Chapter 40: Mei’s Master Plan Revealed

"You’ve been plotting this since day one?" Ava repeated, pacing the tea shop with the fervor of someone whose entire life had just been turned into a rom-com script written by her meddling grandmother. Her voice hit an octave higher as she gestured wildly at Mei, who, in sharp contrast, was serenely sipping her oolong tea.

"Of course," Mei replied, as unbothered as ever. "It was obvious from the start. Ryan was your perfect match."

Ryan, slouched in his chair and trying to remain neutral, raised a hand. "Just for the record, I feel like I should’ve been consulted on this master plan."

"You would have said no," Mei said, not even looking at him. "You’re stubborn."

Ryan opened his mouth to argue but paused, realizing she wasn’t wrong. "Fair point," he muttered, folding his arms.

"And you!" Ava spun on her heel to face Mei, pointing accusingly. "You orchestrated everything? The ’fake engagement’ rumor? The scavenger hunts? Even putting Ryan’s name in the ’DO NOT OPEN’ file?"

Mei gave her granddaughter an infuriatingly serene smile. "I prefer to think of it as... strategic encouragement."

"Strategic encouragement?!" Ava groaned, her voice climbing several decibels. "You manipulated us into an entire partnership!"

Ryan, enjoying this way too much, raised his hand again. "I’d like to point out she’s technically not denying we’re a good match."

Ava whipped around to glare at him. "You’re not helping."

"Oh, I know," Ryan said, his smirk widening. "I just like watching you squirm."

Mei clapped her hands together with a sound that somehow silenced them both. "Enough bickering. It’s time for some constructive dialogue."

"Dialogue?" Ava repeated skeptically, crossing her arms. "What does that even mean?"

Mei ignored her question and abruptly grabbed both Ava’s and Ryan’s arms. "Which is why you’re going to have a nice, long conversation—alone."

Before either of them could protest, Mei dragged them through the tea shop, past the bewildered customers, and shoved them into the back storage closet.

"Wait—" Ryan began, his protest cut short as the door slammed in his face.

"Grandma!" Ava shouted, banging on the door. "Open this right now!"

"You’ll thank me later," Mei called back cheerfully, the sound of her footsteps retreating down the hallway.

Ryan sighed and leaned against a shelf. "Well, this is cozy."

---

"I cannot believe she locked us in here," Ava grumbled, scanning the tiny storage closet for anything remotely useful. The space was crammed with holiday decorations, expired tea tins, and what appeared to be a rogue inflatable Santa.

"She did it out of love," Ryan said dryly, picking up a dusty snow globe and shaking it absentmindedly. "Or spite. It’s hard to tell with Mei."

"Definitely both," Ava muttered, stepping over a box labeled ’Christmas Misc.’ "Now help me find something to pick the lock before I lose my mind."

As Ava rummaged through a cluttered shelf, she accidentally bumped into a teetering stack of boxes. They wobbled dangerously, defying the laws of physics.

"Ava, don’t—"

The top box tipped over before Ryan could finish his sentence, spilling a tangled mess of tinsel, fake snow, and an inflatable reindeer onto the floor.

"Oh, come on!" Ava groaned, shoving the reindeer away with her foot. "Why is there always a reindeer?"

Ryan chuckled as he crouched to pick up the offending decoration. "You’ve got a real talent for turning small spaces into disasters, you know that?"

"I don’t need commentary," Ava snapped, grabbing the reindeer and attempting to shove it back into the box.

The reindeer, however, had other ideas. No matter how hard Ava pushed, its cheerful inflatable face kept popping back up, as if mocking her.

Ryan leaned against a shelf, arms crossed, clearly enjoying the spectacle. "Need help?"

"No," Ava said through gritted teeth, wrestling with the stubborn decoration like it was a feral animal.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Ava gave the reindeer one last shove.

The box lid promptly popped open and smacked her square in the forehead.

Ryan doubled over laughing, clutching his stomach. "Oh my God—are you okay?"

Ava glared at him, rubbing her forehead. "Do I look okay?"

"You look like you lost a fight with Rudolph," Ryan said, still laughing.

Without a word, Ava grabbed a handful of tinsel and flung it at him.

---

Ryan caught the tinsel mid-air, smirking. "Is that all you’ve got?"

"Don’t start," Ava warned, backing up toward the shelves.

"Too late," Ryan said, grabbing a nearby party popper and activating it with a triumphant flourish.

Ava was immediately showered in glitter and streamers, her hair sparkling like a low-budget Christmas tree.

She stood frozen for a moment, blinking through the glitter storm. "You. Did. Not."

Ryan grinned, clearly proud of himself. "Oh, I did."

"You’re going to regret that," Ava said, grabbing a nearby bag of fake snow and hurling it at him.

The bag burst mid-air, covering Ryan in a frosty explosion of plastic flakes.

Ryan gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. "Betrayed by my own winter wonderland!"

"Serves you right," Ava said, smirking.

"Oh, it’s on now," Ryan declared, grabbing two rolls of wrapping paper from the shelf and wielding them like makeshift swords. "Prepare for battle!"

Ava laughed despite herself. "You’re ridiculous."

"And you’re scared," Ryan teased, lunging forward with an exaggerated swing.

Ava grabbed her own roll of wrapping paper and parried his "attack" with surprising skill. "Who’s scared now?"

Their duel quickly escalated into chaos as the wrapping paper rolls broke apart and sent confetti into the air. When Ryan accidentally knocked over a box of party poppers, the resulting chain reaction filled the closet with a deafening series of bangs, glitter explosions, and what Ava swore sounded like a kazoo.

Ava collapsed onto the floor, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "This is a disaster."

Ryan, covered head to toe in glitter and fake snow, grinned. "This is amazing."

As the laughter faded, the playful energy in the room gave way to something softer, the kind of quiet that felt charged, as if the air itself had paused to listen. Ava leaned against the wall, brushing glitter off her sleeve as her smile lingered, but her heart was doing that erratic thing it did whenever Ryan let his guard down—rare as that was.

"You know," Ryan said, his voice low and unusually gentle, "for someone who claims to hate chaos, you’re surprisingly good at handling it."

Ava glanced up, startled by the softness in his tone. "Maybe I’ve just had too much practice."

"Or maybe you’re just better at this than you think," Ryan countered, stepping closer. His dark eyes held hers, steady and earnest, no trace of his usual teasing smirk.

She hesitated, her fingers brushing the tinsel clinging stubbornly to her wrist. For once, she didn’t have a quip or a defense ready. "Do you really mean that?" she asked, her voice quieter than she intended.

Ryan nodded, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. I do. You don’t give yourself enough credit, Ava."

Her chest tightened, and for a moment, the rest of the world—glitter-covered floor, chaotic storage closet, even the absurd inflatable reindeer still slumped against the wall—faded into nothing. All she could see was him. And suddenly, the banter that usually shielded her felt unnecessary. Too thin for whatever this moment was.

"Ryan..." she began, her voice barely above a whisper. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say—only that it felt important.

He stepped even closer, close enough that she could see the faint dusting of glitter still stuck in his hair. Close enough that her heart hammered loudly in her ears. His expression softened, vulnerable in a way she hadn’t seen before. "Ava," he murmured, his voice carrying something unspoken but deeply felt.

The moment stretched, charged and fragile, like they were standing on the edge of something entirely new. Her pulse quickened, and for the first time in forever, she wanted to lean into the chaos rather than run from it.

But just as she took a breath, ready to take the leap—

The closet door burst open with a dramatic bang, and Mei’s delighted face appeared like the world’s most mischievous stage director, utterly unaware (or maybe very aware) of the moment she’d just shattered.

"Well!" Mei said, clapping her hands together with an unholy amount of glee. "I’d say that went beautifully."

Ava groaned, slumping against the wall and burying her face in her hands. "Grandma, you have the worst timing."

"Or the best," Mei said breezily, as if she hadn’t just interrupted a potentially life-changing moment. She reached into her bag and handed them each a fortune cookie. "Now, take these and reflect on the experience."

Ryan, blinking away the momentary spell, glanced at the fortune cookie in his hand. "This is her version of therapy, isn’t it?"

"Welcome to my world," Ava muttered, still mortified.

As Ava and Ryan stumbled out of the storage closet, brushing glitter and fake snow off their clothes, Mei wandered off, humming happily to herself as though she hadn’t just trapped them in a rom-com plot twist. Ava barely had time to gather herself before the tea shop door burst open.

Ethan entered like a man on a mission—or, more accurately, like a man auditioning for a role in a dramatic courtroom drama. His tailored suit was pristine, his hair perfectly styled, and his smug grin stretched wide enough to be visible from space.

"Ah, there you are!" Ethan exclaimed, clapping his hands together as if they’d all been waiting for him to arrive. "Just the dynamic duo I wanted to see!"

"What do you want, Ethan?" Ava asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Her patience, already worn thin by Mei’s antics, was in dangerously short supply.

"Good news!" Ethan declared, practically vibrating with excitement. "Mei and I are officially collaborating on a brand-new matchmaking series!"

Ryan, who had just finished pulling a piece of tinsel out of his collar, groaned. "Of course you are."

"And," Ethan continued, his grin widening into something bordering on cartoonish, "we want you two to be part of it!"

Ava crossed her arms, suspicion practically radiating off her. "If this is another one of your schemes—"

"Schemes?" Ethan gasped, clutching his chest in mock offense. "This is no scheme, Ava. This is an opportunity! A chance for all of us to... synergize."

Ryan snorted, his expression deadpan. "Synergize?"

"Yes, synergize," Ethan said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Think about it! With Mei’s matchmaking expertise, my unparalleled business acumen, and your, uh..." He gestured vaguely at Ava and Ryan. "...chemistry, we could redefine love itself!"

Ava pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ethan, you are not redefining love."

"Oh, but I am," Ethan said, wagging a finger. "Picture it: a matchmaking event so revolutionary, so transformative, it makes everything else look like amateur hour. And who better to headline it than the two of you? The poster couple for modern love!"

Ryan blinked. "Poster couple? Is he joking?"

Ava sighed, already regretting entertaining this conversation. "Ethan, we’re not—"

"Now, now," Ethan interrupted, holding up a hand. "Don’t make any rash decisions. Just think about it. Picture the headlines: From Rivals to Romance—The Perfect Matchmakers. It’s genius, really."

Ryan turned to Ava, his voice low. "I hate this guy."

"Oh, come now, Ryan," Ethan said, as if he’d overheard. "Don’t you want to join forces for the greater good? Think of the synergy. Think of the possibilities. Think of—"

"The lawsuits?" Ryan muttered, cutting him off.

Ethan ignored him, turning his attention back to Ava. "Ava, darling, I’m offering you a golden opportunity here. What do you say?"

Ava stared at him, weighing her options. On one hand, saying yes to Ethan would almost certainly result in some form of chaos. On the other hand... well, she hadn’t come up with a good reason yet, but she was sure there was one.

Ryan leaned closer, his voice low and wry. "At least it can’t be worse than the closet."

Ava snorted, unable to help herself. "Oh, trust me," she whispered back, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "It absolutely can."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read