Booth turned red at her question. “What crush? We went to the same school. She was two years ahead of me. You know she used to be a rich girl. We did a lot of club activities together.”
He avoided looking at her, feeling guilty.
Evelyn asked, her voice shaky, “But didn’t you hate her? Why would you keep photos of her?”
“It’s just a group photo. There are other people in it too,” Booth tried to explain.
“If a man doesn’t like a woman, why would he keep photos of her?” Evelyn demanded sharply.
Her usual gentle, weak demeanor was gone.
Booth, being the young master he was, started to get irritated. “Why does it matter if I keep them? Can’t I?”
“So you admit it? You hate Lillian because she’s with your second uncle, right?”
“…” Booth stood with his hands on his hips, rubbing his forehead in disbelief. “Evelyn, you weren’t like this before. You used to be so gentle.”
“So tell me, you don’t like her, right? You hate her,” Evelyn said, clutching his shirt and looking at him expectantly, hoping for a satisfactory answer.
Booth just stared at her, and at that moment, Evelyn understood.
He was a liar!
What was the difference between him and Martin?
No wonder he always belittled Lillian. Whatever Lillian did, he would comment on it. Evelyn had thought he truly hated Lillian, but in reality, it was just the heartbreak of a young man who couldn’t accept that his dream girl had sold herself to his second uncle for money.
Evelyn’s chest heaved, nearly struggling to breathe.
“Go to bed early.” Booth shoved the photos back into the drawer and was about to leave, but Evelyn suddenly threw her arms around him from behind.
“Booth, you can think of me as her. I’m different from her. I can focus only on you.”
Booth shook his head. “No… it’s not the same.”
He pried her hands off and said, “Go to sleep.”
Evelyn stood there, staring blankly into the study, her eyes wide open as tears fell one by one.
Was she really such a cheap person?
Soon… someday… she would make them all pay for this.
Lillian…
Daisy should’ve been more ruthless! She should have made Lillian die in that car accident just like her grandmother.
Evelyn wiped her tears away, went downstairs, and grabbed a few bottles of alcohol. When Booth noticed something was wrong and came to find her, she was already crying on the sofa, her eyes still red from the tears.
“Evelyn, what are you doing?”
Evelyn threw herself into his arms. “You all don’t want me. You all despise me. You think I’m not good enough compared to Lillian.”
With the scent of alcohol on her breath, she kissed Booth on the lips, and as he froze in surprise, she grabbed his hand and moved it across her body.
The sensation of a woman’s body was new to him, and with her whispered temptations in his ear, she said, “You can think of me as Lillian.”
“…”
He turned around and held her tightly in his arms. He thrust into her with intensity, and the mix of alcohol and sexual desire was fully unleashed that night.
******
When Conrad came back, Lillian was already asleep.
It seemed like she hadn’t been waiting for him to return at all, and she couldn’t have cared less whether he came back or not.
Conrad closed the door and was about to go take a shower when the desk lamp suddenly turned on.
“Can I sleep in the guest room? I have early classes tomorrow.”
Conrad’s expression tightened. “What, did I disturb you when I came back? Is it now that we can’t even sleep in the same room anymore?”
Lillian directly replied, “I didn’t know when you’d be back or what you planned to do, but my sleep is being disturbed.”
Conrad raised an eyebrow. “Then don’t go to school tomorrow. Anyway, if you want to sleep in a different room, that’s not happening.”
Lillian lay back down, too exhausted to argue further, now adopting a completely different attitude toward him, and he responded in kind.
The distance between them had only been growing, yet he still acted like everything was fine.
By the time she started to drift off again, he was already in bed, his body still smelling of shower gel, and his firm, hot chest pressed against her from behind.
His heavy breathing made it clear he wasn’t as calm as he seemed.
Lillian closed her eyes, letting his hands roam over her body. In the end, he did nothing more than loosen the grip he had on her chest, saying, “Sleep.”
She knew he was holding back, and she had had enough of this life.
But like a bird trapped in a cage, she couldn’t fly away, and he wouldn’t let the chains break either.
******
Lillian returned to school, but she was even quieter than before.
Her former suitors had all disappeared, probably because of the rumors about her and Conrad.
Now, there was no one even talking about her being kept by a rich man.
With the revelation of Helen’s situation, no one outside knew that she was Alvin’s daughter, but everyone at school did. Most people felt more sympathy for Lillian than maliciously speculated about her.
But it was obvious to everyone-Lillian had changed.
When she packed up her things to leave the library, a few classmates said goodbye to her.
The little bit of good mood Lillian had left vanished when she saw John waiting in the parking lot.
John had fallen on hard times recently, like a rat crossing the street. Debt collectors had come knocking, and Fanny was about to be treated in the hospital. It felt like everything was about money, and more than once, he had almost hit rock bottom.
Helen had money, but now she wouldn’t give him any more, completely severing their ties.
These two were cut from the same cloth-selfish and ruthless. Once their own interests were at stake, they wouldn’t hesitate to abandon the other.
John wore a wrinkled shirt, looking thoroughly down and out.
As soon as he saw Lillian, he rushed over. “Lillian! Lillian! Please help me, I really can’t go on like this!”
Lillian didn’t even glance at him, trying to pull away.
John pleaded, rubbing his hands together. “Lillian, my dear, I really can’t survive anymore. Remember when I took you in during your hardest times? Now, please help me. You’re with Mr. Conrad now, you have all the money. Just spare me a little, please!”
Lillian opened the car door and got inside, but John wouldn’t let go of the door. “Lillian, if you don’t help me… if you don’t help me, I’ll die right here in front of your car!”
“Fine, then go ahead and die,” Lillian spoke coldly, her voice ice-cold. “Right now.”
John probably didn’t expect her to say that, and in his anger, he lashed out, shouting, “You bitch! What did I ever do to you? What have I deprived you of, for you to treat me like this?! If you had let go, how could I have fallen this low?!”
Lillian said sarcastically, “Are you so bad? Are you really that poor? Then go sell yourself. Or sell your daughter, sell your wife-that’s your forte, isn’t it?”
Lillian added, “If worse comes to worst, you could always sell yourself. There are plenty of people with strange tastes, and with how lively and shameless you are, you might even get a better price.”
After Lillian spoke, John exploded in rage. “You dirty slut! If you push me, I’ll expose how you’ve been kept! Let’s see which man would still want you, you worthless piece of trash!”
Lillian gave him a quiet shushing gesture and said calmly, “The whole world knows I’ve been kept, do you really think you can make a difference by shouting about it? Move out of the way, or I’ll run you over right now!”
John was not about to back down! He grabbed onto the car door and held on tightly, acting as if he could do whatever he wanted.
Lillian pulled out her self-defense spray and sprayed it directly into John’s eyes. He immediately let go, his eyes stinging in pain, and Lillian got into the car.
Seeing she was about to leave, John didn’t care about his eyes anymore. He chased after her and tried to block her car.
But Lillian pressed the gas pedal.
John ran straight to the front of the car and shouted, “I’m not leaving! If you dare, run me over!!!”