Independence

After

breakfast, Miranda began her cleaning. It had been half a month since the last time she tidied up. and quite a bit of dust had accumulated. The entire morning passed just like that.

After lunch, she planned to buy some groceries. Just as she changed her clothes, Winter called her.

“Mimi, are you home?”

“Yes, I am. What’s up?”

“I just… suddenly felt like eating your cooking.”

Having known Winter for so long, Miranda could tell something was off just from her tone.

“What happened? Is something wrong?”

“No… It’s just that I haven’t seen you in a while, and I miss you,” Winter’s voice sounded a bit muffled.

Miranda paused, deciding not to press further. She simply said, “Come over then, I’ll cook for you.”

“Great! I’ll be there in 40 minutes!”

Miranda quickly went out to buy groceries. As soon as she got back, Winter arrived right behind her.

As soon as she walked in, Winter clung to Miranda, refusing to let go. “You always treat me the best and buy everything I like.”

Miranda sensed the underlying resentment in her words and guessed it probably had something to do with Winter’s mother, Natalie.

“Alright, sit down and relax. I’ll start cooking; it’ll be ready soon.”

“Okay!” Winter nodded obediently.

50 minutes later, the dishes were laid on the table, all of Winter’s favorites.

“Mimi, do you have any alcohol in the house? How about we have a drink?”

“There’s some beer in the fridge, do you want it?”

“Yes!”

Winter didn’t have work the next day, and Miranda was also off.for two days.

The food on the table remained mostly untouched, but they drank quite a bit. Although the beer was low in alcohol content, Winter kept going–one can after another.

By the time they had finished, Winter’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes looked hazy. As it grew late, she still didn’t seem ready to stop.

Miranda began to feel a bit of a headache coming on.

“The beer? Why is it gone again? I’ll get two more-”

With that, Winter suddenly stood up and wobbled toward the fridge.

Winter barely took two steps before almost tripping, and Miranda quickly grabbed her to steady her.

Chanter 0282

“Carefull You’ll end up falling!”

Winter pouted. “Mimi, do you not trust my drinking skills? It’s just a few bottles. There’s no way I’m drunk enough to stumble! I just… got caught on something, yeah, that’s it!”

Miranda’s lips twitched as she mumbled under her breath, “No drunk ever admits they’re drunk…”

Winter’s ears were sharp, and she immediately protested, “If you don’t believe me, I–I’ll chug a few more bottles for you!”

“… There’s no more alcohol in the house.”

“That’s easy, let’s go buy some more!

Miranda was stunned.

Winter meant business. She even grabbed her coat and was preparing to head out.

Suddenly, she stopped. “Wait, no. We’ve both been drinking, so we can’t drive. We need to find someone

to drive us.”

Miranda found it amusing that even in her current state, Winter still remembered not to drink and drive.

Winter pulled out her phone, fumbled with it a fev. es, and finally made a call. The line rang twice before someone picked up.

“Hello? I’m at the old steel mill housing complex on Academy Road, can you.. hic! Come pick me up? I need to go out and buy… hic… buy more booze!”

There was a brief silence on the other end. “Where did you say you were?”

Winter thought the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

Soon, the person spoke again, “Open the door.”

Winter frowned, “No way, why should I open the door just because you say so? That would be embarrassing!”

Miranda stood frozen, completely surprised that Winter had actually made the call so quickly.

The next second, there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find Paul standing there, phone still pressed to his ear.