But her survival instinct was stronger than her will to give up. Just as Lillian was about to fight to the surface, Conrad’s hand gripped her and pulled her up. When she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with his cold, mocking expression.
“Lillian, if you’re this pathetic, go die outside. Don’t dirty my space.”
“Give me my documents!” Lillian stretched out her hand.
“You don’t have anything that belongs to you,” Conrad replied coldly.
“Either you go see your grandmother, or you stay here and behave,” he added, his voice steely.
“Give them to me!” Lillian insisted, ignoring everything else.
She had humbly begged for those documents. When had this jerk taken them? She’d just gotten them back from Melissa not long ago!
“Lillian, I’m going to count to three. If you keep pushing it, I don’t know what I’ll do!” Conrad warned.
“One!”
“Two!”
Before he could say anything else, Lillian yanked his hand away and started climbing up. She lacked the strength, and her arms couldn’t hold her up, causing her to slip and fall back into the pool, choking on the water.
Lillian was furious, feeling as if even the water in the pool was mocking her.
Determined, she climbed up again and started walking toward the exit, dripping wet. She didn’t notice the man behind her, ready to catch her.
“Sir.”
“Speak.” Conrad glanced at Andrew, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere.
“You’ve already wasted too much time on Lillian and compromised too much. Isn’t it time to let her go? She’s just a woman. There are thousands of women like her-prettier, better-tempered, with better family backgrounds and stronger connections. Why are you so fixated on her? Sir, once you have a weakness, you also have a fatal flaw. Last time, Hunter saw you jump off a cliff for Lillian. The guy didn’t die, but it’s hard to say he won’t come back for another round.”
“Andrew,” Conrad suddenly spoke up.
Andrew stared at him, unwavering. “Sir, you can’t afford to have a weakness. Once you do, it will drag you to an irreversible place. You can pamper Lillian as much as you want, but don’t let yourself fall for her.”
The pool fell into complete silence.
After a while, Conrad stood up, draped a bathrobe over his shoulders, and said faintly, “Have the water changed.”
“Sir…”
“Have someone change it.”
Andrew watched Conrad’s retreating figure, silently swallowing back his words.
******
When Lillian arrived at the hospital with her suitcase, she asked the bodyguard at the door, “Has anyone come to see my grandmother recently?”
“It’s still your uncle’s family. They even brought along a bunch of relatives, but they’re not allowed to come up anymore.”
A flash of disgust crossed Lillian’s eyes.
“However, Miss Lillian…” The bodyguard hesitated before continuing. “They called the police. It seems they want to escalate the situation. You should discuss this with Mr. Conrad. If the police show up, we won’t be able to stop them.”
At least with Conrad managing the situation, they dared to hold off.
Lillian pursed her lips. “Got it.”
“Miss Lillian?!”
Lillian turned to see Dr. Beck standing there.
“Dr. Beck, is there something urgent?”
“There is, indeed. You promised to go ahead with the surgery, but your mother says you have no right to make the decision. She’s even planning to sue our hospital. The fact that this specialist is available is a rare opportunity. The whole hospital is paying close attention to your grandmother’s condition. If you back out now and sue us, that’s just too much! You know your grandmother’s condition-this can’t be delayed.”
Lillian quickly tried to explain. “Dr. Beck, that’s not my intention.”
“Whether it’s your intention or not, this is your family’s business, and we don’t want to get involved. However, what we care about is the patient’s safety. You all need to settle things among yourselves. Is the surgery going forward or not?” Dr. Beck said this and left in silence.
Lillian was furious. She had imagined many scenarios in which Helen returned, but none of them were like this!
Lillian grabbed her phone and called Helen.
“Hello.”
“What exactly do you want?”
“Who is this? Lillian?” Helen opened the car door on her end. “I’m downstairs at the hospital. Come down, and let’s talk.”
Lillian scoffed. “You’re pulling all these tricks just to have a chat? What’s your real purpose?”
“Lillian, what could my purpose be? I just don’t want you to go down the wrong path.”
Lillian didn’t want to listen. She glanced at the sign and said, “I’ll be waiting for you on the top floor of the inpatient department.”
Helen’s fame might not be as strong as it once was, but there were still fans who could recognize her. Lillian didn’t want to end up on the news with her.
Helen arrived quickly. When she saw Lillian standing at the edge of the top floor, her pupils constricted.
Lillian’s figure had clearly been inherited from her, and from behind, she had the same charm Helen once had. But the wind on the top floor was strong, blowing her dress around, giving Helen the illusion that, if no one pulled her back, this young girl might just jump off at any moment.
“What are you doing?” Helen’s voice was somewhat stern.
Lillian looked down at the crowd below and then turned her head to face her. Helen’s hand was in a cast, but Lillian didn’t care about that. Helen had her own husband and daughter to worry about.
“Life and death often come down to a single thought,” Lillian said calmly. “There were countless times when I stood on a hospital rooftop, thinking that if I jumped, maybe it would all be over.”
“When I was broke, with no one to rely on and buried in debt, I always thought if you lived well abroad? When my grandmother’s medical bills were nearly impossible to pay, and she was about to be kicked out of the hospital, did you think about her? When I was sold off by John, did you even spare a thought for me?”
Lillian asked all of this with a very calm tone.
However, after hearing this, Helen simply shook her head. With her uninjured hand, she took a card from her bag and placed it at Lillian’s feet. “This is the bank card I used to transfer money to your uncle. Every year, your gifts came from this account. Your uncle didn’t want to give you money, because he was worried you were too young and might waste it. I didn’t expect you to misunderstand him so much and go down the wrong path.”
“There’s still some money left in this account. I heard that after you graduate from college, you want to be a director. Peter told me he’s willing to take you under his wing. Do you want to come back to the country with me? Sophia would love having you as an older sister.”
Helen said this as if she were some kind of saint, extending her hand toward Lillian. “No matter what you’ve done wrong, I’ll forgive you. If you go abroad, everything you’ve done here will be forgotten. You can start fresh.”
Lillian stared at her, watching the woman who was trying so hard to gloss over everything.
She wanted to hear every word clearly. But she still couldn’t help feeling how absurd and laughable this all was.