Chapter 954

Ron's apartment was a three-bedroom place, with two bedrooms and a study, all clean and neatly organized. Lena was staying in the guest room. The curtains and furnishings in the room, especially the vanity, looked as if they were specifically chosen for a girl.

“Dr. Lane, don’t misunderstand. This room isn’t my ex-girlfriend’s, and you’re the first woman, aside from my mom, to stay here,” Ron quickly explained.

He told Lena that this room was reserved for his mother. Sometimes, when she had an impulsive moment or got into a fight with his dad, she’d stay over for a while. That’s why the room was decorated in a feminine way.

Lena could feel it too; the room had a distinctly maternal scent. It made her think of the times she used to sleep in her mother’s room when she was a child. Her mother had told her to sleep in her own bed, but Lena refused and would sneak back into her mother’s room in the middle of the night, a habit that continued until she was ten. One day, her mother asked her why, at that age, she was still so clingy. “Are you afraid to sleep alone?”

At the time, Lena’s answer was simple: as long as her mother was near her, she felt secure and could sleep peacefully. As she grew older, she gradually stopped seeking out her mother’s bed. It had been a long time since she’d shared a bed with her, and now, it had even come to the point where she was afraid of going home and facing her mother.

They say that growing up was a series of separations: birth was a separation from the mother’s body, growing up was a separation from those closest to you, marriage was a separation from your family, and sickness and death were a final separation from the world.

It dawned on her that, without realizing it, she had been apart from her mother for so long. Perhaps because of these thoughts, Lena’s mood suddenly dropped. She felt guilty, as if her disdain and resistance to her mother’s concern were somehow a betrayal. So, she decided to call Briana.

“Well, look who’s calling. The elusive Dr. Lane, what a surprise!” As soon as the call connected, Briana started teasing her.

Lena couldn’t remember when their mother-daughter relationship had turned into something like this. Lena knew she hadn’t answered her mother’s questions earlier and had quickly run off, which probably upset her. So, she decided to soften her tone and flatter her. “I miss you.”

The words made Briana pause for a moment. “Lena, has something happened?” Maybe it had been so long since Lena had acted this way that her mother, startled, started to overthink. “No, I’m fine.”

As she spoke, she looked around the warm, yet completely unfamiliar room. She sighed inwardly. “What a life, now I’m living like a hermit crab.”

“You’re fine, and now you suddenly say something like this?” Briana, being sensitive, immediately picked up on the unusual tone in Lena’s voice. Lena’s mood was quickly dissolved by her mother’s words. “If you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t,” she said with a sigh.

“Lena, you’re my child. You must be going through something. Are you in a relationship and got dumped, or did something happen at work? Did someone bully you?” Briana’s worry for her was clear.

“No,” Lena denied it, but remembering what she had told her, and thinking of the way her heart fluttered when she thought of Aaron, she tentatively asked, “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“I knew something was up,” Briana hummed, “Ask away, what’s going on?”

Lena thought for a moment. “You’ve seen that video recently, right? The actress you like has found a boyfriend who’s 18 years younger than her. What do you think of that?”

“That’s great! Women should learn from her. If I had the chance and luck, I’d go for someone 28 years younger than me!” Briana’s voice got louder as she spoke.

Lena laughed. She didn’t even need to ask. Her father must have been in the room, and this was clearly a comment meant for both father and daughter.

“Well, if I were to find a boyfriend like that, someone much younger or much older than me, or maybe even someone like an uncle or a relative… would you accept that?” Lena asked, watching her mother carefully.

She fell silent after asking, her heart pounding. She was afraid that her mother, being so perceptive, might figure out what was really going on.

“You wouldn’t dare,” her mother replied, her voice dripping with disapproval, though those two words showed just how strongly she felt about it.