “I just ran into Alea. And you know what? That woman... turns out she’s Drew’s wife—the old student council president.”
The man standing before Joni fell silent for quite some time. His jaw suddenly hardened, and his hand clenched tightly at his side.