Chapter 113 - Troubling Thoughts
Last night, Tristan and Zhen-Zhen celebrated the happy occasion of Zhen-Zhen passing the exam. They even invited Matthew to come over for dinner. Matthew was also surprised that she topped the exam. The most surprising thing was Zhen-Zhen got a perfect score.
That was the reason why the committee of the Department of Higher Education and the board of examiners who crafted the test questionnaire convened yesterday for an emergency meeting before they allowed and gave a go signal to post and send out the result of the Education Placement Examination.
They couldn't believe that someone could answer all the questions correctly thus getting a perfect score with a 100 percent mark. This incident never happened in the history of the Educational Placement Examination. That's why they became suspicious of whether there was test leakage that happened. Zhen-Zhen's perfect score in the exam made a quite ruckus to the board and committee.
But that thing was not the concern of Tristan and Zhen-Zhen. They were just happy that Zhen-Zhen passed the exam. Tristan got worried too much for nothing. Now, he wondered why Zhen-Zhen always gave him the wrong answers during their review session.
Tristan dismissed the thought that Zhen-Zhen did it intentionally. He thought Zhen-Zhen would not do that and she was not a sneaky fellow. So Tristan believed that Zhen-Zhen just remembered everything he taught her that's why she was able to pass the exam despite the fact she was having difficulty beforehand. But still, getting a perfect score was a little bit too much.
After the celebratory dinner last night, Tristan informed Matthew about his plan of registering his marriage with Zhen-Zhen tomorrow morning. He asked Matthew to join and accompany them to serve as a witness.
Tristan was currently lying on his bed right now as he recalled the friendly conversation he had with Matthew.
{ Matthew: "Are you really sure about this? Once you do it, there's no turning back anymore. You should take all the responsibility for Lillie. Do you think you can do that?" }
{ Tristan: Yes. I wanna do this. Besides, we already made a deal with each other. I also promised her that I would make her my wife. Lillie is looking forward to it. }
Matthew heaved a long deep sigh after hearing that. He didn't lack in reminding Tristan about his action nor had run short in advising him over and over again. He just wanted to make sure that Tristan would never commit something that he would regret later on.
Tristan was his friend. But, at the same time, Matthew couldn't help himself from worrying about Lillie. He didn't want her to be hurt by Tristan in the future. Matthew was aware that Tristan was still in love with Hannah.
{ Matthew: "Tristan… I have to remind you. Marriage is not a joke. You should sort your feelings out first for Hannah. Forget about her. Or tell Lillie about it so that she won't be kept in the dark. Don't be unfair to Lillie. She deserves to know the truth. Besides, I felt a little bit uneasy. I still couldn't believe what you have told me last time we talked about this. Stop playing around with other women especially if you are already married." }
Matthew couldn't help but nag at Tristan. Tristan, on the other hand, was just looking at Matthew in disbelief.
{ Tristan: ''Why do I feel like I am talking to grandpa? Matt, can you relax? Why are you doing this to me? Are you stopping me from marrying Lillie? I already decided on this but with what you are doing right now. I feel like I am having a second thoughts." }
{ Matthew: "See… That's what I am talking about. Even you are not sure about what you are supposed to do. You are still indecisive." }
After his talk with Matthew, Tristan was unable to sleep that night thinking about his decision in marrying Zhen-Zhen. He kept on tossing and turning in his bed all night. He didn't know if he felt troubled by Matthew's piece of advice or he was excited for tomorrow.
Morning already came but Tristan was still fully awake. He didn't sleep last night. He was lying in his bed while staring at the ceiling absentmindedly. Today was the day he promised Zhen-Zhen that they would get married.
This was not the wedding ceremony yet. They would just go to the Civil Registry Office and signed some documents. After that, they would become husband and wife in the paper. The whole process would just be as easy as that.
Tristan closed his eyes then Zhen-Zhen's lovely face with her mesmerizing smile flashed in his mind. Unknowingly, Tristan's lips curled up into a gentle smile just thinking about her. His mind was in shambles a while ago, but after seeing that beautiful image of her, Tristan was able to calm down and clear his mind.
He brought his hand into his chest. He could feel the pounding of his heart. At that certain moment, Tristan realized that he truly wanted to do this- marrying Zhen-Zhen. He couldn't tell the reason why but he just knew this was what he wanted.
In fact, Tristan was not indecisive about marrying Zhen-Zhen. He was undecided about Matthew's advice when he said that he should tell Zhen-Zhen the truth about his feelings for Hannah. For an unknown reason, he was afraid… afraid to tell her.
He was worried that Zhen-Zhen wouldn't like to hear the truth. He was afraid that she would misunderstand it. He didn't have the courage to tell her that he was in love with Hannah. How could he let his wife know that he was in love with another woman?
Just imagining it, Tristan knew he couldn't do it. He could not see himself, looking straight in her eyes while telling her "Zhen-Zhen, I am in love with Hannah.".
What if everything would change about them, the way she would treat him once she learned the truth? He admitted he was being selfish. But he didn't want Zhen-Zhen to change her attitude towards him. For an unknown reason, his heart felt like it was being squeezed right now just imagining it.