Chapter 559 - 555: Plenty of Men

Her reaction was as light as a feather, her tone so crisp and casual it was as if she were agreeing to a trivial little thing.

Mrs. Sherman was stunned, hesitating for a moment. She almost suspected she’d heard wrong. "Y-You, what did you say?"

"I said it’s fine. No problem!" Cecilia repeated without the slightest hesitation.

This time, it was Mrs. Sherman’s turn to be shocked.

’What does she mean by that? Doesn’t she like Wyatt? How could she agree to leave him so easily?’

A strange feeling welled up inside Mrs. Sherman. She would have been angry if Cecilia had refused, but Cecilia’s cheerful agreement made her just as uncomfortable—as if her son wasn’t that important to her at all.

"He’s not that important to me," Cecilia added softly.

Mrs. Sherman was dumbfounded.

Her face turned ashen, and for a moment, she was at a loss for how to refute Cecilia.

Looking at her expression, Cecilia could easily guess what Mrs. Sherman was thinking. It was nothing more than indignation on her son’s behalf. ’How could an outstanding man like Wyatt be "abandoned" so easily and unconditionally by some girl?’

But unfortunately for Mrs. Sherman, it was never Wyatt’s excellence that Cecilia was attracted to.

"I’ve already agreed, and I’ll keep my word. Is there anything else, Mrs. Sherman? If not, please feel free to leave." As she spoke, Cecilia picked up a nearby menu and glanced up at her. "Or perhaps you’d like to stay and join me for dinner?"

Mrs. Sherman narrowed her eyes, completely unable to accept her son being so slighted. In her eyes, Cecilia’s breezy demeanor was a blatant and grating provocation.

"So Wyatt means nothing to you? You were just playing around with him?"

Cecilia gave a faint shake of her head and corrected her. "You’ve misunderstood me, Mrs. Sherman. When it comes to romance, I’m always serious, but I never get truly lost in it. I can get swept up in the feeling, but I always keep a clear head."

"Wyatt is great. If he had asked me to make our relationship official today, I would have said yes, and I would have treated this relationship seriously."

"But..." Cecilia looked at Mrs. Sherman, her tone helpless. "You don’t approve, do you?"

Mrs. Sherman snorted. "But you didn’t fight for it, did you?"

"Why should I fight for it?" Cecilia retorted. "If I did, would you approve?"

Mrs. Sherman fell silent.

Cecilia smiled. "There you have it. You wouldn’t approve, so what’s the point in me fighting for it? To prove that Wyatt is so outstanding that I can’t bear to lose him?"

"That’s completely unnecessary. I don’t waste my energy on pointless efforts, and I certainly won’t stage some drama where I fight with you over Wyatt just to satisfy your vanity."

"To me, the essence of a relationship is fulfilling both emotional and physical needs, but it must be light and enjoyable. If there are too many complications, I’ll take the initiative and walk away."

"After all, I just want to date. I’m not planning to marry him, and you won’t become my mother-in-law. So I have no interest in dealing with you on top of my relationship with him. That’s too much trouble."

"And the one thing I hate most is trouble."

Cecilia said all this in a calm, measured tone. The words were indeed not pleasant for Mrs. Sherman to hear, but they truly reflected Cecilia’s attitude toward romance.

Romance should be light and enjoyable, a one-on-one relationship between two people. If she had to put in the effort to deal with other people and other problems, the very nature of the romance would change for her. She didn’t want to be in an intimate relationship that required exhausting maneuvering.

Mrs. Sherman remained quiet, sitting there in silence for a long time. The look in her eyes gradually changed. The anger and hostility faded, replaced by calm.

She didn’t get angry. Instead, she spoke up. "Perhaps Wyatt was right. You are an outstanding young woman."

Mrs. Sherman was a university professor. She had met and interacted with countless young women of all kinds with vastly different personalities, but rarely had she met someone like Cecilia—so clear-headed, so bold, and with such strong principles of her own.

Especially at her age.

Because whether women were willing to admit it or not, it was an undeniable fact that women were largely emotional creatures, their feelings subconsciously and strongly driving their actions and expressions.

But Cecilia possessed an independent mind that transcended her age, and she was able to express herself without being either servile or overbearing. That was truly remarkable.

Faced with Mrs. Sherman’s sudden change in attitude and her praise, Cecilia smiled magnanimously and accepted it without a trace of false modesty. "That is indeed the case."

Mrs. Sherman picked up her bag and stood. Looking at Cecilia, she said, "But it’s a pity. Wyatt really does need to focus on his grad school entrance exams right now. I can only say the timing is wrong. If it were the right time, I wouldn’t be against you two."

"There’s nothing to be sorry about," Cecilia said, lowering her gaze. ’There are plenty of other fish in the sea,’ she thought.

But she didn’t say the last part out loud, a small act of goodwill in return for Mrs. Sherman’s earlier compliment.

Mrs. Sherman already had a better grasp of Cecilia’s personality, so when she heard her say there was "nothing to be sorry about," she didn’t get angry again. Instead, a look of appreciation appeared in her eyes and she smiled. "Goodbye."

After Mrs. Sherman left, the waiter approached Cecilia. "Miss, are you ready to order now?"

"Of course." Cecilia’s smile was bright, completely unaffected by what had just happened. She elegantly opened the menu and tapped her finger on an expensive set meal. "I’ll have this one."

Seeing this, the waiter kindly reminded her, "Miss, that’s a meal for four to six people. I see your reservation for this table was for two. We have set meals for two later in the menu."

"I want this one," Cecilia said firmly.

The waiter didn’t dare say more and just nodded. "Very well."

After ordering, Cecilia took out her phone and started making calls one by one.

Soon, Estelle, Blair, Jane Sterling, Julian Summers, and Grant all arrived one after another.

’The world keeps spinning, man or no man. My friends are the ones I really need!’

Cecilia recounted the day’s events to them like a story. Estelle was particularly excited as she listened. "Oh my god, this is even better than a TV drama."

Julian Summers pursed his lips. "So this Wyatt Sherman is a mama’s boy?"

Cecilia shook her head, disagreeing. "Not really. His mom is just very domineering, that’s all. He probably tried to fight back and failed."

"So you’re just out like that?" Jane Sterling asked.

She felt it was a bit of a shame for Cecilia’s sake, because she thought Wyatt was a great guy—handsome, with a good personality, and Cecilia liked him, too.

But who could have predicted his mother would come out of the woodwork? That sort of thing was a total deal-breaker for Cecilia—an absolute non-starter with no room for compromise.

"Have you... tried him yet?" Jane Sterling suddenly leaned in and asked curiously.

At her words, everyone else’s head snapped in her direction. They were all clearly seasoned enough to know exactly what Jane was asking.

Cecilia flicked her hair back and sighed with a look of regret. "That’s the real loss here. He was always so confident in his ’abilities.’ If I’d known, I would have tested them out first."