Delayed Passion: Miss Lynch's Unrequited Love-Chapter 28: Killing the Body and Crushing the Spirit

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Killing the Body and Crushing the Spirit

Before Thea Lynch went abroad, there were six of them, and every year they would take a group photo.

But all those photos were kept in Aaron Lynch’s album, and Thea had never seen them. This photo in her album must have been mixed up by her aunt.

After hesitating for a moment, she put the group photo in her bag.

"What did Norbert Rhodes come over for?" She handed the album back to her aunt to put away, then turned to ask her, "I don’t like him. Did you tell his mother?"

"I did. I also explained about the last matchmaking."

Hearing this, Thea finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could fully exhale, she heard her aunt say:

"But it seems like Norbert really likes you. His mother came over today, and during our chat, she was hinting that she wanted Norbert to reach out to you again."

"..." Thea collapsed onto the sofa, pinching the bridge of her nose, "You didn’t agree, did you?"

"How could I agree to that?" Her aunt sat beside her and asked nosily, "Has Norbert contacted you recently?"

Not wanting her aunt to feel guilty, Thea sighed and said, "No, I’ll talk to him about it another day."

Her aunt wanted her to find a boyfriend soon, but she thought her aunt would just bring up Ian Preston and Silas Cheney again.

"I heard that your third brother’s engagement party with Nina Sinclair was canceled?"

"Seems like it."

"Your third brother, he’s always had his head held high since he was a kid. I don’t even know what kind of girl he likes. Nina isn’t bad at all." She had hoped to use Ian Preston’s engagement as an excuse to nudge her somewhat.

Her aunt clicked her tongue and said, "In a place like Coronet, who would be suitable for him?"

"I don’t know." Thea wasn’t interested in this topic. She took the grapes handed to her by her aunt and leaned into the corner of the sofa, focusing on eating them to lower her presence.

Suddenly, her aunt clapped her hands excitedly, "How could I forget you!"

"If anyone in Coronet is a match for your third brother, it has to be you!"

"Cough, cough..." Thea choked on a grape and coughed several times before calming down.

Her aunt gently patted her back. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Tears welled up in Thea’s eyes as she tried to recover. "You mustn’t say things like that. It’s impossible between us."

"I know, I know." Her aunt nodded repeatedly and exclaimed, "I’m just saying you two are well-matched."

Her aunt started counting on her fingers, "When it comes to family background, looks, education, and personality, who could surpass you?"

"If you put it that way, I can understand why little Ian wasn’t interested in Nina Sinclair."

"..."

Realizing what her aunt might say next, Thea straightened up, trying to stop her.

"Don’t..."

But it was too late, and her aunt continued more enthusiastically:

"You two grew up together; he practically watched you grow up. You haven’t been apart for over a decade."

"With someone as exceptional as you around, it’s not surprising he wouldn’t be interested in Nina!"

Thea was at a loss for words.

"Honestly, if it weren’t for all the fuss from his mother, your uncle and I would have set you up with little Ian long ago."

"Oh, aunt, you know the saying, ’A rabbit doesn’t eat the grass by its burrow.’" Thea said helplessly.

"That’s because the grass by the other rabbits’ burrows isn’t good. Yours is different."

"I actually had a talk with your uncle, and we both concluded that little Ian was the most reliable."

"You only considered him, didn’t you?" Thea pointed out.

"No," her aunt shook her head confidently, "we also considered your second brother. But compared to little Ian, he’s a bit lacking."

"..." Hearing this, Thea was displeased, "Isn’t my second brother more than enough for him?"

Thea and her aunt had different perspectives. Thea had a bias toward the Zimmerman Family’s second son, while her aunt’s conclusions were based on compatibility.

"Your second brother is great, but you know about his job. Your uncle and I are worried he might be stationed abroad and won’t be able to come back. That’s why we ranked him second."

As she finished speaking, her aunt gave Thea a meaningful look, patted her hand with a smile, and said with understanding, "Of course, if you really like your second brother, your uncle and I will support you. I heard he’s about to be transferred back."

Thea: "..."

---

On the day of the Qixi Festival, Thea went to work as usual.

Foreman Chandler sighed while jotting down notes, "Why does the company have a day off for a trivial festival like Qixi? It leaves us singles here, making us earn some overtime pay as consolation."

Hearing this, the others also grumbled with dissatisfaction.

"Exactly. If we didn’t have the day off, everyone would work together, and no one would know I’m single. Now it’s obvious to everyone."

"Have you noticed? Especially in our R&D department, it’s full of single people!"

"It’s strange. It’s normal for us guys to stay, but why didn’t Foreman Lynch leave?"

In the corner, Thea was testing chips and replied casually to their words, "Overtime brings me joy."

"..."

Someone curiously asked, "Foreman Lynch doesn’t have a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Wow, what kind of place is this? Is it really so barren that even Foreman Lynch is single?"

Foreman Chandler added, "It’s understandable why Foreman Lynch isn’t dating. She was probably busy studying back in school. Our Foreman Lynch is a young person with aspirations, not bothering with those romantic affairs."

In the distance, Thea chuckled softly.

"Does Foreman Lynch have any standards for a partner?"

"What, are you planning to apply for the job? Do you usually look in the mirror?"

"Get lost," Chandler replied with a laughing curse.

Thea said, "I don’t have any standards. As long as they’re the type to eat when they’re hungry, drink when they’re thirsty, and head home when it rains, it’s fine."

Everyone else: "..."

"Foreman Lynch, we’re asking seriously here. What are your standards so we can help keep an eye out?"

"Exactly, you’re the only single one left in our department. We must help maintain your standards!"

"Right, we’re all men here. We can spot our kind immediately!"

Thea lowered her gaze, speaking in a laid-back manner, "Well, then someone with a good personality."

"Huh?" Her standard was too vague; everyone had a different definition of a good personality, and the scope was too broad.

At noon, after returning from the cafeteria, they discovered a rose on each person’s desk, apparently given by the company to everyone.

Chandler and the other guys were exasperated, "This is rubbing salt in our wounds! What are we going to do with these? Use them for a foot bath?"

"Give them to Foreman Lynch; we have no use for them."

In the end, everyone’s roses ended up being given to Thea.

Not wanting to refuse, Thea took advantage of lunchtime to find a vase, planning to display them in the office.

The sound of knocking came, and Thea was trimming the flower stems, "Come in."

"Foreman Lynch..." the new assistant entered, "The front desk just brought this up, said it’s for you." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She hadn’t looked up yet when the person had already placed it on her desk—a large bouquet of dewy red roses unexpectedly appeared in her line of sight.