Halle asked, “Why are you sighing?”
“I just didn’t expect that after all my hard work, I’d still look this unreliable in your eyes.”
Halle’s childhood had made her crave a lot of security. If she was going to take a relationship seriously, she needed to ask, again and again, whether the other person was sincere.
If she were only fooling around with James, she wouldn’t bother.
But something in her had changed.
She wanted to move forward. She didn’t want a casual game anymore. She wanted something real.
And the fact that she was seriously considering a future with James was, in itself, proof that his efforts had worked.
If James hadn’t kept sending those daily check-ins, sharing the small details of his life and building trust little by little, Halle would still be keeping him at a careful distance.
Halle was slow to warm up. She needed a "slow and steady wins the race" approach, where consistent daily check-ins could gradually build a foundation of trust.
As it turned out, James had stumbled into the perfect strategy without even trying.
She said, “Exactly. You still have plenty of work to do.”
James said, “Then, you have to give me chances to prove myself.”
“I’ve been giving you chances. Otherwise, I would’ve blocked you ages ago.”
James heard exactly what he wanted to hear and brightened instantly. “I felt that.”
“You’re very confident.”
"Well, look at what I'm bringing to the table. If you choose me, I won’t embarrass you. I’ll make you look good. And you’re smart. If you don’t choose me, what, are you going to fall for someone like Edgar? I believe in your judgment. Honestly, it’s hard not to be confident.”
Halle said, “Stop using him as your comparison.”
James asked, “Feeling sorry for him?”
Halle said, “No. You and he aren’t even in the same category. There’s no comparison.”
“Fine. I won’t compare myself to him. It only drags me down anyway."
Truthfully, James was still jealous. He knew Halle and Edgar had grown up together. Even if they now couldn’t stand each other, even if they had long stopped walking the same road, Edgar still carried weight in her heart—weight James, as the latecomer, could not match yet.
Of course, once he had been in Halle’s life longer than Edgar had, Edgar would become irrelevant.
James had Halle’s future. He wasn’t worried.
Halle only smiled.
James glanced at the navigation as he drove. “So, you’re planning to keep testing me—and actually give us a real chance, right?”
Halle admitted it. “Yes.”
James smiled, genuinely this time. "Look, since you’re officially back on the market, how about promoting me to boyfriend status? We can make it official, and you can put me on probation every single day for the rest of our lives."
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