"Nothing... it's nothing, just now some sand blew into my eyes."

At this moment, Lillian Reed seemed a bit flustered, quickly jumped out of the car, and stammered, "Big Brother Carter, thank you for taking Alice Green and me home."

"Hehe, Lillian Reed, did you forget? I live here too, you know?"

William Carter looked at Lillian Reed; this girl must have something on her mind. But since they weren't that close, and he was the easygoing type who didn't like prying into others' privacy, he didn't ask further.

"Hee hee, Auntie is lying, Alice Green saw you crying just now..."

Alice Green clapped her little hands, seeming very happy to have exposed the adults' lie.

"Don't talk nonsense, or Auntie will get angry."

Lillian Reed glared at her, but didn't dare look up at William Carter again, just kept her head down and started tidying up her things.

"Let me help you with these. Looks like the weather's about to change tonight, the wind is picking up too. You take Alice Green upstairs first..." William Carter walked over and took the woven bag from Lillian Reed's hands.

"Thank you then... I'll... go up first."

Lillian Reed picked up Alice Green and hurried upstairs as if fleeing from something. William Carter shook his head—women's hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea, this girl really is a bit odd, isn't she?

When William Carter finished tidying up, locked his e-bike, and went upstairs, he saw Lillian Reed standing alone at the door with red eyes, but Alice Green was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Alice Green?"

William Carter handed both the woven bag and the bike keys to Lillian Reed, asking casually.

"As soon as we got home, Alice Green fell asleep."

Lillian Reed took the bag and keys, her face flushing again. "Big Brother Carter, thank you so much for today..."

"Hehe, come on, no need to be so polite, right? We're neighbors after all."

William Carter rubbed his hands. "Well... if there's nothing else, I'll head in. You should get some rest too."

"Mm, good night."

"Good night..."

The two of them, both with a bit of a 'thief's heart' but clearly lacking a 'thief's courage', exchanged some meaningless words, glanced at each other, and went into their own homes...

Chapter 12: [System Shop Activated] (Part 1)

By the early hours, the weather had completely changed, and a torrential rain was pouring down. William Carter was startled awake by thunder in his dream. Looking out through the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony, he saw wild winds raging outside, and low-lying areas in the neighborhood had already turned into pools of water. Silver snakes flashed across the sky, and one thunderclap after another crashed down, shaking the glass so much it trembled, as if the end of the world had come early.

"In this kind of weather, I wonder if Lillian Reed and Alice Green are scared?"

William Carter frowned, got dressed, and walked to Lillian Reed's door, wanting to knock, but hesitated: "It's already past two in the morning. Knocking on a girl's door at this hour doesn't seem appropriate, does it?"

Back in college, when it came to picking up girls, William Carter wasn't as masterful as comrade Little Grace, but he wasn't bad either. The love letters he wrote to female classmates were once the talk of the campus. But for some reason, when it came to facing Lillian Reed, he always felt awkward and couldn't bring himself to act.

"Old Carter, you're supposed to be a man, how come you're acting so timid? If the guys found out, they'd laugh at you for life!"

William Carter laughed at himself, mustered up his courage, and was about to knock.

Crash!

Before he could knock, the door was suddenly pulled open. In the darkness, William Carter vaguely saw a pair of bright eyes looking at him, and that delicate body was still trembling slightly.

A flash of lightning lit up the stairwell as bright as day, letting the two of them see each other clearly.

It was Lillian Reed, wearing a somewhat worn yellow nightgown, her two snow-white legs exposed, hair disheveled, like a begonia in the rain—tragically beautiful, with an indescribable charm.

Little Alice was curled up, hugging her knees tightly in Lillian Reed's arms, crying out, "Daddy, Mommy, Alice Green is scared, Daddy, Mommy, where are you, why don't you want Alice Green anymore?"

"Lillian Reed!"

"Big Brother Carter..."

Lillian Reed stared at William Carter, and suddenly, still holding Little Alice, rushed into his arms...

"Lillian Reed, Alice Green, I'm here, don't be afraid..."

William Carter stepped forward and embraced both the big and small delicate bodies at once, gently comforting them.

"Big Brother Carter... wuwu..."

Like a floodgate opening, Lillian Reed hid in William Carter's arms and burst into loud sobs, as if venting all the hardships, pain, grievances, and helplessness of the past two years; her once smooth, shiny hair was now a tangled mess, but she didn't care, and her tears soaked a large patch of William Carter's clothes, but she didn't mind...

Finally, she could cry her heart out without holding back. It turned out his shoulder was really so warm, so broad, so safe...

"Lillian Reed, I don't know how much you've suffered, but if you want to cry, just let it all out. Bottling it up isn't good for your health."

William Carter hugged Lillian Reed even tighter. At this moment, all he wanted was to protect this lonely, fragile girl.

And of course, that included Alice Green, the adorable little loli...