“Stop,” Brian said, though not so confidently this time.
Diana paused for a moment as she heard Brian’s call but then continued onwards, determined to ignore him.
Seeing her stop, Brian thought she was frightened. He didn’t expect she would have the courage to go on.
He ran over to stop Diana, “Wait! You can’t leave until you explain why.”
“What should I say, Brian?!” Diana brushed away Brian’s arms. In doing so, she overexerted, and pain shot through her arm. She cursed him fiercely.
“What should you say?” Brian repeated her words slowly, “I am not cured. You haven’t cured me of the disease.”
“Oh,” Diana sneered, “You are not cured, or you never had the illness at all? Brian, I have no time to go through all this with you. It’s fine if you don’t want to give me the salary. But I am leaving now, and you can’t stop me!”
Brian cut her off, blocking her way out.
Diana looked around. She was in Brian’s home now, and it was dark outside. She would be in big danger if Brian did something to her here.
Brian did not know what she was thinking.
He was puzzled as to why Diana wanted to go so suddenly and insisted that he wasn’t ill? It seemed she thought he wanted to have the illness.
They were both silent for a while. Then Brian put the coat on her. But Diana kept her distance, “There is no need. I am going home soon.”
“Do you still want to leave?” Brian had never needed to coax a woman before. He didn’t know how to make Diana happy. He brought out his trump card again, “Can you afford the compensation?”
Diana stared at Brian. It seemed the word “shameless” was stamped on his face. Would he not admit the mistake until she spelled out what he had done to Antonette?
Brian expected Diana to be helpless and never dare to refuse him. However, Diana looked at him with scorn.
The moon was now hidden behind some ominous dark clouds.
It suddenly began raining. And in a few seconds, the rain started pouring violently down.
They were soon soaked to the skin. The cold went deep into their hearts.
Diana thought she was rather unlucky. The rain would make it harder to catch a taxi.
But she had said it now. She would leave the villa even if she had to walk home.
Brian pulled her under the shelter from the rain and put the wind coat on her. Then he spoke to her gently and patiently, “Diana, let’s go back first. We can talk about whatever is wrong tomorrow.”
“Give thanks for President William’s kindness,” Diana sang, “No matter how heavy the rain is, we can always play in the rain…”
Brian was speechless. Was there something wrong with her?
“Diana, this is the last time I’ll say it!” Brian pulled her back. Diana’s hair was wet from the heavy rain. “Go back to the villa!”
There was a flash in the sky at that moment. It seemed there was water coming out from her eyes. Was she crying?
“What do you want to do, Brian?!” Diana was going to go crazy because of him. “Why do you pretend to be ill? What are you doing now? Are you worried about me? Are you afraid of me getting wet in the rain?
“You don’t need to!” Diana’s voice rose. She opened her bag and took all of her money out. “Brian, this is the money I earned from the bar. Although I earn much less than you, I can support myself.”
“Oh, I forgot to pay you the money for the bill in your restaurant. You can deduct that from my salary. But it seems you don’t need the money. Of course, how could a billionaire like you care about this?” After these words, Diana threw all the money on Brian’s face.
Brian hated the smell of money, but he didn’t move. He looked at Diana silently.
Seeing Diana’s indignation, Brian realized something. They had known each other for a long time, but he had never heard Diana say as much as she had today. Although she mocked him, he felt seriousness from her words.
Diana was serious. She didn’t want to treat him anymore, nor did she want to stay at his villa. She walked quickly away from Brian, wiping the tears from her face as she went.
Brian watched Diana’s back until she disappeared.
Ken came to Brian with an umbrella. Looking at the money and the coat tossed on the floor, he didn’t know how to comfort Brian.
“Ken, let the driver send her back.”
“OK, Mr. William.” Ken gave the umbrella to Brian and went away.
“Wait.” Brian continued, “Don’t let her know the car belongs to the William family. Make it like a coincidence.”
“OK, Mr. William.”
After Ken left, Brian sat on the swing for a long time, even as it continued to rain. After some time, Ken sent a message to him to say Miss Anderson had arrived home safely.
Hearing this, Brian stood up to take a shower. He stood under the shower and let the water cascade down over him. He still could not figure out what was wrong with Diana.
Brian touched his genitals. Had he recovered from the illness?
“Ken.”
“Yes, Mr. William.”
“Ask Susan to come.”
Susan was Brian’s masseuse. They used to sleep together back before his ‘problem’ began. But since then, he had not asked her to come. Ken understood Mr. William. He wanted to say something but finally was without any words.
After Ken’s pause, Brian waved his hand and somberly said, “Actually, forget it…”
Brian knew he had not recovered. And there was only one person in the world that could treat him.
“Diana Anderson,” Brian said the name in his heart.