My Unrequited Love Is an Absolute Secret - Chapter 78

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 78

The Huntington Couple did what parents ought to do.
They reported the perpetrators who had tormented their son to the school and separated him from them.
Their complaint was taken very seriously.
In the end, the perpetrators had to look into other middle schools instead of advancing to Riverside School Foundation’s middle school.
But the Huntington Couple did not stop there.
Before that summer ended.
They invited Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and Jessie to dinner as a token of gratitude for saving their son.
“I’m going to entrust you with Aemerus’s protection.”
Just before the guests arrived, James pulled Aemerus aside and gave him a heads-up.
He couldn’t guarantee that another bully wouldn’t emerge to torment his son.
So he intended to entrust his son’s protection to Jessie, who seemed reasonably capable.
“Your pride will only be wounded for a brief moment.”
James gripped Aemerus’s shoulder and met his eyes.
“I understand if you resent me for now. But Aemerus, you must learn to see the bigger picture.”
In truth, he was speaking to himself as well.
How could it be easy for James to entrust his son to someone else?
It was as good as admitting to himself that his son had a flaw.
Yet for his son’s sake, he was willing to swallow his pride entirely.
“When you have a son of your own someday, you’ll understand me.”
James playfully tapped Aemerus’s chin with his hand and smiled.
Just then, the sound of the guests greeting Sheryl as they arrived at the house could be heard.
They soon joined Sheryl as well.
Dinner proceeded in a warm and convivial atmosphere.
Unlike the adults whose laughter never ceased, Jessie felt uncomfortable, as if sitting on pins and needles.
‘Why isn’t Huntington wearing his glasses?’
The glasses that Harry had cherished and finally returned were nowhere to be seen.
Aemerus’s vision couldn’t have improved overnight, so he must be wearing contacts.
It felt like he was dismissing Harry’s thoughtfulness, and Jessie’s mood soured.
‘I wasn’t the one who saved Aemerus.’
Jessie had simply followed Harry’s lead.
Yet it bothered him that Harry was conspicuously absent from this gathering.
Jessie’s uneasy premonition proved somewhat accurate.
Midway through dinner, as the atmosphere was reaching its peak warmth.
James began to broach the main subject.
“You’ll be advancing to Riverside Middle School as well, won’t you, Jessie?”
“Yes. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Of course, graduating from Riverside Elementary School didn’t automatically guarantee admission to the middle school within the same foundation.
If a student’s grades fell below the required standard, or if the parents failed to submit proof of a bank balance exceeding a certain amount, admission was denied.
Their vacant spots were filled by top students from other schools or international students.
None of this mattered in the slightest to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson.
Mr. Jackson was the president of an interior design company, and Mrs. Jackson worked as a licensed real estate agent.
Moreover, Jessie possessed exceptional talent in ice hockey.
For Riverside School, which specialized in ice sports, he was a prospect they absolutely could not afford to lose.
“How wonderful! Our Aemerus is also enrolling at Riverside Middle School.”
James clapped his hands together and broke into a broad smile.
Then, with a subtle gleam in his eye, he turned his gaze toward Jessie.
“Since fate has brought you together, why don’t the two of you try becoming friends?”
Jessie felt as though the dinner he’d just consumed was sitting heavily in his stomach.
In his place, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson responded with evident delight, while Jessie managed only a strained smile.
“We would be honored.”
“Jessie? You should answer too.”
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson didn’t stop there—they even nudged Jessie’s ribs repeatedly.
“I….”
Jessie glanced sideways at Aemerus.
He remained expressionless, as though completely unbothered by the situation.
“I’m not sure if we can become friends, but…. I’ll certainly try my best.”
It was the best response Jessie could manage in that moment.
James, for his part, harbored no illusions that his son and Jessie would become close friends immediately.
He gave a subtle nod to his employees, signaling them to bring out what he’d prepared.
“This has been a most satisfying dinner. To commemorate today’s meeting, I’ve prepared a small gift.”
“A gift? That’s far too much!”
“We came empty-handed.”
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson hadn’t actually come empty-handed.
Following long-standing custom, they’d brought a bottle of wine to the invitation.
It was a reasonably expensive wine, but within the Huntington penthouse, it might as well have been tap water.
“Please, think nothing of it—it’s merely a token of goodwill.”
Moments later, the employees brought in a forty-inch framed painting.
“This is….”
“What a beautiful piece.”
“It will look even more beautiful hanging in your living room. Especially when you sell it.”
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson swallowed hard.
“If you were to sell this painting, you could command whatever price you desired.”

***

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson couldn’t contain their excitement in the car on the way home.
“The Huntingtons! This is an opportunity.”
“Dad.”
“Did you see their house? We could work our entire lives and never afford a place like that.”
“Mom.”
Jessie tried to calm his excited parents, but it was futile.
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson belonged to the comfortable middle class themselves, living quite well.
But no matter how successful they were, they could never be on equal footing with upper-class people like the Huntingtons.
The Huntingtons themselves would never have extended a hand to them first if their son hadn’t been lacking.
“The Huntington couple is also close to the Williams Family.”
“And the Williams Family is close to the Fitzgerald Family and Price as well.”
The Huntingtons were nothing more than a stepping stone to climb into the upper class.
“Those people won’t willingly be used. If anything, they’ll be the ones using us.”
Jessie, sitting in the back seat, delivered a coldly analytical assessment unbecoming of a child, but his excited parents didn’t hear him.
“If we play our cards right, we could make them our clients.”
“Just brokering real estate deals alone would bring in enormous commissions.”
Having given up trying to persuade his parents, Jessie shook his head in resignation.
Ambition was a good thing.
But every time I saw my parents like this, I felt a little ashamed.
When Sheryl had offered me pocket money, I had refused it outright—partly out of defiance toward my parents.
“Jessie, when the new semester starts, be nice to Aemerus. It’s not that difficult, is it?”
“I’m already busy looking after Lili.”
“Lili does fine on her own.”
“Relying only on you isn’t good for Lili either. You should make friends with a variety of people. Especially if you’re going to keep living in the United States.”
Despite my parents’ continued persuasion, I kept my arms crossed and stared out the window with a sullen expression.
‘I shouldn’t have helped.’
It wasn’t about saving Aemerus.
But if I could turn back time, I would save him again if Harry asked me to, so this thought was meaningless.
“Jessie, your success is good for Lili too. You understand, right?”
That was true.
When I grew up, I planned to make Harry the most beautiful bride in the world.
For that, I needed money. A lot of money.
“…I understand.”
I didn’t necessarily need to make friends.
Jessie reluctantly agreed.

***

That same autumn.
The new semester at Riverside Middle School had begun.
“From now on, Aemerus will be hanging out with us too.”
And Jessie’s squad underwent a slight shift.
“What?”
“With Aemerus Huntington?”
The students who had taken pride in belonging to the most popular squad in school turned their gaze toward Aemerus with reluctant expressions.
They were convinced that the teacher must have made a special request to Jessie about this.
Among them, only Harry welcomed him.
“Hey, you’re not wearing glasses today?”
….
“Did you not receive the one I brought for you before?”
Aemerus shook his head to indicate he had received it.
He currently had braces on his teeth, and on top of that, his voice sounded strange due to his voice changing.
So he had no choice but to avoid conversation with Harry as much as possible.
Unaware of the situation, Harry tried to engage him in friendly conversation but, receiving no response, became dejected.
‘That should be fine leaving him next to Lili.’
Jessie, watching the two of them, felt inwardly relieved.
When he had carried Aemerus on his back from Summer Camp, Aemerus had tried to hold Harry’s hand and wouldn’t let go.
Harry’s insistence on continuing to visit Aemerus while he was ill was also unlike her.
‘I was worried over nothing.’
And over Aemerus Huntington, no less.
Jessie laughed at himself and then reassured his other friends.
“Aemerus applied to the Ice Hockey Club too. It’s good for the players to get along.”
“Huntington’s doing ice hockey?”
“Well, I suppose so.”
They all reluctantly accepted Aemerus.
Aemerus’s slightly changed appearance also played a role in this.
He had taken off the glasses that distorted his eyes so severely they appeared small, and his posture had straightened thanks to his recent exercise routine.
“JJ must have his reasons too.”
Father was right.
Wounded pride lasts only a brief moment.
Aemerus looked toward a more distant future.
Harry, sitting beside Jessie and laughing as she conversed with him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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