Heartstrings on Fire (Agnes and Jared)

Chapter 877

Michael hustled over and saw that Alyssa was around.

Taking a look at Alyssa, he chuckled, "What're you doing here, girl? You ditch the mansion to play in

the dirt out here in the sticks? You'll regret swapping silk sheets for mud pies."

Alyssa heard Michael’s voice and, for some reason, it stirred a lump in her throat. And that nickname,

"girl," felt so achingly familiar.

Michael, watching her strange reaction, asked, "No way, you've forgotten me, have you?"

Alyssa felt her eyes moisten. All the pent-up emotions seemed to burst forth all at once. But she

couldn't let Michael or Julia see her crack. So she sidestepped Michael and started walking ahead

briskly, tears beginning to fall like rain. This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.

Michael turned to Julia, his face a mask of innocence. "I swear I didn’t tease her this time. What’s

gotten into her?"

Julia, equally puzzled, shook her head.

Michael sidled up beside Julia and, taking the bags from her hands with a triumphant grin, said, "You

could've given me a heads-up you were coming back early. I would've picked you up from the station."

Julia smiled back, "It's just for a couple of days."

As they walked shoulder to shoulder, Michael boasted, "The wheat's all harvested, and just in time for

the rain. Got it all safe and dry under the shed roof. Pretty sharp thinking, huh?"

Julia looked at him, a mix of concern and gratitude in her eyes. Sure, Julia’s family plot wasn't much to

speak of, but with no one else to work it, and her mother was getting on in years, which meant Michael

had been helping with the farm work for six years running.

He'd saved Julia once, back when she was still in high school. He would walk her to school and back,

every day, without fail.

At the time, they hardly exchanged words. Everyone thought Michael was just some punk with a crush,

shadowing her every move, but Julia would never forget the way he stood up to seven guys, fighting

tooth and nail to protect her, even when the odds were against him.

She never quite understood why. Maybe it was his sense of justice kicking in, but after that, Michael

started his daily escort service, in silence.

Over time, it turned into a kind of unspoken agreement.

One evening, when Julia was leaving school late, she found Michael arguing with the security guard at

the gate. The old guard couldn't shoo Michael away and was threatening to call the cops. Finally, Julia

stepped in, declaring, "He's my brother. He picks me up after school every day." Then the guard let

them go, though still looking skeptical.

That day, Michael didn’t linger behind. He walked right next to Julia, grinning like a mischievous kid

while asking, "I'm your brother, huh?"

Julia glanced at him. "Why do you keep following me?"

"I'm protecting you."

"I don't need your protection," she retorted, sounding less convincing than she intended.

Annoyed by the rumors swirling at school about her dating some roughneck, she lost her temper.

But Michael just shrugged it off. "Do you own this road? Is your name written on it? You go your way, I'll

go mine. I'm not bothering you."

Yet, after a while, Julia turned to look back, out of habit.

And that glance was all it took for Michael to catch up, a cheeky smile on his face. "Julia, you don’t

really hate me, right? I mean, I did save your life after all."

Julia just rolled her eyes.

Michael continued, "Don't worry. I won't mess with your studies. I just don't like the idea of you walking

home alone at night. I'll escort you part of the way, then I'll leave."